Inspiration

For Better or For Worse by Lynn Johnston

I could write an entire book based around this comic strip. I love how much is conveyed in four pictures. And I can never get enough of Calvin and Hobbes....

Calvin and Hobbes by Bill Watterson

I'm not sure I'm functioning at six thoughts a minute these days.... :)

Do you have a favorite cartoon?

Cliché Me, Baby!

You know those classic story lines:

The heroine comes back into the hero's life with her secret baby.

The poor hero has been given up for dead....but comes back the morning the heroine is about to marry another person.

The heroine has amnesia. Is the hero her true love, or a psychopath in disguise?

Oh, and my personal favorite--the sheik who is masquerading as a common working man, for whatever reason (tired of sand in his silk sheets? Fed up with spitting camels?) and falls in love with a small town girl. Sigh.

These so-called predictable story lines get a bad rap from people who criticize romance--not that they've actually read romance, they're too busy reading Oprah's latest pick and popping Prozac. But they know a cliche when they see the cover of one.

Well, I do too. And thank you, romance world, for making my life a little easier!

Valentine's Day is this weekend...I'm seeing another batch of paranormal, classic, vampire-loving, kilt-wearing, amnesiac billionaire romances in my near future. I love them, one and all.

I hope you all have time to curl up with a romance this weekend, too. I'm off to find another awesome trapped-in-a- snowstorm story... any suggestions?

Shining Through

Well, I've held those precious Golden Heart manuscripts in my hands. I both skimmed them and spent hours pouring over them, even pulled my dictionary from the shelf and learned a new word or two. It is an honor and a privilege to do so. As an active member of RWA, I consider it an obligation.

But more than anything, it's fun!

Oh, dear. I have to spend hours upon hours reading romance stories? Poor, poor me. Such a hardship. :)

The first time volunteered to judge, I did so with my heart in my throat. Who was I to pass judgment over a stranger's hopes and dreams? Had I not picked up many a bestseller, only to abandon the story by chapter three in sheer boredom? Therefore, would it not stand to reason that I was a really very poor judge of what could be deemed quality genre fiction?

But I did it anyway.

Oh, what I learned! I should have been paying those contestants; it was as good as any class. To hold the manuscript in my hands--yes, I think reading the printed pages made a difference, lesson one for me--and watch the story unfold before my eyes, taught me so much about my own work. Each year I judge these, I learn something new. Pacing, opening sentences, chapter breaks, voice, grammar, characterization, secondary characters, setting--synopsis!--and what qualifies as a romance....



Do you judge? And if you judge the GH, what do you think of the "score only, no comments" rule?

Christmas.....already?

Christmas is here--this week! I hope you all find time for Bing Crosby, White Christmas, The Holiday with Jude Law, any music by Nat King Cole, peppermint bark and gingerbread cookies, eggnog and mulled wine, chaotic kitchens and strewn wrapping paper.

I wish you each a moment of contented reflection on how blessed we are to have friends and family near and far. I am thankful for each one of you!

Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays!

Still Writing?

Are you fingers cramped up from constant keyboard contact? Are you wearing that pencil right down to the nub? (And, irritatingly, the eraser as well?)

Well, here, you poor dears. Have a nice cup of hot apple cider and relax. Let your characters wander aimlessly while you enjoy a bit of nosh. It will be good for both of you.

Isn't this cup gorgeous?

Happy middle-of-November....and middle of Nano. While I don't actively participate, I hear great stories each year of all the success it brings. So go forth for the next two weeks (and the next two months, and the next two years) and write!

But first, finish your drink. :)

Write!

So evidently November is National Novel Writing Month. But hey...you already knew that, didn't you?

And 50, 000 words...new words...are expected by the end of this month.

Yet here you are, when you should be out there writing...

Or maybe you're not here, because you're out there writing...

If a writer falls asleep over her keyboards,
does she make a sound? Or more to the point,
will her family pull her off the backspace key
before she's deleted all her words?

Good Luck in your writing and reading
endeavors this month!

Home, Home on the Plains...

Hubby went and stood in line with a few hundred women to buy me this book last night.

Did he have the time? Nope.
Did he do it anyway? Yup.

Just doing his part to keep the publishing business alive and well....and no, it's not a "traditional" romance...but I do love everything about her cooking and her blog.