I    [Continue reading]]]> Hi folks. I’d love some of your thoughts here. I’m interested in learning how clearly other writers see their characters when they’re writing them. Do you have strong visual pictures of them before or while writing? Some writers hang pictures of people they think their characters might look like near their writing desks, for example.

I didn’t do that for Just Desserts: Greed. Lust. Death. Tiramisu. I knew my characters pretty well when telling their stories, but I didn’t spend too much time describing them physically for readers – or for myself. I knew their general ages and the kinds of physical activity they might realistically pursue. Other than that, what the characters looked like on the outside was less important to me than what was going on inside their heads.

Shirley was an exception because much of the story depended on her, uh, physical assets. And I described Lizzie’s looks primarily to highlight how she downplayed them in contrast to Shirley (although I don’t think I developed that as well as I could have – mebbee in The Sequel).

When I was doing the final edits, I read a blog post that asked writers to name the actors they would want to play their main characters in the movie version of their latest book.

That got me thinking. I don’t watch television and I haven’t been a big movie goer lately, so my coterie of known actor candidates is fairly limited. I found out what Justin Bieber looked like just last week. (If that’s not reason enough to cancel cable, I don’t know what is.)

Still…

How could John Cusack NOT play Vince? Yes, definitely – John’s the man. The vision of a bemused John Cusack putting on the chicken suit makes me smile.

As soon as I saw John Cusack as Vince, though, my thinking shifted. Not in Just Desserts itself, but in the sequel-in-progress. Seeing Vince as John, John as Vince, opened up different, possibly conflicting, directions for the story and for Vince as an authentic character. What Would John Do? versus What Would Vince Do?

I’m not sure that’s a good thing, at least for me. I think I want Vince to be good ole’ Vince, not Vince wearing a John Cusack mask. So, difficult as it may be, I’m sending John back to Hollywood and recreating my old, fuzzy image of Vince.

How about you?

As a writer, do you have a clear-cut visual image of your characters as you’re writing? If you have a visual image, is it a real person or someone you see only in your mind’s eye? Do you know what your characters are wearing, how long their hair is, their BMI? If so, do you describe these features for your readers? How? Why? Does genre or time frame of the story influence you on this?

As a reader, do you enjoy reading detailed descriptions of what characters look like, how they’re dressed? Do you set up your own visual images of characters when the author doesn’t provide them? Do you get annoyed when an author doesn’t describe what his or her main characters look like?

I’d love to know what you think. Enquiring minds [still] want to know…
~~
Photo Credit: Free images from acobox.com

This launch is such a big    [Continue reading]]]>
It’s official! I’m excited to announce that Just Desserts: Greed. Lust. Death. Tiramisu. is now available for purchase – and your reading pleasure – as a Kindle Book from Amazon, a Nook Book from Barnes & Noble and an eBook for other ereaders AND as a PDF download from Smashwords.

This launch is such a big deal that cities and towns across the U.S.A. are celebrating with live concerts and massive fireworks displays all week-end long! At least I think it’s for my book launch – maybe something else is going on as well.

What’s Just Desserts about? Among other things, it’s about greed. And lust. And death. And – you guessed it – tiramisu. Here’s the short blurb you’ll find on each publisher’s site:

Vince Fantozzi is stuck in a dead-end rut, kowtowing to his dad’s every demand while he watches his own life slip away from him.

Until Shirley and Jack move in next door.

Suddenly, the pursuit of happiness – or maybe some decent lasagna – shoves everyone into the fast lane and turns Vince’s life on its edge as he careens down a road he never thought he’d travel, accompanied by an eccentric bunch of fellow travelers.

Just Desserts is a novella, so it can slip easily into an empty hour time-slot in your life. I tried describing it as a “one beer beach read” until I was reminded that I drink very slowly, so it might be a “two beer beach read” – especially on a hot day.

