Vesta is turning into a Southern Gothic novel. I wasn't going for that, but that's where it's going none the less. This will be the second novel set in central Florida. One might deduce from that that I like Florida. Nothing could be further from the truth. I lived in Florida for several years and, other than being excited to wear shorts on Thanksgiving the first year, did not like it at all. For many reasons. But here I am having set my first two novels there. And the next one? Plans are for that to be set in Florida as well. Hmm.
The rule is "Write what you know." It's not "Write what you like." Do I know Florida better than anyplace else? No, I lived in Michigan longer and in Colorado longer than either. And I liked them both better than Florida. So why Florida? Maybe I'm working out something. Maybe it feels more menacing to me so I feel comfortable having bad things happen to my characters there. Again I say, "hmmm."
Where do you set your stories? Is it somewhere you know? I realize the answers will be very different for SF/F writers. But do the places feel familiar? Do you like the settings? Does it make a difference?
Thursday, April 10, 2008
Monday, April 7, 2008
Springtime In The Rockies
I've heard many people say that there is no spring in Colorado. That we just go from winter to summer. But I disagree. Today is a perfect Colorado spring day. When I left for my lunch break it was in the mid to upper fifties and sunny. No jacket needed. By the time I returned to the office less than an hour later, I had to pull on the jacket I keep in the car for just these instances because it was snowing.
Maybe these people come from someplace I've never been in the spring. Because Michigan had vastly changeable weather in the spring, and fall. Florida was just more or less hot, as was Arizona. But this is spring the way we have it Colorado. And I rather enjoy it. Nothing at all boring about it. Summer here can get a little monotonous. "Mostly sunny to partly cloudy, highs in the eighties with a 30% change of late afternoon or early evening thunderstorms." Forecast 1A for the better part of June and July. Substitute nineties for later in the summer.
I've been feeling pretty monotonous myself lately. Not taking my cues from Mother Nature. So I'm thinking about changing it up a little. I've felt myself drawn to do some things other than writing. "Drawn" is a good word because I've felt like drawing again. Maybe trying watercolors. And the banjo is calling to me as well. And the books that have been piling up on the nightstand really want to be read. I'm thinking the balloon needs a bit of air, the well a little water.
As wise woman--okay, it was Jenny paraphrasing Ali--said to focus on what I've been getting done and not on what I haven't. Good advice. I think I was starting to fall into my April habit. Worrying about how much I'm not ready for the conference. Except there's no conference for me this year. Just for this reason. So time to lighten up.
And the spring days are getting longer so I have more light to play by. Yep, gotta love spring.
Maybe these people come from someplace I've never been in the spring. Because Michigan had vastly changeable weather in the spring, and fall. Florida was just more or less hot, as was Arizona. But this is spring the way we have it Colorado. And I rather enjoy it. Nothing at all boring about it. Summer here can get a little monotonous. "Mostly sunny to partly cloudy, highs in the eighties with a 30% change of late afternoon or early evening thunderstorms." Forecast 1A for the better part of June and July. Substitute nineties for later in the summer.
I've been feeling pretty monotonous myself lately. Not taking my cues from Mother Nature. So I'm thinking about changing it up a little. I've felt myself drawn to do some things other than writing. "Drawn" is a good word because I've felt like drawing again. Maybe trying watercolors. And the banjo is calling to me as well. And the books that have been piling up on the nightstand really want to be read. I'm thinking the balloon needs a bit of air, the well a little water.
As wise woman--okay, it was Jenny paraphrasing Ali--said to focus on what I've been getting done and not on what I haven't. Good advice. I think I was starting to fall into my April habit. Worrying about how much I'm not ready for the conference. Except there's no conference for me this year. Just for this reason. So time to lighten up.
And the spring days are getting longer so I have more light to play by. Yep, gotta love spring.
Thursday, April 3, 2008
A Tale of Two Plays
It's taken me a week to decide whether to post this or not. Not that it's particularly controversial, but because I was seriously doubting my own opinion. Theatreworks at UCCS just finished their season with two plays about the Middle East done in repertoire. They are meant as a means to better understand cultures that are quite literally foreign to most of us. Both plays received rave reviews locally and from the Denver Post arts critic. I agree with one, but not the other.
