Wanna be startin somethin?

Okay, a loooong time ago, I spent two hellish summers taking typing classes.  Yes, I'm old.  We loved the IBM Selectrics, but hated the Royal manuals.  My brother gave me an electric typewriter for Christmas/birthday/graduation that lives out in the garage as we speak, that got a hell of a lot of use.  One of the major things I learned from Mr. Donham was to double space after each period, each sentence, actually. 

I'm doing it now.  It's a habit I've had ingrained for a loooong time. 

Have you noticed, when you post on a blog, a board or Facebook, it's changed to only one space between sentences?  Have you really looked at a book published in the past oh, say, eight years or so and seen that there is only one space between sentences?  Go ahead, look and come back.  We have more to discuss. 

Okay, Smack Upside of the Head for Today: "Using a single space means that you understand that technology has changed since the decades ago when you first used to type." --Alissa Walker, in "Good Design Daily: Do You Double Space After Periods?"

http://www.good.is/post/good-design-daily-do-you-double-space-after-periods/ 

Walker references http://www.slate.com/id/2281146/ by Farhad Manjoo, who has gotten almost 1,000 posts, some hateful and angry that she even makes the suggestion we should change.  Current style manuals and typographers are clear that the one space rule should be, well, a rule and still folks are adamant that they won't change. 

Or, as my good friend Pam Asberry put it when she posted this recently:  "Don't hate me.  I'm just the messenger."  http://pamasberry.blogspot.com/

Now, these posts give the reason we put the extra space in--typewriters used monospace fonts, where each letter took up the same space.  With these big, fancy computers, the proportional fonts used automatically adjusts the space, because the lower case "i" uses less space than a lower case "m."  When you have a sentence starting with a "W," it truly looks better to have that extra space in there with some fonts.  I can't tell you how much time I spent line editing when I changed fonts on my completed manuscript, because it was easier to see if I had one, two or three spaces between sentences. 

But, earlier this week, I took the advice above and did "Find and replace" for periods, exclamation points, question marks and quotation marks on my 518 page "Seven Days."  When I finished, I looked at the bottom and saw it had gone down to 512 pages.  SIX PAGES (yes, I meant to yell) of extra spaces between sentences. 

Think about it.  That seriously affects your word count.  When it gets scanned in to whatever program, it'll get automatically switched to one space between sentences anyway.  Your angry Comments will be published with only one space between sentences, no matter how hard you pound that space bar twice. 

In other words, this is yet one more thing that has to change, needs to change.  Don't know about you, but I particularly hate change, even though it is often for the good.  Six pages I don't have to sweat over cutting works for me and it was simple to do.  I won't miss those extra spaces and I'll bet you won't either.  If you want to keep typing them, that's fine, just remember to do your search and replace at the end.  You'll get a more accurate word count and take a giant step forward toward what your computer already knows anyway.  And as Pam says, you can teach this old dog some new tricks. 

All about the covers

Spending an afternoon chasing interesting links on Facebook, I found an interesting article on The Romance Book Club page, called "Off with Their Heads:  Cropped Figures in Romance Cover Art," by Mary Anne Landers.  Here is the link and I'll wait if you want to look at it, but come back please, because I'd like to discuss it:

http://theromancebookclub.com/main-blog/2011/5/6/off-with-their-heads-cropped-figures-in-romance-cover-art.html?lastPage=true#comment12835765

Good article, huh?  We had this discussion on the science fiction fan side a few months back, because there is a dramatic change in trends in cover art.  I grabbed three books to illustrate the discussion on the romance trends:

This is what they were discussing in the article and the comments--the generic sort of picture/painting that gives an impression of a time and heroine or couple.  She's holding holly and it's snowing outside.  It's a long dress, so it could be Regency or Victorian.  I think this cover model has blond hair where the light reflects it, but if you look on the left side of the painting, the curl over her shoulder is brown.  All bases are covered, as we don't have to worry about the wrong eye color.   There's no information about the cover artist or designer for this Kensington/Zebra book and it is the author's fifth book apparently.  The dress is light in color, so the title and author's name are easy to read.  The only blurb is in small print, saying "She's all he wants...."  This would be a good choice for an e-book cover too, as the tiny image would show well. 

