Jugular

If I have a writing weakness (okay, so AMONG my list of writing weaknesses), it is that I am TOO NICE. Oh, I know... one doesn't usually think of your happy neighborhood dominatrix as a warm, cuddly thing, but really... I get attached to my characters... I want good things for them. I mean sure... a little mundane emotional torture, but really putting them in deep danger? Doing horrible, rotten things to them? I have a hard time doing it. So I thought maybe we should explore some ways to make ourselves meaner... you know... on paper.

1)  Read some really bad literature and ponder how THAT book got published and yours didn't.

2)  Record a reading of your rejection letters and play them back to yourself while you sleep.

3)  Give up caffeine.

4)  Start an strict exercise routine so your muscles all hurt.

5)  Call upon memories of a cheating ex.

6)  Think of a time YOU got in trouble for something someone else did.

7)  Play some computer or video games and find out how much fun it is to blow stuff up.

8)  Write a SIDE STORY where you torture a character you really hate from one of those bad books in step one and realize if you are truly ROTTEN, it is actually fun to READ.

9) Think about your cantankerous partner getting rid of something you love because it was 'in his way'.

10)  Make yourself wear pants. Pants make EVERYONE mean.

Justice



While I am too nice, I am NOT a happily ever after gal. Endings that are too tidy or where 'love' is the solution to everybody's problem are a little too saccharine for me, but there is one thing I really am a stickler for in my endings. I want to experience some sense of JUSTICE. I want the downtrodden to get a little triumph. I want the arrogant jerks to get their comeuppance. I want the sweet, innocent people to have gotten a little dose of reality *shifty* (maybe that last one is just me). I can live with good stuff for the bad guy if he or she has gotten a really hard lesson.





Jaded



You know what I really can't tolerate. Beautiful people. I mean I can if they are a side character, and their behavior is either stereotypically bitchy or disarmingly NICE. But beautiful people as MCs who seem oblivious and have no CLUE they are beautiful? Not buying it. Characters everybody wants to date? Then they darned well better either be a jerk because of it, or embarrassed by it. They certainly are AWARE or they are NOT realistic. For some people, beauty is a tool, and they use it. For OTHERS it is a burden and they hate that they can never tell whether others are genuine or not.



I also hate the 'romance formula'. I can get along with OTHER BOOKS that include romance... romantic suspense or chick lit with some side romance to go with a nice dose of personal growth. But a man being the answer to a woman's problems is never going to ring true.

Jcounter *shifty*



One year ago today I added my stat counter, and I am thrilled that in that time, I've had 55,000+ blog hits, and according to the counter, that is by almost 19,000 individuals (though I am skeptical of that). I also had my 116th country yesterday and LOOK how darned cool that flag is! (Martinique)

Characterizing Characterization

So Friday's blogfest was a BLAST. I'd really like to thank Alex Cavanaugh, Elana Johnson, and Jennifer Daiker for a FABULOUS topic and some very interesting takes on creating characters... SO interesting in fact, that I am not willing to drop it just yet.



What struck me is how different we all saw it. Every person looked at it differently, but there are some CATEGORIES of approaches that I thought might be useful.

Which comes FIRST the Character, or the Plot?



I noticed that some people thought of their characters first (sometimes fully formed) and THEN thought of something for them to do... (or something that would happen to them). Other people couldn't do character until they knew the STORY.



People who really needed to have the characters down did clever things like interviewing them, writing full profiles, depending on psychological 'types'. (I was the only person who assigned them punctuation, but I also tend to do that after the fact, and honestly.. I've never DONE that *shifty*).



Other people needed characters to develop more organically—within the context of the story.





As with most things, I am a bendy sort... I need to know the characters before I write the book, or they won't behave consistently, but I can't 'know them' without writing them IN ACTION. I start with a couple scenes... sometimes those scenes survive, sometimes they don't.

Trait Inventory



Some people had qualities they insisted on: Smart, brave, flawed, unattractive (LOVE this one, though it's an exaggeration to how it was presented... but I am also in the 'can't be too beautiful' camp—pretty people annoy me). It's also nice if characters are capable or learning and growing.

The Telling



And then there was the school (of which I subscribe) that any character (with the probable exception of Bella Swann) COULD be written to be compelling. It is in the HOW. The reader needs to be made to CARE. That doesn't require LIKING the character, it just requires making the reader HAVE TO KNOW what happens.



There are a number of ways to make readers care about the character. I saw blogs about giving them a history, relationship... think, for instance, of Katniss Everdeen in the Hunger Games. She isn't necessarily LIKEABLE, but she takes care of her family when her father dies, she then volunteers herself for the 'games' so her sister doesn't have to go. Those two things buy a lot of leeway from the reader for this prickly character.



Even a pedophile like Humbert Humbert is compelling in Nabakov's capable words. THAT one, we are let inside his head and participate in his delusions—the 'minx-like' behavior he can't resist.







But I think my real question of interest, is whether this character creation thing is a little like the plotters versus pantsers thing... I think it MIGHT be. Do plotters need their characters sheet with all their traits, likes, quirks, where the pantsers allow the characters to develop with the story? Does this ring true to you?



I am in the middle on both fronts. I don't OUTLINE, but I do TIMELINE (and follow with about 60% success). And characters sort of COME to me, but before I DO THAT full timeline, I have written the scenes and have a pretty good idea.









So that's my question: What do you do on EACH?



Plot/Pants

Profile/Organic









[Editing Note: I am making good progress in whipping the WiP into shape, but MAN is this a slow process. I've got all my planned edits marked in some form or other, but going through and getting them in is big... I'd say I'm maybe a quarter done with that part...]

Compelling Characters PUNCTUATE!

*cough*



Okay, so I got a couple things going today, but y'all know I'm nuts, so I thought maybe you'd just roll with it with me.



First up... Alex Cavanaugh and co-conspirators are holding another BLOGFEST! (Two in one week? Are you nuts? Well I think you know the answer to THAT one.) The theme? Writing compelling characters! As writers, it is so important to do, and it is so obvious when you have and don't have them... but how do we GET THEM? (hold your breath—I'll get there)



Second! (and I warned you about this) It is NATIONAL PUNCTUATION DAY! Wahoo! (I talked briefly about THIS on Wednesday.



