Very brief update. I got some writing in at work because boss left early. Yay. And then read and read and READ until I finished Crooked Letter, Crooked Letter. Really great book. Thoughtful review coming soon.
My eyes hurt, though, so it’s time to chillax and enjoy some boob tube before bedtime.
4000 words and I haven’t even got past day one. I’m trying to make sight-seeing seem interesting by interspersing banter and funny, meaningful conversation and not making it obvious that I want to move time along. I suppose it helps that I don’t plan to detail every day of a week long vacation like I’m detailing this first day. My goal for the next 1000 words is going to get them at least to their final destination, the island of Santorini. I should aim for that tonight but I just don’t have the brain capacity, really. It’ll have to be tomorrow.
I also started reading a new book that is way less of a disappointment than my last book.
[Crooked Letter, Crooked Letter is] an atmospheric drama set in rural Mississippi. In the late 1970s, Larry Ott and Silas “32″ Jones were boyhood pals. Their worlds were as different as night and day: Larry, the child of lower-middle-class white parents, and Silas, the son of a poor, single black mother. Yet for a few months the boys stepped outside of their circumstances and shared a special bond. But then tragedy struck: Larry took a girl on a date to a drive-in movie, and she was never heard from again. She was never found and Larry never confessed, but all eyes rested on him as the culprit. The incident shook the county—and perhaps Silas most of all. His friendship with Larry was broken, and then Silas left town.
More than twenty years have passed. Larry, a mechanic, lives a solitary existence, never able to rise above the whispers of suspicion. Silas has returned as a constable. He and Larry have no reason to cross paths until another girl disappears and Larry is blamed again. And now the two men who once called each other friend are forced to confront the past they’ve buried and ignored for decades.
It’s fantastic so far, fast paced and full of questions to be answered and puzzles to solve. I’m on Ch 4 and I expect to finish in the next few days.
I have writted. I got in my 1000 words for the night. Tomorrow I’ll edit the first 1400 and type 1000 more until this chapter is complete. Seems like a nice way to pace myself and not get buried under detail and minutae.
My chapter opens with my characters on a long awaited flight. I’ve spent 3 days with them on the plane… my goal today was to get them off of the plane and I did that.
Now it’s time to settle down and get some reading in. I’m taking a break from Pretty Little Liars and I’ve picked up the Lonely Polygamist. I don’t know why I am drawn to stories about this life, but I am. The MC so far doesn’t seem like a strong enough man to have 4 wives, but whatever. Just getting into it.
Speaking of, my to read pile is kind of scary. I’ve committed to not getting any more books (fingers crossed behind my back) until I’ve made a dent in that list. It’ll get to where I can’t remember why I thought a book would be interesting to read (why did I get a book named BUFFALO???) and then I’ll archive it and I’ll never read it. Thankfully most ebooks are free downloads so it’s not like it’s a waste of money, but… I don’t need to waste space either.
Speaking of x 2… I think I am going to give myself the gift of a Nook Color. I have so many books in .epub format, which the kindle doesn’t read. Also I only have the iPhone app, which doesn’t let you add books to it. I CAN add books to my Nook for PC app but they don’t translate to the Nook app on my iPhone. I’m hoping that is something that will work for the Nook, otherwise I’m still out an eReader that is truly compatible with my iPhone.
Ah well. Seems more research is in order!
FINALLY a new book by Grisham. I love his legal thrillers. His last book, the Associate, was fantastic. After a few ‘off’ novels, he seems to be the Grisham of old with his last and now this current novel. Can’t wait to dig in. I’m at about Ch. 3 or 4, I can’t tell cause I am reading with my Kindle app on my iPhone… my fave way to read!
Last night I finally finished Orange is the New Black, by Piper Kerman. I don’t typically read non fiction but the subject matter really interested me after I saw her appearance on the Today show. I downloaded the book right away to my Kindle app and have been slowly reading it.