This is a debut novel and getting a good cover blurb is a real coup, so up in the top corner is "'Brims with clever wit and repartee.' --Nicole Jordan, New York Times Bestselling author."  In between the title and the author's name is, "England's most eligible bachelor has finally met his match."  This is from the Forever imprint for Hachette and the back gives "Cover design by Diane Luger, Cover art by Jim Griffin, Handlettering by Ron Zinn."  I usually have a problem with ornate script on a cover for a title, but it is in a print on the binding and it's readable.  So, this one shows the faces of both the hero and heroine (love me some matchmaker romance!), but their eyes are closed.  Moderate level of sensuality, with a hero losing his shirt and the dress artistically dropping off the shoulder.  Oh and the strategically placed hand and pretty blush.  So, what do you think?  The hero model is tasty, but not necessarily my type and I can tell you for sure I don't look anything like the model for the heroine.  Would that affect my reading pleasure?  Probably not, unless they had reference to a wrong hair color inside or something.  Impressive for a first time author, though.

This is one from an established author and a pretty big name.  It's from 2005 and the wonderful Lisa Kleypas (she dedicates it to Christina Dodd, another favorite) and Avon is her publisher.  No information about the cover artist, but they did double duty, because this one garners a "step-back" cover, with a shirtless hero and fully dressed heroine in the garden.  I'm about half-way through this one and they kissed in the garden, but I believe the artist took some liberties.  Just sayin'.  Again, the closed eyes, so they avoid that issue. 





Between the second cover inside, metallic on the top of the outside cover and raised lettering, there were major bucks spent.  Did I buy it because of the cover?  No.  It was one on my list of the author's I didn't have.  Does the virginal heroine show too much cleavage?  Yeah, but points for the pretty boy hero checking it out.  The garden plays a minor part in the story, so there you go.

During my years as a bookstore manager, they began the practice with a Danielle Steel book (don't remember which one, sorry) of releasing the new titles with her name in large font, a small bit of art and then in two different color covers.  It was cool if you could alternate the colors in the rack.  It kind of drew the eye, though sometimes one color sold better than the other or the publisher sent only one for the initial release, then you had to figure out they were the same book later when you got restocked.  I still remember one of my smart-assed clerks telling one of the customers when she had both color covers in her hand that the pink one was the happy ending and the blue one was the sad one.  When she started toward the cash register with the two copies, I made him apologize.  We laughed about it when we were sure she was out of the store. 

I also remember the huge scandal when a Joanna Lindsay book on the bestseller list had a painting showing what was obviously a man's very fine naked buttocks, with the naughty bits hidden by a bush or the heroine's skirt or something.  We did have one complaint about it, from a concerned mother, since it was at the front of the store.  I have to admit, I sometimes made fun of the improbable or shall we say probably embellished models in that Fabio era.  Somehow, I don't think those Scottish lords in the Highlands shaved their chests.  I know the Regency era heroines did not wear eyeliner. 

So, what do you think about the cover trends?  Do you prefer a generic cover, without a clear portrayal of the characters so you can visualize yourself and your dream man as you read?  Or do you want to know what they look like?  Or do you think it will matter less as you get to read on your Kindle or Nook the first chapter? 

The first person who expresses interest and sends me their address (juleejadams@gmail.com) will get the copy of Christmas with the Duchess.  I'm embarrassed to say it's a duplicate.  Oops. 

Follow Friday and some amusing links

Let's take care of business, then we'll check out some amusing and informative links from this week.  Because I live to be amusing!

This week's question is:What moment has validated you and made you feel like a writer? If it hasn't happened yet, what do you think it will be?
Please join me in welcoming VK Tremain with this weeks answer.