Nine Parts of Desire is a one-woman play featuring Karen Slack as nine Iraqi women. She moves from one position on the stage to another seamlessly, changing character as she goes. With the help of a black piece of cloth used as everything from a shawl to a head scarf to a skirt, Slack also physically transforms from a preteen girl to an elder woman to a fat Bedouin divorcee to a hip London intellectual to a twenty-something Iraqi-American. Over the course of the play, the tension and pathos build until the actress and the audience are emotionally drained. This was a moving, visceral experience. Bits of it still come back to me a week later.
Dar al-Harb, the other play, keeps coming back to, but not in a good way. It is based on the true event of Egyptian Sayyid Qutb. He came to Greeley, Colorado, in 1949 to attend what was then a teaching college. He left a short time later so hating America that he is now known as the father of Islamic radicalism. Murry Ross, Artistic Director of Theatreworks, wrote this play as a way to explain what may have happened. At least that's the story in the program.
Let me say that I like plays that combine a lot of things. Last year's Wonderland, a reimagining of the Alice story, was great. And Something's Rotten had three actors trying to do Hamlet with a narcoleptic lead. Since they were short on cast, Teddy Ruxpin played Polonius--brilliant. But this felt more like Ross couldn't decide what kind of play he wanted to write so he threw in a bit of everything. There is a video screen behind the action that shows 1949 pop culture pictures, often in concert with radio ads or popular music. One of the musical numbers I enjoyed was Qutb and a co-ed lipsyncing to Baby It's Cold Outside.
There are moments when Ross touches on things that may have upset Qutb and caused his low opinion of America. Churches that promote fraternization between young people through socials and dances, co-eds in revealing clothing, a culture of consumerism in the post-war boom, students making fun of his differences. But then he mixes it up with a jinn whose name is John Lee Hooker, a woman who pretends to be Muslim and wears a burka in an attempt to seduce Qutb, and three clerics who act as a sort of Greek chorus. I'm not Muslim, but I was offended at several points.
Their hearts may have been in the right place, but the outcome of their intentions was definitely mixed. Maybe next time one of their own decides to pen a screenplay, they'll send it through a critiquing process before producing it.
Nine Parts of Desire is a one-woman play featuring Karen Slack as nine Iraqi women. She moves from one position on the stage to another seamlessly, changing character as she goes. With the help of a black piece of cloth used as everything from a shawl to a head scarf to a skirt, Slack also physically transforms from a preteen girl to an elder woman to a fat Bedouin divorcee to a hip London intellectual to a twenty-something Iraqi-American. Over the course of the play, the tension and pathos build until the actress and the audience are emotionally drained. This was a moving, visceral experience. Bits of it still come back to me a week later.
Dar al-Harb, the other play, keeps coming back to, but not in a good way. It is based on the true event of Egyptian Sayyid Qutb. He came to Greeley, Colorado, in 1949 to attend what was then a teaching college. He left a short time later so hating America that he is now known as the father of Islamic radicalism. Murry Ross, Artistic Director of Theatreworks, wrote this play as a way to explain what may have happened. At least that's the story in the program.
Let me say that I like plays that combine a lot of things. Last year's Wonderland, a reimagining of the Alice story, was great. And Something's Rotten had three actors trying to do Hamlet with a narcoleptic lead. Since they were short on cast, Teddy Ruxpin played Polonius--brilliant. But this felt more like Ross couldn't decide what kind of play he wanted to write so he threw in a bit of everything. There is a video screen behind the action that shows 1949 pop culture pictures, often in concert with radio ads or popular music. One of the musical numbers I enjoyed was Qutb and a co-ed lipsyncing to Baby It's Cold Outside.
There are moments when Ross touches on things that may have upset Qutb and caused his low opinion of America. Churches that promote fraternization between young people through socials and dances, co-eds in revealing clothing, a culture of consumerism in the post-war boom, students making fun of his differences. But then he mixes it up with a jinn whose name is John Lee Hooker, a woman who pretends to be Muslim and wears a burka in an attempt to seduce Qutb, and three clerics who act as a sort of Greek chorus. I'm not Muslim, but I was offended at several points.
Their hearts may have been in the right place, but the outcome of their intentions was definitely mixed. Maybe next time one of their own decides to pen a screenplay, they'll send it through a critiquing process before producing it.
Monday, March 31, 2008
March Recap
The only one of my goals that I actually finished was the vacation in Phoenix, which was a good one to finish. My last post pretty much sums up the rest of the month of March. It bit.
