Julia London's Blog, page 62

Where's the Big Idea?

I asked my facebook Reader page what they thought I should blog about, and many of them asked the same thing:  Where do the ideas for books come from?  Do I think of characters or plots, and how do I flesh them out?  That question is probably the most frequently asked question of working fiction writers–just ask the Whine Sisters, and I bet they all agree it is.

It might also be the hardest question to answer.  I wish I could say I have a book of basic book ideas I turn to (as an aside, those sorts of books actually exist.  I remember reading some book years ago that had a chapter devoted to the 12 basic plot ideas.  Did you know there are only twelve plots in the world of literature?  Yeah, I put it down). Wouldn't that be sweet, if there was a Big Book of Book Ideas?

For me, ideas are very organic.   A lot of my ideas are sparked with a lot of reading.  I call it feeding the beast.  That doesn't mean I take ideas from the books I read, but if I read a lot, ideas or words will spark ideas in my head.  The Secrets of Hadley Green series (Year of Living Scandalously, The Revenge of Lord Eberlin, and The Seduction of Lady X), came from reading something in which the writer made the point that everyone had secrets.  That was it, the remark that sparked the ideas that set off the series. 

I tend to be more character driven than plot driven, so an idea for a book generally begins with a person and a tiny concept.  From there, I begin to think about that person–who it is, where he or she has been in their life, and what is the big obstacle to life facing them now, what drives them.  Names are big deal to me–the character has to have the right name to make their personality work.  To get names, I use the social security administration and Behindthename.org to name them.  I used to use a cemetery where I walked my dogs.

When I begin writing my book, my idea is generally in such an embryonic state that it grows and changes as I write.  So sometimes, what I thought was a great idea sometimes looks pretty lame on paper.  Sometimes the idea is too big for one book and I have to figure out how to rein it in.  Sometimes–thankfully, rarely–I realize that it's just the wrong idea altogether.  For all these reasons, the first draft of a book is very difficult for me to write.  The idea needs to be massaged and developed, and built into the characters.  Once I have a first and rough draft, I can go back and work on fleshing out the basic idea and characters and hopefully create a story that you want to read.

Where do your ideas come from?  Are you more of a character thinker, or a plot thinker?  What's your biggest source of inspiration?

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Shadow Keepers: Midnight

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If ya wanna get noticed…

This is the style/color I bought. But now I want more!

I love walking around barefoot, but in 100+ temperatures, I don't love burning the soles of my feet on asphalt and concrete. So as an early birthday present, I bought myself a pair of Vibram 5-fingers.

Yes, they look a bit … odd. But OMG, they are soooo comfortable. I mean SO comfortable. I could wear them all the time. (And pretty much do; alas, they kinda destroy the look when you're wearing a dress, though!)

One thing I wasn't expecting, though probably should have been (but, hey, I'm so close to Austin!) was the comments. Every time when I've gone out someone has commented on them. Strangers stopping me and then engaging me in conversations about my shoes. What's weird is that I would expect the comments to be something along the lines of: those are some freakish shoes ya got there, gal. Instead, they have been, to a person, something like: Oh! I've heard of those! Are they comfy? Or…My son just bought some of those; he loves them! Or…I heard those are great for your feet. Nothing along the lines of weird at all (though everyone does ask the "are they comfortable question," as if I would be wearing them if they weren't!

They have become my new favorite piece of clothing. Do you have a favorite clothes item that's a little on the odd side?

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BOOK SATURDAY–KISS THE COOK

Way back in 1998 I wrote my first contemporary romantic comedy, a book I entitled It Only Takes a Moment.  About two weeks after my first sale (of Red Roses Mean Love), Kensington Publishing bought the contemporary story, but they wanted a different title and asked me to come up with some suggestions.  I compiled a list while sitting in bed with my DH.  As the heroine was a caterer, we focused on "food" type titles.  We came up with about ten suggestions, one of which was his idea–Kiss the Cook–which the editor loved and a new title was born.

The original cover for Kiss the Cook

A few weeks later a different editor (whom I'd never spoken to before) called me to discuss the back cover copy.  I don't know who had written the back cover copy, I only know it wasn't me  nor was it this new editor.  The conversation went like this:

Her—I'd like to make some changes to the back cover copy.  It stinks.

Me—okay.

Her—It says here that the hero is an accountant.  Do you mind if we call him a "financial whiz" instead?  No woman wants to sleep with an accountant.

Me—Fine.

After we then went through the rest of the copy, making a few minor changes, the conversation continued:

Her—Kiss the Cook—that's a cute title.  Did you come up with that, or did we?

Me—Actually, my accountant husband did.

[insert sound of crickets here]

Her—(after the cricket pause) Well.  I guess some women DO like to sleep with accountants.

Me—Go figure.