For some reason, prison stories really interest and mesmerize me. I’m always fascinated by the odd feeling of ‘home’ that inmates admit to after awhile and how innovative they can be in their efforts to make daily life bearable. There was no shortage of such ingenuity in this book as Piper takes the reader through her journey as a drug smuggler, her return to a straight laced- life and then the day when the FBI showed up on her doorstep to arrest her for her part in a life she hadn’t lived in over ten years.
Piper is sent to Danbury Women’s prison, which seems like a hellhole but isn’t ‘really’ prison, according to the inmates. Navigating the experience with all of the knowledge of an infant child, Piper learns daily who to trust, who to make friends with, how to survive. By the book’s end, she had served 13 months- 345 days, approximately.
The book read more like a diary, which I enjoyed. No exposition or making up of things that weren’t happening from Piper’s point of view. Despite how long it took me to finish it, I did love the book.
On other fronts, I’m being taunted. Not really. But really.
Every month I get the Newsletter from Glimmer Train. And for a year I’ve been thinking I will write something to submit. And then I write something and think it’s stupid and I don’t submit it and it sits there. Or I dive back into my fanfiction and write so much of it that it’s hard to focus on regular fiction.
So I’ve decided. I’m going to take one of my recent stories, The Storm and try to get it critiqued by a few people to see if I can submit it before the end of the month for the Fiction Open. Stories just have to be 2,000 to 20,000 words long, be fiction, not be a novel excerpt and not be a children’s story. I think I can handle that. It’s the writing well enough to be recognized by a literary journal part that I don’t know about.
I’m not stopping there. I’ve had an idea for a nonfiction piece that’s been rolling around for a few weeks. I’d like to map it out some on paper to see how it flows. Maybe it’ll work and maybe it won’t. Won’t know until I try it.
I am determined to try.
Wow. I can’t even believe I did but I wrote something new. And it was short. And complete. Who am I??? And what have I done with the woman who writes 400,000 word stories and can’t finish them? Oh, wait. She’s still here.
Over at the fanfiction archive I thought it would be fun to do a challenge called AwesomeAugust, where writers sign up for a day and on that day, post a new, complete story that they want. It would get writers… well… writing and it would produce at least 31 new stories for the archive. We like new stories, and considering how dry the fandom is these days, new stories can breathe new life.
I hadn’t planned on doing one, because I didn’t have an idea. And then… with about 3 slots open, an idea came to me. And then I thought it was dumb and gave up my slot. And then I got some great advice and swallowed my pride at my ‘damn good idea’ cut it back to the beginning and re-wrote it and guh.
Can I say I love my own work? Is that egotistical? Oh well. I think it’s cute. It’s called, “Rescue Me” and borrows a little bit from Pretty Woman, which I know aired last night and that was a complete coincidence. I was trying to find a movie that two people could be watching at 4am and did a Google search and Pretty Woman popped up and I thought, Yes! there’s some great quotable lines in that! I already knew how I could mold some dialog around the lines and draw some parallels. I thought it turned out great.
A snippet? Don’t mind if I do (beware of language, this piece is Rate R):
“See, I liked the Julia Roberts character,” Gabby admitted, crunching on popcorn. “But I liked her friend more.”
“Kit De Luca? Yeah she’s a little spitfire. Every prostitute needs a great best friend.”
“Well, and I’ve had a girl crush on Laura San Giacomo, ever since The Stand.”
“Good flick,” he said, tossing a handful of popcorn into his mouth. “Scary, though.”
“The good outweighs the scary. I love the part where they’re talking about the fairy tale, the Prince Charming, you know? And Vivian asks her who that ever worked out for, and Kit says, Cindafuckin’rella.” She laughed, adding, “I always wanted to be called that.”
“Not Gab-Gabriele?”
Gabby burst into delirious giggles, nearly choking on a kernel of popcorn. “Shut up! I didn’t know if I wanted you to know me as Gabby the fun girl, or Gabrielle, the serious writer. I wanted to make a good impression.”