And because I am thoroughly insane, I thought what I WOULD DO is combine themes! *shifty*



(okay, now breathe)



I considered using MY characters, but you don't KNOW that, and since I have swim meets to attend and needy children this week, I thought characters most of you know might be more illustrative...

Period Characters: These characters behave predictably (and make the rest of us do the same). Most stories have a couple and stories that DON'T can be somewhat exhausting. They are the nice balance against which all your other characters contrast. They are stable. And they give you a chance to breath. They might offer up a surprise or two (what book can tolerate characters with no interesting details or activities?) but like Minerva McGonagall, they are always reliably present. (in fact their absence is a bigger disturbance than anything else could be). Hermione falls here, too, as does Hagrid, ironically.



(My MC and her beau fall here, partly I think, because I find rational characters in irrational circumstances can be fairly amusing.)

Question Mark Characters: These characters seem like one thing, but may very well be another. There is some answer to find, some resolution to seek. In the genres I write, these characters are essential—they would be the suspects, unknown bad guys, conspirators... Or they might just be people we don't know very well and we really want to know what makes them tick. Mad-Eye Moody of his first incarnation... Sirius Black... Maybe even Ron, with his mood swings and insecurities. But the biggie, is HARRY—Why DID he live and what is his connection to Voldemort?



(ALL the suspects, except one... you'll see her in a minute)

Exclamation Characters: These are colorful, loud, and used well, can be exciting, but you don't want very many of them... Fred and George! Tonks! Dumbledore! (you can't deny, Minister, the man has style)



(My MC's dad, who seems quite popular with the ladies...)

Interrobang Characters ?!: WAHOOOOO! Can you say WILD RIDE! These characters are over the top, unpredictable, and somehow can pull off what the exclamation characters can't because there is some QUESTION about them in addition to the excitement. LUNA!



(My MC's best friend and primary sidekick “I'm naked!” (she might have some of me in her))







The Helper Characters



Comma Characters: every story needs a couple place holders to set the pace—to keep things working in the flow you want... commas are one variety (the most boring, but least distracting form—only annoying when you get too many in a row. Parvati, Hannah Abbott, Justin Finch-Fletchy...



Ellipse and Em-dash Characters: These have a similar function but are a lot bossier about it, so you want to keep them to a minimum. I would classify Arthur Weasley as an Ellipse—he is whimsical and fun and adds... his wife, Molly however, is an em-dash—fierce, but for your own good.





Semi-colon Characters: I hear female writers have lots of these *shifty * They reinforce that two characters go together by being the pause between them... Cho Chang romantically but I think Neville is the best example (I say Neville because he often accentuates why things are so hard... he brings out the best and worst in others and allows us to see clearly (look at what he brings out in Draco versus Harry)



Colon characters: These try to increase order by annoying everybody. *cough*  Seriously though... these characters instill structure that inadvertently work against our characters... (the police officer who is set in his ways and won't listen to my MC, for instance.) Most of the Ministry, Dolores Umbridge in particular, but Cornelius Fudge, too. (and their chocolate frog babies )





The main important point though (yes, there is one) is that a great story needs a combination... the periods to keep it flowing in an orderly fashion, the question marks to keep us curious and engaged, the exclamation points to shock us now and again, and the commas and such to break it up a little and make it flow in a little less choppy a fashion. And if you are REALLY LUCKY, you can create an interrobang character that people will pull out as an example of beloved, inside or outside the story, for ages to come.



So there... Now you're insane to.

Raised By She-Wolves

This is sort of a meandering thing, but I am starting with some theory, inspired by a little personal history and then getting to a writing application, so bare with me...

Boy Friends



And I don't mean boyfriends... I mean BOYS who are Friends... I was really BAD at this in my formative years. I think there is a good reason for this. I was an only child (no brothers) and my dad was, for the most part, absent, even before he died. Oh, sure, I had boy cousins, uncles... neighborhood kids... but I really had no awareness that boys were people (who knew?). I usually stammered awkwardly, or flirted badly (as in with poor skill, not as in overdoing it, though if I added alcohol, it tended to cross from the one to the other and there was a time I thought this meant I was succeeding.)



There were a few exceptions though, and I have analyzed it (blame my Virgo Moon). The boys I was capable of being great buddies with, without awkwardly walking the 'der, what do I say, am I supposed to flirt now?' thing, had SISTERS and tended to be raised by ONLY their mom... they were USED to being doused in estrogen. I have several male friends with whom things were FAR easier to find all the lines because THEY KNEW HOW TO TALK TO GIRLS! (so I didn't NEED to know how to talk to BOYS).

My Theory



Getting along with different types of people TAKES PRACTICE. Oh, sure, some people just have more social skills (or enough drive to develop them, or parents better able to teach them) but people exposed to a great variety of people will be better able to deal with them LATER.



I think in college, when I had my first 'exclusive' boyfriend, I managed friendships with HIS friends, and LEARNED how to do it... and in my 20s, nearly all of which, I was with my husband, though we didn't marry until I was 25, the OTHER men I got to know were ALSO just friends... I had finally mastered it... But it took security (on my part, this took the form of 'already taken, not looking') and opportunity (work or school environments where I MET and interacted when I wasn't looking... see, that LOOKING interfered a lot when I had no clue how to talk to boys and desperately wanted some media version of 'happy ever after' type love (STILL can't read romance... misleading tripe)...

But it goes for ALL KINDS of people! I think this low exposure is why people in small towns have misconceptions about certain religions, or underrepresented races... gay and lesbian people (as other that Daffyd, very few people want to be the ONLY gay in the village, so they move away). Cities expose us to more people who 'aren't like us' and open our minds that ALL people are people... but we STILL could use some practice interacting.





Now for the APPLICATION...



Want a rationale for why your character gets along better or worse with some group? Need a rationale for a tic or a quirk... a set of misconceptions? Give them a history! A lack of experience or a bad experience can lead to a whole mess of faulty attributions. This is especially true where there is an unfamiliar GROUP and a character's OWN group talks about them in certain prejudicial ways. But for something as simple as “can she talk to boys?” this is a great way to set up a realistic route of ineptitude.



If a character acts a certain way... has certain social skills or LACKS them, this is one of the many options for explaining and expanding on that... for REALLY getting your characters.





As for REAL Life...



