We're off! almost

I imagine this will be the last post until I return from Reno. Today is all-girly all the time. You know the drill. And the packing. Amazingly girly thought: today is the last Tuesday I'll be single.

I'm not changing my name, because well, I'm not. Although it would give me a secret thrill to be called Mrs. W.

We're leaving really early tomorrow morning, heading for the amazing heat of Nevada. We went fishing yesterday, and a storm came up. It got really cold and rained too much for us to stay. One fish caught, but he got away at the last minute. Which was fine. We mostly catch and release. Oh, and for hubby-to-be's wedding present we're getting a 4-man Fishhunter inflatable boat. It's the ultimate wonderful to take the Alpha Smart out on the boat, and work on the lake. I'm totally spoiled.

Although I wish we had a laptop for travel. I get internet withdrawal, which isn't pretty. And my poor honey has to figure out ways to occupy his time when I'm at meetings and such, although he's joining me for the social stuff.

Just finished reading IF ANGELS BURN by S.L. Viehl, and I love it! Fabulous, kick-ass heroine, fascinating premise, it held me even though I've been crazed with revisions and wedding stuff, so that's saying a lot.

I'm taking Hitchhiker's Guide on the road with me. Yeah, I've read it, but not for ages, and it seems like a perfect road trip book. I'm hoping to score some new books at the con, but since I'm not officially there, I don't know if that's gonna happen.

I think that's it for me. More stuff to pack, do, check off, clean, water, pluck, wash. So be good, and coming home to messages is always swell.


07.26.05 @ 02:02 PM MST [Link to Entry]

Done-diddly-un

The revisions, they are done! The book is with my editor, and now I can willfully and gleefully obsess about my wedding to my heart's content. I will leave time, however, to go fishing today. But I can multitask - obsess and fish. Should be a damn good day. Tomorrow is packing, and then we're up and outa here early Wed morning, although we won't be in Reno until Thursday.

Just so we all understand the obsessing part - I've let my nails grow. Long. Which is a bitch while typing, but see, people are going to want to look at my ring. So, long nails (I don't mean dragon lady long, but long for me) make my hands look sleeker. I will cut them (the nails, not my fingers) next Monday so I can once again type without making a ton of mistakes, but for the wedding? Oh, yeah. Which brings up…My dress is aquamarine-ish. I have no idea what nail color to use with this dress. Any suggestions?

Another aspect of the obsession - Just this morning I felt compelled to internet-search people who used to be in my life. What makes it somewhat easier is that most of them are listed at IMDB.com. I'm not exactly sure how this connects to the wedding, but it does. I found a few who are still very active in the business, and some who haven't worked in film for awhile. I guess if they were looking me up, they'd wonder what happened. Only once was I tempted to send an email, but I thought better of it. That was another life in a galaxy far, far away.

Oh, one last note on the revisions. I ended up deleting 50+ pages, then adding back 50+ new pages. It was not an easy task, but one I'm glad I went through. I suspected I would learn a lot from this process, and I did. But it would have been unbelievably harder if I didn't have the support from those I count on. The incredible DF (who will be the DH on Saturday!) read and corrected and suggested great things, and my dear friend Debbi, who nitpicked and didn't shy away from telling me what I needed to do. So, applause and heartfelt thanks to both of them.



07.25.05 @ 12:51 PM MST [Link to Entry]

A Note for the Frustrated (damn that spam!)

Some of you kind souls have tried to post to more than one of the entries here on the blog, and found your message throttled. This is not personal. I adore messages, the more the better. This unfortunate circumstance is a reaction to the bazillion and one spams that hit this blog before something had to be done. So while you can post to more than one entry, you have to wait between postings. Which, I admit from my own blog habits, is a pain in the ass.

I'm considering getting a new blog server. Which one??? No clue. And dammit, I finally figured out how to do stuff on this one. But the above sucks, no?

Yet another reason to want to personally hurt spammers in the most unpleasant way possible.


PS - if you have the best blog thingy in the whole world, please let me know. If you ditched one that was more trouble than it was worth, I'd love to know that, too. Merci.


