Procrastination Station | Author Vanessa Jaye

The end is nigh

noreply@blogger.com (vanessa jaye) — Wed, 11 Nov 2009 00:33:00 +0000

Crazy woman that I am. after getting home from a long day I decided to bake a carrot cake. Been jonesing for one for awhile and was planning to make it this weekend past, but made a banana chocolate-chip bread for the boy instead.

Anywho, cue ::cravings:: Even though I can barely keep my eyes open I'm so exhausted, I mosey into the kitchen and start baking.

This one isn't being made from scratch. Just used a box of Betty Crocker SuperMoist Carrot cake mix, added in a cup of freshly grated carrots, some golden raisins and... a tablespoon of Wray & Nephew Overproof Jamaican white rum. (The fumes were so strong, I was expecting the oven to explode at any minute).

The cake is cooling now and I'm about to make the cream-cheese frosting. yum.

Project: Ass Expansion about to commence...

Library Haul

noreply@blogger.com (vanessa jaye) — Sun, 08 Nov 2009 17:17:00 +0000

Bad blogger, I know. I was going to blog about the book that broke my recent (fiction)reading slump, but we'll leave that for when I have more energy.

So... I'll post the books I got from the library yesterday. The library is directly across from the supermarket & bank. How sweet this that? I've never gone grocery shopping down there without dropping into the library first.

C.J. Box's Blood Trail.

I first came across the author via a newsletter (publisher or writer's org) in either case there was a link to an excerpt and ever since I've had it in mind to check out their writing. This is my first try.

Synopsis found on Amazon:

When an elk hunter is shot and gruesomely gutted in Box's solid eighth Joe Pickett novel (after 2007's Free Fire), Wyoming governor Spencer Rulon assigns Joe to the investigative team headed by Joe's nemesis, game and fish director Randy Pope. The authorities suspect a group led by antihunting activist Klamath Moore, but Joe thinks an enigmatic clue near the body points to a serial killer. As usual, Joe stands alone against official protocol, placing his career and life in peril by following his hunches. He persuades Rulon to release his pal, iconoclast Nate Romanowski, who's awaiting trial on spurious charges, to help him on the case. Writing beautifully about the mountain West and its people, Box takes care to present both sides of the controversial issue of hunting. The narrative alternates between the searchers and the killer, whose identity will keep readers guessing up to the surprising climax.

Nadine Dajani's Cutting Loose.

It was the spine that caught my eye on this one--the publisher, color and photo/image. I haven't read one of these woman fiction following 2 or 3 protags in awhile, but particularly like that all the women are from varying ethnic backgrounds (Saudi Arabian, Palestinian and Honduran).

Synopsis found on Amazon:

Dajani's engrossing second novel (after Fashionably Late) chronicles the overlap in the lives of three dissimilar women working at a Miami magazine. Upon realizing that her husband is gay, pampered Ranya Hayek flees her situation and, after a chance meeting with smitten millionaire Georges Mallouk, finds herself working for the first time. Georges and his brother, Joe, own Suéltate, a successful magazine geared toward Latinas and helmed by the brash Rio, who works nonstop to make it a top publication. Rio has the occasional tryst with Joe and is wary of Ranya, who has both brothers mooning over her. Also disdainful of Ranya and Rio is Ranya's childhood schoolmate Zahra, who is intelligent but socially awkward. After having made a mistake that destroyed her beloved life in Boston, Zahra took a corporate position with her old friend Georges, whom she still holds a torch for. Dajani seamlessly flits from character to character, embodying each woman and pitting her observations against her misconceptions. Though the unfortunately pat happy ending seems lazy and unlikely, the novel works nicely.

Eden Bradley's A 21st Century Courtesan

I've one other Bradley book. I liked it, but it was BDSM --really BDSM, not just window dressing for the story. It was done really well. Great writing/characterization, but ultimately I'm not that into reading BDSM so haven't really read anything else by her because I had the impression that's mostly what she writes. I almost didn't bring this one home because I"m not in the mood for erotica, but... I love the whole intriguing sexy stranger at the opera set up.

Synopsis found on Amazon:

She lives in a world of silk sheets, imported champagne,
and endless erotic delight.…

She fulfills the deepest fantasies of the most powerful men in the world. Sensual, seductive, and discreet, Valentine Day is a high-class call girl, pampered and adored by her exclusive clientele. But Valentine has a secret. Always in control, she’s never experienced true pleasure outside of her work. But all that is about to change.… Now the woman who’s spent a decade pleasuring others is about to embark on an erotic journey of her own.

