Books to Movies: Does it matter?

Hi all,

I've been talking to some friends of mine about what I would like to see if my book, Carinian's Seeker Vampire Council of Ethics Book 1, was made into a movie. The topic of race came up.

The Vampire Council of Ethics series is a multicultural series. And when I say multicultural, I mean REALLY. In fact, the whole series is a nice mix of folks from various backgrounds, races and just about everything. The main couple is of different races. The secondary cast is multi-racial, and even the bad guys get into the mix a bit. In the end, there's Black, White, East Indian, Japanese, Native American, African, etc.

So here is the question that sent me to the blogs to get your advice:

If the books were made into a TV series or movie (like True Blood) would it matter to you if the main couple in Carinian's Seeker (white male, black female) was switched around to black male, white female?

The thought from the film maker chicklet was that it is more socially acceptable to see a white female with a black male than the other way around and that swapping the races might attract a larger audience.

But that made me think of the recent Star Trek movie. I mean Spock and Uhura had a seriously hot thing going on. Now how many of us saw that coming? Not me! But did I think it was cool and that the characters made it work? Sure did!

Personally, I like movies that stick as close to the book as possible, but the other argument is that if the acting is done well, will people really care if the races were switched?

What do you think?

TJ

Think before you hit send

I’m constantly amazed by the way some authors conduct themselves online. Very few seem to have stellar online presences that actually appeal to readers.

I started thinking of rules to live by when going online.

The internet has a long memory. Nothing is ever permanently deleted. Once you put it up there, it lasts forever, either by copying or staying in caches.

Think before you hit send.

Private email/forums/loops are NEVER private. Only vent to a person you’d trust to NEVER share. Luckily I have a couple of people I trust not to share. Or better yet, vent to your significant other or your cat in real life. My cat is a lot of things but she’s never going to tell anyone my deepest rants.

Think before you hit send.

Never argue with a review of your book. They may have completely not gotten the story or the characters. Vent to the cat, thank them for the review, and move on.

Lurkers could be the person you’re venting about or their best friend. You never know who is reading.

Think before you hit send.

Everyone on the internet has a long memory. And, they will remember what you put out there. If it’s things they don’t like, that could interfere with them being a reader of your book. Being mean doesn't nab you readers.

Think before you hit send.

Any other rules? I think we need a list out there on the internet with the long memory about how to act.

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

The Ides of March ... or the Ideas of March?

Once again, a whirlwhind month. New contracts signed, new and old books out.

I think I'm getting better at taking it all in stride. A book released at the end of February and I'm doing some low-key promo for it. Another book came out in print (Your Saving Grace, obligatory link here). And I signed 2 or 3 more contract this month. I don't mean to sound blase, but I've really lost track of when I signed them. I know I signed 1 this week and 1 last week, and at least one other earlier in the month.

I'm beginning to see I'm in this business for the long haul. I'm no longer frantically pimping my books here and there, rushing to post excerpts, raising my hand (metaphorically speaking) and shouting WE ARE HERE WE ARE HERE (okay, I just saw Horton, sorry). But you know what I mean -- rushing off to have 'web parties' and chats and make sure everybody reads my character interview, etc.

I'm starting to understand that a few well-placed reviews, a solid story, a bit of promo in the right place and a good back list will be as useful as all that running around and shouting. I'm starting to narrow down where I want to post, where I want to put ads, and where I want to spend my time. There is no magic bullet, no 'right way to do things'. I'm still sticking by my rule of 'do what I'm comfortable doing and have fun doing it'. And it's starting to fall into place.

Now if I could just get the damn construction done at my house, I'd have an office again! But that's a tale for another day ....

J

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

What you want

I received an email the other day, talking about a book called "You're Broke Because You Want To Be". (The gist of it is that if you're routinely spending more than you're earning, it's because of your day-to-day decisions, which you could change if you wanted.) That, coupled with an inspirational quotation that "You Will Be what you Will To Be" got me thinking about the importance of what we want for what we achieve.

It's something that holds true for us as writers... if you don't passionately want to be published, you're never going to put in the amount of work necessary to perfect your craft, finish a novel (or in my case, three novels before I sold one), submit the novel to agents and editors, revise the novel, and do all the other things required to get published. Only the burning desire to see our books being read and enjoyed by other people can give us the drive to get the thing done.

It also holds true for our characters. They may start the book going merrily about their way, no cares in the world, doing whatever makes them happy. But the reader only begins to care about them when they want something. When they burn with the need for some goal that is so great, they will sacrifice anything and everything else in their life to achieve it. The reader grows to love them when they discover there is something in their life more important than this need, which they will not and will never sacrifice. (Because we write romances, that something is usually the other half of the romantic pairing.)

What do you want, more than anything in the world?
-- Jennifer Dunne

I feel so writerly

For the past two years, I've been writing where ever I can. Mostly the couch or kitchen table. A few months ago, my hubby saw me trying to get together a package to mail out. He blinked because my stuff was spread across three separate rooms and I had to walk back and forth.

Since then, he's been trying to talk me into setting up an office at home. We finally took the plunge this past weekend, getting a desk.

I still have a lot to set up, but I'm very excited to have my "own space." Yeah, it's shared with both the kids and cat, but LOL it's much more my own than the kitchen table.

Am I any more an author than I was yesterday? Nah, still the same. I just have a spot to do it in. I plan to set it up with my favorite pictures and get some nice feng shui going.

Mechele aka Lany of Melany Logen

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 ....