07.24.05 @ 05:52 PM MST [Link to Entry]

Happy Reading!zzzzzzzzzzzz

I know a lot of people are going to the RWA signing in Reno, and although I won't be there to sign, I still have been doing contests and sending out books. And I sign each one. The problem? I never have anything witty and memorable to sign. So here's the question - what kind of message do you like to get on the front flap of your signed books?
Do you want more than a signature? If you don't know the author, so she can't really say anything personal, what works? What do you hate?

And you authors, do you angst over the signature? How do you come up with what you write?

The goal for the author is to make the autograph personal and meaningful. The goal for the reader is, I believe, the same. So, um, how?



07.24.05 @ 12:40 PM MST [Link to Entry]

Winners of the Gimme!!!!

Okay, I said I'd pick 5. I'm a liar. So sue me. Here are the winners, because what you shared was wonderful!

Kim
Nicole
Larissa
Glenice
Chris
Jordan
Joely
Alyssa
Cheryl
Kaitlin
Candy

Send me your snail mail addresses, and I'll do my damndest to mail these before I leave, so hurry! Here's the email address: Jo_Leigh14@hotmail.com



07.24.05 @ 12:40 AM MST [Link to Entry]

Oh, Yeah!

And we have a dress! Yahoo! Just need a necklace, and it's a done deal. I can't tell you how relieved I am. And I'm zeroing in on the end of the revisions. Probably finish those today, then read on Sunday.

We're leaving on Wednesday and coming home Sunday. I imagine a lot of folks are going to be gone over that period, and that I'll get to see some of you in Reno, which will be fun. If you visit the blog on any kind of regular basis, please do say hello.

Aside from the whole wedding thing, one thing I want to do is talk to folks about their agents. Good and bad experiences. I haven't had an agent in a number of years, so I'm kind of out of the loop.

What's really fun in a non-work way is that my Dad is coming from Georgia to be at the wedding, and we're taking him to the Harlequin party. (Cleared that, of course). The thing is, as I've mentioned here before, my father LOVES romance novels, and he reads constantly. Last I checked, he was reading 3 a day, all category. He's desperate to meet Barbara Boswell, whom I don't know, so if you do, and know if she's going to be at the party, let me know, okay? I'm just sorry he's not going to be there Wednesday, because he would so love to go to the signing. Alas, he's coming in on Friday.

And so---to work!


07.23.05 @ 12:19 PM MST [Link to Entry]

Gimme!

Because I've gotten my author copies for LOVE SO TENDER, I'm giving some away!
It's an anthology, and my story PLAY IT AGAIN, ELVIS is quirky and sweet. It was really fun to write, and I even went to Vegas for research, getting a wonderful tour of the Hilton showroom by a guy who'd worked with Elvis. Backstage stuff is so fun.

So - the contest. What's your favorite love song? The one that makes you tear up, or takes you back to an unforgettable moment? Post in the comments, feel free to include the story of why your song is your song. I'll be picking 5 winners by tomorrow morning.



07.22.05 @ 10:38 AM MST [Link to Entry]

If I Fell...

After a long, hard day of writing yesterday, my guy took me out to see a new mountain view he'd found when he went to fish. It was gorgeous, with three meandering waterfalls cascading down a mountainside. It was on the dark side, so the pictures were nice but didn't come close to showing how gorgeous this site was. Truly breathtaking.

Not satisfied with a quiet moment of contemplation, I decided to shift the attention to myself by slipping on some loose gravel and falling quite dramatically. Since I was wearing shorts, I totally trashed the front of my right leg. It's a freaking mess. It looks like I was dragged through rocks by a spooked horse. Ow, ow, ow. What truly sucks about this is that I'm supposed to be wearing a few dresses in ONE WEEK and now I'll have this huge scabby thing on my leg. Neato. Oh, and the right arm is screwed up, too.

Which reminded me yet again that life is not fair, and that something needs to be done about this sad fact.

