Shanna Swendson's Blog, page 218
September 26, 2012
Character Dimensions: Relationships
I've learned that I need to run any errands first thing in the morning while I have energy. After that, forget about it. I was a little optimistic in hoping to make it to ballet. By the evening, I didn't have the energy, and I was in bed, asleep, before the time I would have come home from ballet. I am getting better, but it's a frustratingly slow process. I'm good at delayed gratification and can be patient while waiting for something I'm anticipating, but waiting to get well is a totally different thing.
In my writing posts, I'm talking about character dimensions that are important to consider in characterization but that tend to be neglected unless they're part of the plot. Previously, I tackled finances. Now I'll look at relationships, and this isn't just something you need to know for a romance novel. How a character interacts with the other people in his or her life tells you a lot about that person and can influence the way the story develops. And yet I sometimes get the feeling that authors don't think much about it other than in developing a romantic history when a romance is part of the plot -- and then way too often it's of the "his last lover betrayed him, so he will never trust women again" variety.
Here are some things to think about when it comes to your character and relationships:
Does he make friends easily or does someone else have to make most of the effort? Does he have a wide circle of friends or a small circle of very close friends? How long has he known his current close friends? Are they friends from childhood? From his teens? From college? Or did he meet them more recently? Is he still in touch with any friends from his past, or is he the sort of person who makes a fresh start at new stages in his life? Is he open to making new friends, or is he satisfied with the friends he already has? Does he become friends with co-workers, or does he separate his work and personal lives?
How does she communicate with friends? Text messages, talking on the phone, Facebook, e-mail? How often do they get together in person, and what do they do?
What is the character's romantic history? A few longer-term serious relationships or a lot of short-term flings? How did she meet her past lovers? Does he dive head-first into a relationship or ease cautiously into it? How did past relationships end? Can she stay friends with her exes or is a breakup a blowup that severs ties for good? Was she the dumper or dumpee? Has he been hurt before, and in what ways? Does she have any fond memories of past relationships, even if they ended badly?
What are the character's romantic hopes? Does she want to get married and have kids or not? Soon, or sometime in the distant future? Can she imagine being alone, or does she tend to jump right into another relationship?
How does sex work for this character? Can she separate sex from love, or is love essential for sex? Is she shy about it or more assertive? How committed does a relationship need to be before she has sex, and how far is she willing to go before that point? Are there any beliefs or attitudes from other aspects of his or her life, like religion, that affect decisions about sex?
All of these attitudes about relationships will affect the way a character interacts with other people -- how he approaches others or reacts to others, what his support network is like, who'd notice if he went missing, how he reacts to a person he finds attractive, how he reacts if someone else finds him attractive, etc., and if you've thought about it before you write, then these interactions will be more consistent for the character and more authentic.
In my writing posts, I'm talking about character dimensions that are important to consider in characterization but that tend to be neglected unless they're part of the plot. Previously, I tackled finances. Now I'll look at relationships, and this isn't just something you need to know for a romance novel. How a character interacts with the other people in his or her life tells you a lot about that person and can influence the way the story develops. And yet I sometimes get the feeling that authors don't think much about it other than in developing a romantic history when a romance is part of the plot -- and then way too often it's of the "his last lover betrayed him, so he will never trust women again" variety.
Here are some things to think about when it comes to your character and relationships:
Does he make friends easily or does someone else have to make most of the effort? Does he have a wide circle of friends or a small circle of very close friends? How long has he known his current close friends? Are they friends from childhood? From his teens? From college? Or did he meet them more recently? Is he still in touch with any friends from his past, or is he the sort of person who makes a fresh start at new stages in his life? Is he open to making new friends, or is he satisfied with the friends he already has? Does he become friends with co-workers, or does he separate his work and personal lives?
How does she communicate with friends? Text messages, talking on the phone, Facebook, e-mail? How often do they get together in person, and what do they do?
What is the character's romantic history? A few longer-term serious relationships or a lot of short-term flings? How did she meet her past lovers? Does he dive head-first into a relationship or ease cautiously into it? How did past relationships end? Can she stay friends with her exes or is a breakup a blowup that severs ties for good? Was she the dumper or dumpee? Has he been hurt before, and in what ways? Does she have any fond memories of past relationships, even if they ended badly?
What are the character's romantic hopes? Does she want to get married and have kids or not? Soon, or sometime in the distant future? Can she imagine being alone, or does she tend to jump right into another relationship?
How does sex work for this character? Can she separate sex from love, or is love essential for sex? Is she shy about it or more assertive? How committed does a relationship need to be before she has sex, and how far is she willing to go before that point? Are there any beliefs or attitudes from other aspects of his or her life, like religion, that affect decisions about sex?
All of these attitudes about relationships will affect the way a character interacts with other people -- how he approaches others or reacts to others, what his support network is like, who'd notice if he went missing, how he reacts to a person he finds attractive, how he reacts if someone else finds him attractive, etc., and if you've thought about it before you write, then these interactions will be more consistent for the character and more authentic.
September 25, 2012
Phineas & Ferb and Mad Scientists
I didn't quite get the perfect healing sleep that allowed me to wake up 100 percent better, but I think I came pretty close. There's still some coughing, but it's not nearly as bad. I may even try to go to ballet tonight. I doubt I'll make it through center because jumping and turning are probably out of my range right now, but just getting through barre would probably be good for me in helping rebuild my strength. The real trick will be getting well enough to go back to writing. Maybe today, but I do have some errands to run. Like, I have no food in the house. I also still have relatively little appetite, but I think it would be a good idea to stock up on produce and resume cooking.
