Happy Dance Friday #113: Right Said Fred and some rambling on writing...

We have entered that part of the year known as "butt cold." The kind of weather that is the real reason sweatshirts have hoods and is perfect for staying inside with a good sized supply of reading material...and/or computer games, hence the snowy Sims picture.

I'd first intended to post a traditional (if there is such a thing) Happy Dance Friday post, then decided I'd ramble instead, but the rambling reminded me of a bit of happy-dance-inspiring music, which ties in nicely with said rambling, so you get both. These guys have the right perspective on the creative life in today's tune:



2012 was not my best creative year, and far from the most stress-free. For 2013, I'd like to flip that coin over and have the opposite. Which takes some work, some faith, some trial, some error, and the resiliency of a SuperBall (I once dropped one out of a third story dormitory window to see if it would bounce back up all the way. It did. Many thanks to my friend, Diana R, who waited on the ground to make sure she caught any stray balls before they could meet car windows. Yes, she did, and no, they didn't.)but eventually, one gets there.

Like today. I'm reading straight through the ms formerly titled "Draperwood" which is now "Ravenwood," which makes more sense as a place name, and making revisions. You know it's a good day when you're driving your characters through a plague-decimated England and chair dancing as you do because it's fun to do so. I bought a book of stamps, earmarked for good old fashioned snail mail letters, because one dear friend gave me a fountain pen for Christmas and the lure of sitting at my antique secretary desk and writing letters the old-fashioned way is too much for a writer of historical romance to resist. Besides, who doesn't want something in one's mailbox that is not a bill or junk mail? The letter writer in me announced that she is done being quiet, and I have learned it's useless to oppose her. Hence the stamps.

Yesterday, Housemate Linda and I made purchases at two local small bookstores. Between those, the two libraries within walking distance, and my electronic reading devices, the TBR pile is shaping up quite nicely. Tomorrow's plans involve much reading, the baking of cookies, and messing about with some arty things because A) I have stamps and that means mail art, and B) the art supply store had free samples and the girls in my basement (borrowing term from Barbara Samuels, from her book, The Care and Feeding of the Girls in the Basement - highly recommended reading for writers, IMO)want to play with paint. I think I'm going to let them.

What weekend plans make you want to happy dance?

Summer 2012 Default Read - Marsha Canham

The idea of a summer default read started a couple years back for me, in the midst of yet another reading slump. Despite having enough books, both to read and to re-read (and this was before I had an ereader, mind you) to keep me quite busy during that three month stretch of chasing air conditioning and surrendering the diurnal norm (aka too hot to do anything in the daytime) but once again, water, water everywhere and not a drop to drink (er, read.)

Something had to change. I'd come into posession, thanks to UBS and library sales, of the entirety of Mary Jo Putney's Fallen Angels book and figured reading through those would solve the what do I read next problem, so I dove in. That worked well enough, so I set the same goal of a default read for the next year, choosing Hannah Howell's Murray family historicals. As luck would have it, I didn't need to go to default much, so still have several of those yet to read.

Since it’s always a good idea to have a Plan B, the default read continues. This year’s choice was easy. Last year, when catsitting for two friends who live a longish walk apart when one is sun and heat sensitive, as I am, I was the proud new owner of a Sony ereader and Marsha Canham’s Robin Hood Trilogy. You can see where this is going. I devoured all three books, largely over the course of the walks at sunrise and sunset. Same catsitting gigs happened at the same time of year this year, so of course it was time for the tradition to continue. I inhaled a reread of Pale Moon Rider, and then moved on to begin a reread of Across A Moonlit Sea, the first installment of the Pirate Wolf duet, which is now a trilogy and growing. Only natural that after that, I plan on a reread of The Iron Rose, and then first time read of The Following Sea.

Which reminds me that I've only read the first two of her Scottish trilogy, A Pride of Lions and Blood of Roses...or did I manage to get to Blood of Roses, because it was at one time harder than hard to get? Not to mention her lone western, Under the Desert Moon, or her riverboat book Straight For the Heart and of course rereads of classic favorites like The Wind and The Sea and then there are still more to come. Will this be the year I don't get out of default mode?