It happens one night at the opera. Seated next to her in the dark is a stranger. As the music swells so does the sexual tension. Gorgeous, sophisticated Joshua Spencer invites her for a drink, and soon she’s fantasizing about taking him home. When they finally come together in the most tender and intense lovemaking Valentine has ever known, she’s hooked. But suddenly Valentine is questioning everything. Joshua has no idea what she does for a living. Can she risk everything—including her hard-earned freedom and one final, shattering secret—for one man? And would he still want her if he knew the truth?

Lloyd Jones' Mister Pip.

I remember the buzz on this one when it was short listed for a bunch of awards/prizes. What really made me take this one home is an short excerpt from the book on the back:

"You cannot pretend to read a great book.
Your eyes will give you away. So will your breathing.
A person entranced by a book simply forgets to
breathe. The house can catch alight and a reader
deep in a book will not look up until the wallpaper
is in flames"

A bit of an exaggeration, but I don't know how many times I've ended up on the other end of town because I was so immersed in a book I was reading I missed my train stop. 'K, it hasn't happened all that often. *g* But when it has it's because it was a damn great book I was reading.

Synopsis found on Amazon:

A promising though ultimately overwrought portrayal of the small rebellions and crises of disillusionment that constitute a young narrator's coming-of-age unfolds against an ominous backdrop of war in Jones's latest. When the conflict between the natives and the invading redskin soldiers erupts on an unnamed tropical island in the early 1990s, 13-year-old Matilda Laimo and her mother, Dolores, are unified with the rest of their village in their efforts for survival. Amid the chaos, Mr. Watts, the only white local (he is married to a native), offers to fill in as the children's schoolteacher and teaches from Dickens's Great Expectations. The precocious Matilda, who forms a strong attachment to the novel's hero, Pip, uses the teachings as escapism, which rankles Dolores, who considers her daughter's fixation blasphemous. With a mixture of thrill and unease, Matilda discovers independent thought, and Jones captures the intricate, emotionally loaded evolution of the mother-daughter relationship. Jones (The Book of Fame; Biografi) presents a carefully laid groundwork in the tense interactions between Matilda, Dolores and Mr. Watts, but the extreme violence toward the end of the novel doesn't quite work. Jones's prose is faultless, however, and the story is innovative enough to overcome the misplayed tragedy.

Southern Fried Chicas

noreply@blogger.com (vanessa jaye) — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 12:46:00 +0000

I'm over at Southern Fried Chicas today.

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Blue Rodeo's Bulletproof

noreply@blogger.com (vanessa jaye) — Sun, 25 Oct 2009 14:00:00 +0000

I woke up with this song in my head and I've been humming it all morning. It's one of my favourites by this Canadian country rock band. It's sort of bittersweet song. I've posted the lyrics also below.

Tell me one more time again
Just like I didn't hear you
Like I don't know what's going through your mind, I do
I play the same game too
You know it's hard to stop
Even when you want to

Now the moon lights up your face
And I can see you're crying
You never liked me to see you cry, it's true
I've done some crying too
You know the hardest part about it
Is trying to hide it from you

It would be great to be so strong
Never needing anybody else to get along
But we're so scared of the silence and the tricks that we use
Oh We're careful and we're cunning, but we're easily bruised
I don't want to lie about it
I'm not bulletproof

Well I finally found a way
To hide from all your glances
Til the waiting game we play is through
I can, but what's the use
When all I really want to do is hide out with you

It would be great to be so strong
Never needed anybody's help to get along
We're so scared of the silence and the language that we use
Oh we're careful and we're cunning, but we're easily bruised
I don't want to kid about it
I'm not bulletproof

Tell me one more time again
Well I guess I didn't hear you
And I don't know all the secrets that you keep inside
I tried the same thing too
But they all come pouring out of me when I'm talking to you

Well it would be great to be so strong
Never needing anybody else's help to carry on
But I'm not waking up each morning with forgiveness I can use
Oh I'm careless, and I'm cruel, but I'm still easily bruised

I'm so tired of lying about it
I'm not bulletproof
Oh and I'm not going to lie about it
I'm not bulletproof

You Just Can't Make This stuff up

noreply@blogger.com (vanessa jaye) — Sat, 24 Oct 2009 21:21:00 +0000

A friend emailed this to me recently. lol.

In Stuttgart, Germany, a court judge must decide on a case of honorable intentions in a situation where a man hired his neighbor to get his wife pregnant.

It seems that Demetrius Soupolos, 29, and his former beauty queen wife, Traute, wanted a child badly, but Demetrius was told by a doctor that he was sterile.

So, Soupolos, after calming his wife’s protests, hired his neighbor, Frank Maus, 34, to impregnate her. Since Maus was already married and the father of two children, plus looked very much like Soupolos to boot, the plan seemed good.

Soupolos paid Maus $2,500 for the job and for three evenings a week for the next six months, Maus tried desperately, a total of 72 different times, to impregnate Traute.

