Cool Site - Judge a Book By Its Cover

I've had a link for Judge A Book By Its Cover for a while, but must not have blogged on it. Or blogger ate it or something. Or the headache really is killing brain cells and making me stoopid. Anyhow, they have Mammary Mondays and Phallic Fridays, and let me tell you, this most recent offering is hilarious. Enjoy. But be warned, this site isn't really work safe.

Sarcasm, or Philosophy?

Seeing as I gave time to the Flying Spaghetti Monster, I thought I'd share the Invisible Pink Unicorn's worship with you all, as well. The logic is inescapable. Bwahahahaha!

Jungian Archetypes & Characterization

Any archetype can do anything – the question will always be why. Tami Cowden

Probably most of you have, at minimum, heard the term 'archetype' as developed and used by Swiss psychologist Carl Jung, as well as the term 'collective unconsciousness'. I'm not going to define them myself, as I'd be really bad at it; but you should probably familiarize yourself with the concept in order to increase your skills as a creator of characters. Or, failing that, just read a hell of a lot of mythology, Joseph Campbell, epic poetry. Or you could listen to Jewel ad nauseum on your iPod...

What are Archetypes?
Per wiki: Archetypes are innate universal pre-conscious psychic dispositions that form the substrate from which the basic themes of human life emerge. Being universal and innate, their influence can be detected in the form of myths, symbols and psychic aptitudes of human beings the world over. The archetypes are components of the collective unconscious and serve to organize, direct and inform human thought and behaviour.

The Sixteen Jungian Archetypes.
Jung outlined four main archetypes (Self, Shadow, Anima, Animus) but there are also symbols with layered meanings, and which for the purpose of creating characters are much the same thing (IMO). For these, Jung coined the term, primordial images. "Primordial images originate from the initial stages of humanity and have been part of the collective unconscious ever since. It is through primordial images that universal archetypes are experienced, and more importantly, that the unconscious is revealed."

Ripped from Wikipedia, these are:
The Self, the regulating center of the psyche and facilitator of individuation
The Shadow, the opposite of the ego image, often containing qualities that the ego does not identify with but possess nonetheless
The Anima, the feminine image in a man's psyche
The Animus, the masculine image in a woman's psyche
The Syzygy, a pairing of contrasexual opposites, which symbolized the communication of the conscious and unconscious minds. The conjunction of two organisms without the loss of identity.
The Child, is portrayed in literature in various ways. Often takes the form of a child who displays adult-like qualities giving, for example, wise advice to their friends or viceversa. (Linus van Pelt)
The Hero/Heroine, character that in the face of danger and adversity, from a position of weakness displays courage and the will for self-sacrifice, that is, heroism, for some greater good. (Gilgamesh)
The Great Mother, either good or terrible, is closely related to Mother Goddess figures in many mythologies. Represents fecundity, pregnancy, ripeness.
The Wise old man, or Senex, often appears as a wizard, foreigner, hermit, absent-minded professor type, or alien (e.g. Yoda), typically represented as a kind and wise, older father-type figure who uses personal knowledge of people and the world to offer guidance, thereby acting as a mentor.
The Trickster or Ape. The trickster is incarnated as a clever, mischievous man or creature, who tries to survive the dangers and challenges of the world using trickery and deceit as a defense. (Loki, Prometheus, Coyote, Reynaud the Fox)
The Puer Aeternus (Latin for "eternal boy) Some of the signs of the expression of the puer archetype in a person's life can include immaturity,narcissism, and a desire to escape into fantasy or idealism in preference to remaining with the reality of a situation. (Peter Pan, Bart Simpson)
The Cosmic Man is generally described as helpful or positive, and is also frequently the physical basis of the world, such that after death parts of his body became physical parts of the universe. He also represents the oneness of human existence, or the universe. (Adam, Horus)

Why are archetypes important?
In the development of a character, the recognition of the particular archetype which the character typifies is a useful tool in the writerly toolbox. You can see how the character falls short of your needs or doesn't fit based on aspects of archetype, for example.

I'm afraid that this is such a fascinating topic for me (and the language in which the sources are rendered is so high falutin') that I'm not able to do it proper justice. So let me quote the most accessible descriptions of archetype and characters in writing that I've found.

Tami Cowden says, "Archetypes are not stereotypes; they are not cookie cutters. They can be considered a framework, or even better, a lump of clay of a particular color and consistency. Use the archetype as raw material to create a full bodied character." Wish I'd said that!

She lists her take on the Hero archetypes, Heroine archetypes, and the Villian archetypes on her web page (and in her book), and I found these to be very accessible as a writer.

Translating this to your writing style.
Just because your character is a Gilgamesh-style Hero doesn't mean he is exactly like Gilgamesh. In fact, he may not seem anything like Gilgamesh. The question, as Ms. Cowden says, is to determine the rationale behind the character's actions. WHY? Why, why, why?

