Washing the Dishes

Hey gang! It's Thursday, so you know what that means.

It's blog time!!!!!!!!!!!!! :)



Do you watch TV? More importantly, do you ever watch the commercials? Yes? Good!




Let's be honest, most of the commercials on TV today are ridiculously over dramatized. The slightest problem (opening a jar, blow drying your hair - you name it) suddenly becomes a huge fiasco. But for $19.95, they have the remedy. There is even a man who says there is nothing worse than having to wait in line at the post office. Really? So, you'd rather have cancer than wait in line at the post office? Thankfully, sir, they have a remedy for your worst nightmare.



Another one that gets me are the dish detergent commercials. Are you serious? Who washes their dishes like Vanna White?!


On a good day, I'm just rinsing off the debris and putting them into the dishwasher. On a bad day, I actually use a bit of elbow grease. Like a normal person!


Why the tirade, you ask. Simple. It's not real. For as much as I have been talking about the freedom of fiction, there is something to be said for being realistic.


When I write my stories, I want my characters to be real; to be people you can relate to. If I write about someone who unrealistically handles even the most mundane of activities, I am going to lose you as a reader. You will lose interest in the characters, the story, the book. I want to write stories that you want to read! I want to tell you stories that grip you, that you can relate to, that touch you. To me, it would be pointless to tell a story that is just beyond belief.




Now, I'm not talking about fantasy or sci fi or anything like that. I give TREMENDOUS credit to authors who write those stories. Their imaginations are amazing and their stories are wonderful. I am talking about contemporary fiction, contemporary romance novels, etc. The stories that are in the here and now.


Call me crazy, but I live in a world where I work up a sweat vacuuming; I actually scrub when washing the dishes; and I actually have to do laundry. I live in reality and I'm assuming you do as well. Hence the reason for my REAL stories.




I hope you can relate to them and that you enjoy the realistic settings for my stories.

Happy reading, guys! :)

Improving My Craft

Howdy, y'all!



'Tis Thursday again, which means yet another blog post from yours truly.

What do I have to say for myself today?


Not much. LOL


Actually, I wanted to talk about improving your craft.

As you go through life, you change and (hopefully) improve as a person. We have things we are ashamed of, but we learned from them and became better people. No, this is not a discussion on current celebrity issues. My point is, as humans grow and change, so does their writing (assuming those humans are writers).


As I continue to work on the prequels to Loving Her, I find myself mildly amused at how staccato my voice was. Granted, it still is, but not nearly what it used to be. Yes, now I embellish. I give details and descriptions. There are emotions and weather and everything else. Not only am I telling a story, I am setting the stage for it as well.


My voice is still my own. No one can ever fully change that. I don't think that's a bad thing at all. A writer's voice is what makes them unique. Five writers could be lined up and told to tell the same story and you would still end up with five different stories. That is part of what makes the arts grand. No two pieces are ever truly alike.


I digress. My point is that as I have grown, changed and improved, so has my writing. These prequels surpass the original group of stories. It's interesting to watch, and I do wonder what Loving Her would look like should I write those stories now.



Everyone has to start somewhere. Just like with anything in life, the more we do something, the better at it we become. So remember that as you're reading my - or any other author's work. What we put out may not necessarily be our best work. It just be indicative of the good things yet to come! ;)


Happy reading!

My Dark Side

There are a few people and things (movies, music, etc.) that I adore. I typically like books, people, music, things, etc. However, there are a few to which I am absolutely attached.

In no particular order:
-Alfred Hitchcock
-Edgar Allen Poe
-Rammstein
-Seven Pounds

#1 - Alfred Hitchcock.

I love Alfred Hitchcock. I grew up watching his movies and his show, Alfred Hitchcock Presents. Why do I love him? His originality and creativity. It takes an amazing mind to come up with a story of a woman killing her husband with a frozen leg of lamb, and then cooking it and feeding it to the police officers who have come to investigate her house. All of his movies and shows were really quite unique. Dark? Absolutely! But clever and original. It is because of that originality that I am the fan that I am.


#2 - Edgar Allen Poe.

Loved for the same reasons as Hitchcock. Originality and creativity. The Tell Tale Heart is one of my all time favorites. The emotions are so potent and even palpable. I can easily experience the stress and fear of the main character. My heart rate jumps up with his. I can hear the voices that he hears in his head. Again, very dark. But his creativity and originality has never been duplicated.