Also in the not fair category is that I'm still plugging away at the revisions when I should be lounging around thinking about my upcoming nuptials. I ordered the cake. I made an appointment to get my nails done. He got his hair cut and he looks totally yummy. The dress that I hope will work is on its way. So everything's in order. Except that I have 4 new scenes to write, and a meticulous read through after that.

Do I want some cheese with that whine???



07.21.05 @ 12:38 PM MST [Link to Entry]

And now...your moment of zen

07.21.05 @ 02:36 AM MST [Link to Entry]

Miscellaneous Meanderings

I tried to get into the RWA PAN site to vote on RITA judging, but despite being a registered user, it wouldn't let me in. I wrote to the web mistress, but after a few shared emails, I guess they threw up their hands and decided I didn't need to vote. Oh well. I tried.

Me? A nerd? Naw. Well, maybe. I got this new Post-It highlighter that has flags built into the pen. I'm totally in love with it, although, I'd like it better if it was refillable. But so cool for revisions! (The only thing cool about the current revisions, FYI).

I'm wanting to nap all the time. Of course I know it's an avoidance technique, because the work is difficult, but still. Why can't my avoidance come in the form of wanting to work out? It's also hot up here. Not as hot as most of you have to suffer, so I have some nerve complaining, but as I've mentioned before, complaining is something I do particularly well. My office is the upstairs loft, so all the heat rises. I've got fans going, but I don't have a direct window in the loft, and besides, the air outside is hot. So I'm all cranky about it. Which is another reaction to the work being difficult. Jeez, even I'm getting tired of my whining. And yet, the wonderful DF still wants to marry me. Go figure.

Okay, work now, babble later. Here's a gif you've all probably seen already, but it makes me laugh.


Why Stick People Are Extinct:

07.20.05 @ 01:22 PM MST [Link to Entry]

Precious Moments

Last summer, we went to Reno to the DF's nephew's wedding. We drove home on what's called the Loneliest Highway in the World, which has a real name that I can't recall, but we drove all night. It was truly a lonely road, we saw amazingly few cars (and amazingly few open gas stations, which sucked). He drove most of the way, but when he got too tired, I took over. So I'm driving through a small town north of where we live, dodging bunnies in the road, and it's like 3 am and it's very, very quiet and dark. I see something in the road, so I slow down. As I approach, the things in the road become deer. As I get even closer, I realize there's something very wrong with these deer. Mutant deer! They were deformed, seriously, and I was totally freaked out. So freaked, I woke the DF. Who looked at the mutant deer and informed me that they were, um, antelope.

Oh.

I hate it when I do stuff like that. Which doesn't mean I don't do it all the time.

Several years ago, I decided to move from LA to Houston. My friend Susan lived there, so I went to do some recon about apartments and such. She drove me around, and since she was also a transplant and didn't know the area well, I had the Thomas Guide map on my lap as navigator. We're driving all over the place in the middle of the city, and things aren't going well. Despite the map, we're getting dazed and confused. About an hour into this, we're at a stoplight, and she glances over at the map. Calmly (all my friends try to be very calm around me) she lifts the book, turns it upside down, then she sighs. Just…sighs.

The thing is, I have many good qualities, too. Honest. Really.

If others wanted to share their, uh, shining moments here, that would be cool. It might make some of us feel better.


07.19.05 @ 12:10 PM MST [Link to Entry]

Lessons in subtext

More on the revisions (hey, if I have to go through this painstaking process, so do you): By the time I'm writing the book, I've already plotted the book, and I pretty much know what I need to add for the flow of the plot. But on revisiting certain scenes, I'm looking at them at a new angle because I need to cut the scene, but take what's important and move it to another scene. So, what's important?

There's backstory. How much do I need to say to let the reader understand what the h/h are going through now?

There's a sense of place and time.

There's all the stuff that's happening now, that the h/h need to react to.

