Follow Friday--your best search resources

Welcome to our Friday visit!  We're going to take care of this business, then I have some things of my own to talk about.

For Elizabeth Sharp one of the most useful tool in my writing arsenal is Urban dictionary. What is your most referred to website for your writing?

 

Okay, I've not visited the Urban Dictionary, but I will now.  For writing site links, I visit Jane Friedman/There Are No Rules/Writer's Digest websites and Kristine Katherine Rusch's blog

www.kristinekathrynrusch.com.  I write about such diverse characters, I search everywhere.  BTW, I use bing more than Google as a search engine.  Don't know why, I just do. 

Now, if you're interested in following the Follow Friday Blog Hop

The rules:

• 1)      Follow this blog.
• 2)      Follow Elizabeth Sharp, http://somesharpwords.blogspot.com/ the host of this hop
• 3)      Follow the featured author of the week. Michelle Ferguson
  of Michelle Ferguson Books
• 4)      Go to Sharp words and copy the image code found there and paste it in your blog. Add your name to the link at the bottom of the post while you are there.
• 5)      Copy and paste the rules in your blog, as well as this week’s question.
• 6)      Answer the question
• 7)      Follow, follow, follow. This is about networking, people, making connections with people in your community. So talk to us. We don't bite! This post serves as a perfect place for you to say hello!
• 8)      If someone stops by, says hi and follows you, the polite thing to do is follow back.
• 9)      Comment here and introduce yourself and you just might find a new follower or two.

Now, having mentioned Jane Friedman:
I'm a follower of Jane Friedman, http://blog.writersdigest.com/norules/ , after hearing her speak last year through a local writers' group.  One of her links this week was for Laurie Rosin, http://thebookeditor.com/ , who had a couple of articles/blogs that were also published in Writer's Digest, which Jane works for.

The first was labeled, "Tighten Up," where she asks "Why do novices produce paper Everests?"  Rosin explains that it is very rare for an acquisitions editor to chance accepting a manuscript over 100,000 words for economic reasons.  Also, no matter what that author says, there is always room to revise a manuscript and the task is daunting for a new writer when they have to go through something so huge. 

*sigh*  Here is where I admit my manuscript for Seven Days was originally almost 700 pages.  Now, I admit I had a lot of unnecessary and duplicate scenes in there.  My original thought was how cool it would be to have an overlap as it were of a bit of dialog here and there from two different points of view.  Also, I still had tons of notes about back stories and characters that I hadn't even touched.   I got it down to 584 pages simply by changing the point of view to first person and some not too painful revisions.  But, Rosin isn't the only one saying that we shouldn't give an editor/agent/reader an excuse to turn us down. 

So, I put on my big girl panties and started cutting.  Now, I was careful to put what I cut from both edits in folders on my computer, Just In Case there was something to sprinkle back in later or if I wanted to publish an "alternative version" as an ebook when I'm rich and famous (yeah, it could happen, rabbit).  But I was slashing.  And you know what?  There was a lot of stuff that could go. 

It killed me to cut a favorite scene from a sister's point of view, but this book wasn't her story.  She gets her voice in the next book, Seven Months.  Rosin also suggested  in another very helpful article, "Stellar Revisions," you really don't need a scene showing someone making a plane reservation when you have a scene later with her either on the plane or in another city.  There's also, "Replace Discussion with Action," which will help as I have quite a bit of dialog and that takes up more space.  Finally, she says, "View the revision process as a fascinating mind game, a Puzzle for the Intelligent."  It is kind of fun, but I definitely have to be in a mood for it.  If I'm tired or distracted, I won't be able to cut or rewrite anything.

My story starts on a Monday night.  Last month, the last Tuesday scene was on page 183 and the whole thing was 584 pages.  One version at a whopping 568 pages had a word count of 125,156.  Last night, Tuesday ended on page 143 and I had the whole thing down to 529 pages.   I'm going to be cutting most of Thursday, quite a bit of Saturday and I'm well on my way to my goal of getting it below 400 pages. 