There were a few things that combined made me feel like a writer; however, it all started when I sat down at the computer and wrote the first words of GIFT OF BLOOD. The act in itself was so fulfilling and addictive that I began to identify as a writer. As my story continued to develop, my character's world followed suit, and their voices in my head urged me to write on.My addiction grew with each word I typed. The nail in the coffin was when I started my VK Tremain Facebook page, blog, and Twitter account. By that point I already acknowledged myself as a writer, but through social media I put myself out there. The public would see me as a writer, and I risked rejection and disinterest. To my delight, the opposite happened. I was encouraged! For that, I have to thank the members in the HP Writers Group, who are awesome and wonderfully supportive, as well as the incredible feedback through blog comments and my Twitter and Facebook friends. After so many years of searching, I had finally found my path in my life.I am content even if I never reach celebrity status or get offered a publishing deal. I am a writer because, quite simply, I write. Some of my earliest memories consist of me curled up, lost in a paperback. My dream is that one-day I will have the honor to pay it forward and give that feeling to other readers. Whether I ever get paid or not doesn’t matter. I write for the love of my characters and for the world that I have created. I write for self-expression, and I write to entertain. Hopefully, one day, I will get that big paycheck that everyone thinks writers receive. I will live in luxury, sipping martinis in my beachfront property as I tap away on my laptop. Hey a girl can dream, right? But in the mean time all I want is to share my love, passion and creativity.I can't imagine not writing now; it’s a part of who I am.

Julee here.  What moment validated me and made me feel like a writer?  I honestly don't know--I've written since grade school and written novel-length romance on and off since 1991.  I think it was the judge from Romance Writers of America (back when they did such things) who gave me her agent's name and address.  Now, if I'd only followed up on it.  But, like V.K., it's a part of who I am and I want to share my stories. 

So, would you like to join the Blog Hop?  Here are

The rules

1. Follow this blog.
2. Follow Elizabeth Sharp, the originator of this hop http://somesharpwords.blogspot.com/
3. Follow the featured author of the week, VK Tremain  http://vktremain.blogspot.com/.
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.

It's fun and I've met some great folks!

Now, the first link is to an essay on the Writers Beware! site by Victoria Strauss for those authors lucky enough to get invited to sign a contract with an agent. 

http://accrispin.blogspot.com/2011/04/interminable-agency-clause.html

Even more information is included in the amazing Kris Rusch site:

http://kriswrites.com/2011/05/04/the-business-rusch-advocates-addendums-and-sneaks-oh-my/

Here's the link for the equally amazing Neil Gaiman's recent trials with a Wisconsin legislator who doesn't understand the concept of a speaker's fee:

http://blogs.citypages.com/blotter/2011/05/neil_gaiman_matt_dean_pencil_neck_weasel.php

and the link for the New York Times article on the sort of apology.  *sigh*

http://artsbeat.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/05/05/legislator-apologizes-for-calling-neil-gaiman-a-weasel/?partner=rss&emc=rss

Finally, happy Mother's Day for all of you out there.  I am only a mama cat and my mama, Clara Maude, passed in March of 2004, but I'll fix something for my mother-in-law, because she's a great lady.

Attack of the triffids and an apology

First off, I want to let you know why I haven't done any writing the past 24 hours.   Yesterday evening, I was going to put some of the new and used books we'd gotten recently in a storage bin, so I grabbed a handful off the shelf.  Only to discover a bazillion ants behind.  I panicked and did what I did when I discovered The World's Largest Spider in our apartment 23 years ago.  I replaced them and went back into the office (the furthest away) to wait until my husband got home.  I did some prep work, getting the step stool and a half-dozen very large zipper seal plastic bags in place.  I also got some advice from folks on Facebook (thanks all!) and got some corn meal, ant traps and baking soda out too. 