When his own wife objected, he explained, "I don’t like this any more than you. I’m simply doing it for the money. Try and understand."

When Traute failed to get pregnant after six months, however, Soupolos was not understanding and insisted that Maus have a medical examination, which he did.

The doctor’s announcement that Maus was also sterile shocked everyone except his wife, who was forced to confess that Maus was not the real father of their two children.

Now Soupolos is suing Maus for breach of contract in an effort to get his money back, but Maus refuses to give it up because he said he did not guarantee conception, but only that he would give an honest effort.

The Never-ending story revisions

noreply@blogger.com (vanessa jaye) — Sat, 24 Oct 2009 16:06:00 +0000

I’m still working the revisions. You might have noticed the word count for the HotH revisons hasn't moved. That's because I'm adding as much as I cut so the net word count of the manuscript as a whole (existing plus revisions/new scenes) hasn't increased.

*sigh*

I thought once I settled on which new scenes to keep that I’d just skim/zip through the stuff already existing till I came to the next part of the story I want to flesh out with a new scene, then skim through to the end where I plan to add several more scenes. The new ending is probably going to be the easiest part [Famous Last Words. TM] before I won’t have to worry about ‘fitting’ stuff in.

So what’s the hold-up? Why haven’t I just jumped to part of the story I want to add the next new scene?

1. That ‘fitting stuff in’ thing I mentioned. As I’m going through the existing story, I’m trying to layer elements from the new scenes at the beginning into the story, making sure those new threads continue on, and don’t just disappear.

This applies to characterization as well, which means dialogue changes, but the dialogue was done a certain way to begin with because of plot/character. I have to make sure any changes still make sense within the context of the scene.

2. Repetition concerns. The new scenes for the most part are based on some inferences the characters had made to past occurrences in the original manuscript.

Now that I’ve shown some of those instances on the page, I’m more aware of the existing references veering into overkill. Have to nip them in the bud, but those references might have been part of dialogue, or internal reflection that worked as a transition from one paragraph/event to the next. So again, have to be careful everthing still makes sense. (Nothing is ever as easy as it would seem.)

3. Language. Ugh. I initially wrote this story (very much of a first draft quality) years ago. Never finished it at that time because I could see it deserved more development but had too much on my plate then. My writing has changed (improved?) since then. The language/style I used then is not the style/language I’d used now.

I do think that enough of what I wrote then is effective (emotional intensity/sexual tension, etc--and there are a lot of 'my darlings' in there also--so I don’t want to chuck it wholesale. But I can’t leave the clunky, overwrought stuff in there. Especially when it clearly isn’t the voice/tone of the characters.

Related to character tone: the hero’s buddy with the potty-mouth? His love of ‘mutha-effer’ only showed up in the scenes I wrote to complete the story the first time round. Now that I’ve written the new beginning scenes, he’s having the mutha-effing time of his life. lol. I figure if it sells and the editor wants me to tone it down, I’ll do it then.

The sad thing is, I cleaned up this tortured language stuff the first time when I decided to finish and submit the story. Obviously it needed more work.

I’m making this sound like I’m working on a freaking literary masterpiece. lol. Not! It’s just an entertaining story that I really want to make the most of. In for a penny, in for a pound, etcetera, etcetera

Adam Lambert's First Release

noreply@blogger.com (vanessa jaye) — Thu, 22 Oct 2009 01:52:00 +0000

Honestly? I expected my eardrums to start bleeding about a third of the way in once he started ~~screaming~~ hitting the high notes, but surprisingly he kept it at a decent decible all the way through.

I really like the song. (Is this really for the 2012 movie?)

Time For Miracles

Adam Lambert | MySpace Video

You Feeling Me?

noreply@blogger.com (vanessa jaye) — Fri, 16 Oct 2009 01:20:00 +0000

I got in a bit of a rut reading-wise recently. Nothing I picked up held my attention for long, and it wasn’t just romance, it was all genres of fiction. I turned to non-fiction, magazine articles, etc and found myself enjoying reading again.

Could be what I chose to read--books like The Outliers, Freakanomics, or things in general that were about finding balance in your life, thinking outside the box etc.

But, just because I’d taken a break from reading fiction, didn’t mean I’d stopped buying them. So it happened that one day on my way home from work I realized I’d left the non-fiction book I’d been reading in another bag. Luckily I’d purchased a romance on my lunch break, based on a recent review.

I immediately got drawn into the story, the author had a fairly engaging voice and I liked both characters. It took about 2-3 days to finish the book but I wasn’t even half-way through the story before I realized I wasn’t buying that the characters were in love.

I really love the Plain Jane wins the Handsome Prince trope, but it was not working for here. She was absolutely not his type and I didn’t not believe the attraction. That is, the author didn’t show me why this woman who was not his type would attract him regardless.

