I know I’ve shared a lot of space-related videos lately–what can I say? I’m a space geek–but I hope you’ll bear with me for another. This one is a little long, but it talks about Kepler 22B, the planet that was found around a star very similar to our sun and orbiting at a distance that makes it possible for there to be life here. There’s a lot, though, that astronomers don’t know yet about the planet. This video talks about what they do know.
Well, Let’s Find Out!
March 11th, 2012From Idea to Story – Part 2
March 8th, 2012On Tuesday, I began a series of blogs that will run through how I take an idea and make it into a story. This is my process and it might not work for everyone. It might not even work for me on my next project. The one thing that I’ve learned is that my process will (and has) changed over the years. Sometimes drastically.
Names: Sunday Feb 26, 2012
People who’ve followed my blog for a while know my characters pick their own names. I never get a choice, and if I don’t like it, they still get their way. I had one hero a few years ago tell me his name and when I tried to encourage him to choose another, he said, Just use this one until we pick a different one. The next thing you know, the name stuck. His heroine’s name is the one and only time they’ve allowed me to pick. It was torturous and I quickly regretted ever complaining about the name thing.
These two taught me my lesson. Now when I don’t like it, I just grimace and go Really? Then I say, okay, whatever.
The name for the hero in the new idea showed up in my head with little fanfare. No announcements. No hints. I suddenly just knew. Ivar. I wasn’t even sure it was a real name. And yes, I did grimace. Ivar? Really? Whatever. I looked it up and lo and behold, it is a real name. He was adamant on the spelling from the beginning. I argued because the spelling Ivor made more sense for his nationality, but of course, he won.
The heroine’s name came a few hours later. Phoenix. I grimaced again because this is on the trendy side. I did another Really? Wouldn’t you rather have a different name? They’re very stubborn. So I have a hero with a name I don’t like and a heroine with a name that’s too trendy for my tastes. Okay. Whatever.
From Idea To Story – Part 1
March 6th, 2012I thought there might be some interest in running through how a story comes together for me, and since I’ve just started building a new novella, I can start from the beginning.
The Idea: Saturday Morning Feb 25, 2012
I’m not sure I’ve ever gotten an idea the same way twice, but this idea came to me via a dream. I’ve had other ideas come in this way, but I’ve never written any of the others. This wasn’t a paranormal dream–it had a regular human hero and heroine–but I knew the setup wasn’t one I wanted to write. At least not as a regular, contemporary romance.
In my dream there was a fairly large age difference involved along with a couple of other elements that didn’t appeal to me, and if I’m going to spend the time it’s going to take to write a story, I need to like it.
I woke an hour before the alarm went off and spent that time in bed, trying to convert it to my Blood Feud world. The hero fell into place pretty easily–a vampire with a few years under his belt. The heroine proved more difficult. To keep the dynamics from the dream, I thought, maybe she’s the daughter of one of the big shots in the vampire hunters, but I’m not a huge fan of human/paranormal creature pairings. I’ve written them because that’s what the characters told me they were, but I much prefer matching power with power.
Idea Discussion: Saturday Night, Feb 25, 2012
A friend and I were already slated to chat via instant messaging, but this wasn’t on the agenda. Still, she wrote an entire book based on one of her dreams, so of course, I shared mine and mentioned that I didn’t like having a human heroine, but I wasn’t sure how else to work it. It’s while we were brainstorming that she mentioned something that will work perfectly, make the heroine paranormal, and keep the original dynamic of the dream.
We also discussed the bad guy because you know I’m going to have one of those. This took more back and forth before we hit on an idea that worked.
Leap Year
March 4th, 2012I found this video interesting about whys and whats about Leap Year.
FREE! Dark Awakening Is Free!
March 1st, 2012
For a limited time, Dark Awakening (my novella set in the Crimson City world) is available for free! Please pick up a copy and share this news with any other book lovers you know.
Dark Awakening in other formats
Just an FYI, Dark Awakening was first published in 2007 as part of the Shards of Crimson anthology.
About Dark Awakening:
Kimi Noguchi is working as an intern for an advertising agency in Crimson City and she’s discovered that she’s a kijo or witch. She thinks having talent is cool, but her magic attracts the attention of a power-hungry Bak-Faru demon and she’s forced to call on another demon, Nicodemus, for help.
Nic made a promise to stay away from Kimi for her own good, but now that she’s summoned him, all bets are off. She’s his vishtau mate, a bond held in reverence by all demons, and he’s not about to let this opportunity pass him by. Nic plans to protect, woo and win his woman.
Picture Board for IN THE DARKEST NIGHT
February 28th, 2012I collect pictures as I write. Characters, places, rooms, things–whatever I think will help me. I’ve forever wanted to share these pictures and now, thanks to Pinterest, I can. I’m working on putting together a board for each book. Some, like In the Darkest Night, have pretty full boards. Others are sparser. It’s pretty easy to pick out which books I was writing after I got high speed internet and which ones I was writing while I still had nothing except dial up.
I’m going to highlight one board at a time on my blog and I’ll start with In the Darkest Night.
IN THE DARKEST NIGHT Picture Board
This book has probably the most extensive collection of pictures. Not only do I have all the characters, I have Kel’s brand, the knife Farran conjured during a battle, and lots of pictures of Kel’s house from the opening of the book. His house isn’t my style, but it’s beautiful so I couldn’t resist pinning so many pictures.