Get to know people from as many walks of life as possible. The faulty attributions are only useful if you KNOW what is faulty attribution and what is real. Cultural differences really exist. So do stereotypes. Learning the difference is how you can keep from walking the wrong side of that line.



So there you have it... Advice a la Tart....

Pushy and Mean

First, a disclaimer: I am training somebody this week at work, was on vacation last week, and have a half dozen largish deadlines. I will still blog hop, but will maybe only hit the blogs I try to regularly hit about half as often this week. I apologize, but so rolls the ball. I just can't really do any of it from work, and normally I hit about half of what I hit while there.



So back to the blog...

The Pushy Story



So I got blindsided this week by a STORY IDEA (two actually, but one is a short, and manageable) and it (the long one now) won't leave me alone. I have no time for it. I have a Cozy to edit, then at least one of my others to finally get into shape, so I have slated it for my NaMoWriMo... but it WON'T STOP PESTERING ME! Pick Pick Pick Pick Pick....



Definitely a YA... and did I mention it is a murder mystery? Do they DO YA murder mysteries? It is NOT cozy... I'm liking the ideas though.



What is it about some ideas that they take hold like that, and will NOT be ignored. I've had one that made me drop a different book for it (that other book still sits, half finished). And I have some that just patiently wait until I am ready for them. Is it the characters involved? Is it the plot? Any of you have a clue?

Mean MCs.



So I am reading a book right now, which I am not yet naming, as I have just got onto a character who I like better than the first, but the first 40 pages were from a guy who is just hard to like. It isn't that he dislikable exactly, but I haven't found anything to grasp onto that I really sympathize yet... he's a cold fish—hard to know--who gets himself in a bind and sort of wanders willingly into trouble. Now I THINK it is because the author needs us to doubt him the whole book (is he the murderer?) and I REALLY like character number two already (in only about 5 pages) so the BOOK is promising. And I LIKE some ambiguity, but at the moment I am wondering how risky it might have been to start with the unlikeable guy. I mean the book seems to be doing okay, but is anyone getting lost?



But it brings up several questions.



How important is liking? Sympathy? Identifying? Does intrigue make up for it?



And when does likeable have to happen? Is there a point of no return? Do they have to be likeable by a certain point for the book to be redeemable? Can a convincing show of delusion make up for it? (Lolita comes to mind—a beautiful book with an ultimately unlikeable MC).



I guess I can think of examples of very dislikable characters that had a certain CHARM or WHIMSY. Death in The Book Thief wasn't LIKABLE exactly, but he was still sympathetic.



Am I insane? Are there people who like dark, unredeemed MCs? Anybody out there okay with Crime & Punishment (and WHY?--though I guess he sort of learns his lesson, but not enough for me.)





And NOW, to counterbalance all the negative energy... Evidence that I have FABULOUS friends!



My friend Rissa made this for me... Do you recognize me? The Tarty Llama in the wine glass (con tiara) with my man-minion llama and duck companions?



It is of note that there are NO PANTS in this picture.



AH! Love you, Rissa!

Cozy Questions Answered!

See how helpful I am!



So a couple of you asked some really great questions yesterday, and a couple MORE people asked me some questions on Facebook and I'm no expert, but I can sure give it a wack...

What the Heck is a Cozy Mystery?



Mysteries come in a variety of flavors—you have your forensic crime novels, your hard boiled detective tales (I am reading The Big Sleep right now), your thrillers that happen to have a mystery in 'em (Girl With the Dragon Tattoo for instance), and your mainstream mysteries... COZY mysteries are for people who don't want all the GORY stuff... they don't want the mind-numbing chemistry of body decomposition, or food digestion. I believe they more often read to solve the crime along WITH the amateur sleuth, so it needs to be solved in a way a very clever amateur could DO IT. Agatha Christie seemed to have been the leader of the genre with Miss Marple... little old lady murder sleuth...

Cozy mysteries are also TOLD with more humor and quirk... they seem to have a couple campy characters, maybe a twist that is just a little 'out there' (but fits with the quirky characters and IF the twist is in place, there is no stretching needed to believe how it fits with the crime).



The pace is a little slower—more time spent on set up and character, rather than a murder on page one (or at least chapter one) which is the rule with most mysteries--mine happens at the END of chapter 2 (off screen, of course). The 'who will die' is more obvious (partially because it is usually on the back of the book, “... until XYZ turns up dead!”



Takes away one piece of mystery, yes, but I think cozy mystery readers don't really want LIKABLE characters to die (a little danger, sure, but not... DEAD!)



MANY (most?) have a sort of side theme... there are pets and hobbies and vocations... were I to do my own idea for the base at some future date I might have a sleuth that is a Parks Ranger, or something... seems to me campers, rafters, etc. end up in situations for a nice 'almost closed room' mystery that could be a real kick, and then I could take rafting trips with my uncle and deduct them [anyone wants to raft the Salmon River in Idaho, let me know, I'll hook you up--I'm serious--my uncle runs a company and it's FUN].





But it doesn't Rhyme with Tart....



Why do I need a pen name at all, then? It's a reasonable question... I mean... I'm WRITING it... BUT... These audition deals are for a SPECIFIC series... they have put out some parameters that the EDITOR at Berkeley Prime Crime came up with, so it isn't the same level of proprietary thing as if I... sent a whole book that I came up with ALL the stuff myself--there is a trade off.  THEIR series, they are willing to chance on me after a certain number of chapters, because THEY have elements they believe in--If I just send... they need to see the whole thing first... or so I understand it. Yes, the parameters are somewhat negotiable, and there aren't a debilitating number of them, but... for instance they told me who the dead guy is and a little about the main protagonist, her colleagues and family... So in the end it is a collaboration. It is NOT as structured as say... the cast of thousands writing James Patterson novels... He gives a whole OUTLINE—I got NOTHING like that... some names and relationships... a Gardening theme, a location: what could I do with it? They've done their market research... they know what niches are promising... and then they pick the voice they think can pull it off that seems to have a PLAN.... (and boy do I ever! *cackles*)

Name Digression



These are the Olsons, Curtis and Ina (3rd generation Americans, I think—Curtis's dad was Sam, as my son is, though that is only a happy coincidence.)