This is a valid point and why I led this rant with that particular quote. All heroes are not alike; and the reason for their actions is the reason they are different. So, when you define the archetype based on the character's motivations, you have another tool to help you frame a story that fits the character, or a character to the story. You can also gauge problems if you analyze your major characters this way. For example, if the villian of the piece is more the hero than the hero, you might find your reception is off.

So, now you can go out and drive yourself crazy overanalyzing your work! One more way to avoid actually writing...

Links:
Carl Jung, by Dr. C. George Boeree
Archetypes list, by Philip Wedgewood
Archetypical Literary Criticism, wikipedia article
Jungian Archetypes, wikipedia article

Reading:
Archetypes & The Collective Unconscious, by C.G. Jung
Man & His Symbols, by C.G. Jung
Awakening the Heroes Within, by Carol Peterson
Heros & Heroines, by Tami Cowden
The Power of Myth, Bill Moyers & Joseph Campbell
The Golden Bough, by James G. Frazer
The Hero With A Thousand Faces, by Joseph Campbell
The White Goddess, by Robert Graves

Great lines from The Darkness

I'd collected Witchblade and Darkness when they first came out, but gave up the comic book collections when I moved across the country. I recently picked up Sandman, Witchblade and Darkness compendiums, and was forcefully reminded that I don't just read these comics for their terriffic artwork; I also read these story lines for their writing.

Some of my favs from The Darkness:

"You are so dead, I wonder why you bothered being born."

"What in the name of Holy Vomit is going on?"

"The Darkness is The Force on crack."

LOL!

Cool Site - Dancing With Tigers!

No, that's not the real title, but that's what the blog is about. Friends Ken and Sandra have a son, Matt, who is a tiger trainer. His latest blog (with cool pictures) is worth checking out. Like the forensics site from a few days ago, this blog has given me a few ideas to play with for the future. (I mean, dealing with animals, learning to think how they do, can only help us create aliens and elves, right?)

Also, ever heard of Guerilla News Network? Interesting place to troll for ideas, too.

Literary vs. Genre

In commercial fiction the plot tends to happen above the surface and in literary fiction the plot tends to happen beneath the surface. Nathan Bransford, literary agent.

Nathan Bransford recently had a post discussing the differences between literary and genre novels. He discusses the way that literary works can seem plotless, even when they aren't, because the plot is internal, subtle, and describing what happens reduces the meaning of the book to nonsense. Of course, the downside is that a lot of novels with literary pretentions are lacking in plot, but the authors don't know it. (Those are the bad ones, apparently.)

Braun's insightful post on genre and literary writing brought me back to Nathan's blog and this post I'd missed when he first put it up. And Braun chimes in with some good thoughts, including this: "I think that one should always strive to have an interesting internal plot."

Oh yeah, that's a keeper. You can write shallow and external only characterizations; but I much prefer the more detailed and (dare I say it?) literary treatment of characters. Not too much angsting, even if true to life; but true changes detailed by the characters' internal experience.

If you are like me and you have literary inclinations but genre dreams, take heart: there seems to be room for our work.

Movie Review: Pan's Labyrinth

New Line Cinema; Director: Guillermo del Toro; 119 minutes

From Amazon.com: Following a bloody civil war, young Ofelia enters a world of unimaginable cruelty when she moves in with her new stepfather, a tyrannical military officer. Armed with only her imagination, Ofelia discovers a mysterious labyrinth and meets a faun who sets her on a path to saving herself and her ailing mother. But soon, the lines between fantasy and reality begin to blur, and before Ofelia can turn back, she finds herself at the center of a ferocious battle between good and evil.

I've been meaning to give a nod to this great little movie.

If you haven't seen it, rent it. At least if you like fantasy. Guillermo del Toro made the faun and the other fey creatures really organic and creepy and actually believable looking. He also had some really creepy ideas that visually take the breath away, such as a character whose eyes are in its hands, and it holds its hands up in front of its face to see.

While subtitled in Spanish, the dialog is simple enough that you can follow along without trouble, unlike some of those chinese kung fu movies! Heck, I actually understood some of it without subtitles, just using my incredibly limited Spanish!

At heart, this is a simple fairy tale. It's the story of a little girl trying to earn her way into Faerie, as well as a larger story of the Spanish revolution in the times at the end of WWII. We see that the faerie world, while violent and brutal, is no better or worse than the 'real' world. And, in the end, the fact that the little girl has integrity shows us that, sometimes, the 'real' world is the cruelest of all. Yet, you still wonder if she imagines the whole thing...

It should have won Oscar for Best Picture, if you ask me.