I've always gotten the biggest kick out of that conversation.  I have the rights back to Kiss the Cook and am in the process of editing it so I can offer it as an ebook for the first time.  I can't wait to put my first contemporary back out into the world!

The book was reissued in 2006 with this cover

Are you reading ebooks?  Nook or Kindle or other device?  Or are you still a paper reader only?  I don't have an e-reader yet, but I'm going to get one soon and can't make up my mind between the Nook and Kindle.  Help! Hope your weekend is going great!   

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Kitties happen

Meet Izzy. Isabella took the pic and caught her in full play mode!

I'm not really sure how it happened, but we have a new kitty, as of about 1pm yesterday.

It started innocently enough. We took our oldest cat Tiger to the vet. She's been losing weight and lately has become a little bit listless. Back in, oh, April I think, we got another kitten, Mia. And Mia loves to play. We weren't sure if Tiger was ill or if Mia was just exhausting her (talk about cardio for kitties! These two would just go at it!).

Anyhoo, the girls and I head to the vet, and while there, they see the cutest little fluffball in the For Adoption cage. Tiny little black and white ball of cuteness. And Isabella starts begging for it.

Being a responsible mom, I say no.

Again

and again

and again

and again.

It's starting to get amusing, actually.

I text Don and tell him about this. He texts back asking if I'm hinting!! Because, he says, he's been thinking that we should maybe get another kitten so that Mia will leave poor Tiger alone, who's too old for that roughhousing.

Color me shocked.

So I go outside the exam room and talk to the receptionist who gives me the lowdown on the kitty. Six weeks old. A drop in. She was abandoned in a field and a dog was mauling her. Some nice man rescued her, but couldn't keep her and brought her to the vet. She started out skittish, but they've been playing with her and she's a full-on people kitty now. And the kicker? They had already named her: Izzy.

Apparently, it was fate.

Tonight (Thursday night, as I write this), my eldest is off at a slumber party, and Izzy's cuddled up with Isabella.

Another kitty mouth to feed…and spay…and vaccinate.

But OMG, she's adorable!

What pets have you stumbled upon?

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Winter Is Coming

I'm borrowing the Starks' motto from Game of Thrones. I can't wait for Season Two. And in the meantime, that delicious hunk of man, Jason Momoa, who portrayed Khal Drogo, is the new Conan the Barbarian.[image error]

I didn't think we needed a new Conan, but some graphic novel fans set me straight. Arnold Schwarzegovner was apparently a terrible Conan for fans of Conan. Who knew? So there's high anticipation (not just from me, with my little crush on Jason Momoa, who is not at all my pasty white slender Brit usual crush) to see what Momoa does with the Conan role.[image error]

But I am SO NOT READY FOR WINTER. Just putting that out there, maybe for the grocery store manager who brought on my whole premature fear of winter with a display of Halloween candy. We're not even back to school yet in the northeast and I walk in and– Halloween candy.[image error]

Which you know leads quickly to Thanksgiving displays which are in and out of the store in record time, before October, so they can make way for Christmas stuff. Which means, the Starks are right: Winter Is Coming.[image error]

I got home from the grocery store in a panic and stopped making my daughter's college needs list in order to draft out a quick potential Thanksgiving menu before I reminded myself that I have months. Phew. I stopped worrying and went to the casino (Mohegan Sun) with my mom and sister and ate at Jasper White's Summer Shack so that I could bask in summer's glory (Lobster! Clams! Watermelon Margaritas!) and exchange the Stark motto for Jasper White's (which is much more pleasing): Where food is love and summer never ends. Oh yeah, baby. Now that's a motto.[image error]

What's a motto with you? Do you have a personal motto? Are you looking forward to winter? Movie remakes, love em or hate em? Do you have Halloween candy displays in your stores? Are you a fan of Game of Thrones?

Oh, today is my 21st wedding anniversary and I should probably be reprimanded for talking about my admiration of Jason Momoa's body, er, body of work. Shh. Don't tell.

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The Best Things Happen When You Least Expect

Sometimes the world reminds us just how wonderful people really are.

As most of you know, I recently attending the Rom Con, a fabulous readers convention held in Denver.  It was my first time to attend and I had no idea what to expect.   What I found was a hotel full of lovely ladies all of whom loved reading as much as I do.

I participated in a panel with other contemporary authors where the readers asked stunningly insightful and intelligent questions that had a few of us working to come up with equally informed and interesting answers.

And then I had the chance to take part in a murder mystery (you're not surprised that I'd sign up for this one, right?) where I played the part of Candy Kane (and no I didn't do it—not for lack of trying however).   Candy may not have been the brightest bulb in the Sugar Land Christmas tree.  But she was a great character to inhabit for a couple of hours—even if, to my great dismay, she was not a long lost cousin of Eric's (Kane that is).

