Things I have learned over the last few days

Tweaking a novel takes longer than a novella. Yes, that should have been a given... I realized the reason it's taking me so long to tweak this new story is because this novel is about double what the last couple I've written were.

When your head is all stuffed up, and you can't hear, it makes you less likely to hear whiney children.

On the flip side, when your spouse's throat hurts, and you can't hear, he gets irritated about having to raise his voice.

Strong winds can blow a little Honda out of its lane.

Not everyone loves your writing and your worlds. Accept it and move on past.

Mechele aka Lany of Melany Logen
www.mechelearmstrong.com
www.melanylogen.com

The Man In The Relationship?

Hey ladies, have you ever felt like you were the "man" in a relationship. And men, have you ever felt like you're the "woman" in the relationship? It's something I've really been thinking about and thought I'd get ya'lls (yes, it's a word ;D) on this.

The stereotypical "man" is one who wants sex all the time, tunes out his woman when she nags about trivial things (like a cup in the sink, or a piece of lint on the floor), while the stereotypical "woman" is the one with the headache (so, er, no sex except on special occasions, like the return of Christ or something), who nags her man about chores and the honey-do list, and is constantly demanding that he talk to her.

Well, what if the roles are reversed? What if it's the woman who's always chasing her man down to get some, and he's the one with the damned headache all the time? Or the woman who just doesn't see the point about trying to keep a perfect house and couldn't care less about a cup in the sink? Or the woman is the one who deals with her man being always stuck up under her and he's the one that complains if she doesn't give him her undivided attention when he wants it, whenever he wants it, regardless of what else she has going on?

Yes, it does happen! Been there, done that!

Men, do you want a woman with more balls than you? Probably not. So I wonder what it is about this current generation of females (according to my college age daughter who thinks they're all crazy) who believe they want someone who is sooooo sensitive and less manly?

Me, I want a hunky, male man, not a sorta-woman man.

So, whatcha think?

TJ

A convergence of realities

I had planned to write about my first book, Brownies, Bodies, and Breaking the Code, which is out in print now. I was all prepared to do a light-hearted little essay about writing the book, etc., but I got my first copy of the book on the day the bridge came down here in the Cities.

I'm from Minneapolis and I've driven over that bridge hundreds of times. I don't even think of it as 'a bridge over the Mississippi', since we've got a bunch of those. It's just a piece of the Interstate and it happens to have lots of water under it. I used to drive over more bridges when I lived in Pittsburgh. Every day there were two bridges I crossed, oftentimes sitting on the bridge in traffic and staring at the water underneath us.

Anyway ...

This kind of event always makes people stop and think. It truly is a random accident that reaches out and makes us say, "What would have happened if ..."

That's what made me write my History Patrol series. I started thinking about 'do-overs'. What would you do if you died suddenly, and had a lot of unresolved issues. And, worse yet, what would you do if you'd caused the death of someone you loved and had to live with that?

That led me to think, what about reincarnation? What if you could return and somehow make amends. But to make amends you'd need to return to the right time period. So time travel would be needed. So ..

I created the History Patrol, an organization that pairs people and sends them back through time, traveling together to different historical events until they find themselves in that place where the one person was betrayed. One person in the pair is always a shapeshifter, unable to be in human form until forgiveness is obtained -- but they can communicate telepathically, sometimes with unforseen results.

I've had such a great time writing these stories. The first one releases in September with Cerridwen and I hope that they'll buy the other ones I've written. Isn't it fun when you can work on a series that really makes you stretch as a writer? Don't get me wrong, I enjoy crafting my mysteries and find those challenging to write, but they're nothing like my time travel books. I get to do research on different time periods, I get to craft a past for my characters as well as a present, and I have to figure out if redemption and forgiveness will be given.

I'm so lucky to be doing something that I really enjoy. Yeah, I work at a "real job", too, but it doesn't interfer with the other writing I do (other than suck up some of my time).

I think tragedies like the bridge collapse need to be used as a wakeup call for everyone, not about safety (although I think that's a useful byproduct of this, believe me). But it's a chance to look at your own life and think ... "what if?"

Oh, and for info about the Brownie book ... check out my web site (http://www.jayellwilson.com/). I've got all the links there and some excerpts. It is a light, fun book. Perfect for summertime reading since it takes place in the dead of winter.

But that's another blog post ....

Are we having fun yet?

I just got back last night from RWA National Conference. Yes, I skipped the 'big' award ceremony. I usually do, even if I stay in town. I hate getting dressed up. I usually wear black jeans and something glittery for a blouse. That's it. Plus I don't care who wins. Well, I do care about GH people. They get such a charge out of it. But the RITAs aren't very meaningful for me. I mean, how many times can you watch the same people get the same award?

Of course, the big Talk at conference was all the proposed changes. I don't know if the BOD is truly ignorant of how bad their wording is or if they're incredibly smart. I know some folks who advise the board, and I've come to the conclusion that the Board is not very smart but that those who advise them are cognizant of the implications of what they're proposing, especially if chapters are required to follow National bylaws. I won't get into the details here -- if you're a writer, you may care about it. If you're a reader, you don't.

And I think that's what most writers forget about ... readers really don't care if an author is with an "RWA-recognized publisher" or if a book is available from site A or site B. A reader wants a Damn Good Book, and if they can't find it in one spot, they'll look for it in another. They don't care who publishes it or if it won a particular award.

They want a good book.

So if any writer is reading this, don't waste energy on angst. Use the energy to write the Good Book. Your (supposed) professional organization may not recognize your accomplishments but your readers will thank you.