BEST BUY has Supernatural Season One on sale this week for $19.99! I haven't found Season 2 for less than $37.99.

I played with my small town story a LOT yesterday. I've decided to shelve Spy Girl again, and I'm going to work on BD this AM, try to catch myself up. Once I'm done revising the Everglades scenes, though, I will be writing new stuff.

Today I'm getting out my different colored stickies, I'm going to buy a science project board and I'm going to map out all my different characters for the small town story. I've never written a book with this many people before.

I've pretty much decided to name my heroine Elinor, Ellie for short. I think she's a mailwoman. She knows everyone. And her parents own the diner, I think, and she works there every morning before her deliveries, which is where she encounters the hero on a regular basis. She has two younger sisters, including one still in HS.

Her ex, the coach, is Trey, as in Something-Something the Third. He's an only child and his mother's on the school board. Not sure what happened to his dad, but he's not around.

NO idea what to name my hero. None. Jack is the only thing I think fits, but what small town story DOESN'T have a Jack as the hero? It's kind of code - "Oh, his name is Jack, he must be the hero." Could use some ideas ;) He owns the sporting goods store. (The story is in a coastal town in Northern CA....maybe I can swing a research trip!) He comes from a family of strong women. He has three older sisters: one the high school principal, one a deputy, and the other...I'm not sure of her career, but she's in a good healthy marriage (I'm thinking the couple on Friday Night Lights kind of marriage), and he spends a lot of time with her family. I don't know his conflict yet, though.

His sister the principal set him up with a teacher, Vivian, so there's a little triangle there.

His best friend the preacher is Matt. I'm working on making him non-stereotypical.

So you can tell I'm pretty excited about this story. Any ideas for a hero's name would be greatly appreciated.

Names I've rejected: Greg, Jeff, Matt, Andrew, Jesse, Brody, Cole, Colin, Conor, Dylan, Garrett, Sean, Jamie, Chris, Liam, Max, Nick, Quinn, Shane (sorry, Trish!), Travis, Trevor and Will.

Dropped my taco on the floor, forgot my cup on the way home, the boy and his new girlfriend decided they were moving too fast and now are just friends, but friends who are going to the zoo together tomorrow. Woke up after two hours of sleep with what I guess is a pinched nerve in my thumb, couldn't find Tylenol, so took aspirin which is now stuck in the back of my throat, not doing me any good.

On the way home from taking the boy to band practice, I stopped at JoAnn Fabric to look at yarn. Mom had some pretty afghan patterns, and they do have some pretty color yarn...I've resisted so far.

SARA will be meeting at a new Chinese restaurant called Wah Kee. No one thinks it's funny when I call it Wacky's.

My classroom and the teacher's lounge are FREEZING, so I've been taking my work outside, sitting on the steps and thawing out while the kids are at PE. Today I was grading papers and listening to TWILIGHT on my iPod. Two second graders came by, stopped, looked at me.

"What's that?" one asked.

"I'm grading papers."

"No, the WHITE thing."

"Oh, my iPod."

"I WANT an iPod," the other said.

"I had to wait till I was 41 years old," I told her.

"What are you listening to?" the second one asked.

"A story." I decided not to mention the vampire bit. "About a girl whose parents are divorced and she goes and lives with her dad."

The second one nodded solemnly. "That's a true story."

"I read it," the first one said, just as seriously, and they turned to walk off.

"I read it, too," I heard the other one say.

TOO cute.

I FINALLY finished Midnight Moon, which was suitably creepy. Now to decide what to read next, since Hidden Moon hasn't come yet.

I read the first in this series - it was great!



Actually, same goes for this one:



And this one:



And this one!



This one intrigues me:



So does this one - I've heard such good hype:



Then of course are the best sellers:





So many choices!

I have a secondary romance for my small town story, and I think I have a backdrop. I'm working on the first sentence. Oh, and I think I'll use JDM as the hero again.

Why this week sucked:

Open House

No writing since Monday (on the phone forever Tuesday, Open House Wednesday, judging last Golden Pen entry Thursday)

Got yelled at by a parent who I’d been doing a favor by keeping her son after my contract time so she could come get him – all because his daddy came to pick him up, well, not on time, but earlier, and the kid didn’t know, so he wasn’t looking for him, and the dad had to drive around several times because he doesn’t know where we release the kids because, well, never been on time before and didn’t bother to come to Open House. AND the mom called to yell at the people in the office.

