Torturing the Hero(ine)

(As an aside, can I say how torturous it was to spell ‘torture’? I always want to throw in a ‘ch’ an/or an extra ‘u’ in there somewhere. Lol)

What is it with we authors that we must heap misfortune after misfortune upon our main protagonists? We make them orphans, or have unloving/alcoholic/drug-addict step/parents, or bounced from one foster home to another, or grow up on the mean streets of____. They’re abducted and sold to a brothels or conscripted and made to work on pirate ships. They’re blind, lamed or social outcasts. More recently we give them some extreme/non-pc/borderline legal sexual kink.

All the while having perfectly straight white teeth, blemish free skin, great hygiene and thick luxurious hair. ::wink::.

Reading about a perfect Marcia Brady like heroine hooking up with a perfect Tebow-ish hero is well… ::yawn::. Pathos + romance = engaging story. Conflict + growth arc overcoming adversities = interesting characters.

But sometimes we authors delve a little too far into the eye-rolling ‘oh fer gawds sake give the kid a break’ territory. I almost found myself there with a story idea that hit me squarely between the eyes. I can’t work on it now because Mitch’s story (follow up to Hunter of the Heart) is my priority, but I knew I had to write down the bones of this story while it was hot, or else most of it would be forgotten. So there I am doing the character outlines. It’s a sci-fi romance. The hero backstory wasn’t too exaggerated. Let’s just say that his government wouldn’t let the poor man die in battle, and now he's as much man as he is machine.

The heroine on the other hand…. well, I must have had a REALLY big cup o WTF while I wrote her backstory. She’s part alien, part human. Her mother is killed (along with 95% of alien their race), then her human father is killed in battle, her father parents reluctantly take her in, but they don’t want her/dislike and blame her for their son's death. When the grandparents are forced to evacuate their outpost, they manage to leave her behind and she ends up as slave labor. Oh, and at some point she’s supposed to lose a leg (before the story begins) and also commit a criminal act that lands her at some penal colony/planet where she meets the hero and our story begins.

0_0

Yeah, so, I took another stab at that backstory and took it down a notch or three or ten. lol. And, as usual, the revised/simplified version is stronger/better. **thank god for 1st drafts & revisions**

Healthy Writer

If you’ve dropped by this blog with any type of regularity, you probably have come across a post alluding to me striving for balance in my life. (usually that post came after a long out of date post).

Case in point. ahem

The detrimental effects of long-term stress have been well document, and let me tell you I’m a walking text-book case of it. Name a stress related malady and I can put a checkmark beside it. It got to the point where I realized that if I didn’t take active measures, I could very well find myself in the hands of medical professionals, both mental and physical, at some point in the near future. ‘Just trying to chill’ just wasn’t cutting it.

I started hitting the gym on a consistent basis, expanded the vitamins & supplements I take, changed my eating to be more healthier/organic, drink more water, juices, herbal/green teas, etc. It’s really starting to pay off after only a short space of time.

One area I’m still struggling with though, is the writing. I can’t totally claim the lack thereof is all due to stress (though dealing with stress & it’s accompanying health concerns will always trump dealing with the writing). It’s partly a discipline, also. Need to find the right block of time to write and make it a habit. One other factor comes into play, too. Mindset. I need to be immersed in the book, constantly thinking about the characters, plot streams, goal, motivation, conflicts. Scenes need to play out in my head on a regular loop. The whole stress thing interferes with this process. But this morning I was reminded of one way to overcome this. Reading. But reading good shit.

Not mediocre/okay/pretty-good/not bad stuff. I’ve been reading a lot of mediocre/okay/pretty-good/not bad stuff. Short-stories/novellas, mostly erotica. (most of which has not been listed on my Goodreads shelf, btw). The equivalent of fast-food—tasty, goes down fast, but no nutritional value. I was reading mostly for sheer entertainment/content and as a quick/easy distraction. And there’s nothing wrong with that, but it can’t be all there is.

Almost none of what I’ve been reading has nourished or inspired me. I wasn’t getting carried away by the storytelling or the emotions, or the basic writing-craft to the point that I wanted to rise to that bar myself. This morning I read a chapter of something by a skilled author that reminded me, this is what I want to do. I want to write seamless, realistic dialogue like this. I want to flesh out my story world with these types of details and my pacing to flow so easily. I want my characters to live and breathe like this.

So, I’m going to have to cut down on my literary equivalent of ‘just chilling’ reading choices, and start a diet of more fulfilling stories, that should in turn bring some vigor/health to my own writing output (and that includes blogging ::fingers crossed::).

Galleys & and excerpt

Still plugging away at my galleys (that are due tomorrow!!) Anywho, it hasn't been quite as painful as I'd thought. So far it hasn't been a matter of typos as much as snipping/smoothing out phrasing/word choices.

