I don’t know if all of you know this, but every 29th of the month I blog at Blogging in Black. This month’s topic, Famous First Words is about beefing up that first sentence. I hope you enjoy it. While you’re there please check out all the other great writers posting.
For next month, I’d like to post something that readers will appreciate more. Anybody got a topic they’d like to see explored either here or there? Let me know.
Now I return you to your regularly scheduled weekend. Enjoy!
I had planned to write a rather frivolous post about the hunks on Dancing with the Stars today–until I happened over to Dear Author. The day’s post about the trivialization of serious issues in romance intrigued me, since this has been a criticism of mine about the genre since I first started reading it. In romance, tragedy is often nothing more than a plot device to get the hero and heroine to a certain place in the story, without adequate consideration of what real impact such experiences have on people.
This is how the post starts out:
A legitimate criticism of romance as serious literature is it’s often cavalier treatment of important life topics. Too often, war, separation, human indignity, are treated as plot devices, conflict mechanisms, and not given the attention and treatment those important issues deserve. How many romance books are thought provoking? How many challenge your personal concepts of right and wrong? How many portray multi hued individuals as both heroic and villianous? Surely within the umbrella of the romance genre, there is room for these books.
I can’t argue with anything that is said here, which does not mean, in my opinion, that no romances deal with important issues head on, but, in my opinion, fewer than should do. In other words, if you’ve got a protagonist recovering from a bad marriage, missing child, breast cancer, rape, whatever, or you’ve got a character who’s a soldier or cop, nurse or counselor, they experience life in particular ways that are often glossed over rather than exploited properly for the verisimilitude of their story.
This to my mind doesn’t mean every story has to be heavy or heavy handed. However, if you’re going to bring up the heroine’s unkind personal history, or whatever, let the effects of it reverberate in her life on a deeper level than making her wary of the hero’s attentions. Almost any serious event injected into a character’s life produces a constellation of effects. These can be explored even if you do it in a less than grave way.
I know that I had a hard time writing my hero for Soldier Boys. The story was supposed to be light and airy, so I kept it that way as much as I could. However, the guys a freaking marine sniper, and after reading even minimally about these guys and giving him the background that I did, I knew I couldn’t divorce the story from the realities of the ongoing war and keep it in any way beleivable. So I didn’t. The result is a deeper story, I hope, even though it is also really, really hot. I’ve got my fingers crossed that it works.
But I also don’t think that romance is alone in glossing over serious events or issues. The more suspense and mystery I read, the more I become aware that every genre has its way of trivializing that which it isn’t prepared to deal with. Ever read a sex scene in your average testosterone-filled thriller? Either it’s one of those wham-bam- excuse me while I come, ma’am, deals where it’s over in two seconds (doesn’t say much for the hero if you ask me) or it’s the sappiest bit of crap that no romance writer could get away with in a million years.
The truth of it is, there is room for shades of gray in every genre: true exploration of the human psyche and human emotions in every genre; contemplation of right and wrong and just in every genre and when we gloss over it or exploit it not for what it is but what we want it to be, we do both ourselves and our readers an injustice.
No, it’s not an action movie with sweaty hunky men, it’s my 300th post on this blog. In celebration of such, I’ve equipped the old girl with a new look, a new contest and a new poll. The new look you’re seeing already. Please drop me a note and tell me what you think. Be kind, though since I hooked up the graphic myself, lol.
You can find the poll on the sidebar about halfway down. As for the contest, any time you leave a comment you are entered into the contest for a $10. Amazon gift certificate (perfect for purchasing my June release Soldier Boys, but you didn’t hear that from me. The winner will be announced May 1, so please check back then for the announcement or make sure to include your email address in your post so I can contact you.
I hope you enjoy the new What I Know So Far . . . Have a happy spring!
On some list I belong to, talk turned to exactly how you define a protagonist, particularly in light of all the antiheroes becoming heroes these days. A similar discussion is hosted at Editorrent. My favorite part:
If we define the protagonist as “the character we root for,” then this presumes that the protagonist’s goals are always worthy. In the case of tragedies, they frequently are not. Really, did anyone actually want Oedipus to marry Jocasta?
My answer: not really. As for stories closer to my heart, she posits: And then there’s romance. Can a story ever really have two protagonists? I’m sure it can, but isn’t it nice to have someone talk about romance without scorn? A big NY hug for that.
I’m sure the discussion isn’t over, but if you want more insight, check out the post.
I was looking around the blogosphere, something I usually do on Friday’s but it was a holiday so what’s the dif? I was over at Roslyn Carrington’s blog where she had a doohickey telling what educational level her blog catered to (I almost said was at, but you’ll see why I changed my mind.
I hope it’s on the dean’s list, too.
That’s the only excuse why I got only four out of ten right on this quiz. No, I’m not Irish–not even black Irish–but my first name is: Deirdre. Depending on where you look it up, it means the troubler, mother of sorrows, and a few other disturbing meanings (thanks, Ma).
Seriously, I’ve always loved my name. Google the name Deirdre and my website will come up sixth on the list.
Here’s the story of the name Deirdre that I grew up with as a kid:
The most beautiful woman in ancient Ireland, Deirdre was bethrothed to the High King Conchobhar Mac Nessa but she fell in love with his nephew Naoise. Deirdre and Naoise eloped to Scotland where they lived a blissful exile for many years. By offering forgiveness, Conchobhar tricked them into returning to Ulster where Naoise was slain by the jealous Conchobhar. Deirdre threw herself from Conchobhar’s chariot rather than live with the man who had caused Naoise’s death. It was said that her grave was near to Naoise’s and that a yew tree grew from each plot. The yew trees grew toward one another till their branches intertwined, joining the two lovers even after death.