Then again, there are so many other good books coming out from Cecilia Grant, Elizabeth Hoyt, and others, maybe the question should be, do I really need sleep?

Sicko

I have a cold, so if you have stock in Kleenex and/or any makers of cherry flavored cough drops, you're welcome for the sudden increase in value. DH has earned the title of Patient Zero, but he cooks and actually likes grocery shopping, so I can withstand a few germs. Good thing I like orange juice, especially when there's some pineapple mixed in.

One of my favorite parts of having a cold (yes, I have favorite parts of having a cold; quit looking at me like that or I'll breathe on you) is the ability to envelop myself in a big fluffy blankey and tackle the TBR bookcase without interruption. Only problem with that is that this particular cold seems to think that under a blankey = sleep. I beg to differ. Sure, sleep is good for the healing process, but so is reading. Plus I'm contrary.

I'm used to that label. I can't count the number of times I've been the only X in a room full of Ys. Fill in the gaps as you will. I love going to RWA chapter meetings because I need to breathe romance writer air. I've been in multigenre groups in the past and they don't have the same feel. I can tell when there are other romance writers in the room. Similarly, I've found I can tell when it's going to be a scouting trip to the bookstore rather than a buying one, and no, it's not always dictated by what's in the wallet.

On a recent bookstore jaunt, I came away with RT Book Reviews but no books. I'm okay with that. My TBR shelves are full, and there are several titles in my ereader that I have not yet devoured, and a light purchasing month is indeed easy on the expendable income, which Patient Zero appreciates. Not every writer -or publisher- can please every reader all of the time, and yes, there was at least one current release that I would have purchased if it had been on the shelves. Maybe it was snug in a box in the back room, and we'll find each other another time.

When CORW had a blind three page read at our most recent reading, the pages being read aloud without the author's name, there were still members who knew which entry was mine. I am glad that the reader, Zita Christian, did mention that this was from the prologue to a historical romance, because, well, it takes place in an orphanage in 1691 London, with a very shady business transaction. "Atmospheric" would be an accurate term to apply to this piece (quoting feedback here) and our young hero in the making is about to set off on a rather ah, arduous course...but things get better.

The villain of this particular book creeps me out, and I find that an essential facet in any villains I write. They are, after all, the heroes of their stories. I'm not talking about redeeming them and making them the hero in another book, but about their perspective on the world of the story. They don't think they're doing anything bad. They think they're the good guys, and it's that pesky hero and/or heroine who keeps interfering when they're trying to do what they have to do. Look through the bigbad's goggles for a minute, and it's the hero and/or heroine who's the villain.

I love getting inside the head of my bad guy (or girl) and, while I don't agree with their perspective, I do want to understand it. Who cares if they were the offspring of their father's mistress instead of his lawful wife? They were born first. The rebel leaders have it all wrong; Great Leader is going to keep everything under control, and there have to be some neccessary losses along the way. Even if they're an out and out sociopath (and those are some of my favorites to write) their view of the world has to make sense to them. Otherwise, it won't make sense to me as the writer, and it won't make sense to the reader.

Either that, or I'm a sicko in more ways than one. So what about you, faithful readers? What do you like best about writing your villains? Who was the most compelling villain you've ever read or written?

On the dissipation of cold brain and the art of tai ming

I still have cold brain. Waning, to be sure, but still cold brain. For those who play any of the Sims games, you'll understand an action dropping out of queue. For those who don't, well, we've all started to do something, forget what it is or why we're doing it. That happens a lot with cold brain. When cold brain starts to wane, it's not uncommon to have an action drop out of queue and then pop back in when one has started an entirely different action (Sims games don't do that - yet.)