The Process

I've blogged about this a couple of times, others have blogged about it, we'll continue to blog about it-- and all because we hope for some straightforward rule, which, if we follow it, will make the hard, slogging ahead work of writing become sinchy as slipping on ice when your hands are full.

But today, I was catching up with Holly Kennedy's blog, reading the posts backwards of course, and she talked about her own process, the 'swiss cheese method of writing'.

I can't do anything until the first chapter is written (which means I'm the sort of writer who needs to know exactly where the story begins before I do anything else). Then, after the 1st chapter is written, I write the last chapter, which I always know in advance. Following that, I write the turning point, where the main character makes a choice that sends the story in a new direction or something unexpected happens that forces it in a new direction. Next, I write all of the 'big scenes' including anything I wouldn't show my mother. Then I go back to the beginning and start writing the general flow of the story, including the development of sub-plots, the introduction of secondary and/or walk-on characters who help move the story to its conclusion, as well as any bridging that needs to be done between chapters.

Aha! Sez me. That's moi right there. That's kinda sorta what I do. Except I just sort of outline the end or maybe write a paragraph and sort of write a synopsis that defines the turning point. But except for the fact that there's really nothing the same about my process and Holly's, that's me she's talkin' 'bout. Yeah.

So What Have I Done Today?

Slow day today. Haven't had much forward motion on the WIP, although yesterday I managed to spend six or so hours hammering out a transitional scene I'd been leaving to ferment in my subconscious. The draft had lots of good bits in it, but it didn't really work. Four pages, six hours. And today, I had to develop the next scene, which is a mere stub and is supposed to get Haydn off the middle of a rock in a swamp. Yet, alas, I blogged... I have written all the blog posts for the next week, though!

I'm happy about the writing though, despite the lack of progress. That's because I'm back into The Beauregrave mentally, and actually working on it after about a 4-month hiaitus. (Shout Woot! and do an arm pump y'all!)

Also, some good news: The pain-in-the-posterior fellow I work with is retiring. Everybody knows it, but he's such a weenie he can't even bear to tell me to my face. Guy has real 'working with others' issues, especially when they are women. And he eats my food and denies it, the mooch. But, I suppose he can't help himself. Any fellow who lives with his mother his entire adult life has some kind of issues. He's paranoid, officious, overly sensitive and obsessive-compulsive. Really, he wants to work all alone without any input from anyone, including the public and the people he works for. (You can see why I might have problems with such a 'quirky' personality, especially considering I am blunt, opinionated and don't suffer fools lightly.) Personally, he'd have been better off as a holy anchorite walled into his very own cave in the Carpathians; but that option is a few hundred years past its prime... Oh am I being snarky today...

Meme Redux: 8 things

Tythia Green tagged me for another meme, which I happen to have done recently. 8 things about me. So, instead of telling you all about me, I'll tell you 8 Things About My Family.

1. My father's side were transported Scots sent from England to the Carolinas as indentured servants.

2. My mother's side are pretty much all Mormon. We stopped the cycle of pain with Mom, though. Of course, this means I am shunned by the hundreds of first and second cousins. Not sure if it's a loss or not, lol. (Hey I went to school in Salt Lake, and the experience didn't win me over.)

3. My brother and I are 9 months, three weeks, and two days apart. Irish twins!

4. On my mother's side, we are supposedly descended from the New York Tiffanys. Black sheep Mormon renegade child disowned somewhen in the mid-1800s. (Since there's no money in it for me, I don't care, lol.)

5. My mother had polio as a kid. From the vaccine. One leg is an inch shorter than the other, but she doesn't limp. Self-induced scoliosis to do it, but she doesn't have back pain. Amazing.

6. My father really was a rocket scientist. He worked on projects related to some of the early moon landers like Surveyor. (You probably don't even remember that one, do you?)

7. My great grandfather had a ranch in New Mexico, and (so the tale goes) Pancho Villa and his gang used to show up. The local ranchers kept a lookout so that they would have time to slaughter a couple of cows and boil the beans for the barbecue, because if they didn't put on a spread, ol Pancho got kinda pissy and maybe shot up a few more cows than he really needed.

8. My great-great grandmother was the first documented white child born in Nevada. The story goes that they left soon after, because the natives were restless. The homestead was in Las Vegas Springs (sound familiar?) and the indians would just stand around and stare at the family periodically. Never offered them any harm, just creeped them out big time. So they packed up and moved back to Salt Lake, post haste. (Don't know if that's true, but I like the story.)

And since I cheated with #6, which I've used before, you get a bonus:

9. According to my geneaology buff granddad, we are descended from Rob Roy (or at least his clan) on Mom's side as well as Scottish on my father's side.

Sub-Genre: Fantasy of Manners

So what is Fantasy of Manners, you ask? Hereinafter referred to as FoM, this subgenre was news to me until a half hour ago. But I like the idea, just as I have liked many of the books that are ostensibly within its definition. FoM is also sometimes referred to as "mannerspunk."