Except for the part where he was constantly lusting over her various body parts.

And it was never anything as poetic as the shape of her mouth, or her lovely eyes (I didn’t find out the color of her eyes till almost the last chapter in the book and that was through the internal pov of a secondary character). The hero’s attraction to the heroine was strictly of the T&A variety.

During the first love-scene for the first time ever I felt that she could have been any *body*, he might be grunting and humping over.

It just happened to be her particular body during that period of time. There was no emotional connection that I could see/feel. No moments of vulnerability that even the most romperlicious moving-body-parts erotic romance would have delivered.

I could see what each character would find admirable in the other, even what the other party brought to the table that they would need in their life (stability to balance out impulsiveness, etc). But, Love? Nope didn’t feel that at all.

I know I’ve seen peeps complain about this before that they didn’t believe in the HEA of a romance because they didn’t see what the H/h saw in the other party. I’ve even read a couple of those books, except I did believe the HEA because the author had rendered the complexity and range of feelings that comprise the emotion of ‘love’ so well, that even though I didn’t see the progression/growth, I still believed that it was real love the characters were feeling for each other.

Now I'm trying to think if I every read a book where the author *showed* the development of the romance, yet I still didn't quite buy into the HEA. A situation like that would probably be a combination of character and circumstance.

Yes, I do drive myself crazy. Why do you ask?

On my To-buy list

noreply@blogger.com (vanessa jaye) — Wed, 14 Oct 2009 23:44:00 +0000

Not a book. A CD. Susan Boyle to be exact.

What a voice on the woman.

More info here

Friendly Pimping

noreply@blogger.com (vanessa jaye) — Tue, 13 Oct 2009 23:20:00 +0000

The lovely Ms. Raine Weaver has a new book out today! It's a two-fer: 2 novellas-- The Rose Legacy and Ravenous--in one book.

Raine's a long-time friend, a sometime crit partner and always talented.

Check it out:

Hotter Than Hell

Want a taste of Heaven? Go to Hell.

Legend has it that the Incubi were originally fallen angels, irresistible creatures who sacrificed their place in Paradise for the touch of mortal lovers. They live among us still, in the shadowy, dream-haunted fringes of modern society, indulging their insatiable lust and feeding on our desire—with our blessings.

To read an excerpt, go here.

Available at Samhain Publishing.

Favourite Bit of Dialogue Written Today

noreply@blogger.com (vanessa jaye) — Tue, 13 Oct 2009 04:34:00 +0000

There's swearing. Sorry.

Part of exchange between the hero and his buddy:

"I didn't talk you into anything. Besides I guessed right, didn't I? So quit your bitching."

"Bitch, I'll bitch any time I want to. Especially when I get stuck following one of your stupid-assed gambles, which I'll admit worked out this time. But if it hadn't, better believe I would've effed you up UFC style once we got out of here. Leave you looking like Mickey Rourke's ugly twin."

Edited: So who's this 'Mikey' Rourke? :-P Now corrected.

noreply@blogger.com (vanessa jaye) — Sat, 10 Oct 2009 14:50:00 +0000

Raine Weaver has a post up over on Southern Fried Chicas about where/how writers get their ideas.

For me anything could start the seeds growing. Case in point, Dayan was just telling me his suspicions that two ‘cousins’ he works with, really aren’t cousins but boyfriend and girlfriend.

They seem incredible close to him and he asked if I remember a summer camp he went to years ago where apparently there was another pair of cousins there who were also extremely close/friendly.

Even as a 10yr boy he picked up on the chemistry between them. It turned out that they were not cousins but boyfriend and girlfriend, but had to say they were cousins because of some fraternization rule the camp had.

So while we were hashing the ‘are they or aren’t they’ question re the second/current pair, a vague story idea starts forming in the back of my brain. A very cool fun idea involving several 'cousins'.(I won’t say any more because we writers are notoriously superstitious about broadcasting story ideas before they’re written.)

But that my dears, is a very quick example of how writers get and develop their ideas.

Joke - Dementia Quiz

noreply@blogger.com (vanessa jaye) — Thu, 08 Oct 2009 11:44:00 +0000

Got this one emailed to me a couple of days ago. I laughed my butt off because I got every single answer wrong, except for the last one.

Answers in white font, so drag your mouse over them to highlight/reveal.

**Post edited because of heads up from Kerry.

First Question :

You are a participant in a race. You overtake the second person. What position are you in?

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Answer:If you answered that you are first, then you are absolutely WRONG! If you overtake the second person and you take his place, YOU are in second place!

Try not to screw up next time. Now answer the second question, but don't take as much time as you took for the first question, OK?

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Second Question :

If you overtake the last person, then you are...?

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Answer:If you answered that you are second to last, then you are...... WRONG again. Tell me Sunshine, how can you overtake the LAST person??

