I already shared this on Twitter and Facebook but wanted to put it on my blog as well. After seeing the video on PubRants by Sherry Thomas, I knew I had to lemming up and do one myself forTall, Dark & Fangsome. Who says you need to spend hundreds of dollars on an effective book trailer?
It cracks me up every time I watch it. That Sarah and Thierry. So silly. *shakes head*
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Saw Terminator Salvation today and proclaim it infinitely watchable. I’ve been hearing such terrible things that I was afraid to see it (T1 and T2 are two of my favorite movies of all time), but instead I went in with very low expectations that were met and surpassed. Christian Bale was fairly one-note as John Connor, but the character of Marcus Wright played by Sam Worthington (an Aussie actor so already I am programmed to like him) was fairly perfect and layered (plus…hello? Hawtness). The trailer was riddled with spoilers for his character which is unfortunate since the twist doesn’t really happen till well into the movie. However, I think I would have figured it out anyway. I would personally like to rewrite the last five minutes (to say the frakkin least. Grrr), but otherwise I thought it was way better than T3 and a fairly worthy successor of T2.
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Plugging away on Living in Eden #2. Well, I did take a few days off to write the time travel short story, but now that’s done I’m back on the main book. I’m focused on this now until I hit the end of the first draft in a month or so. My heroine has been kidnapped by the bad guys. The hero incapacitated. How ever will she get away? (As soon as I figure that out I will continue writing)
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And just a reminder, there is less than a week left on the Brenda Novak auctions. An ARC of TD&F is up for grabs in support of this worthy cause.
I’m in the midst of writing my short story (as Michelle Maddox) for The Mammoth Book of Time Travel Romance. And lo and behold, I happen to see that it’s already up for pre-order on Amazon. And it’s out this year!! Yep, December 7, 2009 seems to be the official release date on this anthology. October for the UK.
My story is turning into something fairly interesting, I think. We’ll see, right? It’s a romantic thriller, a little bit futuristic, but mostly takes place right here in the present. However, time travel does play a very important role (of course).
And if I need any more inspiration, I can just look at the gorgeous cover the anthology is getting and what wonderful company my story, which right now is called THE ELEVENTH HOUR, will have.
After a disappointing week of season finales, I’m ready for a little inspiration.
I know I’ve always said Hugh Jackman is the actor I pictured as Thierry in my Immortality Bites books. Well, in case he’s not available if a movie is ever made, I think I’ve found someone else who would be fairly right for the part. Monsieur Gilles Marini, who was the runner up in Dancing With The Stars.
*fans self*
Yes, he would do very nicely, I think. I knew he’d become a big star after seeing him in the Sex and the City movie. I repeat. BIG. STAR.
I’m going offline until early next week trying to get a whack of pages done. Have a wonderful Memorial Weekend, my American friends!
Well, okay, I do have a comment. I am saddened. Distraught. Bothered. I thought I didn’t care who won and I’d be happy for Kris. And I am, don’t get me wrong. But I’m not as happy as I thought I would be. Which makes me realize how much I wanted Adam to win. It was a fantastic show all the way through, really high-energy and fab entertainment (Queen? KISS??? Norman Gentle?????), then as soon as Kris won, it’s like the show flattened out. No one, not even Kris, seemed excited about it. It was like “Oh really? I won? Wow. Okay.” I mean, good luck to Kris. He killed Ain’t No Sunshine the other night. Really fabulous performance. But overall? Adam SHOULD have won.
So what does this say and how can I equate it to writing novels? Because I equate everything with writing novels, y’know.
Adam is the cult classic. The dangerous, edgy read. The book that people either love or hate because he’s so different and out there and exciting.
Kris is the mainstream success. The nice, cute read. The book everyone kinda likes just fine. If he got Amazon reviews, he’d get a lot of 3 stars. Adam would get either 5′s or 1′s.
Whatever. They’ll both do CDs and I’ll buy Adam’s. The question is, which will be the long-term success?
I’m over it.
Tonight SYTYCD starts and I could use some dancing. Dancing With The Stars finale was also a disappointment for me since Gilles didn’t win. Meh. Ah Gilles. Merci beaucoup for every paso doble.
So far the only season finale I haven’t been disappointed with was Supernatural. Lost’s was a little meh for me. But I have incredibly high standards for that show and it might never live up to them again.
However, the Toronto Blue Jays seem to be doing well right now so all is right with the world.