I hope you enjoy a chance to see how I envisioned things and people as I wrote.
The Known Universe
February 26th, 2012This is an awe-inspiring video and it makes me think of that Calvin & Hobbes cartoon, where Calvin hollers, "I’m significant, said the dust speck." It’s awesome in full screen mode.
Just Call Me Handy Andi
February 23rd, 2012While my parents were still in Atlanta, my dad (with some help from me) assembled a night stand, a TV stand, and a coffee table. I didn’t think I needed anything else. That soon proved to be a wrong assumption.
I had a chair next to the recliner that I put the phone on, the TV remote, my box of Puffs tissues, and assorted other things as the situation dictated. The top of the folding chair was far too small for everything I wanted at hand and there was much grumbling from me as I shifted things around. I finally admitted I needed an end table and it arrived today. Some assembly required.
This was my first time assembling anything on my own. I counted out my parts and ensured everything was present and accounted for. I checked the wood to make sure it was in good condition and then I began putting legs on the table.
The directions failed to mention I needed a Phillips screwdriver. They provided an Allen wrench and I thought that was all I needed. Luckily, my dad left some tools here or I would have had to run out and bought one today.
Other than that, things went relatively smoothly last night. Except for one thing. The end table wobbles. It’s not too bad and it’ll have to be good enough until my dad comes down again and can fix my assembly.
Earlier yesterday evening, I tried to install a new comment system on my blog. Somehow, despite the fact that I exported my WordPress comments to the new system, they disappeared. Sort of. I still have them in my dashboard, but they weren’t appearing on the site. This didn’t work for me, so I uninstalled the plug-in. This was supposed to restore my WP comments. It didn’t. Again, they’re still visible on the dashboard. There was a message it can take a while to restore, so I have my fingers crossed and I apologize. I suspected this might not go well. I should have listened to my instincts.
It’s Alive!
February 21st, 2012I was reading an article about 20 Common Grammar Mistakes That (Almost) Everyone Makes and found myself nodding my head at some of them. Lie/Lay/Lain/Laid/Etc. Yeah. I get so confused with that. I try my best, but I count on editing to catch when I slip.
My other huge, huge issue is Affect and Effect. Gah! No matter how many times I read over the rule and study examples, it doesn’t sink in. I’ve actually rewritten sentences to avoid using either word or I substitute something like impact which I’m sure makes all grammarians everywhere grimace with disgust, but hey, at least I don’t have to chose between affect and effect and that’s always a win.
But there was one entry, that made me go, uh, no. That was the definition of the word moot. The article says:
Contrary to common misuse, "moot" doesn’t imply something is superfluous. It means a subject is disputable or open to discussion.
I hang around with writers online. A lot of them. I went to school with some really smart people, both high school and college. There are lots of smart people that I work with and have worked with over the years. I have never, ever in all this time heard anyone use the word moot in this way.
English is a living language, that means it changes over time. I submit that the definition of the word moot has made the shift and it’s time for the dictionary to be updated. I’m sure I’ve made the hardcore English gurus gasp in horror, but tough. If you want a language that is unchanging, become a Latin guru. It’s a dead language, it will stay the same forever.
As far as English speakers (at least in the US) are concerned, moot means there’s no point in arguing over something because it doesn’t matter.
Words shift all the time. Look at decimate. I had a judge in a writing contest a long time ago correct my use of it. I used it to mean destroy, she insisted that it means take a tenth of or destroy a tenth of. Look it up on Dictionary.com. The meaning the judge told me was the correct one? It’s marked obsolete!
The people have spoken…and as we’ve spoken, we’ve redefined words. Just try and read Shakespeare now without the little footnotes at the bottom of the page explaining what a word meant back in his day. I’m a huge Shakespeare fan and I can mostly understand what he’s saying from the context, but the meaning of words has definitely changed.
They’re still changing. I’d argue some more, but why bother? It’s a moot point. 
Advertising Win
February 19th, 2012I’ve lamented for a while how unexciting and uncreative most advertising has become. This has even reached Super Bowl advertising which used to be Clio Award worthy once upon a time. (For those who are unfamiliar with it, the Clio Awards are advertising’s version of the Oscars.) The last five or six years of Super Bowl ads has left me disappointed and sad. I graduated from college with a major in advertising. I love well-done ads and I’m happy to sit and watch great ads for hours. However, aside from a few bright spots now and then, there hasn’t been much worth my time.
This year, though, there was a huge bright spot on the advertising radar. Honda CR-V did a Ferris Bueller commercial that I thought was brilliant. Why I thought this ad was awesome: 1. who hasn’t seen Ferris Bueller’s Day Off? 2. It’s a largely well-liked movie and it’s become iconic in many ways. Even if someone hasn’t seen the movie in years, we all can remember the teacher saying, "Bueller. Bueller. Bueller." The film is filled with moments like this that people remember. 3. We don’t forget it’s a Honda ad, but at the same time, the sell isn’t pounded out over and over. Honda allows us to enjoy the spot. 4. People are talking about this ad. Honda is getting a lot of free press, including here, I guess, as I discuss their ad. You can’t buy buzz and if someone specifically goes to YouTube to watch the commercial, Honda is getting more rapt attention to the spot than they would have with a media buy.
How true was Honda to the movie? I found a video where someone put the commercial side by side with the movie. You be the judge:
If you want to enjoy the ad on its own merits, here’s the extended version of Honda’s homage to Ferris:
