Time... Waits For No One

Does anyone really know what time it is?
Does anybody really care?

That's an old Chicago song (I can't for the life of me find who wrote it, but I give you, whoever you are, the credit).

Time--can't touch it, see it, taste it, hear it.

But you can waste it, spend it, enjoy it, find it, use it, run out of it, have plenty of it. Time defines our lives.

When people ask me how I 'find' the time to write, be a mom and wife, take care of the home, volunteer at my church, work in my garden, and accomplish a number of other things, I tell them, "I don't waste time." If I'm sitting at fencing practice with the youngest, I bring my laptop and edit. If I'm going to be waiting at the doctor's office, I bring a book. Working in the garden, I formulate new stories or work out kinks in current ones. Swimming laps, I mentally go over my to-do list.

It's almost as if I 'feel' every second. I think of how much I could, or should, do. But I have my moments of just sitting by the pool, and with cool drink in hand, enjoying a summer read. Sometimes, you need to slow things down and just be in that moment.

And that's all the time I have-

Char

That's Hot! No, I Mean Cool. Or Is It Bad?

In generic terms, they all mean good. They're slang, of course, but they've come to be accepted in general English use.

The problem with slang is that it's ever evolving. (I'm still not sure what 'phat' means...). The other day someone on Twitter asked, "Is 'badassery' a word?" I replied she should check out the Oxford English Dictionary, the bible of the English language.

Yep, badassery is a word.

She was thrilled because now she is justified in using the word (wonder if it'll make the copyeditor's cuts...) and it's obviously recognized enough that people should know the meaning. This is one of the few which I think is self explanatory. 'Phat' is not.

Slang- love it or hate it, it's unavoidable.

'Fo' shizzle.'

Char

Critic's Choice...

Reviews. No one gets glowing ones all the time. Some get none. It's the bane of artists that someone else, who may appreciate creativity, may not be creators themselves, or simply just don't 'get it' yet they get to judge us.

But, we all pass on reviews of everything around us.

(I'm known to be a bit critical.)

Don't like a lot of the Nobel/Pulitzer prize winning books--too stuffy.

Don't like VW cars--undependable and too cramped.

Don't like rum raisin ice cream--just yuck.

Don't like pretentious people--you're not that great.

Don't like the NY Giants (ex-Long Island girl, went to 2 NY colleges)--get your own stadium or change to NJ Giants.

It's in our nature.

But it shouldn't be in our nature to let critics or reviews discourage us from our art. So, VOYA hated Sirenz, didn't even look at Sirenz Back In Fashion. I have author friends who got lousy reviews, but their books sold well. Maybe critics will love Blonde OPS, maybe not.(So far, so good.)

No matter what, someone else's opinion is out of my control, but creating my art isn't--and they can't say anything to stop me.

Char

How Many....

Words in a young adult novel?

Depends. Anywhere from 50,000 to over 100,000.

How many pages in a middle grade book?

Depends. Anywhere from 60 to 200.

The right 'quantity' of words, pages, or chapters for a book vary. Some people write shorter novels, some longer. Some have their agents/editors cut/expand them.

I've been on both sides: too long, too short. I'm just as confused about how long my story should be so I simply write it. I don't worry that it's too short, because someone will say "I need more backstory about how these characters met..." or whatever. Or that someone in power will say "It's too long, cut out chapters 6-8..." or whatever.

In publishing, it's always hard to quantify the right quantity.

Char

The Plot Thickens...

It's said that there are only 10 original plot lines (don't ask me what they are). So I'm kind of confused when reviewers or readers or agents say a plot 'isn't original.' If it were, we'd only have 10 stories, right? You can't count the number of vampire books. Or ghost books. Or angels, mythology, murder, love, adventure, etc. books. No two will be alike (if they are, that's plagiarism and a whole other story although it fits with our theme of "p").

The thing that differentiates those 10 plots is in the details; is your heroine from Cincinnati and has a super power to make machines run on energy she channels? Do you use Samarian mythology? Or create your own species?

So, pick a plot--any plot--and run with it.

Char

In My (Glorious, Fabulous, Unasked for, Annoying) Opinion...

Who asked for my opinion? Well sometimes people ask.And I am more than happy to give my opinion--unless the book stinks. I can share it with my close writer friends, but am leery about telling others who might not feel the same and could be offended that I didn't LOVE whatever book they're raving about. (It happens...)

Once I made a comment about Bella in Twilight. She's not a strong female lead (until the very end, when she's fighting to save her child). It bothers me that she has no thought of what college to go to, or what she wants to study, or what she wants from life other than her boyfriend, and then she goes comatose when he breaks up with her. And she reads the same book, over and over! The person to whom I made this comment to said, "Well, you're no Stephenie Meyer!"

Nope, and I don't want to be, I have my own stories, thank you very much. Would I like Stephenie Meyers's success? You betcha. In a nano-second. Now, please. It may not happen, but I'm no less a writer because I don't have mega success, and neither are the other million writers out there in my shoes.

But success does NOT guarantee that everyone will love your book. (We've had some pretty harsh critics for Sirenz, ouch!) and it's part of the business. Even nicely put, rejection hurts but when the same critics turn around and like your next book (shameless plug- Blonde OPS), then their opinion counts, right?

When there's a book I didn't like and someone asks me about it, I say, "I read that book! I love the part about..." and bluff my way through. There's always at least one nice thing you can say.

But that's just my opinion.

Char

Name Calling

Some names just stick with us: Katniss, Lestat, Tris, Cleopatra, Han Solo.

I like my characters to have an uncommon name. My current main character in my solo work, Lethal Dose, is Dalen Steele. For Blonde OPS, our editors chose the name Bec Jackson. Other names I've used: Kara, Sun Yi, Kendra, Myca. I'll never use names like Heather, Mary, Elizabeth, John, Dave, Michael. Sure, in terms of the general population these names show up a lot. I hate alliterative names (you find a lot of that in comic books- Peter Parker [Spiderman] for example). Names have to speak to me.

How do I get names for my characters? I used to use a baby naming book, because not only did it have a wide variety of names from many cultures, but it would have the same name in various languages and the meaning. But it would take sooo much time trying to choose the name that seemed to fit.

So I cheat.

I watch the credits at the end of movies (the best: The Lord Of The Rings series because what, half a million people worked on the movies and they credited everyone...?) The right names just seem to jump out at me.

Some authors count syllables (I just listen to how the name rolls off my tongue, does it sound 'balanced?'). Others go by etymology (root of the name), and some have long complicated processes. Yet others use names of family and friends (a bit dangerous in my mind...). And there are some who even go to great lengths to make up names, especially in sci fi or fantasy novels.

What do you think are the best names of characters?

Char