Per Wikipedia, "Fantasy of manners" is fantasy literature that owes as much or more to the comedy of manners as it does to the traditional heroic fantasy."

The definition I like best is the one in the blog from Noreascon4 in 2004. Attributed to Jo Walton, there are several requirements listed to qualify a story as FoM:

• It has to be fantasy.
• It can be described as "like Jane Austen with (fill-in-the-blank)." Or Heyer.
• It has manners used as weapons.
• The events are small scale: they matter to the characters, but they don't change the entire world.
• It's witty.

Cool Site - Forensics Diary

My hair and clothes reek of decomp. The fumes have irritated my sinuses. Mucus has built up and when I swallow, I taste decomp. At least I made the right choice to eat lunch first. It'll be quite some time before I'm hungry again. How in the world can I stand to cook another critter after this? Josephine Damien, Forensics Diary

Blog hopping, I ran across a really interesting blog by Josephene Damien, Forensics Diary. This blog details her forensics anthropology training. It's really a fascinating read with all the little disgusting details! Her main blog is here.

And then there's this hot nubbin of information.

Boiling bodies to study the bones. Get it served up with all the juicy details. Literally.

More fodder for your plot bunny breeding program! (Updated)

A Reuters article about the CIA releasing documents regarding its past. And we'll be able to get these documents on the CIA website. Whoo hoo! All kinds of paranoia to mine for ideas!

I've checked the CIA home page, yet don't find anything regarding this bit o' info.

UPDATE: If you query "family jewels" on the CIA home page, you get some file links. However, none of them appear to be the documents referenced in the Reuters article. There are supposed to be 144 of them. Have fun browsing through this stuff! Dry, dry, dry. (Did I mention it's dry?)

Zen Sarcasm

A bit of humor from my friend, Ken.

1. Do not walk behind me, for I may not lead. Do not walk ahead of me,for I may not follow. Do not walk beside me either. Just pretty much leave me the hell alone.
2. The journey of a thousand miles begins with a broken fan belt and a leaky tire.
3. It's always darkest before dawn. So if you're going to steal your neighbor's newspaper, that's the time to do it.
4. Don't be irreplaceable. If you can't be replaced, you can't be promoted.
5. Always remember that you're unique. Just like everyone else.
6. Never test the depth of the water with both feet.
7. If you think nobody cares if you're alive, try missing a couple of car payments.
8. Before you criticize someone, you should walk a mile in their shoes. That way, when you criticize them, you're a mile away and you have their shoes.
9. If at first you don't succeed, skydiving is not for you.
10. Give a man a fish and he will eat for a day. Teach him how to fish, and he will sit in a boat and drink beer all day.
11. If you lend someone $20 and never see that person again, it was probably worth it.
12. If you tell the truth, you don't have to remember anything.
13. Some days you're the bug; some days you're the windshield.
14. Everyone seems normal until you get to know them.
15. The quickest way to double your money is to fold it in half and put it back in your pocket.
16. A closed mouth gathers no foot.
17. Duct tape is like 'The Force'. It has a light side and a dark side, and it holds the universe together.
18. Generally speaking, you aren't learning much when your lips are moving.
19. Experience is something you don't get until just after you need it.
20. Never miss a good opportunity to shut up.
21. Never, under any circumstances, take a sleeping pill and a laxative on the same night

Dialog - Know thy characters

Until you know the minds of your characters, until you know what direction they need to move in, you can't begin to write dialogue for them. Writer's Digest

Know thy characters.
Why? Well, duh. So we can portray them accurately.

So here's my little reminder to myself: When I feel like the conversation is more me battering my skull against a concrete surface, then perhaps (just perhaps) I might not be telling the story my character is living.

As writers, we are also human. And humans tend to take mental snapshots of people we know, including our loved ones and ourselves, and then hold onto those mental images of who they think these people are against all reason and the facts of their actions and statements to the contrary. Maybe that is who they once were; maybe it is wishful thinking on our parts; but we do this.

And know thy characters' physiological responses.
How you describe the events to go with the dialog affect the readers, too. As in physiological responses.

According to Curious Cat Productions, "One important tool for the writer is the reader's own physiology. If I put short rapid-fire sentences with harsh consonants in the action scenes, the reader starts to hyperventilate thus heightening apprehension and anticipation. Before the reader passes out, I would switch to flowing complex sentences lulling the reader into a sense of temporary security, false or not. Human beings are conditioned to react to specific phrases, tones of voice, and rhythms of consciousness. A writer observes the way people interact, takes note of emotional triggers inherent in the human condition, and uses that knowledge to heighten the reader's experience." So true!!

Children's Picture Books?