I spent much of yesterday lying on the sofa and watching Phineas & Ferb. We had a fun panel about this at FenCon, and they just happened to have on some of the episodes we discussed in the panel. The tor.com blog called this the best science fiction show currently on television, and I have to say that it kind of is (since there's a severe shortage of good science fiction on television at the moment -- most of the good stuff is more on the lines of paranormal or fantasy). For those who haven't yet discovered this Disney Channel gem, it's a cartoon about two stepbrothers who have decided they don't want to waste a moment of summer vacation. When it comes time to write that "what I did this summer" essay, they want to have something to say. And so every day they set out to do something really cool. It helps that they're mechanical geniuses, so they can do outrageous stuff like building a massive roller coaster that starts in their backyard and goes all over town, creating nanobots that can transform into anything, repairing crashed spaceships, turning their house into a carnival fun house, building shrink rays, etc. Their teenage sister is horrified by how dangerous the stuff they're doing is and is constantly trying to prove it to their oblivious mother (in between trying to flirt with the cute boy she likes and avoiding his evil baby sister). And meanwhile there's an evil scientist in town who keeps coming up with schemes to take over the Tri-State Area, using his own crazy devices ("inators"), and the boys' pet platypus is a secret agent assigned to stop him. Usually the latest evil scheme somehow ends up canceling out whatever crazy thing the boys built before they get caught. Plus, there's always at least one musical number. Yes, it sounds crazy, but it's this hilarious spoof of the mad scientist movies and spy movies, with cultural references that would go way over kids' heads flying fast and furiously. Some kids might catch all the subtle Star Wars homages, but then there's the obnoxiously perky killer robot that has a cow skull land on his head and then he chirps, "Check me out! I'm a Georgia O'Keefe painting!" Or there's the "Nostradamus was right!" running gag.
It occurred to me yesterday while I was lying on the sofa in a Benadryl haze that the real crux of the series is that in a town that actually has an organization of mad scientists and another organization of secret agents dedicated to stopping them, the most successful mad scientists are the two boys, and they fly under the radar both because they're just kids and because their motives are so pure. They just want to have a good time and to give their friends a good time. They aren't out to take over anything, they have no scores to settle, nothing they want to prove. They aren't even trying to hide what they're doing. When their sister threatens to tell their mom, they're okay with that. They're proud of what they've done and want their mother to see it. They have nothing to do with the fact that the evidence always seems to disappear. If those two boys ever did turn evil, they'd be formidable because their stuff works -- and, in fact, the plot of the movie-length episode they did last year hinged on the boys discovering the evil scientist's latest inator and unwittingly helping his evil scheme by fixing what was wrong with it (the whole thing was wired through the self-destruct button). So, I think at some point they're going to have to do an episode that shows what would happen if Phineas & Ferb were evil.
I think part of the addictive nature of the series comes from how densely layered it is and how it's built to reward repeat viewing. There's continuity, but not in the sense that you have to start watching at a certain point or watch episodes in order. You can start anywhere, but the more episodes you've seen, the funnier it becomes because of all the callbacks and running gags, and then the next time you see an episode, it takes on a different meaning after you've seen other episodes and understand more of the references, callbacks and running gags.
So, I think that's some of the reason why my whole group of friends is utterly addicted to this kids' show. The nice thing is, the fact that I recognize Perry the Platypus t-shirts and can intelligently discuss the show makes the kids I work with think I'm incredibly cool.
I spent much of yesterday lying on the sofa and watching Phineas & Ferb. We had a fun panel about this at FenCon, and they just happened to have on some of the episodes we discussed in the panel. The tor.com blog called this the best science fiction show currently on television, and I have to say that it kind of is (since there's a severe shortage of good science fiction on television at the moment -- most of the good stuff is more on the lines of paranormal or fantasy). For those who haven't yet discovered this Disney Channel gem, it's a cartoon about two stepbrothers who have decided they don't want to waste a moment of summer vacation. When it comes time to write that "what I did this summer" essay, they want to have something to say. And so every day they set out to do something really cool. It helps that they're mechanical geniuses, so they can do outrageous stuff like building a massive roller coaster that starts in their backyard and goes all over town, creating nanobots that can transform into anything, repairing crashed spaceships, turning their house into a carnival fun house, building shrink rays, etc. Their teenage sister is horrified by how dangerous the stuff they're doing is and is constantly trying to prove it to their oblivious mother (in between trying to flirt with the cute boy she likes and avoiding his evil baby sister). And meanwhile there's an evil scientist in town who keeps coming up with schemes to take over the Tri-State Area, using his own crazy devices ("inators"), and the boys' pet platypus is a secret agent assigned to stop him. Usually the latest evil scheme somehow ends up canceling out whatever crazy thing the boys built before they get caught. Plus, there's always at least one musical number. Yes, it sounds crazy, but it's this hilarious spoof of the mad scientist movies and spy movies, with cultural references that would go way over kids' heads flying fast and furiously. Some kids might catch all the subtle Star Wars homages, but then there's the obnoxiously perky killer robot that has a cow skull land on his head and then he chirps, "Check me out! I'm a Georgia O'Keefe painting!" Or there's the "Nostradamus was right!" running gag.
It occurred to me yesterday while I was lying on the sofa in a Benadryl haze that the real crux of the series is that in a town that actually has an organization of mad scientists and another organization of secret agents dedicated to stopping them, the most successful mad scientists are the two boys, and they fly under the radar both because they're just kids and because their motives are so pure. They just want to have a good time and to give their friends a good time. They aren't out to take over anything, they have no scores to settle, nothing they want to prove. They aren't even trying to hide what they're doing. When their sister threatens to tell their mom, they're okay with that. They're proud of what they've done and want their mother to see it. They have nothing to do with the fact that the evidence always seems to disappear. If those two boys ever did turn evil, they'd be formidable because their stuff works -- and, in fact, the plot of the movie-length episode they did last year hinged on the boys discovering the evil scientist's latest inator and unwittingly helping his evil scheme by fixing what was wrong with it (the whole thing was wired through the self-destruct button). So, I think at some point they're going to have to do an episode that shows what would happen if Phineas & Ferb were evil.
I think part of the addictive nature of the series comes from how densely layered it is and how it's built to reward repeat viewing. There's continuity, but not in the sense that you have to start watching at a certain point or watch episodes in order. You can start anywhere, but the more episodes you've seen, the funnier it becomes because of all the callbacks and running gags, and then the next time you see an episode, it takes on a different meaning after you've seen other episodes and understand more of the references, callbacks and running gags.