The biggest thing, however, seems to me to be the interaction that reveals how the h/h are learning about each other. These two need to fall in love, and that happens on several levels: Chemically - they are turned on by each other's scents, their looks, the way they move, etc. Intellectually - they challenge each other, make each other think in new ways, have a commonality that lets them understand and relate to past and current experiences. Emotionally - there's a level of empathy that I think is required for love to occur. They may not have gone through the same experiences, but they have an emotional synchronicity that lets them grok the other's experience. And then there's the humor test - they must get each other's sense of humor, which is highly subjective, but for me, it's a deal breaker if the funny bones don't resonate on the same wave length.

All of these things need to be clicking all the time, and come together so sweetly that by the time the reader is halfway through the book, they know that these two people belong together, despite outside circumstances.

Since the book I'm revising takes place in such a short time span, it's filled to the brim with dialogue. It's been incredibly interesting looking at scenes to cut, because while some of them don't have earthshaking info in them, they all (at least I hope) have something revealing (to the reader if not the couple) in them. Even if it's just a shared reaction to something silly or sad they observe. In other words, I can't just look at the dialogue and the situation to see if it can be yanked, but the subtext of the scene, and what's happening in it that shifts the h/h up the scale from friends to lovers. And that's what's making me insane. Because mostly the subtext comes from my own subtext, if you will. I don’t consciously think, I'll have them smile at the same time because on some level the reader's going to catch that they're sharing a secret, which is a way people bond. I just write the simultaneous smiles.

After cutting a few scenes that on the surface didn't seem essential, I realized that though subtle, I couldn't simply rip them out. I had to find a way to convey, via subtext, the shifts in emotional connection. Which, for the record, is a bitch. Because it's all about timing and pace.


07.18.05 @ 11:58 AM MST [Link to Entry]

Drive By Posting

Just a quickie today because I have only 9 days to get this ms into shape. I'm re-reading the book, making notes on the hard copy, looking for ways I can get my couple to interact with the outside world. It's a painstaking process, and it's forcing me to expand my view of who they are.

It's something I don't often have to do - reform my vision of the h/h. They're both very clear to me, and yet, I'm now discovering areas of their personalities that I hadn't explored before. The problem isn't finding more depth, it's finding ways to illustrate that depth through other means - not internal dialogue, nor dialogue with the other central character.

If nothing else, this experience is going to teach me a lot. Always a good thing, as long as I can keep my fear and my ego out of the way. I'm still intent on working on the Joy Diet, but again, finding myself worried so much about making this book work, it's difficult. It's hard to remember I'm more than the work when the work isn't flowing. Lessons, lessons. I'm grateful for them (when I'm not pissed off).


07.15.05 @ 01:15 PM MST [Link to Entry]

Mostly about revisions

Today we're going to much hotter climes to a): have our windshield replaced, and b): try on dresses. Well, I'm going to try on dresses. The DF looks better in pants. I know it's nuts to go shopping when it's 112 but I have no more time! I must find a dress! What if I need shoes? I'm shorter than most, and I can't sew, so that means a seamstress if the dress is too long. Oy!

On the other hand, I also get to be filled with anxiety about the revisions on the book. I need to weave in a subplot, which is very, very difficult to do after the book is written. I didn't think I would need one when I wrote it, but my editor believes it does. The real problem is that I need time to let things percolate. I simply won't put in something that doesn't impact the characters and their conflicts. So to make it seamless, to make it matter, I need to think it all the way through. The downside? I need to get this done before I go to Reno. If I don't take the time to think it through, however, I'll muck everything up. The positive side is that I know these characters really well, and once the idea blossoms, I'm sure the revisions will go relatively quickly.

I pouted for a bit after the conversation with my editor about this revision because I want every book I write to be flawless and wonderful right out of the gate. Then I got over myself, and once again got it that yes, I need editing. I want editing. It's ultimately scary when I get no revisions, because well, I can't see my own work objectively and while my ego wants to think I'm brilliant, I'm only brilliant some of the time.


I know there are really good things that happen in this book right now. And that I wouldn't have been in the least ashamed if it went to press as is. But it's not the best it can be, and I want to shoot for the top.