So, what will make April different? I will. Not that I have any more control over the things that crop up that you never saw coming. But I do have control over what I plan for myself and how I react to those pesky pop-up issues. I have a couple blocks of time that I'm protecting rather jealously. And a third that I may be able to reclaim. We'll just have to see how things progress this month.
Another difference? I've eliminated page counts from the goals. They just say "work on." When I set word and page counts, I tend to feel that if I sit down to write I HAVE to write a lot in order to get to the count. If finishing is the goal, then I have to write even more. If I only have to work on it, then a paragraph is gold. I still feel like revisions work better with more time, but I'm going to try to be flexible about that one, too.
April has always been my month. There has been some dread of it the past few years because of conference. I don't have that hanging over me this year and I don't want to hang anything else in its place. Let's see if lightening up helps.
So, what will make April different? I will. Not that I have any more control over the things that crop up that you never saw coming. But I do have control over what I plan for myself and how I react to those pesky pop-up issues. I have a couple blocks of time that I'm protecting rather jealously. And a third that I may be able to reclaim. We'll just have to see how things progress this month.
Another difference? I've eliminated page counts from the goals. They just say "work on." When I set word and page counts, I tend to feel that if I sit down to write I HAVE to write a lot in order to get to the count. If finishing is the goal, then I have to write even more. If I only have to work on it, then a paragraph is gold. I still feel like revisions work better with more time, but I'm going to try to be flexible about that one, too.
April has always been my month. There has been some dread of it the past few years because of conference. I don't have that hanging over me this year and I don't want to hang anything else in its place. Let's see if lightening up helps.
Thursday, March 27, 2008
Protecting One's Time
It's amazing how quickly a week can get away from you. I've been shuttling back and forth between the office and the new building. My bosses purchased another office building, and they're in the process of sprucing it up so they can entice new tenants. So part of my job is to open the building for the painters, check on them during the day and then lock up on my way home. The good thing is that the new building is on my way. The bad is all the back and forth really cuts into the day. But it is interesting dealing with the different kinds of people we're getting estimates from and the workers. Must be story fodder there somewhere.
And, yes, this is going to stray into the whiny "no time to write" topic. But it does become positive. I promise. In addition to the crazy work schedule, I have a lot of extra curricular activities over the next few weeks. Tonight is a play at Theatreworks, tomorrow we have two NCAA Regional Finals hockey games and another on Saturday night. Next week is the PPW board meeting on Tuesday, a Pirate gathering on Thursday and a party that Saturday night. Those of you, in the know, are probably saying, "But you left out the Sunday meeting and the writing marathon on Saturday the fifth. No, I'm just opting out so I have some down time.
I could just complain about my bad luck, having all of these things scheduled at the same time. But I did take part in scheduling most of them so it's not exactly a luck thing. I could just do it all, resent about half of it and then feel worn out and bitchy for a week afterward. Or, I can pick and choose and protect myself and my time. So, as much as I enjoy our Sunday dinners and the writing marathon, they are out this time around. One of the reasons for those to go is the weekend connection. After three nights in a row, a Sunday with nothing to do and nowhere to go will be nice. And an unscheduled weekend is just what I need to refresh.
But more than that, I've found that for me revisions work better when I have substantial blocks of time. So those days off won't exactly be nothing days. I'll be diving into my MMG revisions head first. It's time to finish it and to send it out on it's own. Now all I have to do is ward off any new intrusions that try to work their way in.
And, yes, this is going to stray into the whiny "no time to write" topic. But it does become positive. I promise. In addition to the crazy work schedule, I have a lot of extra curricular activities over the next few weeks. Tonight is a play at Theatreworks, tomorrow we have two NCAA Regional Finals hockey games and another on Saturday night. Next week is the PPW board meeting on Tuesday, a Pirate gathering on Thursday and a party that Saturday night. Those of you, in the know, are probably saying, "But you left out the Sunday meeting and the writing marathon on Saturday the fifth. No, I'm just opting out so I have some down time.
I could just complain about my bad luck, having all of these things scheduled at the same time. But I did take part in scheduling most of them so it's not exactly a luck thing. I could just do it all, resent about half of it and then feel worn out and bitchy for a week afterward. Or, I can pick and choose and protect myself and my time. So, as much as I enjoy our Sunday dinners and the writing marathon, they are out this time around. One of the reasons for those to go is the weekend connection. After three nights in a row, a Sunday with nothing to do and nowhere to go will be nice. And an unscheduled weekend is just what I need to refresh.