So, I think that's some of the reason why my whole group of friends is utterly addicted to this kids' show. The nice thing is, the fact that I recognize Perry the Platypus t-shirts and can intelligently discuss the show makes the kids I work with think I'm incredibly cool.
September 24, 2012
CoughCon Aftermath
I survived FenCon. I did have a good time, though it wasn't the typical convention experience at all. I mostly helped with the staff lounge, emerging when I had programming. That meant that my trying to rest and take it easy was actually useful. We had a few bursts of activity when we had to put together sack lunches for the staff members who couldn't leave their posts, but otherwise I just needed to sit in there to keep the room open or I monitored the radio in case we got calls from elsewhere.
So, what it boiled down to was hanging out with my friends and occasionally emerging to talk about geeky stuff, which isn't a bad way to spend a weekend. I just know that there are friends I only see at conventions that I didn't get a chance to catch up with, and that's sad, but I definitely wasn't at my best. As I kept saying to people expressing concern, this actually was dramatically better than I was a week earlier. The fever was gone and the infection was gone. The cough was more throat-clearing than lung-clearing. But now I'm very, very tired and I think I'm going to spend today resting. I have this idea in my head that if I could manage to get the right amount of the right kind of sleep, I'd wake up feeling entirely well. So far, that kind of sleep has eluded me, but I will keep trying.
One thing I do need to do today is rewatch the season premiere of Haven. I watched it, but the antihistamines were kicking in, so at this point I'm not sure what was really in the episode and what I dreamed was in it after watching it. I did watch Doctor Who, and I'm already sad that we have only one more episode with Amy and Rory. There seems to be so much untapped story potential with those characters. I think I'd be less sad about them leaving if they'd really used all the potential. Adding Rory's dad near the end doesn't help because now I also love him and want to see more of him and his sort of support staff role. And I want to know just how much he really knows now that he's in on the secret. Does he know the whole story? Does he know that his son has 2,000 years worth of memories or that he has a granddaughter who's a time-traveling archaeologist?
I have some blog post fodder from some of my panels, and let's hope that I get that magical healing sleep today so I can think clearly enough to write those posts.
So, what it boiled down to was hanging out with my friends and occasionally emerging to talk about geeky stuff, which isn't a bad way to spend a weekend. I just know that there are friends I only see at conventions that I didn't get a chance to catch up with, and that's sad, but I definitely wasn't at my best. As I kept saying to people expressing concern, this actually was dramatically better than I was a week earlier. The fever was gone and the infection was gone. The cough was more throat-clearing than lung-clearing. But now I'm very, very tired and I think I'm going to spend today resting. I have this idea in my head that if I could manage to get the right amount of the right kind of sleep, I'd wake up feeling entirely well. So far, that kind of sleep has eluded me, but I will keep trying.
One thing I do need to do today is rewatch the season premiere of Haven. I watched it, but the antihistamines were kicking in, so at this point I'm not sure what was really in the episode and what I dreamed was in it after watching it. I did watch Doctor Who, and I'm already sad that we have only one more episode with Amy and Rory. There seems to be so much untapped story potential with those characters. I think I'd be less sad about them leaving if they'd really used all the potential. Adding Rory's dad near the end doesn't help because now I also love him and want to see more of him and his sort of support staff role. And I want to know just how much he really knows now that he's in on the secret. Does he know the whole story? Does he know that his son has 2,000 years worth of memories or that he has a granddaughter who's a time-traveling archaeologist?
I have some blog post fodder from some of my panels, and let's hope that I get that magical healing sleep today so I can think clearly enough to write those posts.
September 21, 2012
Preparing for CoughCon
My crazy con weekend is about to begin. I'll be at FenCon all weekend, though I suspect this will be a low-key convention for me because I still don't have a lot of stamina. The cough isn't nearly as bad, and I finish the antibiotics tonight (thank goodness, because the weird metallic taste they cause is driving me nuts), but I'm definitely not my usual perky self, and I may not be around much when I'm not on programming.
Right now, I'm listening to the marathon of season 2 of Haven while doing my usual morning work stuff. I'll either watch the season premiere when I get home tonight or when I get up in the morning. And then I won't be able to talk about it all weekend because no one else I'm around will have seen it. I'll be torn between wanting to tell all and wanting to sing out, "Spoilers!" like River Song on Doctor Who.
This weekend's panels will include one on TV shows that were cancelled too soon, Doctor Who, fairy tale themes in current entertainment, and Phineas & Ferb. I'll also be doing a reading, probably an excerpt from Much Ado. My reading is Sunday morning, and by then, I hope the cough will be gone enough that I can read. Then again, I can seldom do good readings at FenCon because it tends to be RagweedCon for me. Coughing is only slightly different from sneezing when it comes to enhancing a performance. Someday, I'll be healthy and well-rested before this convention. I think I started a bad trend when I went through my first FenCon sleep-deprived after my whirlwind trip to the Serenity premiere. I'm amazed that they wanted me back.
And now I think I need a mid-morning nap to recharge myself for this afternoon and evening.
Right now, I'm listening to the marathon of season 2 of Haven while doing my usual morning work stuff. I'll either watch the season premiere when I get home tonight or when I get up in the morning. And then I won't be able to talk about it all weekend because no one else I'm around will have seen it. I'll be torn between wanting to tell all and wanting to sing out, "Spoilers!" like River Song on Doctor Who.
This weekend's panels will include one on TV shows that were cancelled too soon, Doctor Who, fairy tale themes in current entertainment, and Phineas & Ferb. I'll also be doing a reading, probably an excerpt from Much Ado. My reading is Sunday morning, and by then, I hope the cough will be gone enough that I can read. Then again, I can seldom do good readings at FenCon because it tends to be RagweedCon for me. Coughing is only slightly different from sneezing when it comes to enhancing a performance. Someday, I'll be healthy and well-rested before this convention. I think I started a bad trend when I went through my first FenCon sleep-deprived after my whirlwind trip to the Serenity premiere. I'm amazed that they wanted me back.
And now I think I need a mid-morning nap to recharge myself for this afternoon and evening.
September 20, 2012
Paying for Reviews?