Years later, when my sister was buying a house, her Irish real estate agent informed me that the true Deirdre was a nun who got herself beheaded for her trouble. If it’s all the same to everyone else, I’ll keep the version where I get to be the pretty, pretty princess, thank you.
To all those Irish lads and lassies, whether it’s for today or always. Happy St. Patrick’s Day.
Submitted for your appproval:
A Wichita, Kansas woman has been sitting on her boyfriend’s toilet for the past two years. No, it’s not the world’s worst case of diarrhea, but, to my mind, a case of something mental gone awry. Supposedly the boyfriend, whose name has not been released (but the house the couple lived in is listed in public records as belonging to Kory McFarren. According to police who were finally called in to help the poor woman, they found her skin had grown around the seat and her legs appeared to have atrophied.
According to the AP report:
“She was not glued. She was not tied. She was just physically stuck by her body,” Whipple said. “It is hard to imagine. … I still have a hard time imagining it myself.”
Even though this case is bizarre, I feel for this young woman.
And now it seems authorities may be looking into pressing charges against the boyfriend for not getting her out of there sooner. According to reports, he brought her food everyday and asked her when she was going to come out of the bathroom. Her answer was always “maybe, tomorrow.”
I don’t know why, but her response reminds me of that Twilight Zone episode with William Shatner and the older couple who decided their fates on the whim of a fortune telling machine–maybe it’s because her rationale for her behavior seems just as incomprehensible to me.
What do you think of this case? Is the boyfriend partly responsible? Why didn’t anyone else notice they hadn’t seen her in TWO YEARS?
Looking around the blogosphere for some writing/book news you can use, I found a few things:
At long last, an explanation for my glaze cravings. Neuroscience Marketing takes on Krispy Kremes and your brain will love you for it.
Connie Briscoe offers this post on Virtual Book Tours. There’s a lot of good information here.
Editorial Ass tells how not to piss off your editor (before she is your editor).
Elaine Viets waxes humorous (but oh, so true) about the Spitzer debacle.
And finally, Ann Christopher wins my heart with her post at Access Romance titled Die, Winter, Die. I’ve never been too fond of winter, except for the perfectly timed Christmas Eve snowstorm. As we speak I’m twisting the knife in old man winter’s back myself.
Here in New York State, we’re dealing with yet another scandal. Our governor, Eliot Spitzer was found to have been a patron of prostitutes in the Mayflower Hotel in Washington, DC. The same hotel has been linked to two infamous former Presidents: Kennedy held trysts there, while Lewinsky stayed there during Clinton’s impeachment trials. Maybe a smart guy would have picked a less notorious love nest for his clandestine meetings, but there you have it.
I never liked Spitzer, despite his squeaky clean reputation. He just didn’t do it for me and besides, there’s something about the word “spit” in a person’s name that gives me the willies. There are just some bodily functions I’d rather not know about. But what really disturbs me, particularly of late, is that it seems to be those people who campaign and win on their vows to clean up corruption are the very ones that are proven to be most deeply entrenched in it. I doubt I’m the only one on overload.
And now, from what I understand, Spitzer has no choice but to resign. What he did was similar to, but not quite the same, as other recent sex scandals. Not only did he deal with an organized prostitution ring (illegal) he flew one of said high-class hookers from NY to DC at his expense (very illegal). Just in case anyone forgot, the Mann Act, which bars the transport of young lovelies across state lines for a little suh-um suh-um, is still in effect.
Last I heard on the news, Spitzer may be trying to trade his resignation for a guarantee of no prosecution. I know I wouldn’t want to take that deal if I were the one able to prosecute him. Those who make their name exposing others ought to have to suffer the same kind of scrutiny themselves should they take a fall.
Two further ironies come out of this scandal, however. The first is that if Spitzer resigns, David Paterson, currently the Lt. Governor will become the first ever black Governor of the state of New York and only the third overall since Reconstruction. Paterson, who has been legally blind since infancy, would also be the first visually impaired person to preside over the folks in Albany. Aside from that, he’s credited with being a true man of integrity who can reach across the divide that is NY State politics to get everyone to get along. Sounds like there’s no downside to this deal to me.
The second is that Spitzer was a superdelegate pledged to Hilary Clinton at the upcoming convention. The old girl can’t get a break can she? Well, Paterson has also been in her corner, though I don’t know if he is a superdelegate or if superdelegatedom is transferable thataway.
Now I know I pledged to keep this blog more about the writing, so I don’t want to leave out that connection either. I was having trouble figuring out the crime and the motive for the crime for a romantic suspense I’m working on. Usually with RS, the crime sort of comes first, then the characters, then more details. For this one, the characters came first so I was like, okay folks, what’s going on? And they were like, hey, you’re the writer. You tell us. This is the kind of rebelliousness I have to deal with. But anyway, I started thinking high-class hookers, hmm, I could do something with that. You’ve got to take your inspiration where you can get it, right?
I found this one that might appeal most to those paranormal romance authors among us:
A little laughter is good for the blood!
THE PROS & CONS OF DATING A VAMPIRE
Pro
———–
Long relationships
Allowed to stay out late
Easy weight loss
Centuries of experience
Immune to all diseases
Always has amazing stamina
Loves neck nibbling
Rarely interested in arguing religion
Never comes home with garlic breath
Doesn’t snore; sleeps like the dead
Con
———–
You always feel tired (loss of blood)
Kissing can be lethal
Monogamy is a problem
Always has cold feet and hands
Pet names that give you chills
Strange friends
Giggles at funerals
Hard to win an argument
May forget own strength
Author Unknown
