2007 September « Dee Savoy

Archive for September, 2007

Sep

New Writing Workshop Opens for Registration

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Categories: Uncategorized

Fiction Folks Fall Workshop is now accepting students!!!

National bestselling, award winning author Deirdre Savoy will be facilitating this month-long workshop set to begin the week of October 29. The focus of this workshop is taking your writing to the next level:

Course syllabus:

October 29: Introduction– what does writing a “bigger” book mean.
November 5: Characterization: beef up your people/relationships to create a “larger” book.
November 12: Conflict: Ramp up the tension in your story to make a riveting read.
November 19: Devil in the details: how to give your work added authority and authenticity.

Each week, a lecture and assignment will be posted. Completion and posting of assigned work for peer review is not mandatory but advised if students want to get the most from the class.

Who should take this course:

–first time authors just getting started
–writers close to completing that first novel
–any author interested in taking their writing to new levels

How to register: Apply for group membership here. You will receive a student questionnaire and told how to make payment. Once tuition is received, you will receive an introductory message and be added to the group.

Tuition: $50. (plus a $2. service charge). First five students to complete registration will receive a $10. rebate.

To register go here. Registration ends October 28.

For more information or if you have any questions, please e-mail deesavoy@mac.com

Sep

What Becomes A Fictional Character Most?

By writerds 1 Comment

Categories: Uncategorized

A good parody, of course. Potter goes from hero to zero here, though I think Barbarino comes out the worst for wear, looking like a pale Michael Jackson impersonator. Whateva. Enjoy!

Sep

Hair we go again . . .

By writerds 0 Comments

Categories: entertainment, my work, writing and wtf?

It seems a Glamour editor went to speak to the female attorneys at a law firm about fashion dos and don’ts. Among the fashion don’ts were such “political hairstyles” as afros and those “dreadful” dreadlocks. This advice might have played well or been omitted from the discussion at an all-white firm. However the ten or so black lady lawyers in the room were not amused.

What I like about this story is that the firm didn’t assume this so-called editor was a raging racist, just an ignorant boob. Unfortunately, ignorance and bigotry go hand in hand so often that we sometimes forget there is a difference between the two. And I appreciated Glamour’s response to the incident:

I read your post about a Glamour editor’s comments on hairstyles for work, and I’d like to share with you our thoughts. First, we regret the comments were made. The employee — a junior staffer, not a beauty editor — spoke to a small group of lawyers at a private luncheon without her supervisor’s knowledge or approval, and her comment — that afros are not work appropriate — does not represent Glamour’s point of view.

Secondly, immediately upon learning of it, we sought to rectify the situation. The editor has been dealt with in a very serious manner, and the entire staff has been reminded of the magazine’s policies and procedures for making public appearances.

Sounds like a little of cyoa (cover your own ass) to me, but my hope is they gave that editor a beat down in the ladies room when no one was looking. Why? Well, her comments were stupid from a racial point of view, but when was the last time an afro was a political statement? Time warp, anyone? And she’s supposed to be a fashionista? Pshaw!

For some reason this episode makes me think of fictional characters who, like the editor run out and represent us in ways that we never imagine when we “hire” them. We don’t intend the messsage we send out when we put this character into play, but there he or she is making us look bad. Or good. Or whatever. The point is that the author is oblivious sometimes to the impression the character or storylines or what have you, leaves on readers.

For example, I was discussing my books with a friend and she asked me if I planned it that (almost) all the couples in my book share a slow dance together. I never noticed they danced in the first place, much less planned it. I’m glad she liked that little touch, but after you’ve written a few books, the biggest challenge can be not repeating yourself.

Sep

The Secret Life of Dee with a Bee

By writerds 2 Comments

Categories: writing

No, not that bee–

Driving around today to take care of some bidness, as Floyd Kenyatta would say, when a bee flies in my open window. Actually, I noticed the bee up by my rear view mirror in my peripheral vision, but I thought it was outside the car. Weeeell . . .

The next time I see the bee it is definitely inside the car because it’s on me.

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHH!!

As my friend Storm (see reiki blog for further explanation) would say, Goddess protect me! I am deadly allergic to bee stings. It is on the lapel of my shirt and I manage to flick it off onto the driver-side window. Okay, I’m still terrified now, since it can’t seem to find it’s way outside the window. I start to roll down the window, but then it’s going up then finally I get it going the right way and the bee flies away.