I finally feel like I'm really on the mend. I took the cough syrup at about 7, as soon as I got home from children's choir and dinner, watched the Phineas & Ferb movie on the Disney Channel, then was in bed shortly after nine. Then I slept the clock around and woke up feeling better than I have in ages. I'm barely even coughing today. Of course, as soon as I wrote that, I coughed. But still, no coughing fits, and I can breathe deeply without coughing. It's amazing what twelve hours of sleep can do for you.
One of the big controversies going on in the book world lately has been about paid reviews. There was apparently a service that would provide a certain number of Amazon "reader" reviews for a title, since supposedly you move up in the rankings or get more exposure with more reviews. Then there were the revelations about authors making up fake names to leave positive reviews for their own books and negative reviews about their competitors. In the wake of that, people are now claiming that they won't believe any five-star reviews, and if a book just has positive reviews, then they'll know they were all bought and it's probably a terrible book.
To that I have to say, whoa, chill. I didn't even realize you could buy reviews, wouldn't know where to turn to buy them, and am too cheap to spend money on reviews. And yet the reviews for Much Ado About Magic are positive enough that I suppose to some people they might look bought. The most I've done to solicit reviews has been to make a general suggestion that you leave a review if you've read the book. It seems kind of silly to just assume that any book with a lot of reviews must be a bad book that had to pay for reviews. It might just be a good book. In my case, this late in the series and with this book not having massive exposure, only the diehard fans are probably reading it, so of course the reviews are going to be good, unless I totally mess up the book in a way that the fans hate.
I'm not sure how to figure out which is which, though. I would imagine that reviews written by real readers might have more specifics about what they liked or didn't like. The people who wrote the paid reviews generally hadn't read the book and were just making up something based on the cover copy. You could also track other reviews by those reviewers and see which books they reviewed and how those reviews sound.
And now I'm off to deal with a busy convention weekend.
One of the big controversies going on in the book world lately has been about paid reviews. There was apparently a service that would provide a certain number of Amazon "reader" reviews for a title, since supposedly you move up in the rankings or get more exposure with more reviews. Then there were the revelations about authors making up fake names to leave positive reviews for their own books and negative reviews about their competitors. In the wake of that, people are now claiming that they won't believe any five-star reviews, and if a book just has positive reviews, then they'll know they were all bought and it's probably a terrible book.
To that I have to say, whoa, chill. I didn't even realize you could buy reviews, wouldn't know where to turn to buy them, and am too cheap to spend money on reviews. And yet the reviews for Much Ado About Magic are positive enough that I suppose to some people they might look bought. The most I've done to solicit reviews has been to make a general suggestion that you leave a review if you've read the book. It seems kind of silly to just assume that any book with a lot of reviews must be a bad book that had to pay for reviews. It might just be a good book. In my case, this late in the series and with this book not having massive exposure, only the diehard fans are probably reading it, so of course the reviews are going to be good, unless I totally mess up the book in a way that the fans hate.
I'm not sure how to figure out which is which, though. I would imagine that reviews written by real readers might have more specifics about what they liked or didn't like. The people who wrote the paid reviews generally hadn't read the book and were just making up something based on the cover copy. You could also track other reviews by those reviewers and see which books they reviewed and how those reviews sound.
And now I'm off to deal with a busy convention weekend.
September 19, 2012
Cell Phones and Fantasy
I am attempting to function today without the scary cough syrup. My brain is clearer, but there's still some coughing. I'm really sick of being sick. I am, however, enough on the mend to tackle the laundry that I let get totally out of control. Now I just need to do dishes, put together a lesson plan for choir tonight and bake some cookies.
I opened the floor for questions about the Enchanted, Inc. series, and here's the first. I think I've addressed one like it recently, but I'll take it again:
Why doesn't Katie have a cell phone? As somebody who just left her 20s and with most of my friends in their 20s still, I cannot imagine living without my phone. I know Katie is pretty technically challenged, but even my most technologically inept friends have phones. I understand not having the latest and greatest smartphone, but why not at least a regular one?
The short answer is that it's a character trait. The fact that most people do something doesn't mean that everyone does, so it is still possible to have people out of the mainstream. Getting deeper into the whys, first of all, I mentally set the series in 2005-2006. The first book takes place in September through early November of 2005, the second in November through mid-December of that year, the third one mid-December through just after New Year's 2006, the fourth in April/May of 2006 and the fifth in May/June of 2006. When I was writing the first one, I assumed that if it got published, it would be in 2005, so I used 2005 calendars to keep the events and days straight, and then I've continued with that, trying to keep it consistent on that timeline. It was a little easier at first, since the first two books were in the future for me, and I wrote the first draft of the third book at almost exactly the time it was taking place. You don't have to read them with that in mind because I don't think there's anything that specifically dates them, but when I'm judging what technology to use and what pop culture to reference, I'm trying to keep out anything that isn't consistent with that timeline.
That means that while cell phones were pretty ubiquitous at that time, they weren't quite the "pry it out of my cold, dead hands" thing they are now. The first iPhone was released in 2007. So, if you keep this timeline in mind, it's less shocking that a twenty-something person could live without a cell phone.
Getting specific to Katie, one of her traits is practicality, which often comes through as frugality. She really struggled financially her first year in New York, and although her situation has improved, she still hasn't shaken off that mindset of saving every penny. If she was either at home or at work or out with the people who'd be calling her, she wouldn't pay all that money every month for a cell phone she'd never use. Even now, she's usually either with the people who'd be calling her or with someone who has a phone, so she hasn't really bothered with it, and it's become something of a stubborn resistance. I'll admit that's based a bit on myself. I cringe when I pay my cell bill every month, since my phone mostly lives at the bottom of my purse. It seems like such a waste of money. When I got my first cell phone, I was doing PR for a cell phone company, and I was still resisting. I came to work one morning to find a phone on my desk chair (a not-so-subtle message from my boss), and then a co-worker drove me to the AT&T store to activate it. When/if Katie gets a phone, I imagine it will be a gift from someone who's tired of her not having a phone.