But more than that, I've found that for me revisions work better when I have substantial blocks of time. So those days off won't exactly be nothing days. I'll be diving into my MMG revisions head first. It's time to finish it and to send it out on it's own. Now all I have to do is ward off any new intrusions that try to work their way in.
Friday, March 21, 2008
Book Stores and Buyers
Big news in the book world. Borders is in financial trouble and may be up for sale. One potential buyer? Barnes and Noble. Why should this matter to writers? Check out Kristin Nelson's blog (see sidebar) for an in depth explanation. The short of it is, right now one of the steps a potential publisher takes in deciding to buy your book is to check it with the buyers from B&N and Borders. If they say they don't think they can sell it, you don't get published. So there would be one fewer buyer to say 'yes' to carrying your masterpiece.
Why is Borders in trouble? I have my suspicions. The Borders here in town are rather sterile in look and feel. The lights are too bright, the people who work there are not particularly friendly and the openness of the store makes the place feel empty. There are no comfy chairs to curl up in. Their 'rewards' program sucks in comparison to B&N's. And they almost never have the book I'm looking for.
At the same time, independent book stores are going under at an alarming rate. Which is sad. But when I think of one of the local independents who went out of business, Chinook, I think it could have been for many of the same reasons I listed above. The people who worked there rarely came out from behind the counter just to see if they could help. The shop was cozier than Borders but still no welcoming chairs. Their selection was limited. And I've heard people say, "But they'd special order anything you wanted." True, but if I have to wait for it, I can get a better deal on Amazon or at B&N. Sorry, but that's the hard economical truth. And their employees were willing to buy the shop when the owners wanted to retire, but they said no.
So what's the answer? Maybe the independents should band together. Form a coalition to build bargaining power. Then they could offer discounts as well. Offer the best of what the biggies do and find a way to stand out. When a friend near San Francisco talked about opening a book store, we suggested partnering with a winery to offer wine and cheese instead of the ever present coffee shop. The shop pet is always fun, especially with a cool name. The Book Sleuth in Old Colorado City has a black cat name Moriarity. Community involvement is good. A literacy program or sponsoring a writer's group can get you noticed.
Look at The Tattered Cover. Three locations in Denver and they have a signing with big name authors almost every day of the year. And there's a friendly feeling when you walk in.
Why is Borders in trouble? I have my suspicions. The Borders here in town are rather sterile in look and feel. The lights are too bright, the people who work there are not particularly friendly and the openness of the store makes the place feel empty. There are no comfy chairs to curl up in. Their 'rewards' program sucks in comparison to B&N's. And they almost never have the book I'm looking for.
At the same time, independent book stores are going under at an alarming rate. Which is sad. But when I think of one of the local independents who went out of business, Chinook, I think it could have been for many of the same reasons I listed above. The people who worked there rarely came out from behind the counter just to see if they could help. The shop was cozier than Borders but still no welcoming chairs. Their selection was limited. And I've heard people say, "But they'd special order anything you wanted." True, but if I have to wait for it, I can get a better deal on Amazon or at B&N. Sorry, but that's the hard economical truth. And their employees were willing to buy the shop when the owners wanted to retire, but they said no.
So what's the answer? Maybe the independents should band together. Form a coalition to build bargaining power. Then they could offer discounts as well. Offer the best of what the biggies do and find a way to stand out. When a friend near San Francisco talked about opening a book store, we suggested partnering with a winery to offer wine and cheese instead of the ever present coffee shop. The shop pet is always fun, especially with a cool name. The Book Sleuth in Old Colorado City has a black cat name Moriarity. Community involvement is good. A literacy program or sponsoring a writer's group can get you noticed.
Look at The Tattered Cover. Three locations in Denver and they have a signing with big name authors almost every day of the year. And there's a friendly feeling when you walk in.
Wednesday, March 19, 2008
Separated At Birth?
Proof that maybe Russell Crowe and Alan Doyle ARE related. Russell sitting in with the band at Shamrockfest 2008.
Also check out the big finale with Carbon Leaf joining them to sing Molly Malone.
Now if I can just find a video of the show where Bela Fleck did Captain Kidd with the group.
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