Shanna Swendson's Blog, page 282

Books into Movies

Happy Texas Independence Day! The occasion is traditionally (well, among certain groups) celebrated with an iced tea toast at noon, but as it's rather chilly today, I may go with hot tea. It's also primary election day, which makes me happy because it means the automated, recorded telephone calls may finally stop. When the phone rings, it totally throws me out of my work. If I'm writing, then that means I've moved away from my desk and have likely snuggled into my "nest" somewhere, so answeri...

Writer Inaction Figure

I discovered this weekend when heading out for my library presentation that all the snow and ice we've had this winter have had an interesting effect on our roads. We tend to have wonky pavement anyway because the soil has a bad habit of shifting, but now there are places where it's like driving in Berlin, circa May 1945. We don't just have potholes. We have potcraters. You could lose a Smart Car in some of those holes. There were one or two where my Focus would have been iffy.

But I had an a...

Driveway Discussions

My plans for the day yesterday got thrown out of whack early in the afternoon when there was a knock on my door. It was my neighbor, asking if I had electricity. Initially, I said of course I did, I was just working on my computer. To check, I flipped the light switch for my entryway light -- and nothing happened. It then occurred to me that, duh, my computer is a laptop and has a battery. The battery is just about shot, but it will hold a charge for a little while. That's one good reason for...

Romantic Comedy -- Leap Year

I still seem to have no brain power for anything other than the current book, which is good in a way because it means the book is progressing. I'm finally up to a scene I've been daydreaming about/picturing for a while, and after writing/rewriting the previous scene, now I know what's really been going on behind the scenes in this scene. I always pictured a particular character being there, but now I know why he's there. It's very cool.

So, I'm going to continue using some posts on romantic co...

Revsiting Romantic Comedy

I think all my mental energy is still tied up in the current book. In rewriting a scene yesterday, I came up with a fun twist that I think adds a layer to the story while throwing in a "what's really going on?" reversal. This book is turning out to be very twisty (as opposed to twisted, which is an entirely different thing).

I was groping for blog topics, and then I remembered my grand plan to do a series of posts about romantic comedy films. That was going to be a February thing tied to Valen...

No Snow Day

We were supposed to have more snow today, about one or two inches by noon. Apparently, it's all just to the south of me, as I haven't seen a flake yet (well, aside from that oddly dressed person walking down the street -- seriously, denim cropped pants, in this weather?). Not that I'm complaining, as we've had more than enough snow this year. I just think that I'm still four at heart and if they promise me snow, I want a snow day. I guess forecasting two inches and getting nothing is more acc...

A Case of the Mondays

So, it's Monday. Mondays really shouldn't be "Mondays" for me, since my daily routine doesn't change all that much between weekends and week days. I did stuff that could be counted as work this weekend, so it's not like I'm trudging to the salt mines after two days of leisure. Still, for whatever reason, I woke up with a bad case of the Mondays this morning, like I didn't want to face the week.

Funny thing is, I do want to face the week. I finally made it through rewriting the scene that turne...

Childhood Reading Nostalgia

I'm being utterly decadent today. Normally, I get up and get dressed before heading to my desk, but I'm still sitting around in my pajamas. I think I'm most of the seven dwarves today. I've got Sneezy, Sleepy and Dopey, and it's possible that if I have to deal with people I'll be Grumpy. But I will eventually have to put on real clothes because I have errands to run. I keep telling myself that I can buy something fun at Target if I'm good, but that isn't helping with the hibernation instinct....

Women in Fantasy

I wasn't up reading quite as late last night, and I got up earlier than I have been, but then got sidetracked by that plane crash in Austin since the regional news channel was running the feed from the TV station I used to work for. I really need to go to the bank to deposit a royalty check (yay for royalties!), but I mostly just want to burrow under a blanket and read or write.

There tends to be a lot of discussion in fantasy and writing circles about the lack of female characters in a lot of...

Scenes

I stayed up way too late reading yet again. This time, it was the fault of Dick Francis. I was re-reading a book I haven't looked at in ages, and I remembered just enough to know I should be concerned but not enough to know what happened, and that made me turn pages even more anxiously than if I'd been reading it for the first time.

But now I have my bi-weekly writing post. This week, I'm looking at building scenes. This is one of those topics where I don't feel like an expert. It's something...