What's funny is that I don't think I've really used this in a plot. Cell phones have made plotting suspense things more challenging because there's that constant connectedness and access to information. If you want to keep someone in the dark about information someone else has, you have to come up with something like a dead battery or a dead spot in coverage. A character who avoids having a cell phone would be ideal for that, but I don't think I've ever used her being out of touch as a way to build suspense. When she's needed a phone, she's always been with someone who had one.
In book six, there is an actual discussion about her lack of a cell phone. People do comment on it.
I opened the floor for questions about the Enchanted, Inc. series, and here's the first. I think I've addressed one like it recently, but I'll take it again:
Why doesn't Katie have a cell phone? As somebody who just left her 20s and with most of my friends in their 20s still, I cannot imagine living without my phone. I know Katie is pretty technically challenged, but even my most technologically inept friends have phones. I understand not having the latest and greatest smartphone, but why not at least a regular one?
The short answer is that it's a character trait. The fact that most people do something doesn't mean that everyone does, so it is still possible to have people out of the mainstream. Getting deeper into the whys, first of all, I mentally set the series in 2005-2006. The first book takes place in September through early November of 2005, the second in November through mid-December of that year, the third one mid-December through just after New Year's 2006, the fourth in April/May of 2006 and the fifth in May/June of 2006. When I was writing the first one, I assumed that if it got published, it would be in 2005, so I used 2005 calendars to keep the events and days straight, and then I've continued with that, trying to keep it consistent on that timeline. It was a little easier at first, since the first two books were in the future for me, and I wrote the first draft of the third book at almost exactly the time it was taking place. You don't have to read them with that in mind because I don't think there's anything that specifically dates them, but when I'm judging what technology to use and what pop culture to reference, I'm trying to keep out anything that isn't consistent with that timeline.
That means that while cell phones were pretty ubiquitous at that time, they weren't quite the "pry it out of my cold, dead hands" thing they are now. The first iPhone was released in 2007. So, if you keep this timeline in mind, it's less shocking that a twenty-something person could live without a cell phone.
Getting specific to Katie, one of her traits is practicality, which often comes through as frugality. She really struggled financially her first year in New York, and although her situation has improved, she still hasn't shaken off that mindset of saving every penny. If she was either at home or at work or out with the people who'd be calling her, she wouldn't pay all that money every month for a cell phone she'd never use. Even now, she's usually either with the people who'd be calling her or with someone who has a phone, so she hasn't really bothered with it, and it's become something of a stubborn resistance. I'll admit that's based a bit on myself. I cringe when I pay my cell bill every month, since my phone mostly lives at the bottom of my purse. It seems like such a waste of money. When I got my first cell phone, I was doing PR for a cell phone company, and I was still resisting. I came to work one morning to find a phone on my desk chair (a not-so-subtle message from my boss), and then a co-worker drove me to the AT&T store to activate it. When/if Katie gets a phone, I imagine it will be a gift from someone who's tired of her not having a phone.
What's funny is that I don't think I've really used this in a plot. Cell phones have made plotting suspense things more challenging because there's that constant connectedness and access to information. If you want to keep someone in the dark about information someone else has, you have to come up with something like a dead battery or a dead spot in coverage. A character who avoids having a cell phone would be ideal for that, but I don't think I've ever used her being out of touch as a way to build suspense. When she's needed a phone, she's always been with someone who had one.
In book six, there is an actual discussion about her lack of a cell phone. People do comment on it.
September 18, 2012
Much Ado in Print!
The big news of the day is that the print version of Much Ado About Magic is now available. Here's the direct link. It may be a few days before it shows up connected to the Amazon listing. I have a copy, and it's a really nice book. It's a bit bigger than the previous books in the series, so it won't match your collection perfectly on the bookcase (sorry), but I think it's a higher-quality book. The paper stock seems nicer and the printing seems crisper.
A while ago (months? years? I've lost track of time), I was doing an every-other-week feature of answering questions about the series. Now that the new book is out and the next one is coming, it's probably a good time to start that again. So, if you have questions you want me to tackle, ask away! No spoilers, please. Awareness of the new books is trickling out, and I don't want anyone accidentally spoiled by a question that gives away anything major. I know, it's really hard to talk about this book without spoiling it. In fact, I can't find an excerpt from the next book to use for a reading because the whole book is a major spoiler for the previous book.
I have seen one review in which the reviewer hadn't read any of the previous books in the series and still got into it, which is nice to know.
I seem to be on the mend, but I'm giving myself one more sick day. The cough is still pretty nasty (though not as bad as it was) without the scary cough syrup. But I think one more day to rest will help me feel better faster. I ended up falling asleep on the sofa yesterday afternoon, and it was a nice little nap. I recall a bit of a dream in which the Doctor (from Doctor Who) somehow found Warehouse 13 (I fell asleep while watching Warehouse 13 OnDemand). Now I wish I could remember what happened because there's all sorts of potential there.
One reason I have to get better is I'm running out of stuff to watch. I'm caught up with everything I usually watch, and I've even marathoned rewatches of the stuff I really like. I may have to break out the DVDs, but that involves getting off the sofa and changing discs. I don't really have the attention span for an entire movie right now, so TV episodes are perfect, and if I've seen them, it doesn't matter if I zone out from time to time.
A while ago (months? years? I've lost track of time), I was doing an every-other-week feature of answering questions about the series. Now that the new book is out and the next one is coming, it's probably a good time to start that again. So, if you have questions you want me to tackle, ask away! No spoilers, please. Awareness of the new books is trickling out, and I don't want anyone accidentally spoiled by a question that gives away anything major. I know, it's really hard to talk about this book without spoiling it. In fact, I can't find an excerpt from the next book to use for a reading because the whole book is a major spoiler for the previous book.
I have seen one review in which the reviewer hadn't read any of the previous books in the series and still got into it, which is nice to know.
I seem to be on the mend, but I'm giving myself one more sick day. The cough is still pretty nasty (though not as bad as it was) without the scary cough syrup. But I think one more day to rest will help me feel better faster. I ended up falling asleep on the sofa yesterday afternoon, and it was a nice little nap. I recall a bit of a dream in which the Doctor (from Doctor Who) somehow found Warehouse 13 (I fell asleep while watching Warehouse 13 OnDemand). Now I wish I could remember what happened because there's all sorts of potential there.