Practically none of the genre categories the publishers offer work for me, so here are a couple of my own descriptors to add to “fiction, general” and “fiction, humorous”:

• sort-of-noir
• Carl Hiaasen lite
• noir: over easy
• Southern-fiction-but-not-really

Just Desserts probably fits into “dick lit” as well (yes this category exists) since it’s edgy and funny and I blow stuff up but no, I can’t go there. I just can’t. Y’all understand, I hope, and bless your hearts.

Here’s what some of my beta readers have to say about Just Desserts:

“I’m not sure what I was expecting, but it wasn’t Dennis Lehane goes South. Great fun.”

“Grows on you and keeps you curious about what is coming next.”

“I love it! It’s ready for prime time.”

“I like it, Mom.” (I know, what else could he say?) “Especially the last couple of chapters, because I had no idea what was going to happen next.”

Curious? Let me know what you think. You can read the first two chapters by clicking JUST DESSERTS EXCERPT at the top of the page. Then I hope you’ll order and read the entire book.

Now go watch some Just Desserts fireworks and join the celebration!

Yeah.

Yesterday I had an appointment to go in and prove to the DMV examiner that I knew the difference between    [Continue reading]]]> I guess the day you renew your driver’s license and they snap that picture that will follow you around for the next 8 years BEFORE you get the black eye qualifies as a good day, right?

Yeah.

Yesterday I had an appointment to go in and prove to the DMV examiner that I knew the difference between a stop sign and a cattle crossing warning so I could continue driving legally. The NC driver’s license office (note: different than the NC auto registration/license plate office) is located in this funky strip mall near a bunch of used car lots and fast food joints. The McDonald’s on the corner has been the scene of several drug busts in the last couple of years. If there were railroad tracks nearby, we’d be on the wrong side of them.

Here’s the roll-call for the strip mall tenants: the ‘anchor’ is a large pawn shop/check cashing/loan center in the middle of the mall. It’s surrounded by a Japanese deli and food shop, a laundromat, a loan company, dance studio, a temporary employment agency. Then there’s the NC license plate office, a Mexican mercado, the NC driver’s license office, two insurance agencies and a hair salon.

I mention this because, while I know there are all kinds of Idea Generators and Writing Prompts available, for me just walking around a place like this throws a whole slew of ideas into my brain. I can pick any two, maybe three, of the businesses in the mall, watch the people going in and coming out and all of a sudden I’ve got myself a cast of characters and some plot threads.

Two weeks ago when I first tried to renew my license and found three dozen people and a two hour wait ahead of me, ElderHaus was a tenant. It’s since been replaced by the dance and zumba studio. Why? The temporary employment agency doesn’t even open until 2 PM. Why not? I see some story possibilities here.

My current WIP has a scene in a pawn shop, so I thought I’d do some research. A sign on the front door reads: “Before entering shop, unload all firearms. Open action.” Uh, consider it done.

I’d been in the pawn shop before – when I got my first NC driver’s license, and it didn’t look like the merchandise had changed all that much in the intervening years. I had this central casting pawn shop in my head (and in my WIP, where I think/hope it fits), but this place knocked my expectation on its head.

“Can I help you?” A woman who looked like she was ready to dish me up some of her green bean casserole at a church supper smiled at me. “We have some good deals on jewelry today. Everything in these three cases is 50% off.” A gaudy diamond pinky ring plays a prominent role in my WIP so I was pleased to see one sitting in the display.

The woman was gracious and eager to show me whatever I wanted. I might as well have been in Zales. Though I was tempted momentarily by the NASCAR money clip – a half-off steal at $15.00 – I left the store with nothing but some good ideas and vivid images. (Yes, I walked through the stolen tools and guns just to make sure I had portrayed Mr. Earl and his pawn shop appropriately. I had.)

The black eye? Another reminder to me that pulling disparate, mundane pieces together at just the right time gives a story authentic impact. For example:

• a woman leaning down to pick up a piece of paper from the concrete
• a man opening the garage door
• a dog leaping from the first floor landing to the garage in a single, high-speed burst.

Ouch.

Glory be, boy-howdy, and hallelujah! Who woulda thunk that four days and nights lying in bed in a fever-induced hallucinatory stupor could be so wonderful?

