Long Dry Spring into Summer

I’ve always been the kind of person who tries to keep their mouth shut if I don’t have anything relevant to say, and it’s felt like I’ve had mental amnesia for the last few months, and this blog has truly suffered. If there is anyone out there who, in the past, has followed it, I sincerely apologise.

This is supposed to be a writing blog. I’m not a particularly ‘private’ person...in fact I’d go so far as to say I’m quite capable of telling people far more than they want to know about supposedly private things. However, the journey that brought me to the point where I even WANTED to blog was taken on the road to publication. I didn’t think it fair or particularly wise to share more intimate details of my life in general with the world at large. My life is intertwined with so many other people’s—my husband, children, friends outside of the writing world who have no need or wish for wider publicity—I didn’t, and still don’t, think it would be right.

So what happens when my life outside of writing takes a left at WTFville? I find myself with nothing relevant to say about writing, stop blogging for a while and hunker down, trying to get a handle on it. I even sometimes stop writing, although that is a painful and rather depressing place to be. I take my hat off to the bloggers who always seem to have something interesting to impart. Me? Sometimes I just have to keep my mouth shut, so as not to cross the line into the forbidden territory of sharing stuff no one on the internet really needs to know.

Having said all that, I have to say I’m slowly getting back to a place where writing is at, perhaps not the forefront of life again, but certainly closer to pole position. I have some exciting news I’ll be sharing with my blog readers soon, and next month I’ll be the wrangler for the Samhellion, the Samhain author’s official newsletter. The theme for the month will be History and Research...right up my alley!

So if in the past you’ve been a reader of my blog, and wondered why I fell off the edge of the earth...can I tell you, WTFville is not the kinda place I would wish for anyone to have to visit. It’s too damned easy to get lost going through there, and sometimes feels like you might never get back out. But sometimes, just sometimes, the light at the end of the tunnel isn’t a train.

A Hint of Wicked is, well, wicked!

With all the craziness, I missed my good friend and critique partner, Jennifer Haymore’s release date for her Regency set, A Hint of Wicked.

My bad!

Okay, to be honest, I’ve enjoyed this book from the very first time I saw it as a beta reader, and I’m thrilled beyond words to finally see it in print. I'm also so very happy to see I'm not the only one who appreciates Jennifer's amazing plot and prose. She's garnered some amazing reviews. And yes, you can eat your heart out...I have a signed copy of this gorgeous and enthralling tale in my grubby little hands.

Now I’ll be pestering the author to get the sequel, A Hint of Scandal, finished...
*cracks whip*

How things change!

So I went to visit my pal, Franny, of ParaNovelGirls and what does she do? She not only feeds me delicious things I shouldn't eat, puts me up for the night, introduces me to her gorgeous family and lets me hear a fox in the wild for the first time (VERY FREAKY when it's at two in the morning, on a full moon night) but when I was leaving she gave me a bag of books.

So what? I hear you ask.

A GARBAGE BAG OF BOOKS.

Yeah, you read right, a garbage bag...

I could see the look on my husband's face when I walked in with it but, bless him, he said nothing. I was on hiatus from writing, and reading is just as good in keeping me mellow (that's my story, and I'm sticking to it).

That bag of books ranged from newer releases to some older stuff, and it's the older stuff that made me realise how things have changed in the last number of years, and also how true it is that you can get away with breaking some of the writing rules.

First I read a couple of old Nora Roberts books, Truly Madly Manhatten (2003) and part of the Donovan Legacy series, Entranced (1992). I'll be the first to admit I haven't read a Queen Nora in a while, although I have read several in the past. What did I learn from those older books? Nora Roberts head-hops- a lot - or used to anyway. But the only reason I noticed is because I'm a writer too. I never gave it a second thought when reading BD BW (Back in the Day, Before Writing). What Nora Regina has is the ability to tell a damned good story, and that reinforces what I've believed for a long time: a great storyteller trumps a great technician every time. I don't think it means I, or any other writer, can get away with sloppy craft. Just that if you have the gift of being able to pull the reader (read editor or agent, first and foremost) completely into the tale, maybe you can get away with some of the writing habits touted as 'verboten.'

Or is it that with so many of us striving for the few publishing spots, publishers/editors/agents can now be extra picky? Hmmm....