One reason I have to get better is I'm running out of stuff to watch. I'm caught up with everything I usually watch, and I've even marathoned rewatches of the stuff I really like. I may have to break out the DVDs, but that involves getting off the sofa and changing discs. I don't really have the attention span for an entire movie right now, so TV episodes are perfect, and if I've seen them, it doesn't matter if I zone out from time to time.
September 17, 2012
Sometimes You Need a Doctor
After going way too long trying to convince myself that I was getting better, I finally admitted to myself that I wasn't and dragged myself to the doctor. The diagnosis was acute bronchitis, but it was apparently bad enough that they did a chest X-ray to rule out pneumonia. They gave me a steroid shot to ease the inflammation in the airways, and then put me on a powerful antibiotic and gave me some killer cough syrup. I'm already feeling better, but as I learned when I let the cough syrup wear off so I could run a couple of essential errands this morning, I'm still not well.
I went to one of those CareNow places that I generally consider "doc in the box," but I have to say that this was the best medical care I've received in years. One of the reasons I get stubborn and try to tough it out is that most of the time, even though I only go to the doctor when it's absolutely essential, they still seem to treat me like I'm a hypochondriac, like it's all in my head and I'm a real weenie for not being able to tough it out. They're very patronizing and condescending, and I feel like I could have buzzards circling overhead and an undertaker with a tape measure following me around, and they'd still act like I was wasting their time with something trivial. But these people were all great. They took me seriously, listened to me and treated me like I had a brain. It helped that the doctor turned out to be a science fiction fan. He asked if I might have been exposed to anything recently, and I told him I'd been at WorldCon, so I'd probably been exposed to a lot of things. So we chatted a bit about science fiction. He's a big Douglas Adams fan and was impressed that I know Alan Dean Foster. With the X-ray, it seems I have very photogenic lungs. The tech was in awe, saying she'd never seen a real-life X-ray that looked that much like the illustrations in the textbook. It was a perfect image, just the way it's supposed to look. I suspect it helps that I don't have a lot of extra flesh to blur anything on the upper body, I have good posture, and I'm a singer, so when they tell me to take a deep breath to expand the rib cage, they get a really deep breath that really expands the ribs all over. And then they called me the next day to see how I was doing, to see if I had any questions and to remind me that even if I'm feeling better, I need to finish all the antibiotics. Now that I know they're good at this place, I may be more likely to go to a doctor next time I get sick because I have a place to go that I like. I also got a clean bill of health, aside from the bronchitis, since my blood pressure and pulse were good, my heart sounded good, my lungs look clear and my weight is just right. That was one reason they took the illness so seriously, that it was wrong for someone this healthy to be this sick.
The cough syrup is interesting, though. It's one of those "you know you're a writer when" things because I'm noting how it affects me so I can use this when I need to have a character who's been drugged or under a spell. It makes me woozy, but it doesn't really knock me out. I can stay awake all day. I'm just not entirely functional. I can't walk a straight line across the room, and my reaction speed and thought processes slow to a crawl. I'm not trusting myself with heating appliances that don't shut themselves off, so when I was out on my morning errands, I picked up some microwave meals. I'm limiting myself to the electric teakettle, the toaster oven and the microwave for a while. What's really odd is that I can take in information and understand it. I was watching World War II documentaries on the History Channel yesterday and retaining the information, and I was able to follow plots on Leverage and Doctor Who. I have a lot more trouble getting information out. With even the easiest question, I have to stop and think a while, and even then I'm not sure I trust my answer. I have to pay careful attention when typing because I'll type a totally different word than I meant, just because both words have similar letters, or I'll start typing one word and finish with another. I think I'm only managing this post because the last dose I took hasn't yet really kicked in. It also gives me really weird dreams in weird ways. I don't fall asleep instantly -- I think a lot of what it does is help me stay asleep, and it stops the coughing that wakes me up -- but while I'm drifting off, I'm dreaming while still conscious. It's not like a daydream, in that I'm not in control of the dream, but I'm aware that I'm dreaming. But it's just blips of dreams, like trying to watch TV with a channel surfer who just flips through channels with the remote. And then sometimes bits of one dream will follow into the next one. A lot of these dreams have involved TV shows I've been watching, so characters from one show will end up in another one. The Doctor landed in a lot of stuff last night.
That would make a fun Twilight Zone style story, where the characters on TV get frustrated with a channel surfer and follow him from channel to channel, determined to play their story out.
But I will have to write it when I'm a little more coherent. I think I'll be spending the rest of the day on the sofa because the drugs have really kicked in. Oh, and I'm on doctor's orders to drink tea! The information sheet about bronchitis they gave me said to drink hot liquids like tea. I also need to do that because one side effect of the antibiotics is a nasty metallic taste, and constantly sipping at something helps keep it at bay. While I was out today I picked up some of those Listerine strips so when I wake up in the middle of the night with the nasty taste, I can pop one of those in and go back to sleep. Last night, I used sugar-free gum, but I had to remember to spit it out before going back to sleep.
I went to one of those CareNow places that I generally consider "doc in the box," but I have to say that this was the best medical care I've received in years. One of the reasons I get stubborn and try to tough it out is that most of the time, even though I only go to the doctor when it's absolutely essential, they still seem to treat me like I'm a hypochondriac, like it's all in my head and I'm a real weenie for not being able to tough it out. They're very patronizing and condescending, and I feel like I could have buzzards circling overhead and an undertaker with a tape measure following me around, and they'd still act like I was wasting their time with something trivial. But these people were all great. They took me seriously, listened to me and treated me like I had a brain. It helped that the doctor turned out to be a science fiction fan. He asked if I might have been exposed to anything recently, and I told him I'd been at WorldCon, so I'd probably been exposed to a lot of things. So we chatted a bit about science fiction. He's a big Douglas Adams fan and was impressed that I know Alan Dean Foster. With the X-ray, it seems I have very photogenic lungs. The tech was in awe, saying she'd never seen a real-life X-ray that looked that much like the illustrations in the textbook. It was a perfect image, just the way it's supposed to look. I suspect it helps that I don't have a lot of extra flesh to blur anything on the upper body, I have good posture, and I'm a singer, so when they tell me to take a deep breath to expand the rib cage, they get a really deep breath that really expands the ribs all over. And then they called me the next day to see how I was doing, to see if I had any questions and to remind me that even if I'm feeling better, I need to finish all the antibiotics. Now that I know they're good at this place, I may be more likely to go to a doctor next time I get sick because I have a place to go that I like. I also got a clean bill of health, aside from the bronchitis, since my blood pressure and pulse were good, my heart sounded good, my lungs look clear and my weight is just right. That was one reason they took the illness so seriously, that it was wrong for someone this healthy to be this sick.