First,    [Continue reading]]]> …Sorta. I’ve spent the last couple of months grappling with back problems, I-suck-as-a-writer syndrome (could the two possibly be related?), and finally – the pièce de résistance, the flu.

Glory be, boy-howdy, and hallelujah! Who woulda thunk that four days and nights lying in bed in a fever-induced hallucinatory stupor could be so wonderful?

First, my back spasms hit the road, at least for a while. Good riddance. Then, the six-foot tall chickens clucking around my fevered brain decided they belonged in my WIP. Once I was back on my feet, I had to agree with them.

So: I’m writing. I’m not in agony. Life is good.

I’m gonna take advantage of this lovely state of affairs and concentrate on my WIP rather than my blog for a while.

But before I go:

A couple of weeks pre-flu I went to hear Mark Richard speak at my local university. My bad, but I’d never heard of him before, even though he’s written several award-winning short story collections, a cult-favorite novel, and has just published his memoir, which is getting a fair amount of buzz.

He read from his memoir, House of Prayer No. 2: A Writer’s Journey Home, written in the second person. He used lots of repetition that initially I found pretty annoying. The repetition ultimately became mesmerizing, though, and I’d like to know how he did that. The segment he read involved his lying in a full-body cast in a Southern charity hospital somewhere as a child. Now, I’ve spent time lying in a full-body cast as well, but in a world-renowned Harvard-affiliated hospital and I can attest that it ain’t no picnic even under more ideal circumstances – as in, I wasn’t even on the look-out for roaches crawling into my cast.

You’ve been warned in case you decide to pick up his book. I get the feeling there’s a heavy dose of Southern grit running throughout both his memoir and his fiction.

During the Q&A, someone asked him about the genesis of one of his award-winning stories, which apparently was also filled with lots of repetition.

He said that he had an assignment (the story) due the next day and he had no idea what to write. It was 1 AM and he was panicked. He knew that if he sat down at the keyboard and just typed the same word over and over again, eventually something, anything would kick in and he’d have a phrase, a sentence, something – and then he’d be able to go on.

He was feeling lazy, so his word was “in”. So he just kept typing “in” until something else took over and his story, which went on to win some award, was born. Apocryphal? Who knows. It’s a good story, though.

Oh. He’s a writer.

Despite Richard’s relative critical success as a writer, he supports his wife and family by writing scripts for TV crime shows that he didn’t recommend that anyone in the audience waste their time watching. He mentioned – twice – the income and decent health insurance associated with these endeavors. One more anecdote to put in your don’t-quit-your-day-job-yet file.

**

Okay, me and the chickens have got us some work to do. I hope to have something worth sharing before too long. And you’ll see it here first.

Cluck.

Well, Cathryn Grant’s Book and Kindle Giveaway is over – you can find out who won the contest here.

But I gotta say – I really feel like I was a big winner last week. It was fun to welcome new visitors to my blog and to visit those blogs in return.    [Continue reading]]]>
Happy Valentine’s Day, y’all.

Well, Cathryn Grant’s Book and Kindle Giveaway is over – you can find out who won the contest here.

But I gotta say – I really feel like I was a big winner last week. It was fun to welcome new visitors to my blog and to visit those blogs in return. I discovered several new-to-me blogs to follow regularly, and that’s a real treat. I learned something about the passions that fuel people’s need to read and to write.

Of course I look at everything through my own lens, but getting into someone’s head – whether a fictional character, an author, or your own head as a reader/writer – to learn a bit more about human nature is a thread running through most of the comments. I get that, wanting to write about characters who climb into the brain somehow, want to read about them.

I’m reading Elizabeth George’s For the Sake of Elena right now. George has an amazing talent for slowly tossing little pieces of a character out like breadcrumbs that you just have to follow, hungry to learn more.

I bought the book at a used book fair last year and when I opened it, I found a little purple card taped on the inside front cover with this written on it: Absolutely the best Elizabeth George. If you like this one, you can go back and read all of them.

oh. yeah.