So the Olson and Carlson thing... I don't know how many of you descend from Scandinavian immigrants... the mid 19th century saw A LOT of them... and they immigrated to very odd places... in the case of the Norwegians, Iowa/Minnesota and the Swedes (at least my Swedish family) the Dakotas (The Carlsons have an old county map from their South Dakota county and they were in the same one as Charles Ingalls (THE Charles Ingalls--Laura Ingalls Wilder's dad--this would have been the Little House on the Prairie!)—same time even, as the family names are on the properties, but THAT family (the Carlson's not the Ingalls) moved west, where the Norwegians stayed in Iowa until my grandma decided she needed a little breathing room and went out west to live with an aunt and uncle and date several soldiers at once... not that it is really dating if most of the interaction is by pen... *snickers* (this would be Alyse) But back to names... at the times these immigrations were happening, if you were from Norway and came to the United States, you got to PICK your name... you could be Olson, Larson, or Iverson. If you were Swedish, you could be Hanson, Carlson or Nelson. None of this 'farm you came from' naming they used in the old country! Lets keep this simple! I suspect different generations of immigrants were given different choices... I know Halversons, Jacobsons, Johansons, Ha! I AM a Johnson... sort of... But anyway, THAT is why it looks like we are all related...

Tart Down Under?



I 'google image' Australian men and get this. Who am I to argue with fate... And I'm assured Australian rules football (Go Adelaide crows!) is MUCH more manly than the silly American sport where players are covered in all that pesky padding... Tart under THIS... yeah, I'm not going to argue... he can tackle me and I will take one for the team...



*fans self*  Right.  Australia. Or the UK, or India? I have an unusual network... I began my foray into writing in a place where the International phenomenon of Harry Potter had drawn people from ALL OVER the world. (look at my flag counter—I've had visitors HERE from 83 countries) My WRITER'S GROUP represents seven countries. And I have gotten a resounding 'never seen such a thing' regarding cozy mystery from those three English-speaking countries—until yesterday... My sister in mischief, the ORIGINAL dungeon master, BrioNI CALLED me yesterday from down under... SQUEEEEEE! And she has a new addiction... a mystery writer (who apparently dons a dominatrix costume from time to time) and her description of the books is decidedly COZY. She says in Adelaide bookstores there is a 'mystery and crime' section... so maybe not the sub-genres like the US does for how they are filed, but if someone were to LOOK, cozies are to be found!



That said, I doubt Berkeley Prime Crime is there, so I will have to work out a system to ship books. It's not that I think my network is WEAK in the US, I just think for a US unknown writer, I have an unusual amount of international support, and it kills me to have the first thing I publish be something that I can't use that to help me hit a home run...



And don't forget to come in tomorrow for the PAH-TAY!!!!!

Stranger than Fiction

So I was power walking this morning, thinking about Schrodinger's Cat (I'm serious—come back tomorrow if you don't believe me). I get about ¾ of a mile from home and hear this 'crack!' or maybe it was a 'pop!' but hearing it over Greenday means it wasn't like... you know, a branch snapping or something, so I take out one head phone and listen. I hear it again. If I were a betting woman, which I'm not really—I prefer sure things-- I would have pegged it as a b-b gun or caps like my kids get for the 4th of July. I am alert though, because when I lived in Portland one morning, I actually saw someone shoot a gun—same time of morning from down the block, just like this seemed to be. That was LOUDER and I actually SAW the orange flash as it fired (I went around the block that time too).



You see BOTH TIMES I had to get PAST the spot of the action... anyway... caps seemed like teenagers, so I started up the block. I see a person—but from clear down the block, right? Then I hear yelling... okay, equation changes. I am brave enough to walk by a teen throwing caps, no matter how inappropriate at 5 a.m. I am NOT brave enough to walk into the middle of a confrontation. I turned around and went another block over.

I get up the block and see someone walking. He's banging a stick on the ground (or so it looks from a distance) and then he starts talking, so I slow down. I'm in shadow a little from the trees. I turn off my music and watch, and he goes past the street I'm on, so I keep walking. He gets maybe 20 feet up the street as I am approaching and a car comes along. He starts cracking what I now realize is a WHIP, yelling 'get out of my face!'  (sadly, nothing like THIS man)



The car (not apparently realizing this guy is INSANE) slows, but keeps coming, so the guy steps in front of the car and WHIPS IT. “Get out of my FACE!”



I scuttle quickly, but try to be as quiet and subtle as I can, across the street and HURRY up the next. The car, I see, pulls over (hopefully calling 9-1-1, because I don't HAVE a phone) and the guy back-tracks. He yells up the street I'm on, “get out of my face!” but by that point I am almost to the next block (very short blocks at this point, so I don't feel SAFE, but when I cross the next street I crest a hill, so will be out of vision, plus it's a slightly BUSIER street (though busy at 5 a.m. in Ann Arbor is relative) but I figure putting some distance and obstacles between me and this nut is a GOOD idea.

Now what would make a person behave this way? In my mind there are two answers, possibly working in conjunction. Schizophrenia or drugs. I know it's Delusional Thursday, but people who aren't ACTUALLY insane wait for a reasonable hour to begin their shenanigans. And to reassure you, I had NOT yet begun my delusions for the day.





But you know what? I did some character plotting (and wrote a prologue) last night for a story (read:  novel) I've been thinking about... and I HAVE a schizophrenic person in it... I am going to FREAKING USE the scene I just experienced! Ha! So THERE! Take that, crazy person who scared the crap out of me! You will make me famous! (okay, so maybe now the delusions have begun).



That said, y'all were RIGHT that writing would help pull me out of my funk. And the diaspora of looking at a true LUNATIC makes the nut I'm married to seem relatively harmless by comparison. HIS only delusions are the things he thinks I ought to be doing that I don't care to do. He is also behaving better though, too, so that helps.



Prologue is only 4 pages, but it feels good to have the set up going. My MC is a little chatty, which might be a challenge, as this will be my first book told from first person (she's making me). I think it will be fun to write though. I DO need to do some research on... you know... nuts... (hopefully I don't have to experience them all—not sure I want to deal with THAT, but universal forces can be strange that way).

Step Outside

So I'm back! That may be a big... 'what?' from you, as I scheduled ahead, and yesterday WROTE the blog from my conference, but NOW I am actually sitting at home (after some big giant challenges getting home—mother's day is a cursed day to try to fly—second one I've spent in an airport all day because of a broken plane, but never mind...)



