what-ifs « Patti O'Shea's Blog

Posts Tagged ‘what-ifs’

Some Random Thoughts

Monday, August 16th, 2010

I’m kind of brain fried after writing all weekend, so instead of trying to write a long, cohesive post, I’ll just mention a few random things.

–Heroes come in all walks of life. I overheard a conversation on Friday between my boss and another engineer. They were both talking about the storm and how they got up and turned on the weather report so they’d know whether or not they’d need to wake their families and have them move to the basement. I thought that was pretty damn awesome. I’m going to have to put something like this in one of my books. This is the quiet, day to day stuff that really counts when it comes to relationships and families.

–Conversation with my dad tonight that made me crazy:

I open the refrigerator door and the butter rolls out and onto the floor. I mutter a curse, pick it up and put it back in the fridge.

My dad asks why I’m swearing. I tell him the butter fell on the floor. And he honest to God asked me if I’d picked it up. ::banging head against wall::

No, Dad, I left it on the floor. Who even asks a question like that?

–The pitcher for the Twins today had a no hitter through 7 innings. The manager pulled him out and put a reliever out in the 8th. If I were that pitcher, I’d be really angry. Pitching a no-hitter is maybe a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. The manager shouldn’t have taken that achievement away from him. Send him out, and if he gives up a hit, then pull him. This man will spend the rest of his life wondering what if? That’s a pretty cruel thing to leave someone with.

–The WordPress For Dummies book did help me a fair amount. Most of it was a little simple for me, but it did hit things I didn’t know. Overall, I’d rate the book helpful, and if you’re new to WordPress, very helpful.

Hope you all have a great week!

Tags: random, what-ifs
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Three Worlds

Wednesday, March 11th, 2009

I turned in my book 10 days ago, and after a couple of days of mental vagueness while I recovered, I now have several worlds and stories competing for my attention. It’s getting loud inside my head.

First, there’s the Light Warrior world. The book I just finished fits here, so naturally it’s on my mind, but I also have an idea for another story in the series. Kel and Logan’s little sister, Tris. Kel and his heroine are still around–they have to be until their book is revised, edited, and in galley format–but now I also have Tris, and in the background, her hero. That’s three characters talking and one loitering.

The second world is for my Polynesian couple. I’ve had them dance in and out for like a year and a half or so, but this time the hero’s friends are talking, too. It’s now grown into a three book idea with the three men being the hinge point. My first hero and heroine are talking and the hero from the third story while the guy from the second is around. The funny thing is that while he isn’t talking, he’s passing along more information than hero #3 who is talking, but lying to me and playing games. Grrr. Again, three characters are talking and one loitering.

Finally, I have this other idea. I do have some characters–three heroines, a hero and a potential hero–but only the heroine from what I envision to be book 1 is talking. Kind of. Right now, I’m world building, trying to see what this universe looks like and learn what the rules are. One talking, three loitering here.

Believe it or not, I’ve actually gotten used to juggling all these people. Not that long ago, I couldn’t think about multiple projects at the same time, but now I’m hopping between them in my head. A little world building and some notes for #3. Getting chapter one for book #2. Learning more about the characters for project #1. It’s busy, but it’s also fun! Sort of.

The problem comes with how much time I have available to work on each one. Not a lot. It’s a creative buzz to project hop mentally, but it’s also frustrating since I like to see tangible results. I really need to focus on one and pound away at it for a while–either to world build, or to write story, or to learn characters.

For right now, I’m going to keep flitting, but come this weekend, it’ll be time to make a commitment. I think I know which way it’s going to go since there’s one project that has characters talking loudly, but I won’t know for sure until I have to make the decision.

Tags: characters, what-ifs, worlds, writing
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What If I’d Gone Into Journalism?

Wednesday, November 5th, 2008

I’m watching the election coverage as I write this blog. Some of you might know that I graduated from the U of MN’s School of Journalism. My major was advertising copywriting, but I started out on the broadcast journalism side. I never actually worked in the field, but every now and then my roots come out. Election night is one of those times.

Tonight, even though I know better, I will stay up far too late watching the coverage and the vote returns. I tell myself that there won’t be any results until the next morning, but it doesn’t seem to matter–I’m riveted.

I know it’s the part of me that was attracted to journalism to begin with that’s so hooked on watching. It doesn’t matter if there’s a major race or just a few local offices–I stay up and watch. Part of it, I admit, is critiquing the coverage the networks and local stations put out there. Part of it is the desire to know what the results are as they come in.

In my imagination, I can see myself as a reporter covering the election, watching every new update and analyzing it. How much fun would that be? It’s nights like this where I wish I had pursued journalism. Of course, if I had, it’s doubtful I would have had time to write fiction, so I guess everything happens for a reason. But every year on the first Tuesday in November, I sit and wonder what if. And I lose sleep I can’t afford to give up.

Tags: journalism, what-ifs
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Power Nap: Thumbs Down

Thursday, April 5th, 2007

When I was writing The Power of Two, I used to take these twenty minute power naps. They were enough to refresh my brain, but not so long that I ended up feeling groggy when I got up. This seemed like a good solution for me yesterday. I’d do a power nap, wake up refreshed, get a lot of work done, and then be able to sleep that night. Sounded like a good plan.

I left my blinds open so it wouldn’t be dark. I didn’t turn my air cleaner on because I’m used to sleeping with that running. Twenty minutes, I told my subconscious/higher self/unconscious.

An hour and fifteen minutes later….

I finally woke up. I was groggy and had a hard time focusing my thoughts. I was also pretty awake at 10pm, but I had to try to go to bed because I get up at 4am. I’m not sure how long I tossed and turned last night, but it was a while, and this time, I didn’t get any brilliant ideas for the WIP.

So I’m tired. Again. I overslept. Again. I’ll have to answer comments later because I’m pushing right now and I’m moving at about quarter speed–both mentally and physically.

On a slightly more interesting note, I found a blog where my books and writing are liked! I swear I didn’t search my name. I don’t do that anymore. I was hesitant about checking it out because if people don’t like my books, I’m much happier not knowing. Anyway, the reason I bring this up is because she reviewed Shards of Crimson and had some interesting observations. The one that caught me had to do with Kimi’s age.

My original plan was to write Kimi when she was older, like done with college and out in the world for a couple of years, but I couldn’t because it’s part of the series and we had to stick closer to that time frame. Because I was stuck with Kimi being 19 in Through a Crimson Veil, the most I could age her was to 20. I think she grew up a lot during the course of the book, but she was young enough that she was still learning who she was. That made things dicey for me because Nic was much older (he’s a demon and long lived) and I didn’t want her molded by him. Does that make sense? I was hoping that by the end of the story, that the reader had a sense that she’d grown up enough and had developed enough confidence in herself, to hold her own with Nic.

But I do wonder what she would have been like and what the story would have been like if I’d written her when she was older. I write by listening to the characters, so her age would have changed everything.

Tags: shards, sleep, what-ifs
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