Submitting a children's book.
The other day, Mom and I were going through some of her stuff and we ran across this children's picture book I wrote in high school. I hadn't read the thing in twenty years and I reread it with obviously fresh eyes. It's pretty good, and I want to see about submitting the thing. (My niece loved it and insisted my mother read it to her ad nauseum, so maybe it really has a shot!) But is it really any good? Dunno.

So, anyhow, I'm web searching, trying to find out info on how to submit. Seeing as this is a picture book, it will be subbed without a query. And the illustrations aren't required (thank goodness) so I just send the text.

Sites I've found:
SCBWI Publications has an FAQ list.
Aaron Shepard's home page with all sorts of information on writing children's lit.
I liked this site for its information on submissions of illustrations: Leonardo.
The best so far, though, is Cheryl Klein's site. Lots of great info, in particular this bit.

Comma Splices & Overweening Confidence

For your information and again for everyone else's, it does not matter how attractive you are. In fact, most fiction authors are not very attractive, especially in fantasy. After all, writing is not usually paired with exercising. It's a very stationary activity. Also, fantasy authors usually own a a lot of cats and have a beard. The Rejector

A painfully funny post. Now, the person the Rejector is responding to is 19 and "the best writer in the world" so of course the Rejector was quite kind. However, she did have a great list of things to watch out for when querying. My favorite bit is quoted above.

One of her points was that, in the email from the "best writer in the world," she noted a comma splice. I had to look that one up to refresh my memory. So now I'm refreshing yours, too.

Comma splices, Fused Sentences or Run-Ons.
There are three common errors that are similar, and those are the comma splice, the fused sentence, and run-on sentences.

The definition for a comma splice is simple: Compound sentences which are not punctuated correctly. The term comma splice refers to the error of linking multiple independent clauses together by use of commas.

But it can also be that the writer fails to use any punctuation at all. This latter case is when you get two independent clauses schmooshed together without a semicolon, period, or coordinating conjunction (and, but, for, nor, yet, etc.) and it's called a run-on sentence or a fused sentence. However, it is also a run-on when you use coordinating conjunctions to tie more than two independent clauses together. The conjunctions may be correct in spots, but the overall effect is one endless string of clauses.

The acceptable Comma Splice.
If one independent clause is subordinate to the other, then a so-called comma splice is okay. Because then it's not a comma splice; it just looks like one. See the Grammar Tips article for more detail.

Reference sites:
OWL (Online Writing Lab)
Wikipedia's definition of Comma Splices
Grammar Tips' discussions of the comma splice andacceptable comma splices

(I was too lazy to go upstairs and unearth the CMS [Chicago Manual of Style, 15th ed.] So this is strictly done via internet searches. Lazy me!)

And now a pause to worship food...

Remember my little jaunt to Cajun country in April? Well, I figured out how to make that ultra yummy corn and shrimp soup. Here's the recipe.

Cajun Corn & Shrimp Soup

1lb. cooked, peeled shrimp. (Large is best)
2C corn (frozen, canned or fresh off the cob)
3 lg. cloves garlic, minced
1/2 green bell pepper, chopped
1 tbsp cajun seasoning (or to taste) [I use Tony Chachere's]
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp pepper
3 medium yukon gold potatoes, cubed
2-3 tbsp flour
1/4 C extra virgin olive oil
1/4 C butter
1 lg. sweet onion, chopped (vidalia, walla walla sweet, etc.)
2C heavy whipping cream (or you can use 1/2 and 1/2, just not the fat free kind)
cold water(approximately 2 cups)

Melt butter in heavy-bottomed pan, add onion, cook until clear. In separate pan, make roux by adding oil to flour in the pan and stirring until well browned. Add 1/4 tsp cajun seasoning to roux, then add roux to the cooked onions. Add potatoes to the onion and roux mix, then add just enough water to cover the potatoes. Simmer about 45 minutes, stirring occasionally, until the potatoes are soft. Add cream, corn, bell pepper, salt, pepper. Simmer 1/2 hour then add the cajun spice to taste, shrimp, and garlic. Simmer an additional 1/2 hour until the shrimp are cooked and soup is at the desired consistency. (Additional water may be added, if needed.)

Side note: According to the creole woman with whom I chatted about cooking, there is what they call the "Holy Trinity" of cooking in Louisiana: Garlic, onion, and bell pepper. Pretty much nothing seems to be cooked without it.

Word Choice: Baggage & Overt Meaning

It's not the definition; it's the connotation.
Evil Editor's New Beginning 298 got me thinking about this difference between the dictionary meaning of a word and its real meaning. As a writer, my observation is that you cannot just go by the straight definition of a word, you have to understand the subtle meaning of the word's baggage. That is to say, the cultural assumptions and implications attached to a word. Because the total meaning of a word-- it's true, full meaning-- exists in a cultural web of definition, usage, implications and understandings that cannot be fully imparted in a dictionary's definition.