So, this creates another problem.  I see from previous passes little errors, like extra spaces or fragments that got missed in the cut.  The mouse pad on my laptop is well worn and when I'm highlighting something to cut, it goes too quickly taking up pages instead of paragraphs, even though I set the speed slower on the Control board.  When I get done with this hard edit, I'll put it aside for a few days at least, then go back to look at it with fresh eyes.  Lord knows, I don't want to reference something earlier or later that was cut. 

Anyone else out there with a monster to edit?  Someday, when everything is E, maybe length won't matter.  But, as for now, I'm a cutting fool. 

Of passings and new beginnings

First, let me say that our trip to Oklahoma City and the memorial there several years ago was very moving.  It was peaceful and beautiful and fitting to remember the lives lost.  Then, all of a sudden, the hush was broken by, "Jonathan!  Get back here!"  My nephew was several feet out into the shallow reflecting pool, splashing in the water.  Then, I took these pictures and sat for a bit on the steps, looking at the chairs, lit at night, one for everyone killed during the bombing.  The smaller ones for the children sent shivers down my back.  The quiet was interrupted by, "Jonathan, NO!" and my brother in law moving faster than any human I've ever seen, because his little boy was on the very high brick wall, getting ready to climb the Survivors' Tree. 

He's not bad, just a little high strung and a teenager now.  Since my husband and I were not blessed with children, I closely observe at family events and public places, listening and watching.  I hear the words my mother warned me with coming out of my mouth to my cats.  They sigh and roll their eyes as I'm sure I did. 

Another passing happened recently. 

This was a picture of the shuttle they had at Space Camp, in Huntsville, Alabama, which we got to tour quite a few years ago when we were in the city for a science fiction convention.  I grew up reading SF and as a little kid, couldn't decide if I wanted to be a ballerina or an astronaut.  Mom often told the story of how distraught I was I didn't get to hear my name read for my birthday on the local kids' show, because it was interrupted to report John Glenn orbited the Earth.  She stayed up with me to watch the Apollo 11 landing and said it was a thrill when we watched the Apollo-Soyuz launch.  Ah, good memories and the latter was the source of one of my greatest sunburns. 

So, I guess what I'm saying here is that in our fiction, as in our lives, our characters have to change and grow.  Events are often catalysts to the change, but sometimes, it's just maturing.  We know we truly have a winner when we can also change the reader with our work, while we're creating those word images in their minds.  Just a little something to aspire to, as we try to decide those pivotal events that made our characters what they are. 

Follow Friday--What's in a Name?

Welcome to the Writer’s Follow Friday Blog Hop! Not sure if you qualify? If you have a blog to add, guess what, you’re a writer! So check out the rules, grab the link and join the hop! We’re small for now, but we hope to continue to grow.

This week's question is Shakespeare asked What's in a name? But we all know better. So let's talk about names, specifically our blog's name. How did you come up with yours?

My answer is:  in the first novel of my series, I have a character say, "Fate and faith will put you where you need to be."  It's something I believe in my personal life and her sister needed to hear it at that particular part of the story. 

Please join in in welcoming Paige W. Pendleton from Gustatus Similis Pullus, this week's featured author, with her answer.

Okay! I'm laughing.

It is Latin for tastes like chicken. I wanted something irreverent, and phrase seemed to fit. I've since looked it up, and found ""Tastes like chicken is also used for incongruous humor, deployed for situations which have no real relevance."

Yep. That worked. Perfectly.

How do you join in the fun? So glad you asked. It’s really quite simple.

The rules

1)      Follow me, Elizabeth Sharp, the originator of this hop

2)      Follow the featured author of the week, Paige W. Pendleton.

3)      Go to Sharp words and copy the image code found there and paste it in your blog. Add your name to the link at the bottom of the post while you are there.

4)      Copy and paste the rules in your blog, as well as this week’s question.

5)      Answer the question

6)      Follow, follow, follow. This is about networking, people, making connections with people in your community. So talk to us. We don't bite!

7)      If someone stops by, says hi and follows you, the polite thing to do is follow back.