Of course I was in the middle of traffic when this happened. I don’t know how I managed not to hit anyone or anyone to hit me. However like all incidents in my life, I file them away in that writer’s file cabinet in my head to be called on when needed. There is a project I’m working on where I’ll need to recall terror while driving and this really helped.

Thanks bee, but next time stay the hell out of my car!

Sep

The Evil that men do (betcha didn’t know that quote came from the bard)

By writerds 0 Comments

Categories: my work, mystery, the secret life of dee and weird science

I don’t know if all of you are aware of this, but in my other life, away from writing, I dabble a little in things esoteric. On one of the sites I was lead to there was the Witch’s Psalm (see my Reiki website for the whole thing). One line in particular grabbed me, which is:

Evil is only misunderstood energy

To this I say, hmmmm. I’ve never seen evil as some unified force like Satan or the devil that wreaks havoc on humans. Whatever evil there is in the world we do to each other. A Khalil Gibran quote comes to mind:

Of the good in you I can speak, but not the evil, for what is evil but good tortured by hunger and thirst. When good is hungry it seeks food even in dark caves, and when it thirsts, it drinks even of dead waters.

If you’re wondering where I’m going with this, I’ll tell you. When you write crime fiction, especially if your characters are three dimensional, you have to have some theory as to how they got that way. Some folks like to say he was just crazy, or inexplicable motivated but I can’t go that route. I feel a compulsion to know and thereafter impart to me readers exactly what my villain is about. And since I don’t believe folks are born evil or tormented by un-manmade demons, their backstories need to be complex and plausible. As a reader, those are the types of stories I enjoy as well. As a mother I’m glad neither of my kids is out in the back torturing bunny rabbits of something. That’s not a good sign in fiction or in life.

Sep

That’ll Learn Ya

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Categories: Uncategorized

It appears folks out there like humor, so here goes. This one was sent to me by my hubby and goes out to all us teachers:

The 6th grade science teacher, Mrs. Parks, asked her class, “Which human
body part increases to ten times its size when stimulated?”

No one answered until little Mary stood up and said, “You should not be
asking sixth graders a question like that! I’m going to tell my parents,
and they will go and tell the principal, who will then fire you!”

Mrs. Parks ignored her and asked the question again, “Which body part
increases to 10 times its size when stimulated?” Little Mary’s mouth
fell open. Then she said to those around her, “Boy, is she going to get
in big trouble!”

The teacher continued to ignore her and said to the class, “Anybody?”

Finally, Billy stood up, looked around nervously, and said, “The body
part that increases 10 times its size when stimulated is the pupil of
the eye.” Mrs. Parks said, “Very good, Billy,” then turned to Mary and
continued.

“As for you, young lady, I have three things to say:
One, you have a dirty mind.
Two, you didn’t read your homework.
And three, one day you are going to be very,very disappointed.”

And I would add a fourth: “I am going to tell your parents and they will then ground you.” He he. See ya.

Sep

EMMY, baby

By writerds 0 Comments

Categories: entertainment and fun stuff

I don’t usually watch the Emmy awards. I don’t watch enough TV to make it exciting. When they call the names of the presenters, half the time I don’t even know who they are. She’s who on what show? But as I was tooling around the channels I heard something about Queen Latifa doing a tribute to Roots.

Has it really been thirty years since that series aired??? Damn I’m old. I remember being glued to the set every night the show was on. Not only did Roots tell the story of one family, stolen from Africa to be reared in America, it spawned a national genealogy craze. You weren’t somebody until you knew what somebodies you came from. In many ways, it lead to the ubiquitous misnomer of African American to anybody who is black, rather than as an identifier for folks who don’t know what country they came from (Africa’s a continent, y’all).

When I saw Latifa onstage, I thought that would be it to the tribute, but I was pleased to see the host of actors–John Amos and Levar Burton alias the two Kunta Kintes; Chicken George alias Ben Vereen; Lou Gossett as Fiddler and the ladies of the ensemble Leslie Uggams (Kizzy) and Cicely Tyson (Binta–whose birthgiving scene nearly put me off having kids). I have to hand it to Ed Asner, old thing that he is. I remember reading around the time that Roots came out that when he heard the book was being brought to television he knew he wanted to have a part in the series–even if he ended up playing a bad guy–due to the story’s historic importance. I was glad to see him standing with the other actors. Makes me wonder where some of the other living cast members were–all except O.J. (handcuffs, anyone?).

My suggestion: Get this treasure out of mothballs and rebroadcast it, even if it only reaches the audience of you neighborhood black-owned cable channel. Maybe if some of these children today had a better idea of what their ancestors fought and died for they wouldn’t be so quick to act like they had no sense whatsoever.