Anywho, I'm really enjoying this revisit to the story and thought I'd share one scene that always makes me chuckle. This isn't an exchange between the hero/heroine, Tessa and Nate, (he is in the back of the taxi with her in this scene though) but it's one of my favourites bits from Hunter:



Farther out, turquoise waters deepened to a rich sapphire
and above that the cloudless azure sky stretched as far as the
eye could see. Tessa would have lost herself in the view, if it
weren’t for the fact that she was about to meet her maker any
second now in a fiery skidding plunge off the cliff-side road.

With a sharp gasp, she grabbed the headrest of the seat in
front of her as Silas took another hairpin turn without slowing
down. Mitch looked over his shoulder at her and winked, his
straight white teeth on prominent display.

Alarmingly, in what had to be a misguided attempt at
reassurance, Silas turned to her also. Thereby… Taking. His. Eyes.
Off. The. Road.

“Not to fret, pretty lady. I travel dis road many, many
times.”

Tessa stared straight ahead—after all, someone had to watch
where the car was hurtling towards—and dug her fingernails
into the battered upholstery. Only when he turned back to the
steering wheel did her pulse slow a smidgen.

“Silas won’t let anything happen to you,” Mitch offered.

With Silas beaming at her through the rearview mirror,
Tessa allowed a small smile to stretch her lips. Mitch was right.
Silas wouldn’t be careless enough to let anything happen.

His driving was much more deliberate than that.

Now This Is A Story All About How...

My son sent me this Fresh Prince Remix/Jam. The dance moves are too funny (love 'the Carlton'). Enjoy!

What's doing...

Nuttin' much.

heh.

Still trying to get the life balance thing on track.

Can you believe January is almost done? Made me realize it was time to take down the Xmas tree. :D (Don't shake you're head at me, the neighbors across the street still have their outside Xmas decorations up.)


On the writing front:

I got the galley for Hunter of the Heart earlier this month (deadline to finish the 30st!) The print version is scheduled for release Sept 4 2012. Honestly can't remember the process I went through for Felicity Stripped Bare galley, but this process seems more stream-lined.

Mitch's story is making me crazy. Cah-rah-zeee. I seem to be deleting more than I keep, but making so progress. And all the deleted stuff still gets saved in separate file, most of it won't make it back into the story, but fills in stuff in my head re the interactions/backgrounds of various characters including the H/h.

Also, for the readers who asked for Rob's story (the hero's bestfriend in Felicity Stripped Bare), I finally came up with something for him. Interestingly it wasn't his story, to start, I just knew I needed to write another straight contemporary and came up with a fun premise after reading a magazine feature article. A few months later, after having said idea stewing on the back-burners in my brain, I realized with a little tweaking the hero could be Rob. (after he has an accident on site and takes up yoga. lol. Yeah, if you read FSB, you know this is soooooo not Rob. lol) (I'm going to have so much fun with poor Rob with this story. mwahahaa) So after I finish Mitch's story, I'll start Rob's. (even came up with a cool title, but love it so much I won't post it).

But before I even start his story, I'll have to refresh my memory by re-reading Felicity Stripped Bare. *gulp* With the exception of edits, I never re-read my stories because ALL I see are the bad things: missed typos, ackward phrasing, things that could have been cut or fleshed out, etc. I cringe or teeter of the verge of cringing all the way through. Not a pleasant experience. :-P

That's pretty much all the news that's fit to print.

Later gators.

Better late than never

Lately? Swear ta gawd if my head wasn't screwed on to my neck I'd lose it.

I did a guest post over on Bitten by Paranormal Romance today. So when did I send that sucker in? erm... yesterday evening....

Then promptly forgot to do an announcement post here. ::headdesk::

But it's up and it's about character arcs vs character reveals, so go on over a take a boo and say something why dontcha?

Bitten By Paranormal Romance


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Scaling Mt. Toberead

I have boxes of unread books, unpacked from our move into this house 5yrs ago, downstairs in the basement, as well as unread books stacked two deep in the basement bookcases.

Then there are the mushrooming piles of books in various rooms upstairs...


This is one side table in the livingroom:

And these shopping totes/bags are tucked under the other sidetable.

I can't be arse to go upstairs and take pics of the bags/piles of books on my bedroom floor, but they're equal to, if not more than, what's in the livingroom.

Keeping in mind these are just print books and not to-be-read ebooks, it's time to take action. I can only deal with clutter/mess for a certain amount of time before taking a scorced earth approach to the problem. Subconciously, clutter makes me edgy.

Though sorely tempted to just cart the books off to the UBS without reading them, I can't make myself do it, so time for some goal setting:

The Procastination Station 2012 Bag O' Books Challenge. (that title is a little self-defeating. Think about it. lol)

I may do some reviews/commentaries on some of the books, but mostly will just keep track of my progress here on the blog.

Going to start with one of the smaller piles on the side table:

Hopefully I'll read all 7 books by the end of January.

Kresley Cole's If You Decieve
Lynne Graham's Jewel In His Crown
Martha Grimes' I Am The Only Running Footman
Jo Goodman's Kissing Comfort
Theresa Meyer's The Hunter
Jane Goodger's When A Duke Says I Do
Justine Musk's Univited

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