I also had some fabulous conversations with readers and writers alike—moments when you remember how fun it is to crawl out of your office, don decent clothes and make-up, and actually exchange ideas with another human being.  (What can I say—we writers are a solitary lot).

And finally, I ended up at the "rumble"—cue the West Side Story soundtrack.   But instead of Jets and Sharks…it was readers and authors.  And we had a hilariously wonderful time as everyone changed tables every three minutes meeting authors and getting signed books and trading cards.

But the amazing story I really want to share involves a mother-daughter team of readers and my inability to hold onto anything valuable for longer than fifteen seconds.

As is often the case at conferences like these, there was a small market, with wonderful items to spend our money on.   One of the vendors was an amazing woman who worked in the Colorado library system for years, and as part of librarian exchange program became friends with a fellow librarian in Bulgaria.   These days the two of them work together in a project that provides women like me with the opportunity to buy fabulous jewelry and uses the proceeds to buy books to ship to Bulgarian libraries.  Pretty darn cool.

[image error]So I bought a bracelet.  A really amazing crystal construction that shimmered with turquoise and black beads and made me feel almost as elegant as Ms. London (my partner in crime who had a similar bracelet that inspired my purchase).  Anyway, somewhere between the beginning of my stint as Candy Kane, and my meeting with friends to head to dinner, I lost the bracelet.  And even after making Herculean efforts to find it—there was seemingly no hope.

Enter Julie and Laura—the most amazing people ever.  At the rumble, they appeared at my table, and after inquiring about the lost bracelet, offered me a new one.  A beautiful blue and turquoise creation from the same vendor.   They'd bought me a new bracelet to replace the one I'd lost.   To say that I was overwhelmed at their generosity is an understatement.  I teared up.  And of course immediately put on my new treasure.

People are amazing—usually when you least expect it.   From the bottom of my heart, Laura and Julie, thank you.

 

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The Soundtrack of My Life

For the prior two weeks, the kids have been attending a strings camp put on by the district's music department.  There's always a concert at the end of the two weeks, and this year, the theme was movie soundtracks, and it was a blast.  The high school symphony orchestra did a John Williams tribute, and I've been humming it for the past few days, which isn't too much of a problem because it's a lot catchier than "It's A Small World…"

My favorite was definitely this one, and I'm always surprised at how much I love the Jurrasic Park theme. 

Click here to view the embedded video.

When I was a kid, I stood in long lines to watch Star Wars, and I had the Soudtrack on 'vinyl'.  I used to sit in my room and listen to that one over and over again. 

Click here to view the embedded video.

When those opening trumpets start to play, I get goosebumps.  Still.

The music from Indiana Jones is a great theme, and shows off John Wiliams style of creating a movie mood from the music. 

Click here to view the embedded video.

I use a lot of soundtrack music in my writing.  One theme song you'll hear referenced by tons of romance writers is … NO, no Titanic, but this one.  Last of the Mohicans. 

Click here to view the embedded video.

We spent the weekend listening to soundtrack music on youtube, and I thought this one was the best:

Click here to view the embedded video.

So, what's your favorite movie music?  Best soundtrack?  There are so many classics to choose from….

 

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WEEKEND FOLLOW-UP

Hope everyone had a great weekend!  We had a fab time here at Casa D'Alessandro, and since I blogged on Friday about all the activities we had planned for the weekend, I thought I'd follow up with a few photos since it's my blog turn again today.

First up—the Cardboard Boat Regatta. SO MUCH FUN!  Our neighborhood had two boats entered and I'm proud to report that we came in first and second place!  Our teams rowed their hearts out and claimed the victories.

The DH and I helped cheer on the ladies' boat to an impressive finish!

The fun continued on Sunday with my book club.  We gathered at my house, chatted over chilled Prosecco, then headed over to the Ritz Carlton for lunch.  The food was delicious, the margaritas yummy, and the girl-time priceless.  After lunch we saw The Help which we all absolutely loved.  We agreed there will no doubt be some Academy Award noms coming out of it. 

We didn't talk about books much, but we had a great time!

So, how did your weekend go? And what's on your agenda for the rest of the week?  Did you see The Help?  If so, what did you think?

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Touch Me

Pleasing a man is something former mistress Genevieve Ralston does very well. But after her lover callously dumps her, she's definitely off men…until she meets Simon! He's brooding. Sexy. And she can't keep her hands off him…

But Simon Cooperstone, Viscount Kilburn, is a spy. His mission: retrieve a mysterious letter in Genevieve's possession. Intent on seducing her secrets from her, he forgets to guard one thing: his heart.

Each stroke of Genevieve's talented fingers unleashes his deepest desires. Too late, he realizes that while he may be a master of the art of seduction, he's no match for a sensual mistress…

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