Lady Sophia sauntered through market square.

In this example, there was argument as to whether 'sauntering' is telling. I say sauntering is telling because the word is so loaded with baggage that the definition of "a careless, leisurely gait" doesn't give the full, true meaning. In this particular case, I think the full meaning is more the implications that Lady Sophia is mean, heartless, selfish, or thoughtless-- none of which are part of the dictionary definition.

To sum up: When it is a very powerful load of baggage, the reader is being told, quite forcefully, what they are supposed to take away from that image. It's the difference between looking at a painting and being told it's meaning. Sometimes that broadens the experience; yet at other times, it detracts.

I found another funny site. Bunny suicides.

That link and others is courtesy of Bill Cassenelli's blog, with lots of amusing and/or interesting video clips. Check out the RoboChicken links on his page, or search on YouTube. These are funny, and sort of on topic for a blog about spec fic.

And now, for your reading pleasure...

Here's an excerpt from Torn Curtains. (Yes, it's a bit long.)

A chill made her spine contract and she spun, her ward hand raised in a protective gesture.

"Don't you raise your filthy hand to me, witch," snarled Claude Masterson, the local Hunter. Even he'd beaten the AIT to the site, she had time to think. Then he spat, striking Drusha on the cheek.

She stared at him, a gnarled old man that smelled to her of rotted teeth and the underlying sweetness of the diabetic.

"Your kidneys are failing. You should see a doctor," she stated as the globule slid under her collar and pooled against a fold of her tunic above the collarbone. She ignored it, her gaze locked on his. A good turn to a bad was the way to irritate him the most, as well as the proper metaphysical response. Two birds with one stone, as it were. The human wanted to strike her, wanted to hate her for what he perceived she was, and nothing Drusha could do would change that. Bigots, you can't live with 'em and you can't kill 'em. So she'd have to settle for irritating him with kindness. Besides, one could hope he'd actually see the medics and get treatment. He wasn't long to live at this rate; in addition to the kidneys, she could scent gangrene blooming somewhere in his flesh.

Perhaps the human would have said something else, but that was when the really hostile forces showed up in the form of a man a mile wide and at least half again that tall. Jerry Sondheim, Master Sergeant, U.S. Army-- the man in charge of the Alien Investigations Team. Behind him was the liaison officer, Nancy something-or-other. Takkavi, that was it. She was new and so far Drusha had avoided spending time with her. The woman was a weak psychic and obviously intrigued by Drusha, who preferred to be scrutinized as little as possible.

"What are you doing here, Envoy? This is a crime scene." Sondheim sneered the title like it was an insult. It was, but Drusha didn't rise to the bait. She couldn't afford to be locked out of these investigations into Earth's changing supernatural landscape. As a reward for getting a scan of a fresh scene, she was going to have to suffer Sondheim's wrath.

"Yes." When Drusha stood she was eye level to the badge hanging around the Master Sergeant's neck. The brassy smell of it made her want to lick it. Instead, she met his harsh glare and smiled briefly before brushing non-existant debris from her slacks and ignoring the spittle on her collarbone. Let him win the macho staring contest; she knew what she was, and they weren't even close.

"Yes, what?" he ground out.

"Yes, it is a crime scene. Unearthly, as you no doubt expected, seeing as your hunter is already here." She watched Sondheim's hatred war with his need to know.

After a no doubt painful moment, Sondheim spit it out. "Well? What did you learn?"

Drusha gazed at two AIT techs, already setting out little yellow numbers to mark evidence and taking photographs. "I didn't touch anything, in case you were wondering," she mentioned, waggling her gloved fingers. "And I learned that the Gaunt ate this young woman. "

He grunted. "And we needed the Fairy Ambassador's dog catcher to tell us the obvious? This is its territory."

A flicker of wind made an odd sound in the momentary silence, rather like a belch, and Drusha knew it was a snide commentary by the Gaunt.

"I learned something else, too, Mr. Sondheim." His brows crunched together at the incorrect title and his face turned dangerously red. Stuffed shirt. Couldn't take his own tactics handed back to him.

"Do tell…ma'am."

She smiled blandly. "I didn't say the Gaunt killed her. Something else did by eating her soul and most of her magic."

"What does that mean, exactly?" His features gained a switched-on intensity. Once his cop instincts were invoked, Sondheim tended to forget little things like his overwhelming prejudice against the Talented and the Erralani. About the only good thing about the man: He could be good at his job. Some day he might become too good; but that was a problem for when and if that occurred, she reminded herself darkly.

"It means that something I've never seen before is feeding in your city."

Humor for the Moms out there

Thanks to Coffee Break for Writers for this link. Totally hilarious.

Just added: Another hilarious Mother's Day video.

Advice for structuring and editing your novel

Brooklyn Arden, the blog of Cheryl Klein, a Scholastics editor, has a wonderful blog post on line editing. This is a keeper! Also, her web site is also full of great tips and info.

My favorite bit is also the first line of advice:

"While voice and atmosphere and description are all important, always keep an eye on the ultimate informational and emotional points of the scene and make sure everything in the scene serves those (or serves scenes yet to come)."

Or as an anonymous poster stated in a comment on Evil Editor's blog in a recent Face Lift:

"Are the main characters introduced early in the book still the main characters at the end? Is the Big Problem introduced early in the book the same Big Problem that gets resolved in the last scene?"

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Fodder for a story

Reading various news articles on the web. Ran across this one, which talks about cloning human embryos for research...but placing the dna or nucleus of humans in the cell. Also, chimeras are being made, which has the genetic material of more than one embryo inside. (I believe a chimera is the correct term for those folks who have absorbed their non-identical twin whilst in the womb.)

"A cloning technique called somatic cell nuclear transfer, or SCNT for short, involves removing the nucleus from an egg cell and replacing it with the nucleus of a cell from the animal to be cloned -- perhaps a skin cell, for instance."

Anyhow, it occurred to me that you could use this idea in a number of ways. Off the top of my head:

1. colony places human cells in a cow, for example, and to come to term as an infant, the cow's original egg must be used. How this will affect the child is up to you to effectively guess.
2. Animal/human cross breeds. Always a fun topic.
3. Unexpected results when cross breeds are created. One could have supermen, slave classes, or a merged society where there is no prejudice. (Perhaps the hybrids ensure survival in harsh environment.)

And the really fun stuff: What the social and political ramifications might be. Or, how the societies evolve around this as a common practice, a new practice, as old hat, or as the basis for some form of social upheaval.

Writing!

Actually writing, actually have the time.
Hey, I seem to have broken my hiatus! Of course, now I am shuffling between two new projects and basically ignoring the main WIP, The Beauregrave. Oh well. I'm writing.

By some miracle of governmental cheapness, my summer schedule is unexpectedly not as insane as it has been for the past seven years. As a result, I have more time to write as well as complete the necessary yard chores. Writing on the deck in my fire-engine-red Adirondack chair, glass of iced tea at my elbox, ballcap on my head and gleaming with bug spray. That's me, the one with the sunglasses and the shit-eating grin.

The new idea.
Okay, so I succumbed to writing on another new project. Really, it's one that is still in the idea stage. The working title for this new project is The Cloak of Ombrus, and it's post-Apocalyptic and involves a post-christian religion, political upheaval, demonology, and a philosophy of utter Neutrality as opposed to Good and Evil. (I confess, this idea was germed from reading a Harry Potter fan fic about a necromancer, Necromancer's Curse by garden gnome.)

The old new idea.
However for the last couple of days, I am working on Torn Curtains of the Mind, which I blogged about a few posts back. This one is a what-if premise: What if two worlds literally collided? A hole is torn between two profoundly differing Earths, and the laws of nature from both sides start to bleed across the wound in space-time. The pov character straddles both worlds and is trying to keep misunderstanding and prejudice from trapping both lands into another devastating war like the one which began when they first 'met'. The problem is, there are elements on both sides who think war is a good idea...

Which brings me to the point of this blog post.

How do you develop the world in the very beginning?
Still trying to get the opening for Torn Curtains written, because that's where I sort of find the world of the story. I just caught on to this habit of mine today when grousing about how I just cannot let a ratty beginning go, how I have to fiddle with it for a while.

Basically, I get an idea and think on it a bit, then write a scene that I think begins the story. Then I sit back and look at it, figure out what isn't quite right, add this, snip that, and discover a lot about the world, its history, the characters and what they are like (looks, character traits), and plot elements. All from just writing the beginning scene(s).

Of course, now I am going to be fiddling with this beginning for a few more days, but I basically know the plot, sub plot and what the conflict and struggle the pov character is going to face. She's back on Earth. She can't go home again. She's not even human any longer. So she serves humanity by being what most humans would call a traitor to her race-- if they knew her story. This character has integrity.

And on Ombrus, the pov character's story as imagined began with her having this cloak of Ombrus, an angelic force. And she's a necromancer, a thief and wanted by her religious order for sacriledge. Yet I asked myself where I should begin and found myself writing a scene involving a bunch of street urchins, a fishwife, and a sick rat. Uh oh, I think, plague! And on the heels of this, she has the experience that sets her on her life's course. Disease, Angels bearing double-edged gifts and someone causing the death of all they hold dear in order to fulfill a destiny that comes much later in life. Job has nothing on this little gal's life story!