I had some very interesting experiences on this trip to Baltimore. Living in Ann Arbor, where reality never comes, can be an insulating thing. People think a certain way—even if that is mostly an educated way, and I can forget the lives and characters (and I mean characters in every sense) that are out there. Oh, sure—there are still annoying people—those are everywhere—the person who can't shut up, or gets annoyed by every little thing, or acts like they know everything and everyone else is stupid. I've not felt a shortage for THAT kind of thing, but there are some things I haven't been around for MANY years.





My Meeting



This was actually very good. I like my field for the most part. I study the lives of people who live with pain, and people who care about people's pain, in whatever capacity, are a good group. There are the pharmaceutical salesy folks, and for the most part sales people make me tired, (any sales people), but mostly it is academics (like me) and care providers (doctors, nurses, therapists of every sort).

There was the woman who talked non-stop about herself, her studies, her pain issues.... talk talk talk talk talk. I mean, I know around here it's all about ME, and I do the same, but I do it in writing, which you don't HAVE to read---or you can SKIM—get straight to the good part... I GET that people living with pain are thankful to find people willing to listen—it's one of the problems with chronic pain—the loved ones often have tuned out years ago and people just NEED someone to hear them. But in a GROUP of people, there still needs to be some reciprocity, some taking turns. Everyone being required to focus on only one person is NOT balanced. *rolls eyes *



There was a very COOL woman I sat next to at that group dinner. She was older (approaching 60) and working on her degree (MS, I think), and she was definitely largely than life with her stories. Cracked me up... funny, how being the center of attention if you're FUNNY seems okay, and when you're WHINY doesn't.... She had been married for 40 years and said EVERY month in all that time she and her husband had a date night. They took turns planning, and had had to get very creative early on, when money was scarce. She talked about taking him 'shopping' (you know... the browsing kind where you don't have any money to BUY) but she wore a trench coat—they got to a place in the store with no people (this was pre-security cameras) and she unties the coat—not wearing a stitch underneath! My kind of woman, obviously...







But Post Meeting...



THIS was where the REALLY interesting folks come in (say what? More interesting than a flasher?!) But see... a flasher I already GRASP—I know the motivation there—I know the thoughts.



But Baltimore...



I met my friend Marie and her sweet baboo on Saturday night, after my conference was over—they were driving up from Virginia—couldn't leave until her daughter's (soccer? I think it was soccer) game was over—so there was a delay getting out of town... then there was traffic on the Beltway (I hear there is ALWAYS traffic on the Beltway)... so I went to the Inner Harbor Hard Rock Cafe, where they had an outside seating area... I sidled up to the bar and ordered a Mad Hat (a micro out of Vermont that wasn't bad).

A trio of people come in, and one of them sits next to me and starts talking... nice guy. He badgered me about my beer choice, tried to convince me Wisconsin had better beer—I sited my Oregon roots and went beer snob on him and we had a light conversation about micros (a topic I can discuss at length). Then he gets hyper-alert—his friend, he says quietly, had come back from Afghanistan not quite right. He admitted NOBODY came back mentally in tact, but this friend had a lot more than just that going on...



It's been a long time since I talked to a soldier, and until the conversation, it hadn't really crossed my mind where I was and who is out on the town drinking in Baltimore. Like I said, he was a nice guy—open to some questions, willing to talk. Then suddenly his friend goes into... something... he starts to pick a fight with the guy standing on my other side—there is very nearly an altercation, but the guy I'd been talking to headed it off—took his friend several yards away.

I said to the guy still fuming at the bar—'his friend was saying he wasn't quite right—had had some really bad experiences—try not to take it personally'... and then I start talking to THIS guy—a marine. He'd been really offended that after fifteen years or something—service in a number of places, that this punk was questioning HIM. Understandable. So I talk some psych to him, and PTSD—clearly this other guy had some (I suspect they both did, but the one I was now talking to had better control about it--maturity will do that), so I get a little of HIS story. He's OUT now, and looking into security type stuff—secret service—so I tell him about Deniability—my novel about the agency charged with keeping those folks paranoid. He was amused--didn't give much away, but he looks at me a little differently, a hidden smirk, like he is trying to figure out how my mind works.



After HE had to go, another guy sits down... this one MUCH younger (first half of his 20s)--STRONG stereotypical redneck southern accent (coal miners came to mind, but he was from Virginia, not West Virginia)... we talked a little about family roots—our great great great grandfather's facing each other in the civil war. So I got a window into young and poor—he was married—one-year old and another on the way—does 'labor'--roofing, painting, drywall—for the Federal Government... (guess it makes sense they have enough of that to do that they might as well have their own people... or maybe there is a security clearance regardless of the JOB that needs doing... Very nice kid.



But ANY of these situations feeds so beautifully into types of people/characters that I hadn't really KNOWN before. I mean I have a friend married to an Army Major, but... you KNOW the management is a different thing than the 'grunts' (even elite grunts). It also opened my eyes to the fact that I am MEETING people differently—My writer identity has changed how I see people. I think the marine might have made me really uncomfortable to talk to five years ago (being the tree-hugging liberal I am) but I really was interested in what made him tick this time—instead of trying to scrabble for common ground (the old approach) I wanted to understand.



And of course Marie was impressed that when she got there two hours later than planned, I was talking to my fourth man at the bar *snort *.

Viable Variety

You know... there are an awful lot of character stereotypes with V names. I thought maybe we'd explore the pros and cons and choose some favorites...

Virgins



This is a category I just can't abide. Oh, sure, if someone wants to make this choice in real life, that's their business (though I certainly don't want to hear about it *shivers*), but there is a lot of literature that glorifies this, and you know what? It annoys me.



In my American Literature class in college, my professor was clear—sex was fatal until the eighteenth century, at least (and still in, in horror movies), but mostly this whole lot of literature comes across as sanctimonious to me.

Victims



Here we have a category where I don't mind someone starting OUT this way, but they sure as heck better find some cajones somewhere along the line, or they are pathetic and dull. I find Victimization can tell us some very interesting things about a character. REvictimization on the other hand... THAT, I have a hard time stomaching...