8)      Comment here and introduce yourself and you just might find a new follower or two.

Breaking it down, here, in this box, is the code for the snazzy quill link to the hop. Copy it and paste it into your own blog.

<center><a href=" http://somesharpwords.blogspot.com/search/label/FF" target="_blank" ><img border="0" src=" http://i101.photobucket.com/albums/m54/minako97/pen.jpg " /></a> </center>

Copy and paste these rules to your blog (they’re a little different than mine and designed to help your blog)

The rules

1)      Follow this blog.

2)      Follow Elizabeth Sharp, the originator of this hop

3)      Follow the featured author of the week.

4)      Go to Sharp words and copy the image code found there and paste it in your blog. Add your name to the link at the bottom of the post while you are there.

5)      Copy and paste the rules in your blog, as well as this week’s question.

6)      Answer the question

7)      Follow, follow, follow. This is about networking, people, making connections with people in your community. So talk to us. We don't bite!

8)      If someone stops by, says hi and follows you, the polite thing to do is follow back.

9)      Comment here and introduce yourself and you just might find a new follower or two.

Next click this link bar to add yourself to the list.

This is the blog hop for the writing community. Every Friday writers who blog come together and hop! Leave your name and URL of the FF post and we'll come visit you too.

1.	Elizabeth Sharp	11.	Julius Cicero
2.	Paige W. Pendleton	12.	Suzy Turner
3.	Gabrielle Bisset	13.	Victoria Denson
4.	Kristi Bernard	14.	J. A. Titus
5.	Liz Schulte	15.	Louisa Paarsmarkt
6.	Pam Asberry	16.	Nichole Chase
7.	Robyn Sadler	17.	Nadja Notariani
8.	MG Ainsworth	18.	Pamela V Mason
9.	Nora B. Peevy	19.	Julee J Adams
10.	M.D. Christie

(Submissions close in 6d 7h 23m)

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There was a little girl

Who had a little curl
Right in the middle of her forehead.
When she was good, she was very, very good.
When she was bad, she was horrid.

Guess what I saw when I looked into the mirror just now?  For five seconds, I debated whether to go down the street for a haircut.  I then took another look and decided it was in that in-between growing out stage where it looks kind of cool and I'd let it go for another week or two. 

A few years ago, I fell and hit my right elbow on a concrete curb.  The doctor suggested it would've healed faster if I'd actually broken it (great...), but there really wasn't anything they could do about it.  It was then I realized I was so very right handed.  I'd always tried to do things with my left hand, because I'd heard it encourages creativity and just in case of this exact event, but there are routines and habits that were created and had to be dealt with.  One result was I got my hair cut very short.  We're talking boy short here and I kind of liked it.  I didn't have to mess with a hair dryer, it was easy to maintain and that was all good, because I couldn't raise my arm above my chest. 

I still keep it pretty short, because to be honest, I've never liked to mess with hair products.  This did not set well (sorry for the pun) when I worked at a beauty supply house many years ago.  The manager felt I should be putting all this goop in my hair since I was selling it, but the hairdressers (it was wholesale, not open to the public) often came in looking like train wrecks.  I compromised and tried to keep my nails nice, since we sold those products too.  But, my point is:  in talking with hairdressers, everyone seemed to agree that no one is ever happy with what they have.  Here people pay hundreds a year on products and services to get the  curl and body I have naturally and I just cut the stuff off.    In high school, I wanted straight, long hair.

Ah, irony.  You can probably date the picture by the movie camera and the size of my glasses--well and by the fact I'm not wearing heifer cow sized clothes and my shag haircut.  Welcome to my high school nerdiness. 

Yes, we're usually not happy with what we have.  The grass is greener on the other side of the fence, etc.  I'm saying it's usually an optical illusion.  What someone has seems idealized to you.  Someone is always better or has more than you. 

A critical point in my life came when I took a job as a trainer for a government agency.  I was thrown into an already established team, with skill sets and knowledge I could only aspire to.  I took a great leap of faith, realizing I did not have to be the smartest person in the room and I was okay with that.  Rather than rolling in and being obnoxious or jealous, I carved the majority of my ego off and handed it to God. 