You're not very good at this, are you?

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Third Question :

Very tricky arithmetic! Note: This must be done in your head only. Do NOT use paper and pencil or a calculator.

Try it.

Take 1000 and add 40 to it. Now add another 1000 Now add 30 . Add another 1000 . Now add 20 . Now add another 1000. Now add 10 . What is the total?

Scroll down for the correct answer.....
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Answer:Did you get 5000 ?

The correct answer is actually 4100 ..

If you don't believe it, check it with a calculator! Today is definitely not your day, is it? Maybe you'll get the last question right... Maybe....

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Fourth Question:

Mary's father has five daughters: 1. Nana, 2. Nene, 3. Nini, 4. Nono, and ??? What is the name of the fifth daughter?

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Answer:Did you Answer Nunu? NO! Of course it isn't.
Her name is Mary! Read the question again!

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Okay, now the Bonus round, i.e., a final chance to redeem yourself:

A mute person goes into a shop and wants to buy a toothbrush. By imitating the action of brushing his teeth he successfully expresses himself to the shopkeeper and the purchase is done. Next, a blind man comes into the shop who wants to buy a pair of sunglasses; how does HE indicate what he wants?

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Answer:It's really very simple,

He opens his mouth and ask for it...

Does your employer actually pay you to think?? If so Do NOT let them see your answers for this test!

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So did how many did you get right?

This is another boring post about not posting

noreply@blogger.com (vanessa jaye) — Mon, 05 Oct 2009 03:13:00 +0000

I've been knee-deep in the revisions/rewrites.

The phrase 'in the weeds' seems particularly apt.

Can't tell if I'm wining or losing. Certainly, I'm losing the word-count battle. Everytime I touch the manscript I lose words, even though I'm writing new material. It's partly because I'm tyring to avoid repetition, also I see some opportunities to streamline the language.

*sigh*.

If I didn't objectively think it was an entertaining story, I'd just shelve it and move on. Better believe the next time I write a plot-driven novella ~~which will be never~~ I'll pay closer attention to character developement.

That's it. That's all I got. Sorry folks.

A Little Knowledge Goes Nowhere

noreply@blogger.com (vanessa jaye) — Sun, 27 Sep 2009 22:52:00 +0000

The Simpsons was on earlier, and in the episode Mr. Burns says to Homer: I like the cut of your jib.

Dayan asked me what that meant. I said, 'he likes his style/how he operates.' Which was correct. But I incorrectly added that I *thought* a jib was an article of clothing. Since I was on the laptop I decided to google it because I really didn't know what a jib was.

Turns out a jib is one of the triangular sails on a ship, and that different nationalities of ships had different styles of jibs. They were easily identifiable from afar, which allowed sailors to make their judgement on the approaching ship. Hence the phrase being about liking what you see of a person's appearance or character.

Edited to add: check out the comments, where Meljean Brooks has provided a more complete explanation.

I came across this cool post on vintage menswear while googling:

I Like the Cut of Your Jib, Sir.."

VJ says: Those are some boney-assed manorexic knees, young Charlton Heston and Spencer Tracy.

Another link I found said the turn of speech didn't enter the popular lexicon until:

The phrase became used in an idiomatic way during the 19th century. Sir Walter Scott used to it in St. Ronan's Well, 1824:

"If she disliked what the sailor calls the cut of their jib."

There may be an allusion between the triangular shape of noses and jibs in the figurative use of this phrase, but this isn't authenticated.

Hmmm... is it me. or does that comment about noses hint at the possible anti-Semitic sentiments of times past?

Moving along, here's where things get ridiculous. I thought the Sir Walter Scott reference was a bit of a vague jump-off point for the phrase to enter mainstream language/slang and decided to dig further. Enter the Yahoo! Answers message boards.

The question posted two years ago on the board was this:

"If someone tells you that they 'like the cut of your jib,' what does it mean?
A guy told me this in an email and I don't know how to respond."

This was one of the answers:

well, basically, he, means, that, he, likes, the, way, you, cut, your, jib. some, people, stay, up, all, night, cutting, their, jib, but, not, you, your, jib, is, already, cut. Either, that, or, he, wants, you, to, cut, your, jib, in, front, of, him.
Source(s): School of Jibs.

LMAO!

And here's another answer:

he can see the outline of your patch or slit. which means you should start wearing panties and your jeans are too tight.

errr...... so, yeah....

Do your googling with care and common sense boys and girls.

Updates

noreply@blogger.com (vanessa jaye) — Sun, 20 Sep 2009 18:43:00 +0000

I really meant to blog this weekend, but I crashed after another stressful week at work, and was dealing with a migraine most of the day Saturday. Then for some unknown reason I decided to open up the mss around midnight that night. I think I only meant to look over some stuff I'd fiddled with during the week, but ended up staying up till 2:45am.