Victors



These I find almost as hard to stomach as victims, oddly enough—only the part of the book I can cope with them is the END. Anyone who is too stereotypically heroic gets my vote for lingerie training, preferably sprinkled with a little public humiliation... ESPECIALLY if they start out in a suit *shivers*. (suits are EVIL—even more evil than just pants, as people who wear suits tend to think a lot of themselves. NOT MY THING).

Visionaries



These come in a variety of shapes and sizes, and mostly I dig them. I also dig visionaries with faulty vision—in fact I've got a book planned with a visionary FRAUD and I think he makes quite a suitable villain. After all, what is more evil than telling the world you know something is going to happen when you know no such thing... you just want to manipulate them... *cackles madly*

Vicars



And by this, I mean anybody with silly hats. *cough* Okay, so not all of them wear hats, but... this is another category of people I am probably likely to put in a villain category... not that I have so much against religion, but ORGANIZED religion and I don't always get along, and a VICAR as I understand it is a FILL-IN for the REGULAR clergy, and so PRIME suspect material.

Vice-Squad



Oh, I'm ALL FOR anyone with vices... seriously though-- I am a bit picky about my cop lit... I need approachable, and so it needs to be written well—the Iain Pears ones were good, as the cops also have humor to their characters. I'm more likely though, to enjoy cop material if there is a dirty cop involved, so it becomes a conspiracy of sorts, or turns in on itself.

Vixens



I love my sisters in naughtiness, and vixens are right up there. Oh, sure, they are a flashier sort than we subtle tarts, but I can get along with that—provided they are smart and there is no moral lesson to the story making a 'wrongness' out of this vixen behavior.





So there we have it... Any more V-characters you can think of? Any you love or hate? Any rules you'd apply—only tolerate WHEN....

Liar, Lunatic, or Loopy?

I'm obviously ONE of those, possibly two... Certainly not all three... misattributing inclinations aside.



I am a writer, so I KNOW my ABCs. I am a statistician, so I probably am okay at COUNTING. But apparently I don't know my days of the week... or something like that... It's not very surprising really. My friend Natalie used to tell me I was the smartest person she knew who couldn't tell left from right.



What am I talking about? Let me e'splain... SUNDAY I did a non-lettered blog because I was going to feature Lee Libro on Tuesday... As you can see from the side bar, I am featuring Lee on the 15th... until yesterday morning I was COMPLETELY convinced that TUESDAY was the 15th. I moved forward with my faulty thinking, and now I HAVE to figure out a day where one of my writer guests can double up with a letter.



So while I LIED to you, it wasn't intentional. And while I'm a lunatic, that isn't the whole story. But I am definitely 100% LOOPY.... so here we go... L. And why NOT talk about liars, lunatics and loopy people? As characters they have definite uses.

LIARS



Lying isn't ACTUALLY something that comes naturally to me... it doesn't occur to me. Lies of omission maybe—there are some things I prefer to avoid dealing with, and keeping quiet works to that effect sometimes. My husband swears it's still a lie, and it is, but I figure there is a distinction, because if I am asked something straight up, I ALWAYS fess up.



So I hadn't thought about lying characters very much... manipulaters? Sure... story skewers, yeah, but liars? HOW LIBERATING! It was Elizabeth who opened my eyes... Her advice?  All the suspects in a mystery should tell at least one lie, she said. BRILLIANT! What makes someone look more suspicious than being caught in a lie? NOTHING! Yet there are a LOT of reasonable reasons to lie. A person might be embarrassed about something. They might be protecting someone. They might be like me and just sometimes think it is easier to not say anything because they aren't prepared for the can of worms it would open.



Yes, mysteries definitely need some liars.

LUNATICS



Some people just perceive things wrong... they make faulty assumptions, or their working vision of how the world works is wrong. I LOVE characters who are living under a faulty understanding of the world. I think the most brilliant portrayal of that is Humbert Humbert of Lolita. He is a pedophile... a child molester. Yet he presents his helpless state as if he really believes he can't help himself. He is so horrible, but he hasn't a clue—it is amazing writing. And in the end, he finally has some inkling of the devastation he's caused... sure, he's feeling sorry for himself, but you get the idea his pain includes some self-realization that hurts a lot.



I think other psychiatric disorders are equally interesting. The books I've read that include dementia are often BRILLIANT. Depression is depressing, of course, but if there is a working through of something, it is also profound. Likewise with addiction. I think crazy people are among my character favorites...

LOOPY ME!



You know what REALLY bugs me? A book where NONE of the characters have a sense of humor. I don't care HOW DARK the book, if the book is devoid of smart alecs, goof balls, or ridiculous shenanigans of any sort, chances are, it will not be nearly as dear to me as a book which allows a chuckle now and then to release the tension.



It's probably because in real life people who take themselves too seriously wear on me. They make me tired. I have some I love (my mother, for instance) but they are SO HARD to spend much time with. So likewise, in books, I'd like either a few relief characters, or else a humorous angle to the personality of the MC.



Luscious Lars

Lovely Lucius...

Karmal Koating

I have to say, whatever religion I profess to, or not, at any given time, there is not a lot more appealing to me than the idea of KARMA. I don't think this is an akcident—that we are ALL drawn to the idea that people get what they deserve. In real life, I haven't had reason to believe this is really so—particularly when I look at people born to really poor cirkumstances, or with the lousiest of parents (or no parents at all). This argument for the failure of Karma is even stronger if you konfine that judgment to 'this life' (and honestly I do—heaven isn't something I exaktly put a lot of stock in for evening things out) but I think there is some truth to 'we reap what we sow' in some domains, and I believe in LITERATURE it is possibly our most useful tool for engaging the reader.







Where Karma Kongeals

I think in real life Karma holds true in konfined spaces, if that makes sense. It's like Kapitalism. It is a koncept only realistic in a klosed system. In an open system, there are too many kards—too many kracks... people see routes where akkountability fails, and krooks take advantage. I mean if a produkt is produced akross the ocean, how the heck do WE know if their business praktices are ethikal? Sheesh, there aren't enough watchdogs to make sure things produced HERE are good. My theory is that once the CEO DOESN'T know the name of an employee's KIDS, the system is doomed to fail as a check and balance--a katchment requiring good behavior, at least most of the time. (are my socialist leanings showing?--it realy has everything to do with what is REAL, not what it SHOULD BE—I just don't think the other works in a large system)



In a klosed system however, where people kan see what they get, karma and kapitalism hold their own. I think people who are krappy to OTHER people (MEAN people) eventually rein a KrapFest down upon themselves (and deservedly so). People who help others, who engage in kommitted akts to further the efforts of others... THOSE people, will also get their own... or so I need to believe, or I would lose faith in the human race.