The cough syrup is interesting, though. It's one of those "you know you're a writer when" things because I'm noting how it affects me so I can use this when I need to have a character who's been drugged or under a spell. It makes me woozy, but it doesn't really knock me out. I can stay awake all day. I'm just not entirely functional. I can't walk a straight line across the room, and my reaction speed and thought processes slow to a crawl. I'm not trusting myself with heating appliances that don't shut themselves off, so when I was out on my morning errands, I picked up some microwave meals. I'm limiting myself to the electric teakettle, the toaster oven and the microwave for a while. What's really odd is that I can take in information and understand it. I was watching World War II documentaries on the History Channel yesterday and retaining the information, and I was able to follow plots on Leverage and Doctor Who. I have a lot more trouble getting information out. With even the easiest question, I have to stop and think a while, and even then I'm not sure I trust my answer. I have to pay careful attention when typing because I'll type a totally different word than I meant, just because both words have similar letters, or I'll start typing one word and finish with another. I think I'm only managing this post because the last dose I took hasn't yet really kicked in. It also gives me really weird dreams in weird ways. I don't fall asleep instantly -- I think a lot of what it does is help me stay asleep, and it stops the coughing that wakes me up -- but while I'm drifting off, I'm dreaming while still conscious. It's not like a daydream, in that I'm not in control of the dream, but I'm aware that I'm dreaming. But it's just blips of dreams, like trying to watch TV with a channel surfer who just flips through channels with the remote. And then sometimes bits of one dream will follow into the next one. A lot of these dreams have involved TV shows I've been watching, so characters from one show will end up in another one. The Doctor landed in a lot of stuff last night.
That would make a fun Twilight Zone style story, where the characters on TV get frustrated with a channel surfer and follow him from channel to channel, determined to play their story out.
But I will have to write it when I'm a little more coherent. I think I'll be spending the rest of the day on the sofa because the drugs have really kicked in. Oh, and I'm on doctor's orders to drink tea! The information sheet about bronchitis they gave me said to drink hot liquids like tea. I also need to do that because one side effect of the antibiotics is a nasty metallic taste, and constantly sipping at something helps keep it at bay. While I was out today I picked up some of those Listerine strips so when I wake up in the middle of the night with the nasty taste, I can pop one of those in and go back to sleep. Last night, I used sugar-free gum, but I had to remember to spit it out before going back to sleep.
September 14, 2012
More Fall TV
I slept decadently late this morning, possibly because it was cool and cloudy but also because I'm still not getting uninterrupted sleep. There's an old ABBA song (I guess all ABBA songs are old) called "If it Wasn't for the Nights" that's probably about how the singer wouldn't miss the old lover or wouldn't succumb to the bad lover who's not good for her if it wasn't for the nights. In my case, I'd feel a lot better if it wasn't for the nights because that's about the only time I still feel bad. I'm okay until late in the day, and then I guess I get tired, so the hacking begins. Lying down makes it worse. I tried propping myself up on pillows, but I sleep on my side, and even if I fell asleep propped up on my back, I'd turn over in my sleep and end up in a horrible position. But last night I didn't end up taking another dose of medicine in the middle of the night and still managed to get some decent sleep, so I may be on the mend.
However, I didn't get any work done. I was just sitting down to work when a solution for a computer problem my mom's been having popped into my head, and I rushed to see if it worked (it did!), and then I saw an e-mail relating to FenCon PR that I had to deal with, which is good because it was urgent. By the time I was able to get back to work, the evening tiredness coughing kicked in.
But today, writing conditions are excellent, I'm not coughing that much, I had scones for breakfast, I think I've dealt with all the PR issues, and I should be able to get past this sticking point in the book.
While I was tired and coughing last night, I skimmed through the OnDemand menu and found another sneak preview, The Mindy Project on Fox. I needed something about that length, and I like Mindy Kaling from The Office, so I gave it a shot. This series is essentially Bridget Jones's Diary, except instead of our heroine being an Englishwoman working in publishing/journalism in London, she's an Indian-American doctor in New York. Mindy grew up obsessed with romantic comedy films that have influenced her views on life and love. Now she's hit bottom after her ex-boyfriend, who was supposed to be The One (they even had a cute-meet right out of a movie!) has married someone else, so she decides it's time to change her life and get herself together, only her willpower doesn't always hold out, especially where one of the doctors in her practice is concerned. He's handsome, British and allergic to commitment but up for any arrangement that allows him to have sex. Mindy thinks he's like Hugh Grant from one of his movies -- the lovable cad who changes his ways when he meets the right woman -- but her best friend says he's more like Hugh Grant in real life. But then there's the other doctor she works with, who's brash, egotistical and macho and who challenges all her romantic assumptions. And if you've ever seen a movie, you can probably figure out how this will go.
This wasn't the funniest or most original series I've seen, but it was rather charming, and it scratches the romantic comedy itch. It's filmed like a movie and has no laugh track (a big bonus for me). I won't be watching in real time because it's on ballet night, but I may save up episodes OnDemand and then marathon them on dateless Friday or Saturday nights (which is all of them, these days) when I'm in the mood for a romantic comedy.
The fall season starts to kick off next week, with The Office and Parks and Recreation coming back, plus the season premiere of Haven. SyFy UK has done a rather brilliant and atmospheric promo video for Haven that makes me wish the US promo team was as clever. In just that little bit of film, you get a sense of the characters, their relationships and their conflicts, plus we get good looks at Lucy and Sarah, our heroine Audrey's past identities. Note that the premiere date in the promo is for the UK. The US premiere is Friday, Sept. 21. When I'll be at FenCon.