Another book I read was Donna Kauffman's The Legend MacKinnon (1999) and the first thing that struck me, as I read the back blurb was, "Why wasn't this a series?" Series seem to be all the rage now. Then I laughed to myself. I'm one of the people who really sees both sides of the issue, even though I don't like this particular trend much. On the one hand it's great for a writer/publisher to have a series of interconnected books coming out at intervals, hopefully with the readers salivating for the next one. On the other hand, what the hell is wrong with a stand-alone book? Sometimes I really just want something I can read all the way through without any unresolved questions. I also think some authors just don't know when to quit and series go on far too long, becoming either predictable or too complex.

And it seems a shame when I hear of a book being rejected by a publishing house because they can't figure how to make it into a series. Not everything should be a series...some books are grand just as they are. (And no...it wasn't one of my books that was rejected that way! Such a cynical world we live in, I thought I'd just say...)

Sure, Ms. Kauffman might have been able to expand the three interconnected stories in The Legend MacKinnon into three books. There was enough plot there, although the timeline would have had to be severely altered. But would it have been as much fun to read? Probably not.

Word Power

I've been on a self-enforced and necessary break from my keyboard but, like any other addict, I just haven't been able to stay away from loops and feeds. Getting my fix of reviews, commentary and snark just never gets old. People, with all their myriad complexities, are facinating. And scary. The sneaky bitch-assery they do to get their point across blows my mind. The fact that they think they're being clever, even when the true intent shines through like a beacon, makes me chuckle. The overabundance of anger evident in some posts just makes me sad. I definitely don't subscribe to the "If you don't have anything nice to say" school of thought, but I also don't subscribe to the 'let me rip you a new one' school either. For me moderation, or a clearly defined style of snark, work a lot better.

And please note I said 'snark,' not vitriol/rage/destructiveness.

Whether we like it or not, words have power. Whether we like it or not, our opinions are simply that--OUR opinions. Just because I don't believe something to be right, or even true, doesn't mean someone else who holds the opposing opinion is necessarily wrong. I learned that a long time ago, forced into the realisation by circumstances and my wise grandfather's words:

"There are three sides to ever story; yours, mine, and the truth."

And often the truth resides in the gray areas we don't want to inhabit or even examine. In this hard-edged world people seem determined to be the blade, the stabbing point, the bludgeon. Slice, dice, obliterate the "enemy,"; be heard by screaming the loudest, even if what they're screaming is opinion, unsupported by anything other than conviction that they're RIGHT, DAMMIT! Often there is no hesitation, no apparent urge to temper a response, even though it will cause pain, escalate conflict, make someone else feel small or stupid. Debates aren't won that way; they're destroyed, and in the destruction is also lost the chance to listen, to learn and to grow.

Goosebump making diversions

I write about love...so I thought this was appropriate. Bob knew the true international magic of music, and I can't watch these videos without feeling choked up. The following video is even more poignant. Halle Salassie's words are as timely and important today as they were when he spoke them in front of the UN..."Until the philosophy which holds one race superior and another inferior is finally and perminently discredited and abandoned, everywhere is war..." While I love the whole idea of Playing for Change, I will admit to loving, above all else, Bob's version of 'War'.

Out of the mouths...

I have to admit some of the conversations I have with my son could very well be classified as unconventional, and this one ranks right up there with the best of them. First, a little background...my son is fifteen, and quite mature in many respects. He's also a thinker, given to coming out with pronouncements so clear sighted I wonder why he isn't doing better than he is in school! I should also tell you I don't hide what it is I write from him, although he's (obviously) not allowed to read any of it.

So...I'm cruising the blogs and happen to mention to him the growing popularity with m/m romances, many of which are written by women, for women. He looks at me for a long moment, then shrugs. "I can see that," he says, to my surprise. "What do you mean?" I ask. "Well," he replies, "How different is that from all the girl-on-girl stuff men write?"

That blew me away, because honestly I'd never looked at it that way before. But he was right, and looking at it from that angle, it became logical and very understandable.

Then he grinned and added, "Of course, there is one major difference. The stuff you guys write probably has to have a plot."

After I finished laughing and picked myself up off the floor, I decided I wasn't going to make any inquiries into his obvious familiarity with porn...making a fuss would be, I think, rather hypocritical!

My apologies to LOLcatz

I couldn't resist...meet Mo.