So, yeah, was dragging my butt again on Sunday. :-P

But(!!) the first part of the revisions/additions are done, now that I stopped trying to force the story in a wrong direction.

Next on the list is to go through the mss with the aim to either layer in stuff or tweak/cut what's there so it fits with the new scenes. Currently, there's a section in the story that's referenced as (paraphrasing): 'several tense days went by'. I'm going to flesh that out with a scene or two that will ::fingers crossed:: show more development of the romance. Lastly, the ending is going to get changed. And that will be that. Hopefully my (new) editor will like the results.

So that's the 411 on the current writing. Now if the brutal grind/pace at work would ease up.

As for past writing, my wonderful webmistress/site designer--Katrina Glover--has uploaded a couple of deleted scenes from Felicity Stripped Bare over on the bookshelf part of this site, over here.

They mostly feature Daniel's (hero) parents. I just loved the relationship between Michael and Elle. Michael came off as one of the 'bad' guys in the story, but I think all the scenes between him and Elle tempered that quite a bit and made you see things a bit more from his pov and how much he wanted sucess for his son. You also saw how he was with Elle. And since it's pretty clear she's a savvy lady, and wouldn't be with a total jackass,(lol) it made Michael an more sympathetic character.

There's actually 3 deleted scenes, but I forgot to send the last one when I sent the others, so that'll be posted later and I'll let you know.

Edited to add: all the scenes are posted now.

That's it. I'm soooo looking forward to this weekend. I. Am. Not. Bringing. Work. Home. I'm going to sleep in both days, and see that Bruce Willis movie
Surrogate on Saturday.

Yo, Dumbledore!

noreply@blogger.com (vanessa jaye) — Wed, 16 Sep 2009 01:17:00 +0000

I got this in an email today. lol

Losing Contact

noreply@blogger.com (vanessa jaye) — Tue, 15 Sep 2009 01:12:00 +0000

The links on my sidebar are only 1/10 (100th?) of the blogs/sites I have bookmarked. There's a handful I visit daily, some weekly, monthly or even yearly... *gulp*

I used to visit Sara Donati's blog daily, I'm not sure when, or why, those visits trailed off. But I was just over there and was initially admiring her new look, when I read this sad message:

"If you were looking for my weblog (called Storytelling), or following a link to a particular post on the weblog, you have landed here because the weblog is not available.

The economic downturn and family circumstances being what they are, I find myself in a position I knew might well come some day -- I'm going back on the job market, looking for more traditional employment. This means that I will be putting writing aside for the foreseeable future, and so I've taken down the weblog, for the time being at least.

Many of you have followed the weblog for six years, and I'd like to thank you for your continued interest and support. For newer readers, I'm sorry I didn't have a chance to get to know you better."

I hope the 'time being' is a very short

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Interesting Buys

noreply@blogger.com (vanessa jaye) — Mon, 14 Sep 2009 23:15:00 +0000

I need more books, like I need a hole in my head. Nevertheless, I picked up a couple on my way home today:

I'm not a big fan of love triangles, but this one involves a mystery, revenge, a plucky heroine and takes place in 1920s London, (And, oh wow, I noticed the blurb on the cover and realized that this author's previous book, The Shoe Queen, ended up as one of my favourite reads--and a keeper--of last year. How serendipitous.)

The Jewel Box

Synopsis (from Amazon/Booklist which isn’t quite what’s on the backcover, but I’ll be arsed if I can bother typing that one out. The Publishers Weekly synopsis is even more fluffy with comparisons to Sex and the City and references to pre-Manolo Blanik chick-lit. If this is anything like The Shoe Queen. The chick-lit implication is misleading.):

Grace is an iconic flapper in the Roaring Twenties, burning the candle at both ends between her job as a copywriter in a London ad agency and a newspaper columnist under the pen name Diamond Sharp.

Her frantic pace and upbeat writing keep her from thinking about the responsibilities at home, where she takes care of her mother, widowed sister, and young niece and nephew. Things become even more hectic when she spots a gorgeous American author, and taunts him in her columns until they start a fiery love affair.

Dexter is as mysterious and dramatic as the book that made him famous. In contrast
to her tempestuous relationship with Dexter, she meets her neighbor John Cramer, also an American, who writes for the New York Times.

There is bad blood between the two men, and Grace is torn between her “Devil” Dexter and his antagonist, John, who may have captured her sister’s heart. Davis presents a rip-roaring read filled with enticing characters emulating the American literati living it up overseas after the First World War.

Interestingly she have two high and two low ratings on Amazon. One of those books you either hate or love? Hopefully, I'll love it.