No letter from Susan

My iTrip isn’t working because the station I was using is now a Catholic station and I can’t figure out how to reprogram it. Imagine my surprise when I turned on Twilight only to hear The Rosary.

The teachers went out to dinner before Open House and I couldn’t have a beer because one of my students was there. (I have 2 teacher kids in my room.)

Only 50 votes in the Gather contest – Caren and Sarah have HUNDREDS. I don't even KNOW hundreds of people.

Way for a short week to seem like a billion years.

Speaking of, my reading has slowed WAY down since school started! I still have over 100 pages to go in Midnight Moon! I read, just not long.

I just found out I'd volunteered to judge ANOTHER contest. At least they're spaced out. I finished judging the Golden Pen, now I'm getting Gateway to the Best.

I also found out 4th grade is doing the October PTA program. So if anyone out there has good ideas for an EASY show we can put on.....much appreciated!

14 of my 22 kids showed up for Open House with their parents - GREAT turnout. It helped that it wasn't raining, since we, you know, HAVE NO SIDEWALKS. Open House started at 5:30, our faculty meeting ended at 4:15, so we ran to get something to eat. When we came back at 5:15, we had people waiting for us! Yikes! I was never so grateful to get in my car and come home - alone time!

Have you seen the new iPod? It's like the iPhone without the phone - wi fi capable and everything! The dh pointed out since the boy and I both got iPods this summer, he's next. AND they're dropping the price of the iPhone $200!!! Can you imagine those folks that paid $600???



I haven't written since Monday....but I've been thinking about my small town story. There are so many cliches that go with a small town story - how do you avoid them? Here are some I can think of at 5:50 in the morning:

power hungry mayor

crotchety bartender (or diner owner, if you're talking Gilmore Girls)

young woman who owns her own business

Someone's in the town reluctantly - either never left and resents it or came back for family duties.

Either law enforcement is corrupt/lazy - or the hero

What are some cliches you can think of? And how does one avoid them?

Reading, Writing, & Stuff That Makes Me Crazy

Go celebrate with her!

So I was playing with my small town story last night and thinking about what the hero and heroine could be, and so I made a list of possible jobs in small towns. I’m trying so hard not to mimic Gilmore Girls or Friday Night Lights or anything. I think I’ve come up with some good ideas.

I also need to populate this town, and I was thinking of what characters to have that aren’t already out there.

So…I’m putting you to work. Since I’ve lived in a big city all my life, what are some small town jobs? What are some nuances of a small town I might play up, without being clichéd?

This is so completely Corbett, my hero/villain in Spy Girl.

I have a weird sense of anticipation today. Don’t know why.

I got a lot of BD done yesterday, started judging my last Golden Pen entry, which is wonderful. I did laundry, took my son to a girl’s house, watched BASIC, which I didn’t get at ALL. I’m two days behind on Spy Girl, but I got encouraging comments from my online critiques. I started listening to Twilight and am looking forward to getting deeper into the story today.

My friend Elizabeth is having the same surgery today that my brother had this summer. Prayers would be MUCH appreciated. She’s very scared, and I’m worried, and more helpless than I was with my brother.

The coast was rainy but beautiful. The water was like glass. We could see our feet when we were in up to our thighs, could see crabs scuttling about. My stepdad cornered one, and he was so pretty. Baby Brother is supposed to send me the pics we took of it and I’ll post. We also saw a pod of dolphins. They swam back and forth almost all afternoon.

And even though it rained (not hard, but steady) all afternoon, I have a hint of a sunburn ☹

I went to bed at 9, which means I'm up, well, now. Healing Brother will be over in 6 hours to fix AC, then I'll go back to sleep. I'm so spoiled.

Oh, and I MIGHT have a premise for my straight romance. I got an idea yesterday, but it was pretty depressing, so I kept turning it over in my mind and I think I might have one. Must play with it more.

Okay, goals this week:

1) 25 pages on Spy Girl
2) 40 pages on Breaking Daylight (including a new scene – ARGH)
3) Judge last Golden Pen entry.
4) Open House ☹
5) Get Cindi’s kids presents (Baby Girl got baptized yesterday and Baby Boy turns three today.)
6) Enter BD in Golden Palms
7) Keep up house (cue evil laughter.)

I’ve been listening to Supernatural podcasts this week. I don’t know if you know, but Sam is supposed to be the hero of the show.



From a writer’s perspective, that makes sense. The story starts in his POV (well, after the fire), he has the most adjustment, he has the call to adventure when Jessica dies. He’s usually the one to come up with the solutions. Buuuuuttttt…

Dean is the one who does the right thing, who makes the hard choices. Dean is the one I see as the hero.