#3 - Rammstein.

Rammstein is a German heavy metal/industrial band. I have been listening to them since 1998. I adore their music. I have watched them grow in their music and talent. It really is quite impressive. Just as Alfred Hitchcock could be spotted at any point in any of his movies, Rammstein always makes an appearance somehow/someway in all of my stories. Why? Because of what their music represents. They can be dark and possibly inspire "badness" as they do with Tony in Unbreakable Hostage. Or, their music can reflect your feelings as they do with Carol in Impeccable. Or, they can be a release and even a creative inspiration as they are for Liz in Loving Her. Their original sound and amazing stories in their music are unmatched. And for that, I love them.


#4 - Seven Pounds.

Undoubtedly one of the best movies ever. The story is nothing short of amazing. It is beautiful. I own the DVD. One of the features is, of course, interviews with the writer, producer, etc. The writer speaks of meeting a man who accidentally killed several people. He says that the man was "the saddest person" he had ever met. And he used that to write one of the most incredible stories. I don't watch movies for their writing. Like most people, I can easily pick up on bad writing. But this movie caught my attention for the exact opposite reason. This was one the best written movies I have ever seen. I would LOVE to meet the man who wrote it. His level is one that I aspire to. I may never get there, but he is a tremendous source of inspiration for me.


Yes, these are all dark sources of inspiration. Which is actually quite comical, because if you've ever met me, you would know that I am anything but dark. The originality of all of them is really what keeps me going. In a world of constant remakes and poorly written "reality" shows, these people stand out. They are creative and they are true to themselves. I applaud them, I envy them and I use them as guides. Their inspiration and creativity is my inspiration and creativity.


Everyone has a dark side. This is mine. But at least I'm using it to write my own original, unique stories. What does your dark side say about you? ;)

Freedom with Fiction Part II

Happy Thursday, y'all!

So I was thinking (dangerous, I know)


and I realized that there was another freedom to fiction that I forgot to mention in last week's post.


Coming from my non-fiction background, I really felt as though I had nothing to draw from for characters. I used real people I knew or actors who inspired me. The problem being that I nailed those characters to those people. There was no deviation. There was no play. It was that person looking and speaking that way and that was all there was to it.


Thankfully, though, the more fiction I wrote, the less I relied on other people for inspiration. For example, if you read Unbreakable Hostage, it is obvious that I would love to have Jason Statham play Marcus Raymer. Yet, when I wrote Trajectory and Amnesie, I had NO actors in mind for any of those characters. Do you know why?


Because like a muscle, the more you work your imagination, the bigger and better it becomes.


Writing the prequels to Loving Her, I have actresses in mind, but I am still giving the characters the freedom to be themselves. These actresses may resemble the characters, but they are two separate entities.



I enjoy this freedom and I have to say that I actually like seeing my imagination grow. It's a great experience to write characters who are their own unique personas. I may always dream of having my books turn into movies, but if they don't the characters won't wither, they will still be themselves.


There is great freedom in imagination!


I hope that as my imagination continues to grow, you enjoy the stories and the characters that much more.

Happy reading!!! :)

Freedom in Fiction

Happy Thursday, gang! :)

As a non-fiction writer, it was of the utmost importance to have all of your facts and data correct. You need to be sure of the material you are writing. Just the facts, ma'am.


I started in non-fiction, I found myself getting easily flustered in the details. The sequences of events and the details had to be perfect. I remember sending an e-mail to my editor in a panic about Liz's age. I needed to have everything be perfect and factual.



The more fiction I have written, the easier I have been on myself regarding the details. It's not to say that I don't take the details seriously, because I do still want my fiction to be believable. It's just that I have found freedom with my writing in that it's ok to play with certain things.


For example, I have been diligently writing the prequels to Loving Her. In Liz's story, there is one event that technically would not have taken place when it did. But, the timing (both real & fictional) isn't really important in the grand scheme of the story.



Good fiction needs to be believable, it does need to be real, but only to a certain extent. You can play with dates, you can fudge the details. There is so much more to fiction that just mere fact. You write details in description, in the characters, in the events.



As much as I am detail, factual kind of person, I greatly enjoy the freedom that fiction has given me. I love that I can now blend creativity and fact. I love that the final product of that blending is a story that you can believe, but that also tickles your imagination.


There is a freedom to fiction that I simply adore, and I hope you do too! :)
Happy reading! :)