I had an interesting experience reading a review of one of my books. The reviewer thought I should have presented the heroine's conflict in a different way and the moment I read it, I knew she was right. It would have made the book stronger. That's what I mean about not being objective about the work. I don't know that it's possible to be critically observant about my own stuff. And with most editors from most houses having more and more work to do and less time to edit, where does that leave the author? A lot of big names hire outside editors. Is that the wave of the future?


07.14.05 @ 11:07 AM MST [Link to Entry]

Oh Joy

Update on the Joy Diet - I didn't do nothing. (I loved writing that sentence!) I thought about doing nothing, but in the end, I just didn’t. Maybe because I was fishing, and it was gloriously gorgeous at the lake. So it felt as if I was meditating in a way. But that's just an excuse. Beck asserts that it's important to practice each task every day not matter what until it becomes so integral to your day that you'd miss it if it wasn't done. I've heard that about exercise, about changing eating habits, about a whole lot of things, but I've never managed to do any of them. I have a difficult time with delayed gratification.

But I'll do nothing today, I promise!

In other news, it's less than 3 weeks until I get married and I don't have a dress. I'm not wearing white because the whole hotel would explode, but I do want to wear something that's comfy and makes me feel like I look okay. It's been really tough because I've had to do all my shopping via the mail. I've ordered a bunch of stuff, and sent it all back. I have one more dress I'm waiting on, and if that doesn't work, well, gee. Maybe no one will think it's weird if I show up in jeans and a T. Of course, the DF looks stunning in his suit, which makes this all the more difficult. ::sigh::

Okay, to work. Revisions. And then more revisions. Weeeee!


07.13.05 @ 12:24 PM MST [Link to Entry]

You Enter...You Win!

In case you didn't read the winners in the comments, here are the names of the nice folks who won a copy of NOT-SO-SECRET BABY.

Cheryl
Kim
Mary
Jayne R
Erika
Sanjay
Sybil

If you haven't sent me your email address yet, please do. I'll get those into the mail asap.


07.13.05 @ 12:11 PM MST [Link to Entry]

Books and Nothingness

Got some books yesterday - Lynn Viehl's If Angels Burn, Michele Albert's One Way Out, Douglas Adams' Hitchhiker's Guide (I couldn't find my old one) and The Joy Diet by Martha Beck.

While I'm looking forward to reading all of them, I need to read The Joy Diet. It's not about food, it's about living life. From the book jacket:

Welcome to The Joy Diet, a menu of ten behaviors you can add to your way of living and thinking to enhance every hay's journey through the unpredictable terrain of your existence. You can add these behaviors gradually and watch your life become steadily more vivid and satisfying. Or you can go on a "crash Joy Diet" to help you navigate life's emergencies.

The ten menu items are:

Nothing
Truth
Desire
Creativity
Risk
Treats
Play
Laughter
Connection
Feasting

I'm not a huge self-help person, although I've read my share, but I adore Martha Beck's column in O. Not only is she brilliant, but she's hysterically funny, so what's not to like?

Even though I'm deliriously happy what with the wedding and all, my work life is not filled with skipping and singing. So I'm going to look at what Beck has to say about finding Joy in new ways.

What would be totally cool is if others wanted to join in the journey - no set times, just the occasional chat about the process, the experiments and the results. It's always more fun when we can share.

First challenge - do nothing for 15 minutes today. Come on, I dare you. Nothing. Not reading, not surfing, not worrying, not making a list in your head of all the things you're supposed to be doing right now as you try and sit for 15 minutes doing nothing. Well, meditating is okay, but since I suck at meditation, I'll just try for watching the thoughts as they meander by. Suddenly, 15 minutes seems like 15 hours, but what the hell. I'm going for it.


07.12.05 @ 12:31 PM MST [Link to Entry]

I know what you're thinking....not

About 14 years ago I died. It was from anaphylactic shock, and I was dead for about 3 minutes. I saw no white light. I didn't rise above my body to look at the emergency room doctors and me on the table. I have no recollection of those 3 minutes at all, and frankly, this pisses me off. I mean, if I'm going to die, for god's sake, at least let me have a wickedly great story to tell if not a life-changing experience that would transform the way I saw the cycle of life.