However, I didn't get any work done. I was just sitting down to work when a solution for a computer problem my mom's been having popped into my head, and I rushed to see if it worked (it did!), and then I saw an e-mail relating to FenCon PR that I had to deal with, which is good because it was urgent. By the time I was able to get back to work, the evening tiredness coughing kicked in.
But today, writing conditions are excellent, I'm not coughing that much, I had scones for breakfast, I think I've dealt with all the PR issues, and I should be able to get past this sticking point in the book.
While I was tired and coughing last night, I skimmed through the OnDemand menu and found another sneak preview, The Mindy Project on Fox. I needed something about that length, and I like Mindy Kaling from The Office, so I gave it a shot. This series is essentially Bridget Jones's Diary, except instead of our heroine being an Englishwoman working in publishing/journalism in London, she's an Indian-American doctor in New York. Mindy grew up obsessed with romantic comedy films that have influenced her views on life and love. Now she's hit bottom after her ex-boyfriend, who was supposed to be The One (they even had a cute-meet right out of a movie!) has married someone else, so she decides it's time to change her life and get herself together, only her willpower doesn't always hold out, especially where one of the doctors in her practice is concerned. He's handsome, British and allergic to commitment but up for any arrangement that allows him to have sex. Mindy thinks he's like Hugh Grant from one of his movies -- the lovable cad who changes his ways when he meets the right woman -- but her best friend says he's more like Hugh Grant in real life. But then there's the other doctor she works with, who's brash, egotistical and macho and who challenges all her romantic assumptions. And if you've ever seen a movie, you can probably figure out how this will go.
This wasn't the funniest or most original series I've seen, but it was rather charming, and it scratches the romantic comedy itch. It's filmed like a movie and has no laugh track (a big bonus for me). I won't be watching in real time because it's on ballet night, but I may save up episodes OnDemand and then marathon them on dateless Friday or Saturday nights (which is all of them, these days) when I'm in the mood for a romantic comedy.
The fall season starts to kick off next week, with The Office and Parks and Recreation coming back, plus the season premiere of Haven. SyFy UK has done a rather brilliant and atmospheric promo video for Haven that makes me wish the US promo team was as clever. In just that little bit of film, you get a sense of the characters, their relationships and their conflicts, plus we get good looks at Lucy and Sarah, our heroine Audrey's past identities. Note that the premiere date in the promo is for the UK. The US premiere is Friday, Sept. 21. When I'll be at FenCon.
September 13, 2012
Back to Kindergarten
I had my first night of really being in charge of the kindergarten choir, and my lesson plan seemed to work out okay in that I had just enough stuff planned to do and only had to skip the filler item I added in case it took less time than I planned to do the other stuff. There were a lot of attention span issues. The group is almost all girls, and they all know each other, and they get really, really chatty. They're far more interested in telling me and each other about what happened that day or what happened last weekend than they are in doing the class stuff. I dealt with some of that by starting with asking them about their day and letting them get all the most urgent and exciting stuff off their chests before I tried to get started, and that helped some, but they were still extremely hyper. There was one thing that was a surprise hit. The curriculum kit included a game that had an interesting structure. The kids don't pick a game piece and play against each other. Instead, the game pieces are competing, with the kids supposedly neutral. Each kid would pick a card from the stack, and then it would have a picture of a game piece and some instructions on it for how to move that game piece. The object was to see which game piece would finish fastest. These kids started avidly cheering for one particular game piece. I'd thought the game was a little weird and confusing, and it took me a couple of tries to get it when I played a test round at home, but the kids loved it.
I think I'm going to need to find more games, preferably some with musical content, and I may need to come up with an occasional craft project or at least some coloring pages. I need more of a mix of high and low energy activities.
I just have one new kid, and otherwise it's all the same kids I had last year, though I'm missing a few. Lucky for me, among the missing are those who were my biggest problems. Mole Boy did show up, but apparently he refused to go to the new classroom with me and insisted on going back to the old room, and there he only hovered in the doorway, watching instead of participating. I'd get my feelings hurt by him not wanting to be with my group, but I just don't have the energy to focus on dealing with a kid who clearly doesn't want to be there. As it was I'd completely lost my voice by the end of having to talk or sing for 45 minutes. Even the choir director sent me home and told me to get better when he heard me.
So, today I have no excuse not to get back to writing (other than a conference call this afternoon). The weather's even cooperating by turning gray. I re-read the last 60 or so pages the other day, so I'm ready to get going again. I already know this one is going to require a lot of revision because this draft is very terse. It's like I'm just trying to get down the bones of the story. I'll need to add a lot of flesh to it on the next draft. For a moment, I toyed with going back to the beginning and doing that now, but I think I want to get the whole plot done before I start revising.
I think I'm going to need to find more games, preferably some with musical content, and I may need to come up with an occasional craft project or at least some coloring pages. I need more of a mix of high and low energy activities.
I just have one new kid, and otherwise it's all the same kids I had last year, though I'm missing a few. Lucky for me, among the missing are those who were my biggest problems. Mole Boy did show up, but apparently he refused to go to the new classroom with me and insisted on going back to the old room, and there he only hovered in the doorway, watching instead of participating. I'd get my feelings hurt by him not wanting to be with my group, but I just don't have the energy to focus on dealing with a kid who clearly doesn't want to be there. As it was I'd completely lost my voice by the end of having to talk or sing for 45 minutes. Even the choir director sent me home and told me to get better when he heard me.
So, today I have no excuse not to get back to writing (other than a conference call this afternoon). The weather's even cooperating by turning gray. I re-read the last 60 or so pages the other day, so I'm ready to get going again. I already know this one is going to require a lot of revision because this draft is very terse. It's like I'm just trying to get down the bones of the story. I'll need to add a lot of flesh to it on the next draft. For a moment, I toyed with going back to the beginning and doing that now, but I think I want to get the whole plot done before I start revising.