But, I'm not proud of the way I reacted.  I'm usually pretty fierce in handling stuff like this.  It's not like they were spiders.  So, when Chris got home, he got the ant spray, I started loading books in the sealed bags (freak!freak!freak!) and the great ant massacre began.  Turned out the infestation affected both bookcases on either side of the window in the dining room, about four shelves down.  Chris had a little bit of a tantrum, because neither of us had done what we should have done and cleaned and reorganized what was essentially a storage room.  I agreed and tried to put a positive spin on matters that at least the nasty critters hadn't invaded the cat food or the kitchen. 

Last year, the ants invaded the warmth of the cable box, which is right in front of a window.  The year before, they invaded my flatbed scanner, which was, you guessed it, right in front of a window.  This time, we don't have a clue what they were going after.  Doesn't matter, just that the cats forgave me for shutting them in the bedroom upstairs until we could get everything cleaned up and dry.  I'll heal pretty quickly, I'm sure.  But, we both were feeling things crawling on us all night and Chris is sure he'll get Parkinson's from all the bug spray he's inhaled.  Ugh!  I'm leaving the bags sealed for about two weeks, then we'll get things organized.  I did get my writing notes out of the dining room and in the office.  They'll go into the bookcase with my notebooks and reference books tonight or tomorrow.

The other thing I wanted to mention is that I posted here and on FB, as well as many others, a quote I didn't attribute correctly.  My friend, Brenda, gave me the link for the article explaining the mistake and it seems I'm in good company, but still, my apologies. 


http://news.yahoo.com/s/yblog_thecutline/20110504/ts_yblog_thecutline/lessons-in-social-media-the-fake-martin-luther-king-jr-quote

Placing our characters in the real world

For Christmas 1967, my parents and I went down to see my oldest brother and his wife in Florida. 

Yeah, that's a picture of my butt.  I was thrilled I could walk the dog in shorts, but I was easily amused at that age.  Joe graduated from the Naval Academy earlier that year and was serving as a trainer for the pilots going over to Viet Nam.  I was pretty young at the time, but I remember being kind of freaked out that he said he felt he should be over there, should be with his classmates, instead of being safe at home. 

He never got that opportunity.  He and his student were killed in January of 1969 and he's buried in Arlington, right down from The Tomb of the Unknown Soldier. 

As I was writing the first book in what will eventually be a series, I think I channeled Joe in designing my primary hero.  Scanning the boxes of pictures onto various disks and flash drives, I found almost a dozen of him with various ladies.  Mom and Dad bought him his own tuxedo in 1963, because he'd been invited to like six different proms in the area.  Mom said about her oldest, beloved son, "I don't think Joe was a very nice young man."  She never told me what she meant by that.  I just got an email from a family friend who mentioned Joe begged her to send letters to him at the Academy, because they were competing who would get the longest, the most, etc.  All these things I've blended into my stories.  You can say it sounds weird, but it is like I'm hearing Joe feeding me lines of dialog, trying to win over his heroine.  Of course, the letters became emails and he redeems himself in the end, though we all love the bad boy. 

Will, my hero, is a medically retired Marine sharpshooter, who was injured in Afghanistan.  We meet three others from his unit in this book and upcoming ones.  I've done a great deal of research on veterans, current military officers and their family members.  Through it all (I started writing again in August of 2006), I heard Joe egging me on, giving me some of his best pick up lines and bringing people to me who wanted to talk about their experiences. 

So, when President Obama announced the Navy Seal team had captured and killed Osama bin Laden, I literally felt it through his eyes and the eyes of my characters.  Will knew something was up from a vague comment he'd gotten from a buddy, but felt he was the one who should have been there pulling the trigger.  Harry (who's a petite redhead and fiercer than any of the guys) felt a flash of resentment at all those brothers and sisters they'd lost and @#$% they'd had to endure while bin Laden was enjoying a cool beverage by the pool.  Tristan remembered sitting with his parents, watching the news stories on 9/11 and sheds a tear his dad died a couple of months before and his mama's in an Alzheimer's unit.  Dessie smashes an entire set of glasses into a fireplace, welcoming the blood as a piece of shrapnel cut her leg. 