Eep! I just realized I already read the second book (when it first came out in hardcover). It was a pretty good read and I like the author’s voice a lot, which is why I didn't do much more than skimm the backblurb before deciding to buy Klosterman’s “new” book. Oh well.

Downtown Owl

Ain't Misbehavin

noreply@blogger.com (vanessa jaye) — Sat, 12 Sep 2009 13:56:00 +0000

Well, they were. My characters, that is.

Now that I stopped forcing them in a direction they didn't want to go, we're all getting along swimmingly.

I know some readers and authors can't stand to hear a writer talk about their characters as if they have free-will.

"My character won't talk to me."
"My hero isn't cooperating."
"My heroine just said something surprising."

Boo-freaking-hoo. Get real! How is that possible? Characters are a figment of the author's imagination. Wholly made-up and they do what the author tells them to.

Erm... not so much.

Maybe you can 'make' the character do something, but nine times out of ten what you end up with is a contrived situation, and characters that have gone curiously flat with no chemistry.

If the writer did even a half-assed job at making those characters real or 'alive' on the page, they're going to behave like any other 'live' being by speaking or acting in unexpected/unplanned ways. And if you push to hard to have them conform to your plan, well you may very well end up with mere puppets for a scene or two or a whole book even....

In the same way some sculptors say they 'released' the form from the medium ("Every block of stone has a statue inside it and it is the task of the sculptor to discover it."-Michael Angelo), or some muscians say the music/words 'came' to them, I think, to a degree, the same holds true for writer and story/character.

This has been my experience. For other writers they have no problem shaping and forming and aiming their story/characters each step of the way in the direction they want them to go.

Diffrent strokes.

The Rule of Three

noreply@blogger.com (vanessa jaye) — Thu, 10 Sep 2009 23:05:00 +0000

I'll have a real post on the weekend, just let me recover from the crazy week at work.

In the meantime I can't resist posting this one. It's seems a bit timely at the mo'...

~*~

Keep this philosophy in mind the next time you hear, or are out to repeat a rumor.

In ancient Greece (469 - 399 BC), Socrates was widely lauded for his wisdom. One day the great philosopher came upon an acquaintance, who ran up to him excitedly and said, "Socrates, do you know what I just heard about one of your students?"

"Wait a moment," Socrates replied. "Before you tell me, I'd like you to pass a little test. It's called the Test of Three."

"Test of Three?"

"That's correct," Socrates continued. "Before you talk to me about my student let's take a moment to test what you're going to say. The firsttest is Truth. Have you made absolutely sure that what you are about to tell me is true?"

"No," the man replied, "actually I just heard about it."

"All right," said Socrates. "So you don't really know if it's true or not. Now let's try the second test, the test of Goodness. Is what you are about to tell me about my student something good?"

"No, on the contrary..."

"So," Socrates continued, "you want to tell me something bad about him even though you're not certain it's true?"

The man shrugged, a little embarrassed.

Socrates continued, "You may still pass though because there is a third test - the filter of Usefulness. Is what you want to tell me about my student going to be useful to me?"

"No, not really..."

"Well," concluded Socrates, "if what you want to tell me is neither True nor Good nor even Useful, why tell it to me at all?"

The man was defeated and ashamed and said no more.

This is the reason Socrates was a great philosopher and held in such high esteem.

It also explains why Socrates never found out that Plato was banging his wife.

Joke

noreply@blogger.com (vanessa jaye) — Sat, 05 Sep 2009 03:40:00 +0000

Not Hungry

A woman asks her husband at breakfast time, "Would you like some bacon and eggs, a slice of toast, and maybe some grapefruit juice and coffee?"

He declines. "Thanks for asking, but I'm not hungry right now. It's this Viagra," he says. "It's really taken the edge off my appetite."

At lunchtime, she asked him if he would like something. "How about a bowl of soup, homemade muffins, or a cheese sandwich?"

He declines. "The Viagra," he says, "really trashes my desire for food."

Come dinnertime, she asks if he wants anything to eat. "Would you like a juicy rib eye steak and some scrumptious apple pie? Or maybe a rotisserie chicken or tasty stir fry?"

He declines again. "No," he says, "it's got to be the Viagra. I'm still not hungry."

"Well," she says, "Would you mind letting me up? I'm starving."

A favourite from way back

noreply@blogger.com (vanessa jaye) — Tue, 01 Sep 2009 11:40:00 +0000

Sorry for the absence, its month-end at work and crazy time for me, but here's a fun little video.

I grew up watching Happy Days, Laverne and Shirley, Sha-na-na, the Beach Blanket Bingo movies (in Saturday afternoon re-runs) and *gulp* Lawrence Welk Sunday evenings,so when I stumbled across this song while at the iTunes store I just had to get it! (I would've sworn Elvis sang it, but it's still fun to hear.)