I’ve been writing my new book, the second in my LIVING IN EDEN series. It’s not going slowly, but I always find it difficult getting into a new book. But as I recently told a friend, usually when the writing is too much fun and easy it’s an indication that it’s sucking. So hopefully a harder write means less suckage when I roll into the second draft.
It’s a theory.
I’m also working on the AA’s for my Harlequin Blaze HOT SPELL which landed in my inbox again yesterday. I had to look that term up. Surprisingly it doesn’t mean Alcoholic’s Anonymous. It means author Additions and Alterations (I think). Learn something new every day. I think I’ll have my cover for this in about a month. Can’t wait to see it!!!
This is the official poster for New Moon. I’m almost as excited as a sixteen year old girl!
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Tonight’s the big episode for American Idol. Go Adam! (but Kris is pretty cute, too). I’m okay with either winning, but I’d be more likely to buy Adam’s CD.
Seems my to-do list is getting longer. It’s kind of like Murphy’s Law. The moment I want to plunge head-first into a new book and immerse myself in that world…a bunch of other stuff comes up that needs to be dealt with. So I deal with it. And I get back to the writing. As long as I hit my page count goal (7.4 per day if I want to achieve my first draft deadline) then all is well with the world. I’ve given my characters a lot to do in this book so hopefully the plot sweeps them along in a fun and easy-to-write fashion. Hey, I can always hope.
I have my soundtrack for EDEN2, final title TBD.
The Way I Are — Timbaland
Cross My Heart — Marianas Trench
Hot ‘N Cold — Katy Perry
Toxic — Britney Spears
Bring Me to Life — Evanescence
Devil Inside — INXS (this one’s a given for a demonic possession book )
Never Tear Us Apart — INXS
Apologize — One Republic/Timbaland
Boom Boom Pow — Black Eyed Peas
#1 Crush — Garbage
Breathe Me — Sia
Leave Out All The Rest — Lincoln Park
I forced myself to add current tunes to this one. My musical tastes normally seem to be stuck in the mid-nineties for some reason.
So that’s my musical inspiration for a book about demons and romance and mystery and danger. There’s even a bromance in this one which I’m looking forward to writing. I think.
Supernatural had their season finale last night. No spoilers, but it was a really good one with a major cliffhanger. Luckily they’re back for at least one more season — and things don’t seem to be getting any better for the boys (which means good entertainment for us sadistic viewers). So my inspiration this week is the Winchester brother who are the very pleasant mental images I have for two of my characters: Quinn and Barkley…
Full disclosure… I used to be a bit of a Star Trek fan. I hesitate to use the word Trekkie because I never went to any conventions or, really, told anyone about my love for Star Trek: The Next Generation back in the early nineties. But I loved it dearly. (Data forever!!)
My first piece of fan fic was a horrifically bad story about the character Q who decided to allow an Earthling girl into the Q-Continuum and imbue her with omnipotent powers. And yes, that Earthling girl may have been me.
But my Star Trek love had long since left the building, replaced by Buffy-love, Lost-love, and other television shows. I wasn’t interested in the new movie, the reimagining of Star Trek by JJ Abrams, creator of Alias, Lost, and several other of my faves. That is, until I heard the reviews that said it, basically, rocked.
I was intrigued. So I went to see it.
This movie had everything in it that I feel WOLVERINE was lacking (a movie I found entertaining, but ultimately unsatisfying). Emotion, story layers, character depth + major WOW factor.
From the moment Star Trek starts, it commands attention. The last opening sequence that blew me away as much as the first 10 minutes of this movie did was The Matrix. I’m not sure how they did it in such a short amount of time, but I was emotionally committed to these characters (I shed a tear!!) and on the very edge of my seat — a position in which I remained for the following two hours.
When you’re a writer, you always hear about “raising the stakes.” Don’t make it easy on your characters. Chase them up that metaphorical tree and throw rocks at them. Well, JJ Abrams does just that (although he uses rocket launchers rather than rocks). He could give lessons on how to make it difficult for his characters.
Have a fight scene? Put it on a small platform that a wrong step would plunge you to your death. And not only that. Depending on where you step, a column of fire might shoot up and incinerate you in an instant.
Have a starship under attack and an evacuation in progress? Have a character pregnant and going into labour.
That is ramping up the tension, people. When it’s bad for your characters, make it a whole hell of a lot worse. The result? The most entertaining movie I’ve seen in recent memory.