So, what does my laziness about getting a haircut and this other stuff have to do with writing?  Other people will always be more successful than me.  Other people will always have a better looking blog/page/whatever than me.  Rather than being hateful or snarky or trying to make myself feel grander by cutting them down, I will do my best to learn from them and by being encouraging.  Hating never worked anyway.  It's such a waste of energy.  I've tried to learn this and tried to teach it to my characters.  So, congrats to all--please share your successes and I will celebrate them with you.  Then, I may ask you for advice or commiserate with you on those goals we fall short, so we can learn and improve. 

On character development and my twisted mind

I'm currently obsessed with a novel-length story I want to write for the Harlequin Memorial Day challenge.  It is a romance (of course) that involves two of the unit mates of my hero for the first novel in the series.  Don't have a title for it yet and the characters don't even have last names, but between my three notebooks, I have enough for a good length book.  I'd planned for this to be a nice little scene in the third novel and how lucky I am that it's blossomed. 

The heroine is a petite red-head named Harry.  Actually, it's Haroldean (they expected a boy and those are family names), but she is Fierce.  Well, of course, she's a Marine.  Unfortunately, she's been blinded and is back in the States to try to start her new life.  While she'd had a kind of a crush on the hero from my first book in the series, she realizes the man she'd considered just a friend was her real love. 

Back to reality for a moment.  A friend called and mentioned something her husband said that upset her a bit.  She knew if she mentioned it to him later, he would say, "That's not what I meant."  I can't tell you how many times in my almost 23 year marriage that has happened.  But, my friend and I are sighted.  We have cues from our husbands, even if it's only an eye roll or teasing grin, that my character Harry would not have.  I also put together several pieces of information I had from a class I taught that included interpreting non-verbal cues in improving customer service. 

Thus, I have a second major conflict/misunderstanding/obstacle to keep my hero and heroine apart.  Can't make it too easy, can I?  That's what I've really enjoyed about the first two books is that I keep throwing challenges at my characters and they keep overcoming them.  After all, my heroes are smart, funny, handsome and wealthy--a lesser woman would collapse at their feet immediately.  But, that wouldn't be any fun at all for the characters or for the reader. 

So, what have we learned from this, kids?  There is a purpose to playing Jewel Quest III, because it allows you to put these various ideas together, scribble them down in your notebook and string them together in the computer to make a narrative for the enjoyment of all.  That's my story and I'm sticking to it. 

Back sliding and Follow Friday

Inspired by the spectacular melt down of Jacqueline Howett on Big Al’s Book Blog, how do you deal with a bad review?

 Lordy, I read the train wreck (or most of it) via the link from John Scalzi's blog right after it happened.  I agree--this is NOT how one should behave.    What happened to my best reckoning was Jacqueline sent her ebook to Big Al for a review, but sent an early version without some edits.   She sent the correct version a little later, but Big Al reviewed her first submission, commenting on the mistakes (first lessons, edit well and send the correct version).  JH got angry that he didn't review the "right" version and F bombs were involved.  Along with many commenters who swore they would never read anything she ever wrote, because of the really awful way she behaved and how poorly written her comments were. 

Everybody join virtual hands here and agree we'll never behave badly in public like that, okay?  In public means on-line, because every post we make, every comment on Facebook, every, well, you get the idea.  Just think of how when we make a rude or snarky comment in person, we have the potential of making someone cry?  It's multiplied when we're on-line, because the reader can't see by our expression (eye roll, smile or laugh) that we were joking. 

A friend wrote a lovely, well thought out letter to the editor about growing up Jewish in Kentucky and how awkward it was growing up, having to go to the mandatory religious classes that were strictly Christian or sit by himself in study hall.  I couldn't have refrained myself from responding to the horribly red neck comments posted on the newspaper's web site, but it's a tribute to Joel's grace. 