In fact, I haven't had one paranormal experience. Not one. I've had coincidental moments. But nothing spooky, nothing that hinted that I might have a "gift." Basically, I feel cheated.

My mother had some interesting experiences that I think were more a connection to her children than actual ESP. Once my father hypnotized someone at a party, and they started talking about a past life. Other than that, zip.

The odd thing is, despite the fact that no one has successfully, repeatedly demonstrated ESP (or the like) in scientific studies, I totally buy into all of it. Well, not vampires and werewolves, but ESP, telekinesis, clairvoyance, the whole range of stuff that would indicate there's more here on heaven and earth.

No monster movie has ever scared me more than a wickedly good psychic tale. I think that's why I love Stephen King books so much. I actually like getting scared by these tales. And yet the idea of writing a paranormal hasn't been in my radar. I'm thinking it's because on some level I don't believe it at all. It's outside my experience.

On the other hand, being an FBI agent is outside my experience, and that didn't stop me from writing about it.

This ramble has no real point, except that I'm curious about those of you who write and read paranormals. Have you had experiences yourself, and that's why they draw you? Are there any writers of paranormals who are like me, and have never had even one spooky moment? Do you want the premises of these books to be true?

Send me your comments via automatic writing for extra points


07.11.05 @ 12:49 PM MST [Link to Entry]

Giveaway

I'm giving away 3 copies of my Harlequin Intrigue NOT SO SECRET BABY. Just add a comment - I'll be picking three from those who are interested.

From Romance Junkies:

Jo Leigh writes nail-biting romantic suspense with heart-pounding emotions and dialogue. Her characters in NOT-SO-SECRET BABY are all so real that you can’t help being swept up in this world of love, danger, and passion that she’s created. I’m certainly glad I broke my series romance cold spell and picked up this super hot book!

07.08.05 @ 01:36 PM MST [Link to Entry]

It hurts

I'm watching BBC news. I feel like we've all gone through the looking glass. I'm so sorry for everyone who was personally touched by this, and wishing I could do more. Please do click on the ONE campaign button on the bottom right of this page. It helps to do something positive.

07.08.05 @ 01:17 AM MST [Link to Entry]

Schedules, etc.

After a quick trip to Vegas and back yesterday, I'm trying to get into the writing groove today. I'm fitting my schedule to the weather by writing some in the morning, taking a 'going fishing' break, then writing some more when I get back. So far (after doing it once) so good.

I keep thinking I'm going to find a schedule that works and that I'll be able to stick to, but that's never going to happen. It changes book to book. Why? No clue. It just does. Some things aren't worth fighting. I just hope I never have to write from 2 to 6 in the morning, because that would suck.

I tried to make it to a real live bookstore yesterday, but never made it. Damn. I really, really love bookstores. Maybe the opening of the new theater will inspire a renaissance of artsy endeavors in our little town, and someone will open a great bookstore. Yeah, uh huh.

Oh, wait, this was cool. Driving home up the mountain at 11:30 pm, we were treated to the Deer Festival. We knew it was a festival because all the deer were standing in the middle of the road, clearly waiting for the parade. Even when we drove really close to the deer, they weren't very inclined to move. There was a special appearance by a bunny, who had the good sense to be scared shitless by an oncoming vehicle, but the deer? Maybe they thought we were bringing them beer and cotton candy. Did I mention there were tons of them? Standing in the middle of the road, when all around them were meadows lush with grass, forests full of great hiding places, and even rocks to hide behind? Sheesh.


07.07.05 @ 03:21 PM MST [Link to Entry]

Ooops

I haven't received the actual books yet, but gee, there seems to be a few issues with my first novella for Harlequin Signature Select. The title was LOVE ME TENDER, but that had to be changed to LOVE SO TENDER. Now it seems they have the wrong name for my heroine on the back cover. Her name is Molly Canada. The back cover calls her Ellie Evans.

Ah, well. Some things are just out of my control.



07.06.05 @ 11:16 AM MST [Link to Entry]

Informal Member Survey (hehe get it?)