Will I put this into what will become chronologically the third novel in my series?  Maybe not, as I've always been told it's wrong to time stamp, unless it's a historical.  But, I know it's there.  I know we'll have to deal with our mentally and physically injured veterans and the social and financial problems left behind with their military families.  And if I can give a voice to them and to Joe, I'll have done my job. 

While I've shared some of my characters' blood lust the past twenty-four hours (as Lizzy says to Will, "The only thing you should have felt when you killed an insurgent was your rifle's recoil."), I'd like to share two things I found on Facebook today. 

·         "I mourn the loss of thousands of precious lives, but I will not rejoice in the death of one, not even an enemy. Returning hate for hate multiplies hate, adding deeper darkness to a night already devoid of stars. Darkness cannot drive out darkness: only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate: only love can do that."--Martin Luther King, Jr.

an

·       Now I lay me down to sleep, one less terrorist this world does keep. With all my heart I give my thanks, to those in uniform regardless of ranks. You serve our country and serve it well, with humble hearts your stories tell. So as I rest my weary eyes, while freedom rings our flag still flies. You give your all, do what you must...with God we live and God we trust

Thank you for listening and joining me in thinking about these things.  God bless. 

That's what love is for

Twenty-three years ago today, I felt as special as the former Kate Middleton did yesterday, even though my dress was a $50 "try-on" and we had less than a hundred people in the party room of an apartment complex.  I'd worked sixty-five hours that week, eighty-five the week before and because of Chris's schedule at the TV station, we had to delay our honeymoon to St. Louis for a week.  Mom was, shall we say, over-medicated and I'd almost called the @#$%ing thing off, because Chris put off shoe shopping until the night before.  I would've killed him, but my inner voice said to wait until the life insurance was in my name and make it look like an accident.  All that aside, it was a beautiful, clear day.  My Uncle Bill and Uncle Herb were in the same room for the first time in decades.  Everybody cleaned up nice and my cousin's husband went and got more cups, because the caterer left and didn't tell us where the others were.

And I was married to my best friend.  I'm trying to put that feeling into my fiction for my heroes and heroines, because it's the stuff life is made of.  While I loved Christina Dodd's link on Facebook to Tiffany & Co.'s "build your engagement ring" site and Jo Beverley's link to her Word Wenches blog on a history of weddings, it's the little, everyday things that make a marriage. 

I screwed up my sleep schedule again, so slept until just a bit ago and Chris went off to play poker at a local pub.  I'm okay with that, because after 23 years (more, because we lived together a year before we got engaged), I don't need passionate and constant attention every minute of every day.  In fact, we try to give each other space and alone time as often as needed.  But--here's the kicker--I walked into the kitchen and Chris did some dishes for us!  I cried, honest.  I'd thought about saying "If you really loved me...," which is another game you play when you've been married a while.  (The other one, by the way, is "I'm going to die first, because....")  But, the "If you really loved me..." card is one you probably better keep for extra special occasions and acknowledge it's a game, otherwise it loses its effectiveness.  It was like he read my mind.  And I was grateful. 

Wait a sec.  "Hard to Say" by Dan Fogelberg just came up on my computer music program.  Particularly apropos.  And that's my second point of what I try to do in my life and my fiction:  love is the little things, day in and day out.  Seriously.  I see it in family and friends, but especially in my own life.  Love is running all over town to find the double-stick tape/favorite cheese/earrings your spouse needs/wants, staying with the grandkids on your birthday because there are three other crises going on, passing the same Valentine's Day card back and forth for the tenth year, pulling wheelchair duty for your mother-in-law without being asked, saying "please" and "thank you" though through gritted teeth, holding the other person as they cry at the end of "Field of Dreams," ordering the potato skins when you really wanted the onion petals.  Insert your special incident here. 