So, how would I react?  I would thank the reviewer for their time and thoughts and shut the hell up, log off the computer/put the letter away, then go break out some dark chocolate.  Yes, I'd bitch to my friends and family, but I remember from my years as president of our local writers guild a very prolific writer who wallpapered her downstairs bathroom (floor to ceiling) with her rejection letters.  At least you're getting your work out there and the reviewer did exactly what you asked, he/she looked at your manuscript.  Not everyone will like YOUR WRITING and that's not a comment on you personally, even if it is an autobiography.  

Now, for the back sliding part.  I'm on my fourth type of antibiotic so far this year, because I haven't been taking care of myself again.  Anytime I get a sinus/throat/bronchial infection, I need to get it taken care of since I have a defective heart valve.  On the other hand, the first eighty pages of my manuscript ROCKS and I've got the notes for a whole other book.  *sigh* 

Thanks for listening and stopping by.  Please leave a comment below and I will accept constructive criticism.  Check out the others' blogs on the hop and we'll see you later.   

The rules for Follow Friday:
1) Follow this blog.
2) Follow Elizabeth Sharp, the originator of this hop 
3) Follow the featured author of the week Nichole.
4) Go to Sharp words and copy the image code found there and paste it in your blog. Add your name to the link at the bottom of the post while you are there.
5) Copy and paste the rules in your blog, as well as this week’s question.
6) Answer the question
7) Follow, follow, follow. This is about networking, people, making connections with people in your community. So talk to us. We don't bite!
8) If someone stops by, says hi and follows you, the polite thing to do is follow back.
9) Comment here and introduce yourself and you just might find a new follower or two.

Join in the fun, I swear it's a good time!

Setting as framing

I'm so fortunate that my husband and I have so many great pieces of artwork (mostly science fiction and fantasy) and needlework to adorn our walls.  I used to take everything to our local Ben Franklin's store, because my "Framing Goddesses" were there.  These two ladies understood my tastes, could pull the mat that would match perfectly and knew exactly which frame was in stock that would pull the piece together.  They've gone on to other occupations, but I think of them every once in a while, when I look at one of my pieces.  I've been going to our local Michael's recently and they've done a terrific job, but it hasn't been as much fun.

The right frame really makes the piece, doesn't it?  So, when I was writing my novel Seven Days, I knew it would have to be set in places familiar to me.  I wanted to drop in little details that would make the reader go, "She's been there" or "I know that place" or "That tells me what I need to know."  My heroine and her sisters are from Indianapolis, a place where I spent about a third of my life for work over six years.  My hero, however, lives in Las Vegas and we were fortunate enough to spend two vacations out there in 2008 and 2009. 

There were many incidents that sent shivers down my back from synchronicity, but two stand out that may make you laugh.  The first was when I first started writing the book in the last half of 2006.  I checked into one of the hotels we usually stayed at while in Indy, the Residence Inn at the Airport.  I was so excited about the story, I mentioned it to the desk clerk, asking if she knew who I could talk to in order to find out about the fanciest suite at the Marriott Downtown.  She got a funny look on her face, then said she used to work down there and got me a faxed floor plan for their two Presidential Suites.  Either can host a reception for up to 35 people, perfect for the wedding reception in the second book in my series, Seven Months.  Ask and ye shall receive. 

The other took place on our second trip to Vegas.  Chris was off playing poker and I started exploring.  My main characters in Seven Days decide to get married on a Wednesday morning.  My hero gets the heroine to pick out an engagement ring on the way to the chapel, so I went in search of the high-end jewelry stores on The Strip.  I found the Tiffany store in The Forum Shoppes, associated with Caesar's and boldly went in.  I mentioned I was researching for my novel and they couldn't have been more helpful.  The salesman showed me several rings that would be appropriate, but here's the kicker.  I asked the security guard the best way my characters would get in to the store, since it's a long walk from the main entrance.  He got a funny look on his face and told me the VIP Entrance was just out the door, complete with valet parking. 

Now, how cool is that?  I got to see exactly what my characters would see, walk exactly where they walked, feel what they were feeling.  It gave me a frame for that particular scene, to enhance it.  Fate and faith puts you where you need to be, doesn't it?