In a world market, someone like Ken Lay or Bernie Madoff kan hide behind the board members they make very fat and feign ignorance for long enough to erase the paper trail. In a small system, right and wrong are held into akkount. By kustomers, kooperatives... karma has a far better chance.

Karmic Kalculations



This whole networking thing has a karma layer koded into it. If I'm nice to you, you're nice to me. If I do you a favor, you do me one. If I follow you, you follow me. The thing is, MOSTLY, it is pretty darned transparent. I like transparency. I follow blogs I like reading no matter who responds. (never mind that most of us respond in kind, other than the agents, who are their own kind of animal) But I also check follow for anyone who follows me or comments on mine... it is kommon kourtesy. I then go check it out several times, and if it amuses me, or if a reciprocity is begun (which typically also indicates amusement) then I add them to the side bar and they go on my permanent (or at least semi-permanent) watch list)

Okay. Now lets see where karma fits in that equation... it does (I promise). Coming to my blog (and commenting or following, so I know) earns a visit (pretty cut and dry there—an exact tit for tat). Kompatibilty needs to then be established. Do you interest me? Do I interest you? Is this a RELATIONSHIP? I enter into periodic relationships that are one sided. Chad STILL hasn't called. If it does something for me WITOUT response... I'm still there.



While unfathomable to me, I think I may have a reader or two without their own blogs who come here just because they like to... Stranger things have happened.



But the reality is, things expand by stretching our karma. We do something nice (visit) or somebody does something nice for US (refers to us—which also can start with us visiting—just less direct) and our network grows. We take part in activities that grow our network... Rinse, Repeat...







Karmic Kharakters and Konklusions



In spite of reality's refusal to fall into line, I still prefer a book with its karma in tact. I want a sense of justice by the end—the good guys have suffered (I really do like them to suffer—wonder what THAT will do to my karma)—but I want things mostly okay... I don't need (or even like) a nice tidy, happily ever after, but I want the bad kharakters to get what's coming and the good ones to prevail.

Think of Dickens, with David Kopperfield (could there BE a cuter David?) or Pip—those poor kharakters were taken through the ringer, and they didn't get the FULL ending they wanted, but they got pretty GOOD endings, didn't they?



Now I get why a writer who is uber-prolifik might want to shake it up now and again, so we don't get komplacent and THEY don't get prediktable, but if I stumble akross those books first, I somehow feel a little cheated unless they are VERY klever about it. (Seems to me Peter Straub, my go-to scary guy, has a few where the 'force' wins, and I can sort of get along with that if the protagonist has made some peace, even if it is hard on him..)



So what about all of you? Do you prefer a break even on the karma by the end, or do you have better tolerance for bad things happening to good kharakters and good happening to bad?

In Interest of Ignorance

I'm not a big fan of general ignorance. It leads to idiocy (often political)... but when there is a surprise to be had... I don't wanna know. I LOVE surprises... and what's MORE, I know myself well enough to know that nine times out of ten, I enjoy the anticipation of the surprise better than the surprise itself. (yeah, okay—THAT is probably just me—I can be a little tricky to satisfy).

When I was little I once peeked in the closet where the Christmas presents were hidden. I didn't know then what it would do. It RUINED Christmas, and I didn't even dare confess, as it was my own darned fault. Since that time, I ACTIVELY try to avoid learning. If I hear whispers, I go away. If someone says guess what I got you, I say, “I don't want to know.” My college boyfriend used to get upset that I wouldn't engage in the 'come on, please tell me' game... (I did once, because I knew he loved that game, but then the idiot TOLD me! IRKSOME!)



Over time, I've learned this makes me a little freaky. I don't know if some people just can't stand not knowing? It confuses me. I mean it's not like life's OTHER up-in-the-air ambiguities (I HATE those and almost care more about having things SET than having them go the way I WANT). But a surprise, by definition, is nice. You are getting something, and chances are, it won't be a sharp stick in the eye. What's the rush? Why on earth is it so important to know whether you are getting a sweater or a necklace?



NOT anticipating also keeps me from being disappointed if I sort of hope it's something REALLY special, then it's not. Being out of the habit lets me just always enjoy it... well, unless it's something I don't like.





On Books



I know some people who open a book and read the last page. This is a species of being to which I obviously not only don't belong, but will never understand. Are there any of you freaks out there? What is the appeal of this? Why the heck would you want to already know the ending? What pulls you through a book, if not the quest to find out?



Oh, there are a few books I've read more than one (but not many)--they really have to be carefully put together for me to REALLY enjoy them multiple times—at least for reads that are temporally close. On THIS, I know there are many who feel differently—they are probably people who read faster than me... my own reading list is just too long and there is not enough time, so the only books that make it with some regularly, are the Harry Potter books, and that is because I always notice some little cleverness I missed on the last 7 rounds.

Imaginary and Irksome Idiom



Several years ago, when I was desperately trying to convince my then 5th grade daughter that it was still cool to read with mom, I took a recommendation from a book store for 'His Dark Materials'. And the story is really pretty great, I love it, but MAN, was that hard to read out loud! Lyra talks like a freak! I know it was in an attempt to show that her world had some subtle differences from ours (the freak talk and the personal demons, primarily), and I suppose as a technique for that, it worked pretty well, but I think Pullman overshot.



Alternately, in 'The Clockwork Orange', where the punks use their cutsie little rhyming whyming technique while they beat up old people, you are drawn into a world that is just too horrible to imagine. The idiom increases the horror of it, because it illustrates that to these guys, this is all just play.



Idiom can be illustrative of real world differences too. Done well, it can make dialog illuminate race, poverty, region, nationality. But it is such a tricky thing to do adequately to get the point across, without making the language too hard to follow. I love the book Huckleberry Finn, but the first time I read it, at sixteen, following Jim's speech patterns was very difficult. Had it not been for my divine English teacher, Sylvia James, I might not have had the patience (she helped me with Shakespeare too—for whom language wasn't so much idiom, as old and poetic, and so unfamiliar to my sixteen year old ears)



I am in process on a trilogy which has half a dozen Romanian characters in addition to my American ones. Some of them have been in America for a long time, so I have just thrown in a word now and again, but a few are just here for the first time (or speaking English THERE to characters who go there). It is a tricky thing and I have no clue if I am drawing the line right on how much to tweak language. I want to get it across, without being cumbersome. (Never mind the cases where the characters are actually speaking Romanian to each other but I am putting it in English, because I want people to be able to read the darned books).