“Honey, you wasted a good impression on a man who was falling down drunk.”
“Shhhh,”she hissed, tapping him on the chest. “I like this part…”
We‘re going to be spending an obscene about of money…
Exactly how obscene an amount of money were you talking about? Just… profane or really offensive?
“You like that part? Where the guy drags her to a shop and dresses her up so she fits into his LA wet dream and doesn‘t look like a…you know…” His voice trailed off, seemingly on purpose.
“Like a whore?” Gabby volunteered. “Okay, not the deeper meaning part, no. But I like the sarcasm and how it’s so Beverly Hills. To a tee.”
“Got that right.”
“You know… this is kind of ironic.”
“What is?”
“Us. Watching this movie. Okay, you said you didn’t want to be alone, tonight. In the movie, Edward picks up Vivian because he doesn’t want to be alone. And she thinks it’s just gonna be this quickie… thing. And I thought I was just dropping you off, on my way home. And he convinces her to stay.” She twisted around so she could see him, face to face. “And you won’t let me leave your house.”
He was almost smiling. Almost. He blinked, slowly, then asked, “If I agree to that irony, am I saying you‘re a prostitute?”
“No. You’re just agreeing to the irony.”
“Then… I should point out that it’s not really irony. More coincidental. You’re a writer. You should know that.”
She laughed, and then blushed. “Touché. I would have caught it, if I wasn’t tired. But what a coincidence, huh?”
Gabby wasn’t sure what she was doing. Or if he would even respond, but fuck it… she was leaving town anyway–may as well go out with a bang. All it took was a few seconds of concentrated staring, her eyes moving from his eyes to his lips and back to his eyes. He picked up on the hint and moved in, brushing his lips across hers and then opened his mouth.
Soft. Slow. Heady. Damn. He was a good kisser.
Et voila. *shrug* I like it.
This week I am trying hard to move Same Time Next Week forward. All I Wanna Do is at a pinnacle point right now and I need to be strategic about how I take it. I have sort of an avalanche of events that are going to hit my main character… the reader needs to feel her absolute despair. It has to be done right. And I feel like I might lose my grip on Same Time if I don’t give it some attention. I still have some fixing that needs to be done with that story.
Seems like I have a lot to do. Maybe I might finish both of these odysseys this year! I def want to finish Same Time before November. My 09 NaNoWriMo cannot still be hanging around when ’10 NaNo starts.
The weirdest thing has been happening, all week. Well, first of all, I’ve been writing. Which after such a dry spell is a great miracle. My latest entry of AIWD was so difficult to complete! I wrote the chapter three times and still didn’t really accomplish what I wanted with it, but the third rendition was the closest. I am learning to not be afraid to scrap things and start over. It’s never going to be perfect out of the gate.
Since I was having such a hard time with the last chapter of AIWD, I was longing for something new and different to write, to get me out of the funk. Something easy, or something that came to me easier, instead of struggling over every word and trying to make them string together and make perfect sense. And then….
Same Time Next Week… the bane of my existence… my unfinished 2009 NaNoWriMo… the story that was not going to be finished… started talking to me. It started telling me where I could back the story up to and where I could lop off the diseased portion and where I could take the story from the new jumping off point. I’ve been rearranging the last two days and tonight actually added new words. And got to a point tonight that makes me excited to jump in tomorrow. DRAMZ, ya’ll!
Ugh. So excited. And so happy that ideas are flowing, and that I’m not struggling. I just needed to focus on something different, and this story is much looser with language and sexuality so I can uh… let some things flow. LOL. I guess I just need the release and every once in while I need to pull myself out of AIWD and do something else. Since I can’t quite get started on that Criminal Minds fanfic. HA!
But seriously, it’s still rolling around in my brain. *smacks self* Stop it!
My only issue is how to post the new version at the archive because I already have great feedback on what’s there and some of that gets replaced. I’m hoping it will be alright to close the old version and re-upload the same story but a Redux version. So many things are moved around and added that it’d be hard to go in and edit the old chapters. And then the feedback wouldn’t make any sense.