The above was from writing the first 5500 words. I know pretty much where I'm going to get the story I envisioned.

Okay, so all this blathering about what I was thinking and what I did and how I did it is pretty boring for most folks. Well, I'm starting to get selfish about my blog: I'm starting to get the journal entry mode going. Bear with me; this too shall pass!

How to Write A Query Letter

Noah Lukeman, author of How to Write a Great Query Letter, is offering a downloadable copy for free. One per person, not for resale.


Thanks to Kanani at The Writerly Pause blog for the link. You can read the original post here.

So what if it's a new tangent?

That's what I keep telling myself. I sat down and wrote most of yesterday afternoon and got just over 5,000 words written. But it was on another idea, not my main WIP.

Still and all, so what if it's a new tangent? It was writing.

Catitude

If you are in the mood for slightly inappropriate but amusing silliness, check out this site. ROFLMAO!

These are referred to as 'kitlers' by the site owners. There's one that looks just like the nasty bugger, too, the forelock and mustache on a pure white body. (Yes, more time wasted web surfing.)

Characterization and Tension

In order for a character to make a real choice, he/she has to have the capacity to make both choices he/she is presented with. This is really good writing advice! Nathan Bransford, literary agent

A delightful means of making a point is Nathan's blog post where I got the above quote.

I hadn't thought of it in those terms, but the point is an excellent one. When a character in your work seems flat, or there is a lack of tension in the choice...then perhaps consider whether it is a true choice.

Conflict vs Complication

The difference between conflict and complication in a plot.

On Pubrants the two concepts are clarified nicely. I got the link from a commenter on Evil Editor's blog. Useful info, the gist quoted below.

Let’s say that a man and woman decide to head out to the park to have a romantic picnic. They have wine, cheese, and other yummy foods that incite romantic inclinations such as little smooches etc.

Suddenly the picnic is overrun by red ants (or something equally nasty) and the couple must spring apart and it derails the picnic.This is a complication—not a conflict. The ants are simply present (and would be if the couple was there enjoying the picnic or not).

Now, let’s set up the same scenario with the couple, the wine & cheese, and the romantic picnic. Instead of ants showing up, the man’s wife appears on the scene.

That’s conflict!Conflict is always personal.

Do you like bad films?

B Movies? Troma films? Do these things tickle your fancy? Then rent CANNIBAL: THE MUSICAL. Yep, it's a musical about cannibalism. And the love of a good horse. With some pretty funny songs. For a Troma film (They who brought you such gems as SERGEANT KABUKI MAN, SURF NAZIS MUST DIE, FRANKENHOOKER, and TOXIC AVENGER) this is a gem. There are actually some production values to it, although it's obviously done on the cheapety cheep cheap. I mean, the extras brought their own clothes to wear for the shoot.

This movie was created by the guys who brought us SOUTH PARK, and was done before the cartoon came into being. Apparently it has had a resurgence (if you can call it that) since the cartoon became such a hit.

Anyhow, much better than KILLER KLOWNS FROM OUTER SPACE, another top favorite of bad movies.

Exposition

Exposition issues.
In a favorite writing avoidance tactic, I was going through some old bits of stuff, considering one first chapter that I've never followed through on because I couldn't figure where it ought to go. Ten years after I originally wrote the thing, I had a light bulb moment and knew that most of that stuff needed to be cut and where to go next. I got to feel mighty virtuous without even writing a word. How awesome is that?

Anyhow, the thing that occurred to me was rather obvious, but worth reiterating: Most of what goes down in a first draft is worldbuilding for yourself alone. It sneaks in because your subconscious is feeding you little details that will help flesh out the world. Problem is, although these ideas are nifty, peachy, neato and keen, they don't generally belong in the prose when you think them up. They're exposition, but not the kind you want in a decently written book.

Sure, you might get away with gratuitous exposition in massive chunks 150 years ago; but most of this stuff needs to be dribbled into the story elsewhere. Rarely is any of it salvageable for the spot where you originally put it.

That's the fun part of first drafts, the ability to say anything you please and not worry about it. My problem is that I can't leave that stuff in, I must have a reasonably neat section of work before moving on. That might be 30 pages or five, depending on mood and what's going on.

I keep telling myself to just line it out or highlight it, but my neatness compulsion makes it extremely difficult to do this.

Humor - How can you tell a man owns this table?

Just for a laugh, check out this photo, courtesy of Kim Stagliano's blog. What's for dinner, Ma?

How to Market Yourself

Blog cruising instead of writing (damn that wireless I installed!) I was reading Neil Gaiman's ultra cool web site (see link in sidebar) when I saw mention of this author's website. If you take the time to read it, it's funny.

But more than the humor, it actually got me curious about the book.

Dunno, but sometimes being avante garde isn't a bad idea...

Opinions?