Now, "I Love You Always Forever" by Donna Lewis is playing.  Yeah, you're in for the long haul.  It's going to be either a shorter haul than you wanted or a horrifyingly long and painful haul, unless common courtesies are paid. 

I have to laugh--now the Beatles' "Paperback Writer" came up.  So, while traditional literature may deal with history and philosophical conundrums, I'm proud to be writing genre fiction.  It's where real life is happening.  Now, let's pause and listen to Mary-Chapin Carpenter's "Passionate Kisses." 

Follow Friday and It just keeps getting better and better...

Happy Follow Friday!  Let's take care of business, then I have some other helpful stuff I'd like to share.

The question this week is:


Who has been the most supportive of your writing?

My husband.  I started writing Seven Days and my other stories in August of 2006.  I was doing a lot of traveling for work and for Christmas (and 2007's birthday), he bought me a HP laptop.  It was a total thrill that he believed in me, because at the time, it was quite an investment.  I still use it, writing in the living room on MS Works, then Save it in Word and put it on flash drives and the new desktop in the office.  He gives me great lines for my characters, humors me when I'm "in writing mode" and says he looks forward to "being a kept man" when I make it big.  We'll talk some more about editing and writing Seven Days down below.

Your rules for Follow Friday (join the fun!)

1)      Follow this blog.

2)      Follow Elizabeth Sharp, the originator of this hop 9http://somesharpwords.blogspot.com/

3)      Follow the featured author of the week, MD Christie. http://writingafternine.blogspot.com/2011/04/follow-me-friday-blog-hop-and-little.html

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
So, the most current Jane Friedman blog link (http://blog.writersdigest.com/norules/) had a reference to the blog from Robert J. Sawyer, the science fiction writer (http://www.sfwriter.com/owindex.htm).  I haven't read his work yet, but my husband and I were fans of ABC's "Flashforward," which was based on his novel.  Anyway, he has some lovely essays in the "On Writing" section of that link that would be helpful to any writer in any genre.  While they were written in the '90s, most everything still applies today.  BTW, I wrote him a "thank you" email and he wrote one back!

One in particular I printed out and did tonight, "Word processing Tricks."  I used the "Search" feature for words like "just" and "very" a few months ago and was horrified at how many times they showed up in my mss.  Mr. Sawyer suggests doing the search for "ly " (with the space after), to seek out some adjectives and adverbs.  He says, "If you needed an adjective or adverb to modify another word, perhaps you didn't choose the right word to begin with."  He suggests "huge" rather than "really large" and "thundering" rather than "pounding loudly." 

You may remember my dilemma of having to cut over a hundred pages, so I'm all over this.  You know what I found in just the first two sections of my mss.?  Enough single words on the following list to cut another page.  Let me repeat:  ANOTHER PAGE.  I didn't cut all of them, but there were enough that I was embarrassed. 

How many of these do you not need? 
honestly
really
originally
certainly
gently (I never realized how often I used this)
quietly
quickly
probably (probably 3rd on the list, LOL)
only
exactly
incredibly
hopefully
actually
briefly
calmly
slowly

Do I have your attention now?  Seriously, I used "immediately" and "quickly" in the same sentence!  He also suggested:  utilize (UGH!) => use, in order to => to and the fact that => that.  I still need to go back over the flipping thing to lose some more dashes and exclamation points.  *sigh* 

I've already used the Search to remove The F Bomb, which was unfortunately one of my character's favorite cuss word.  My aunt said she would love to read my work someday, but really hated when it was used.  You know, we don't want to do anything that would limit your market. 

There were other helpful hints in this one and in "Heinlein Rules."  So, I (started to use "just" dang it!) wanted to share another resource to thank you for giving me all these informative links.  Read:  Time sucks I putter around, rather than writing my own stuff.  Seriously, I'm a better writer for it.