But I think I want to finish it, before I even start to thinking about that…..but it’s nice to think about.
On Sunday, May 16, 2010 post your favorite flirty scene, either from one of your WIPs, or a brand new one you’ve written just for this blogfest. It can range anywhere from sweet to hot, and any genre is fair game…you don’t have to be a romance writer to participate!
I wrote something specifically for this Fest, but I kind of hate it. It’s so bland. Boo. Then I remembered a scene I really liked from my 2009 NaNoWriMo. It is edited from its original form but the gist is the same. Some steamy flirting going on, so this excerpt is Rated R.
Excerpted from Same Time Next Week:
Somewhere between the second shot and him letting her win at darts, Shelby decided that whatever was going to happen, was going to happen. It seemed like it was going that way-if he wasn’t to ask her to go home with him, he wouldn’t have asked if she was hungry. That sneak was trying to drag out the date! She didn’t blame him. She wasn’t ready to go home yet, either.
‘Besides, I could use some of that, right now.’
The Dessert Lady was a cute little store front with striped awnings over the windows and tables for two set up around the small space. At the front of the store, a glass case was lined with rows and rows of cakes and pies from cherry to strawberry pie, from pound cake to chocolate cake to coffeecake. Shelby’s eyes lit up at the selection. Jackson was momentarily forgotten-she was lusting after the chocolate torte, sitting in the middle of the case.
“Have you had any of these, before?”
“Honey, I have had all of these before. They are all excellent. You’re a big fan of chocolate, right? The torte is excellent…”
“I was looking at that…”
“Or the Six Layer Cake is really good, too… or the Oreo Cheesecake. I’m partial to the Peanut Butter Pie, myself.”
After a few minutes of slowly crawling the dessert case and drooling over each selection, Shelby made her decision, nodding at the decadent layers of chocolate in the middle of the case. “That torte is calling my name.”
Jackson ordered for the both of them, and then, despite being alone in the store, pulled her toward a table near the window, behind an oversized fringe curtain. The table was small, so small their knees bumped under it.
“So, you’ve been in Orlando all of four days. What do you think of it?”
Shelby gulped at the glass of water set in front of her. Three beers and two shots made for a very tipsy girl. She wanted all of her wits about her, later on. “I like it. It’s nice. I mean, a little frustrating at four am, but at least it’s quiet. I feel like I don’t get a moment’s peace in Miami. The city never sleeps. That gets tiring after awhile. So, yeah, it’s nice. I’m in Winter Park, actually. Real small town-ish.”
Jackson perked, sitting up straight, head tilted a little. “Wait. You live in Winter Park?” Shelby nodded, smiling. She had no idea where he lived exactly, just that he was rumored to have a home there. Winter Park wasn’t that big… he had to be close. ”What part?”
“Off of Park, near Rollins College, I think it is?”
“Yeah, I’m not too far from there at all. Lake Virginia. How weird that we live so close to each other.”
“Well, if you think about it, not really. We met at the neighborhood grocery store. It’s not like I drove from Melbourne to shop at the Winter Park Publix.”
Jackson smirked, narrowing his eyes, mouthing a playful ‘smartass’ across the table. He was delightful. So funny and laid back. And cute. And so sexy. Every time he smiled at her, her stomach lurched and she felt warm inside.
‘Ask me already! I don’t want to go home tonight. How many more signals do I need to send??!’
“Here we are,” said the server, a short woman dressed in white, complete with baker’s hat. “Peanut butter pie and chocolate torte. Enjoy.” She slid two plates and two forks onto the table and left a stack of napkins.
“That looks so good,” she said, eyeing his plate, stacked high with a peanut butter-chocolate concoction.
“It is. Haven’t had it in a long time, actually.” He sliced off a chunk and slid it into his mouth, his eyes closing as he chewed, a few light moans coming from his throat.