Plus… Spock as (romantic) bad ass? Kirk as cocky bad boy? Bring that action on. Kirk could have used just a tad bit of Spock’s angst, though. Just a TAD.
Now I only wish this had been the pilot for a new TV show.
Have you seen the movie yet? What did you think of it??
I feel rested and recharged after taking a couple days off. I’m ready to start my next book — well, ready might be the wrong word to use, actually. I’m in “prep mode” right now. I am slowing immersing myself into the world of Eden Riley, the heroine in LIVING IN EDEN — and trying to figuring out exactly what plot and themes I want to tackle in book #2, tentatively titled EDEN’S DEMON.
I know several key scenes and I have the first chapter already done, but I want to chart my journey out a bit better before I begin because I know without a detailed map I tend to falter and end up with a lot of revision time when it comes to doing the second draft. Since I’m not much of a multi-tasker, I like to wait until I’m finished one project before I jump into the next with both feet. So here I am. Loitering on the edge of a deep cliff, wishing I was wearing more comfortable shoes.
Starting a new book, for me, is the scariest part of the process. And damn it all…it never seems to get easier! The idea of writing 350-400 pages of cohesive plot, interesting characters, and sustaining conflict + attempting to inject at least a layering of humor to it all, is not a small undertaking. It’s a real leap of faith — faith in myself that I can actually do it. But I swear, this difficult and brain-draining act of creation is what gets me up in the morning….or early afternoon, depending on the day. There’s no greater feeling than having a good writing day and getting into that oh-so-elusive zone with the fingers and words fly as if channeled to you through some higher power.
Dude, I’m getting a tad metaphysical, but you know what I mean. I think.
Being a writer is the hardest job I’ve ever had, the least reliable, the most stressful, the most competitive… but I would not trade it for anything in the world. Well, maybe being a movie star. But even then I might still write on the side.
LIVING IN EDEN was a lot of fun to write and I developed a big world for it before I did anything else. My first task is to reread that book and reacquaint myself with the characters and their issues. These characters have A LOT of issues. I’ve told a few people that Darrak, the demon, may be my favorite “hero” character I’ve had from my books — at least as far as writing him goes. He has a really good sense of humor which makes him a lot of fun to write. Sure he angsts and stresses, but he balances it with some major wit and he couldn’t be described as emo.
I wrote this in 3rd person all-heroine POV because I knew in other books I wanted to leave open the opportunity to have hero POV. And I’m going to utilize that a lot in EDEN’S DEMON. This book is going to have a focus on Darrak, while the first one focused on Eden.
And, yes, I realize this means nothing to readers of this blog because the first book isn’t out yet! But this is my thought process when planning a new book. And this will be my 12th contracted book I’ve written. Holy crap!!
So…I’m going to read the first one again and make my “bible” of things I need to remember — character’s looks, world building stuff, hints I left myself (without perhaps even realizing it) about future plots. Then I’ll make a bullet point list of “must have” scenes. Then I’ll put those bullet points in order of how I think they’ll appear in the book. Then I’ll fill in the gaps with sub-bullet points. Then I’ll break it down into three acts. This part sounds like work, but honestly? Pre-writing is my favorite part of the process. Everything is still so clean and shiny and perfect. It’s only when the writing actually starts that things stop going the way I had them planned out. But, as long as I know roughly where I want to have happen in the middle, the climax, and how this puppy is going to end, I’m golden.
I estimate my official writing start date will be Monday or Tuesday depending on how those bullets go and how neatly my GMC (Goal, Motivation and Conflict) fall into place.
Oooo, I’m getting a tingle. I’m excited. And apprehensive. And scared. And buzzed. And craving chocolate (damn you Nutrisystem for sending me 10 crappy almond biscottis and NO chocolate bars!).
Personal deadline for first draft: July 5th. Official deadling: August 1st.
Let’s write a book.
But of course, I do need my inspiration. Since I’ve already worked with these characters, I already have them cast in the movie in my head. Darrak doesn’t look exactly like Ryan Reynolds, but he does have his body and his sense of humor……. so close enough….
The idea of writing 350-400 pages of cohesive plot, interesting characters, and sustaining conflict + attempting to inject at least a layering of humor to it all, is not a small undertaking. It’s a real leap of faith — faith in myself that I can actually do it. But I swear, this difficult and brain-draining act of creation is what gets me up in the morning….or early afternoon, depending on the day. There’s no greater feeling than having a good writing day and getting into that oh-so-elusive zone with the fingers and words fly as if channeled to you through some higher power.