How many romance novels have you read where the hero is uncircumcised? I can't think of one, although I'm not the voracious rom reader a lot of people are. I've seen lots of folks talk about the birth control issue, but never this issue. Because I'm used to circumcised men, it never even occurs to me to include the foreskin, even though I have nothing against it. I guess it goes along with my not writing particularly hairy men.

When I create my characters, especially the hero, they have to ring all my personal bells. I tend to write dark haired guys, because I find them attractive (although the DF has the most gorgeous thick white hair you've ever seen and I think he's the sexiest guy ever). The men I write are never overly muscled, they all have a sense of the ironic, and none of them have gigantic penises, cut or uncut, because ow.

So I'm wondering if authors who write books that describe naked men have preferences on the penile accoutrements and just go with what they like, or do they just kind of go with the statistical norm for North American males?





07.06.05 @ 10:20 AM MST [Link to Entry]

Vampires, please

I need recommendations, please, of dark vampire fiction. Although I love Buffy/Angel, and totally buy into the vampire motif, I have never read a vampire book, except for Bram Stoker's Dracula. I know they're very hot, and lots of folks love them, so I figured here's the place to find out what's great in the genre.

The mountain is ours again, thank goodness. All the strangers have gone back to their lives so we don't have to listen to the roar of ATVs at all hours, which is a good thing. God, we're going to be toast if this ski lodge reopens. We're so used to being up here by ourselves. It would be good because the value of our property would go up a lot, but then there would be people! Eeek! Although oh, a restaurant up here? That would be great. I never dreamed I would cook as much as I have since we moved here. Ask me anything about shrimp curry - really. And chicken. Can't forget chicken.


07.05.05 @ 10:57 AM MST [Link to Entry]

Details, etc.

I'm totally paranoid that I'm going to screw something up in the WWII novella. Not the love story, but the historical accuracy. How do you historical writers do it? Geez! There's everything from the clothes to the cars to the streets to the foods…so much to choose from, so much to get wrong.

I'm doing most of the research from timelines, and I have the major events down. It's the little things that are pressing in on me. Underwear. The cost of a movie ticket, or a dinner in a restaurant.

Maybe I should gloss over this stuff, but for me, if I'm reading a historical book, I want the details. I just wish I had the time to immerse myself, get the DVDs and books that cover this time period, but I don't.

In other news, there are tons of people on the mountain. Tons. Selfishly, I think everyone up here enjoying the gorgeous weather and the beautiful lakes should have to also come up here in the middle of winter. So there.

And in other, other news, the movie theater in town has been bought and will open sometime in the near future. How cool is that? Right now it takes an hour and a half to go to a movie. When the picture show opens in town, it'll only take a half hour!!! This is big. This is major. Now, if they would only open a great book store…

Happy 4th everyone!


07.04.05 @ 12:16 PM MST [Link to Entry]

Movies, fires and showers

The trip to Vegas was fun, and we saw Batman and War of the Worlds. I thought Batman was faboo and really fun. I had issues with WofW, but then I've had issues with the story since I read it eons ago. It always bothered me that the protagonist doesn't have a direct effect on the outcome. I think Cruise did a great job, but Dakota F. was even better. The effects were wow, but jeez, how come people are taking little kids to this flick? I'd have had nightmares for years if I'd seen it when I was 8.

Plotting was less successful for me than the plot buddies. Oh well. I realized I wanted to do my next Blaze as a two book Blaze, but of course I hadn't remembered to look at the synopsis of the first one, so couldn't plot the second one. My pain was eased when I was thrown an impromptu wedding shower, however. How cool is that? There was even cake.

It was also 110 degrees yesterday, and the sky was awful all the way from Vegas to the mountain because of the massive fires.

Now it's time to write, and I'm anxious to get on with it. I'm irked however because idiots have brought fireworks to the mountain, which is illegal, but no one seems to care, and jeez, the thought of a fire up here makes my throat close.

Be safe.


07.02.05 @ 02:12 PM MST [Link to Entry]