The plan for this cold was to snuggle under some blankeys and make a dent in my TBR pile. Pause here for wild, demented laughter. Cold-influenced reading was more along the lines of A) carefully pick out book. B) Settle in for good reading session. C) Fall asleep in the middle of first page, or D) Read same page fifteen times and complain about book being repititious already. E) Give up and play Sims. F) Since laptop is on, open WIP and poke with metaphorical stick. G) Open Photoshop Elements and make inspirational graphics, as above (optional.)

All in all, not a lot of reading, when there are a heckuva lot of books. Paperbacks, both mass market and trade sized. Hardcovers. Ebooks. Novels. Research books. Other stuff. Even petted a fanzine in my search for reading material, but brain refused to latch on. Which is okay. It's a new TV season, as recent Saturday at the Movies posts detail. I caught most of Tristan and Isolde yesterday afternoon, which fulfilled some of my romance fiction yearning, but since things don't end exactly well for anybody in the Tristan/Isolde/Mark triangle, no HEA. Utterly gorgeous to watch, though, and atmosphere gets an A+++.

But reading. Yeah. I do have my default reads at the ready; Hannah Howell's Highland historicals this time. I know I'll like those, as I've read some of the earlier ones already, when they were first released, and likely out of order, so they will be like new to me again. Book three is on my desk, awaiting its call to duty, and that may be soon. Still, next to my bed, there is a small stack of started and put aside novels. Nothing wrong with them, only a brain that wouldn't track. I do believe that there is a right time to read a particular book, and something that's a "nice, but not right now" can, days or weeks (or longer) later, become "why did I wait so long to read this?"

Comedian Steve Martin once did a bit on the ancient art of Tai Ming, and I think he was onto something. Like the stack of books by my bed and the computer file of ideas that still need to simmer a while longer because I don't have all the ingredients yet, there is a right time to read or write a particular story, and forcing it isn't going to work. I've learned to embrace the "not right now" and focus on the now. Which is something that isn't that hard to do...and does not mean checking Twitter and Facebook like a maniac every five minutes. Nope, butt in chair, fingers on keyboard gets the job done.

Bookmark, please

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Last night, DH wanted to watch Iron Chef and I did not (something about loud clanging things and a ticking clock not being terribly conducive to the falling asleep process) so I removed myself to the office for some petting of my bookshelves.

While I'm not saying the reading respite is entirely over, I did read five chapters of "The Night Riders" by Hannah Howell in the The Immortal Highlander anthology. I've been keeping notes on this not-reading phase and had earlier listed things I would like to find in my next read. An anthology was high on the list because sometimes, much as I love the big, thick books, I am too pooped to turn that many pages and want to get from once upon a time to happily ever after in relatively quick fashion. Since I didn't want to have to access the WABAC machine part of my brain, a reread made sense, and since this story world takes place in late 15th century Scotland, same as the historical portion of a current ms of my own, that's where my brain already is for a good part of the working day. I'd started reading the Howell/Sands anthologies when they first came out, but wandered off around the third volume. This seemed like the right time to come back.

I didn't consciously plan to read anything last night, but that is the way I planned for things to happen - the not-planning. The important thing, I've found, is that for reading for pleasure to be worthwhile, I have to change the way I look at things. While it is important to keep up with the market if one expects to work in that market, when it comes to reading for pleasure, the books serve me; I don't serve the books. There needs to be, at least in my corner of the world, a balance.

Do I have to read the books that are getting all the buzz? No. Be culturally literate, yes, but it's not worth tying myself in a knot so that I can't fill my creative well. Do I need to keep current with the unending proliferation of unending series? No. They'll do fine without me, for the most part. Rereading is good. New books are good. The right book for me to be reading for pleasure at any given time is...the one I want to read. That easy. Any others will wait, and if the wait is long, there are other things I can do in the meantime.

Last night, I didn't spend that long sitting cross-legged on the floor, digging through my shelves, petting covers, until I plucked something from its shelf and flipped to the first page and had that "yes, this, now" feeling that I'd been missing. I did scout out a few future reads, but that is subject to change. I'm allowed.

Snow Day!