I have two friends I will ask to be first readers, one who lived in Romania, another who is Romanian but lives in the states. I hope that will be adequate, but I would love to hear what any of you have done to deal with tricksey idiom...







Impressive... erm... okay, just impressive...

Dibs on the one on the left.

Yeah, I definitely gotta get me one o' those...

Sleeping Beauties

Every writer who’s every had a conversation with anybody about editing and publishing has heard the phrase ‘kill your darlings’. It’s a phrase about being willing to cut anything unessential to the main plot of your story (unless you write murder mysteries, then it’s a double entendre). The problem is, ideas are our currency, and it is painful to burn money. This twist or turn, that character… it’s PAINFUL to lose them forever…



But I had an epiphany this morning as I trudged through the snow… we don’t NEED to kill them. We can just give them a nice dose of the Draught of Living Death and then we are free to kiss them awake again as needed. Let me e’splain…





That First Novel

Fan fiction aside, my first novel took me well over two years to write. It began as an idea that wouldn’t leave me alone in 2000 (living in one of the houses that backed up to THESE woods… with my family, including my 5-year old… erm, and a homeless man who lived in the woods and would make an easy scapegoat)—It was a time in my life I hadn’t written a WORD of fiction for about 7 years. It was a GREAT idea, and I wrote scenes in my head and named characters, but I didn’t write anything.



In 2005 when I first started dappling into fan fiction (as back up for a point I was trying to argue about the Potterverse *rolls eyes*) I hadn’t thought about my little story for quite a while, but a few months later a reader suggested writing something original (thank you, Natasha) and so my idea began to dance again.



Now you can see… in 5 years I had ONE idea. Only one. But it wasn’t going very far. Then suddenly I had another idea, and I started to play with the two together and a basic plan began to form. The MESSAGE was ‘HOLY CRAP-LOOK HOW VALUABLE AN IDEA IS!!’ I proceeded, through a year of dappling, then 18 months of REALLY WRITING to think every idea I had was so valuable it had to be twisted into the story somehow because HECK, I was writing a BOOK!



Editing



It sure made for a painful editing/streamlining process. Not that I put in any ideas that didn’t GO, but there wasn’t room for all of them. Still… each one hurt to give up… it was well thought out, had been developed, and I’d gotten attached to it.



The fallacy though, was thinking THAT was the only place for them. You see, I’m not a writer of A BOOK. I’m a writer of BOOKS.



I have finally seen the light, that a great character that has to be cut can be used in some other story. A plot twist that was too cumbersome for one story might round out another quite nicely.



This is really liberating!



So when somebody tells you to kill your darlings, just stick out your tongue and say you’re just going to put them down for a nap. They may never get up again—it’s entirely dependent on whether the troll makes it past the dragon… or something like that… but at least you can be content that you aren’t a murderer… (unless you’re only saving them to kill them yourselves…)

Naughty or Nice?

Oh, I see all of you running in here to see the Tart's latest iteration of mischief, but I'm going to give you some actual psychologically grounded food for thought, so how's that? (Aren't I naughty?)

MAN STEALS LOAF OF BREAD



People can look at that and think a lot of different things. In literature, the act could be made sympathetic ages before any psychological theories were out there (Look at Jean Valjean in Les Miserables and both his motivation and the significant consequences). So I want you to think about this.

WHY?



He was hungry.

He was starving.

His family was starving.

He saw some children on the street who were starving.

He saw it as a challenge and wanted to see if he could.

He wanted to show off to his friends.

He was impulsive.

He hated the bread vendor and wanted to cause him problems.

He's in love with the girl selling and wanted her attention.





From WHOM?



The window of a hungry family.

From the donation truck for hungry families.

From a wealthy widow baking loaves.

From a wealthy widow baking loaves for the orphans.

From a wealthy widow after providing her with some much wanted company.

From a street vendor.

From a small shop.

From a national chain.





WHEN and HOW?



At the end of the day when it is mostly stale anyway, he nicks a last loaf unlikely to sell.

When it is first set out for sale, hot fresh and irresistible and it makes his tummy rumble.

When there are dozens of people gathered and it is most daring.

When the vendor turns his back, he nabs it and runs.





There are people who believe it's wrong no matter what—that right and wrong is a matter of black and white (I almost gave them a political affiliation, but stopped myself—wasn't that good?) But most of us think there are circumstances by which stealing is a reasonable offense.  Most of us would attribute different shades of right and wrong, based on the circumstances and motivations of the bread thief.





In Our Writing



I have a long fan fiction up for the 2009 finals at HPANA and was rereading some of it (editing a little) and caught some of the comments recently—I managed a writing coup. The story was about the 'Marauders' (Harry's father and his best friends, Sirius Black, Remus Lupin, and Peter Pettygrew) and I wrote their pranks and antics in such a way that the Marauder LOVERS (a large, loyal group of people who adores this bunch—other than Peter, anyway) thought they were funny and fabulous, and the Marauder HATERS (often Snape sympathetics, though I fall into a third group who thought they were ALL boys behaving badly) thought they were horrible, awful people.



Before WRITING this complex group and their antics, I had thought some writers were too forgiving and wrote it all as light fun, and some were too merciless and wrote them as awful. I tried to draw from both my psychology and from some boys I knew when I was a teen, and I think I managed to nail that gray area. How people felt about the Marauders I wrote depended largely on the feelings about 'boys will be boys'. [this group might think the thief above was in his rights if he stole in a very daring manner to see if he could get away with it, though not from starving children—something like that]



So I am trying to use such shades of gray in my more recent books, but it isn't easy. I tend to cut people in dire straights (hungry or backed into a corner) a break but not be very sympathetic to flashy antics for fun. I need to remember though, that some of those mischief makers are sympathetic to part of my readers, and there is nothing better than stirring up a bit of controversy!





And because I can’t bear to disappoint you (though baring is another matter entirely)… a little seasonal naughtiness…