Shelby laughed at his dramatics. “Is it really, really good, Jackson? You look like you’re about to–”
He laughed, almost shooting peanut butter and chocolate out of his mouth. “Not yet,” he said, wiggling a brow at her while shoving another forkful in his mouth. “It is good though. Want to try some?”
“I’d love a taste.” Jackson picked up his fork again, but she stopped him with a touch of her hand, shaking her head slowly, a hint of a smile on her lips, praying he would catch her hint. ”Not from there.”
He caught it, loud and clear, but seemed like he wasn’t sure what to do. He blinked, swallowed, and then, springing into action, reached under the table to grab a rung of her chair and slide her around so she was sitting next to him. Wasting no time at all, he laid an arm over the back of her chair and leaned in, tilting his head toward her. She met him halfway, mouth open, eyes closed, heart racing.
Warm. And sweet, and soft and gentle, and oh my God. He was kissing her. And he was awesome at it.
His tongue rasped across hers, over and under and around, swirling, spreading the taste of peanut butter and chocolate with it. His lips were soft, brushing against hers over and over, light as air. Shelby fought herself every second, trying not to push the table back and climb onto his lap, sort of grateful he hadn’t touched more than her lips. She was already on the edge, and just about over the point of no return.
He pulled back, his eyes dark and hooded, but his expression gentle. “How was it?” he mumbled, his face still so close to hers.
“Delicious,” she answered, grinning, licking residual peanut butter taste off of her lips. Trying not to pant.
“Thank you. I enjoyed that myself.”
“Good. It’s uhm… rich. The Peanut Butter Pie.”
“Yeah, it is. That’s why I like it. Lots of flavor.” He stared at her, blinking every few seconds. She stared back, bold. Refusing to look away and pretend she was shy, despite how… intense his stare was.
“So, uhm, not asking about the past, but I know you don’t sleep well. Are you… are you tired, or…”
“Not at all.”
He cleared his throat, and swallowed again. “Well, I was thinking maybe we could go someplace a little more private. Do some real talking.”
“Really. Where would this place be?”
His tongue flicked out of his mouth, wetting his bottom lip. He reached for his water glass and sucked down half of it. Shelby’s eyes never left his face. He laughed, finally, looking at her again. “Why are you making this so hard on me?”
She giggled, caught in the act. “Because you already know the answer.”
“I do?”
“You wanted me to suggest I go home with you? How many times am I gonna hear Jackson Pierce ask me to go home with him?”
The smile faded, slowly. His eyes dropped to her lips, and he kissed her again, this time more forceful and passionate, deep breaths through his nose, his lips pressing hard against hers, his tongue darting in and out of her mouth, fighting with hers. He grabbed the back of her head and held her against him, against his mouth while he kissed her. It was so damn hot… the hottest kiss she’d ever had. Ever.
He pulled back, ending the kiss in a smack, and before his eyes even opened, said, “Come home with me. Please.”
“Yes,” she said, her voice no higher than a whisper. “We should maybe get our dessert to go. I’ll want to eat this torte, later.”
“And I’ll want to taste it.” He leaned in to her, his lips almost touching her ear. “Maybe I could lick it off of some places, too.”
Shelby stood so fast, she nearly knocked the chair over. She shook, she was so excited, and had to calm herself down before they left the store, to- go boxes in hand. Jackson seemed to be in a hurry, pulling her down Church Street, then crossing the street and walking toward a dark blue Mercedes. The lights flashed and the door lock clicked with a mechanical sound.
“Well, shouldn’t I just follow you in my car?”
“Nah, just hop in. I’ll bring you back to your car.” He all but pushed her into the passenger seat and shut the door as soon as she was inside, then walked around the front of the car and got in on the driver’s side.
“Okay, Jackson?” Shelby laid a hand on his arm. She understood his pain… really, she did. But this rush job wasn’t very sexy and was ruining the mood. “Relax. It’s gonna happen. I’m not a tease. You don’t have to rush. Take your time.”