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Yeah, that's pretty much me. I love the white stuff, so when it started yesterday (happy Boxing Day to me!) I was very happy to see it. White Boxing Day still counts as White Christmas in my book, as this week between Christmas and New Year's is my favorite week of the entire year, all tucked away between two holidays.

Maybe it's a leftover from school vacations and maybe it's a leftover from family Christmases where lolling about with relatives and leftovers, cavorting in the frozen outdoors until it's time to gear up for New Year's Eve. Maybe I'm still running on peppermint starlights and twinkly lights (guilty) and fumes from reading a book from my special shelf. That's where I keep highly anticipated books for when I've been really really good or am feeling really really bad. These can be treats or therapy. Sometimes both.

Holiday stress drove me to this shelf on the 23rd, and I selected Silk and Shadow by Aola Vandergriff. I had a hunch that our usual Monday Morning write-in at Panera would be taking a snow day, but still planned on going on my own...though being no dummy, I did put my commute on delay. I spent an hour curled on the couch, under the beyond gorgeous afghan my friend Linda made for DH and me for Christmas, and time zoomed by as I turned pages, caught in a complex web of intrigue, emotion, romance and family dysfunction in early 19th century Louisiana. I haven't read a single thing by Ms. Vandergriff that I haven't loved, though her books are long out of print; this one has a 1981 publication date.

I determined to stay under the afghan until I finished and consider that time extremely well spent, but it does bring me back to "okay, what do I read now?" Some books are a hard act to follow. We are in that tucked away week, though, so I think the afghan and I will have ample opportunity to figure something out, and there is a whole new year's worth of reading to plan. I'm hoping to work out a system so I have a good mix of new and classic romances in rotation.

What do you do during this tucked away week? Any reading goals for 2011?

Climbing Mt. Readme, one book at a time...


In my continued quest for more consistent blogging, (not to mention my penchant for snappy titles) I'm dipping my toe into a new theme. Not exactly reviews, but more of an overview of what I'm reading and how I do that.

Summer and reading seem to go hand in hand for some. While some people shop for the right beach read, my quest is more for an air conditioned room read. I am pale and prone to heat exhaustion, and after the time I had full on heat stroke and did not have a book with me (thus spending four hours in an amusement park's infirmary with nothing to read, oh the horror) I am smart about things like this. Purse always contains the current purse read, usually at least one magazine, my general purpose notebook (I like these with the kraft cover) and possibly one of my dedicated story notebooks or legal pads. Also pens. My favorite by far is the Micron, good for writing and doodling, so it multitasks. Sticky notes are a must for me as well, and I prefer the 3in x 4in size, and color or pattern must be other than yellow. My absolute favorite sticky notes are promotional items snagged at conferences.

Magazines are usually one of the following: Romantic Times Book Review; some member of the Somerset Studio family or Romance Writers Report, which is part of the RWA membership.

Then there's books. I am known for multitasking and my all time total of books read at one time is (brace yourself) ten. If I'm doing this right, you'll be able to see my Shelfari bookshelf on the side here :makes vague wavy gesture toward sidebar: If I somehow managed to launch missiles at Norway, as Dave Barry would say, link is here. Current purse book is Joanna Bourne's The Spymaster's Lady, though my copy is the original mass market edition, not the lovely new trade size. I did get this book when it first came out, but as I am anal about reading in story order (a whole post in itself) I wanted to wait until the prequel, The Forbidden Rose, came out. Which I devoured in record time and am now able to proceed through this intriguing world of the French Revolution. After that, refer to my previous post on my TBR shelf.

Interestingly enough, though I have four titles in electronic release, I do not own an e-reader. I do read some e-books, but on my laptop, which goes pretty much everywhere with me. That's working well so far, but I would consider a dedicated reader in the future. Jury is still out on which model would best suit my needs. Laptop is where I do a lot of my writing, and also critiquing of friends' manuscripts.

Periods of non-reading are rare and extremely frustrating, though they do happen. Last summer, I combatted that by setting myself the default of reading through Mary Jo Putney's Fallen Angels books. No default set yet for this summer, but might be a good idea to get one in place in case I need one.