Lisa Valdez, yet again with Patience

noreply@blogger.com (vanessa jaye) — Sun, 23 Aug 2009 14:37:00 +0000

I can't say I'm waiting with bated breath for this release.

But I really enjoyed Passion and hope that whenever Patience is released I'll enjoy it just as much.

When it comes out, it comes out.

There are other books....

...to read.....

in the meantime.

When was Laura Kinsale's last release? 2006? Granted she has more of a track record behind her and there's a definite release date next year for her next release—and I'm not getting to a comparison of writing talent here—but it's been three years in between.

No one has written her off or been irked at the delay.

And how about Judith Ivory? I'd love to see another release from her. Again she's another with a track record/body of work behind her, but still... given that she does have a readership, you'd think peeps would be totally pissed out of their ever-lovin’ minds that she's disappeared.

Yet, nary a peep.

So why this reaction to Lisa Valdez when she only has the one stand-alone book behind her?

In the same way folks don't 'get' why others still anxiously waiting for Valdez's next release, I don't get what comes off almost as animosity towards Valdez (as if there's been some sort of personal betrayal) because of the four year delay in her next release.

Sure we seem to keep getting a new release date every few months, and I gather some feel like they're being jerked around. But really, just move on. When it shows up on the shelves, buy it. Or don’t. There's lot of incredible books being released. If she ever gets another book out, deal with it then. Or don't.

I kinda feel she can't win with this one. Either expectations will be too high and peeps will be disappointed, or folks will be reading with an almost resentful 'This had better be worth the wait!' mindset while contrarily expecting it to be no good.

It's almost too bad Lisa started with a (connected) series. This is one situation where a new pen name might be to her advantage. It’s also too bad that she wasn’t able to ride the wave popularity of that first book while it was at it's peak. As long as the subsequent books were comparable in quality, she would have been a major name in erotic historical romance. Only time will tell now what she’ll accomplish writing wise.

While the following link Did Not inspire my blog post (that was another convo somewhere else), it seems to be one of the most recent conversations out there on Lisa's delays. I was googling a cover image when I came across it: The Mysterious Lisa Valdez and having Patience (Great post title, btw)

Perception

noreply@blogger.com (vanessa jaye) — Sat, 22 Aug 2009 22:35:00 +0000

I was watching American Swingers¹ recently.

It’s about the founder and founding of that seminal (*g*) swingers club Plato's Retreat.

In today's world, it boggles the mind that a sex club could be so prominently in the public eye, with the founder interviewed on numerous daytime TV shows and the club written up in newspaper/magazine articles.

One thing that struck me as I watched the movie/documentary was the variety of people who were interviewed for the feature. There were several older couples that not in a million years would you have looked at them and thought they had been (were still?) in the swinging lifestyle. They were your typical grandma/grandpa spend winters in Florida types.

What do swingers look like anyway, right? [/ignorance]

Not proud to admit that if I passed a few of them on the street, I’d be arrogant enough to think I could tell them a thing or two about smexxxing—and by general standards I'm about a daring as vanilla chocolate-chip or pralines n creme. [/TMI] Yet, those peeps probably curl my hair into a ‘fro if they shared even 1/10th of their sexual experiences from back in the day.

I tend to roll my eyes a bit at ménage-a-vingt-cinq erotic-romance stories. Even for fiction it feels like stretching (heh) things a bit too much to swallow. (heehee).

But judging by some of the original film footage clips from inside the club (the mattress room—aka crabs incubator, the Jacuzzi—aka bacterial stew, the community pool—aka human bodily fluid depository) ménage to the power of X was all of a night for these folks.

There was also an all you-can-eat (hur-hur) free buffet on the premises. Uh. Yeah. Pass.

After the club got shut down in the late eighties (a combination of trouble with the IRS and the AIDS scare) the owner of the club, “The King of Swing”—the man whose stated intent was to sleep with every woman in New York and seemed well on his way to achieving that dubious goal—ended up driving a cab.

How many of his fares looked at this older, overweight guy in the open collar shirt with hairy chest and gold chains on display (still living his glory disco daze/days) had a true inkling of his history?

Perception.

I like to check out the first page entries over on Dear Author on Saturdays. Sometimes I comment, sometimes I don’t. The latest entry really worked for me. I would’ve kept on reading, it just hooked me in that way.

A number of commenters pointed out issues with changes in the tense and some dialect/location/regional stuff. The mistakes re setting I never would’ve caught. But I had to go back and re-read the entry to catch the tense shifts. They bypassed me the first time around because I got caught up in the story.

That’s the power of author voice.

If it really works for you, you won’t see the mistakes/issues to craft/plot/character and even if you, you don’t care. What you perceive is a great story that you want more of.

I'm going to have some interesting search terms in my page visits.↑