Ah, well–onto some other Emmy high(or low)lights:

What the hell with that set??? If I were the people who had to watch the back of the show all night I’d be pissed. Somebody needs a whoopin’ for that bit of brilliance.

Yes, yes, yes to Lewis Black. Do you think the networks will listen and stop putting ads down at the bottom of programs or messing up the credits at the end of shows? Who knows, but I’m glad somebody said it.

Who knew Kanye West had a sense of humor. The goofy grin was kinda cute, though the botch of the lyrics was oh, so, obvious. But dude, I don’t care how much money you have, how many albums you sell (even if you did put that rat-toothed, backward-hat-wearing-muthahumhum Fitty in his place), wearing sneakers to the Emmy Awards when you are not in the process of performing your ship-high-in-transit is declasse. Pass that on to Russell Simmons, will ya.

I love the Sopranos as much as the next girl, but come on. Didn’t you people watch anything else last year?

I love Tony Bennett. I love Christina Aguilera. Why can’t I love both of them together? The two of them together was almost as bad as Britney by herself.

But that’s another whole can of worms. What did you think of the telecast? Which shows one that you thought would (wouldn’t). Don’t be shy now.

Sep

Nobody does it better . . .

By writerds 2 Comments

Categories: blogosphere, reading, romantic suspense and writing

I tooled over to Murderati today hoping for a little blood and guts commentary but got sidelined by a post about sex–not too surprising. Whether sex (the explicitly described variety) belongs in mystery is an age-old debate. Some like it; some don’t. Some like the way some people do it but not others.

Me personally, I enjoy writing romantic suspense and also reading it. I like the suspense dark and the sex hot, hot, hot. Other than that it seems a waste of time. If the sex isn’t urgent, you may as well go out and catch a criminal instead–or commit a crime, depending on your pleasure. I don’t have any problem with gratuitous sex in a regular romance. My motto for writing them is get them in bed as soon as possible, as often as possible. In romantic suspense it has to fit. No making out in the back of the surveillance van that leads to the criminals getting away while you are nookying it up, or whatever. More than I want to read about character’s sexcapades, I want to like them and respect them. Please don’t have them doing stuff that is just plain stupid. But under the right circumstances, have at it.

Well, thats my take on it anyway. I’ll end by asking who do you think writes the best sexy crime stories?

Sep

I’ll take famous quotes for a thousand, Alex

By writerds 2 Comments

Categories: writer's resources and writing

On my personalized iGoogle page there is a section of quotes for the day where I found this:

Any word you have to hunt for in a thesaurus is the wrong word. There are no exceptions to this rule.

This quote comes from Stephen King and I might agree with him if it weren’t for two things. The older I get the less I believe in absolutes such as this never is, this always happens. Never do this that or the other. There are always exceptions–especially since the older I get the less likely it is that I remember which exact word I want to use. Sometimes I need the jolt of looking something up to remember not to use the word obfuscate when I mean obdurate (or maybe to remind me that I could say “confuse” or “hard-headed” instead).

And the idea of turning folks away from using reference books to enhance their writing just doesn’t seem right to me. As always, you are free to make up your own mind.

Sep

Rumors of my demise . . . and so on

By writerds 0 Comments

Categories: blog stuff and non-smoking journal

Actually, there haven’t been any rumors of my demise–that’s what Mark Twain said when he learned it was reported that he had died–rumors of my demise have been greatly exaggerated. How about–contrary to popular belief I didn’t fall off the earth. LOL

I have had one crazy summer–lots of it very, very good, some of it awful. Most of it was so time consuming I had no energy left to write a blosted thing I didn’t have to. I haven’t written here in over a month and damn, I missed it.

Anyhoo, I’m now back on track. To paraphrase my character Nathan Ward at the end of Once and Again–I don’t want to hear about any births, deaths, marriages, illnesses, nothing. I’ve had enough drama to last me a while. Now on to bigger and better things.

All the best to all of you,
Dee

P.S. I’ve been smoke free for over six months!


Get into your most comfortable reading chair,
take off your shoes,
turn off the phone
and let Ms. Savoy's incredible talent take you away.


  --Debra Ross,
     Romance in Color

A skewed sense of humor has kept me sane through 10+ years of teaching and almost as many writing. I invite you to come in and look around. Leave a comment if you like. My goal is to leave you with a smile on your face and a few new thoughts to mull over. If you like the blog, please tell your friends. If not, tell your enemies.