He exhaled, blowing out a long, slow breath. He laid a hand over hers and squeezed. “Sorry. I’m not rushing. I’m just…. I like you. I’m ready. And I want to do this. Like, yesterday.”
“I know. I want that, too. Just slow down, a little. Be gentle. For now.” She teased him, scraping a fingernail lightly down his arm. He groaned and squirmed in the seat, shoving the key into the ignition and turning it roughly.
“Lady…” Jackson heaved a sigh, looked toward the heavens as if he was mentally thankking every higher power that existed, whether he believed in them or not. “You’ve been killing me, all night long. I cannot wait to get you home.” He grabbed her hand and shoved it between his legs, wrapping her fingers around the mass curled up in the front of his jeans. “Don’t you dare move that. Don’t even think about it.”
Et voila.
Chapter 41 is complete and up at the Archive. It was a pretty simple chapter to write, and some things actually surprised me by coming out while I was writing it. Most importantly, I got something that I can build on for future chapters. Know what that’s called? PLOT! WOOP!
I’m having an issue with another story in that I am horribly stuck but I want to finish the story so badly. I’m unable to go back and figure out what’s not working, though. It’s just…boring and I can’t figure out how to extend it or rewrite it or… SIGH. It’s been sitting for quite some time. It’s actually my 2009 NaNo piece. I’d sure love to call that thing done before NaNo 2010 starts. :|
I have great samples that can be polished/ rewritten and submitted, just for practice.
Gee.. I gotta make everything so hard.
I am thinking of revamping Calm Waves and Smooth Moon. Giving it a new title and a little more story and submitting it to a short story archive. Have to check to see if it has to have not appeared elsewhere first, since I put everything in my personal archive.
After that, I’ll get some prompts and get to writing something new as well as plan out the next chapter of All I Wanna Do… I also want to have something submitted to The Glimmer Train by the end of March. I could aim for the end of February but that’s not a lot of time to produce a quality piece.
Going to do it. HAVE to.
Pen in Hand,
I remember back when I was trying to finish this story… last year…. and I said I didn’t even want to hit Chapter 30 because I thought that was ridiculous. Here I am at Chapter 40 and still going strong. In my mind, we have quite a bit more story left to tell. Who knows how many chapters, but we know how I hate to rush through these things. I’m truly enjoying spinning this yarn. It’ll finish when it finishes.
What slows me down, sometimes, is resarch. Research is King and I like to do a lot of it. This chapter found our main characters driving through Tennessee, from Kingsport through Gatlinburg/ Pigeon Forge. Among other storylines, they take a trip to the Pigeon Forge Elvis Museum. And, wow. Just watching the video alone at elvismuseums.com gave me ideas for how to incorporate some fun into the story. Funny thing is that one of my reviews mentioned that they’d been to that very museum. I love when art imitates life… or whatever that saying is.
From there they drove on to New Orleans, destination French Quarter. I’ve never been to N.O. but I’m dying to go someday. If I do, I must stay at the Maison Dupuy Luxury Hotel, just based on the pictures. I love hotels! The most fun in writing this story has been picking out the destinations and trying to weave a description into the story line.
Hoping to get started on a new chapter this week… I don’t want to take a lot of down time and get out of rhythm. Have been doing a lot of blogging and reading of blogs, gathering inspirations here and there. I need some literary inspiration, though, so I’m hoping to get back to my lunch time reading habit this week.
Speaking of inspiration, I am going to be following along on WriteMeg’s Two Girls Read Shakespeare. I’m ashamed to say, as a writer, that I’ve never read much Shakespeare. Amazingly, it wasn’t required in my English classes, even the College Prep ones, and past Romeo and Juliet, I never read any. I studied Communication at University– had I stuck with English as a major I likely would have read my share. So, now I’ve got to make up for it and I’m looking forward to being analytical and discussing literature. Almost makes me want to go back to school.
Almost.
Pen in Hand,