There’s discussion that Jensen (Dean) is the better actor. I do think he’s faboo, but Jared (Sam) is a hometown boy ;) Still, could he pull off the nuances Dean does?

Jared plays everything with such intensity. The only episode I’ve seen him Not Intense is Hell House, the one where they’re playing jokes on each other. I wonder if that’s his acting style or the way Sam is written. I’d like to see him lighten up, but that’s not likely to happen since now he’ll be looking for a way to save Dean from his deal with the devil.

Jensen plays things lighter, but…he plays Dean almost the same way he played Alec on Dark Angel. Still, neither character seems to be like Jensen, who seems much quieter in real life than in character. I also heard reviews on the play A FEW GOOD MEN (Trish, they said it was a small theater – I WISH we could have gone!) and that he did an admirable job in that as well.

So I’m wondering if Dean is the more sympathetic character because of his acting, or because of the way he’s written.

Our AC went out yesterday. FORTUNATELY, we’d bought a new outside unit at the beginning of the summer, but my brother was too hurt to put it in. He’s coming over tomorrow to show the dh and ds how to put it in, and I guess he’ll wire it. I woke up at 4, realized the dh was sleeping on the couch, where it was cooler, and knew I couldn't get up to write. I (unbelievably) fell back asleep and DREAMED I got up and that the ds came out and got mad at me for being so loud.

Good thing we won't be home today - we’re off to the coast!

Woke up at 7, have to hit the grocery store, dry cleaners and library. Then we’re getting new phones. I have to finish judging a GP entry, have three sets of critiques for SARA and a slightly revised schedule on my own revisions.

Here are the writing books in my TBR. Also I have the conference books from 2006 and 2007 I haven’t read. Any opinions on any of these?

This is what I feel like I have now.



I know Marianne likes Donald Maass. I haven’t even cracked the book.



My friend Esri recommended this one. I stink at endings, so maybe this should be a top choice.



I’ve heard a lot of good things about this one. I’d like to try to read it before NaNo.

I watched the first Rocky this week. Like I said earlier, I was never a big fan, but after seeing Rocky Balboa, seeing how much Rocky mourned Adrian, I wanted to see the story from the beginning. His single minded pursuit of the plain, shy pet store employee was so endearing. He saw something in her that no one else did, and his love for her made her blossom.



And there’s Luke and Lorelei, though this scene is more how she loves him than how he loves her. But he did anything she asked of him. Even after she broke his heart and married and divorced Chris, he took her car shopping when her Jeep broke down, ended up finding her the same year Jeep when she couldn’t decide, so she could take the engine and put it in her old Jeep.



There’s Darcy and Elizabeth, where he really falls in love with her against his better judgment. Even after she rejects him, he does everything in his power to save her family’s reputation.



My favorite – Denny and Izzie. I think so many women were so invested in this story because of the way Denny loved her. Yeah, he could be saucy, but mostly he was just humbled by her.



What are some love stories you can think of, where the hero’s love for the heroine makes you swoon?

The boy got home at 4:45, we left to his band practice at 5:10, got there at 5:37. I stopped for dinner on the way back, got home at 6:20. The dh and I ate, looked at new phones online and the boy called at 7:05 for us to come get him. We got home at 7:50. Yeesh! And now I need gas. But I’m mostly finished with Austenland, plan to listen to some Supernatural podcasts today.

I was FINALLY reading the Entertainment Weekly with all the fall movies and they all looked pretty bleak. So I went to Apple.com trailers and looked around and found some fun ones – and some bleak ones, too, I guess.

Movies I’m looking forward to:

Horton Hears a Who

This looks amazing.


Michael Clayton.

Hello, Doug Ross!



The Last Legion.

Colin Firth. Seriously.



Elizabeth, The Golden Age.

Oh. Yeah.

http://www.apple.com/trailers/universal/elizabeththegoldenage/large.html (VERY clear pictures)



The Kingdom

Because of what I write, and I love Jennifer Garner


National Treasure – Book of Secrets

LOVED the first one. But what’s up with Nick’s face? And, hello, do we NEED to see the movie after the trailer?



I couldn’t find any clips of P.S. I Love You, the Gerard Butler/Hilary Swank/Jeffrey Dean Morgan movie, or The Accidental Husband, the Colin Firth/Uma Thurman/Jeffrey Dean Morgan movie ☹
But here’s a picture from P.S. I Love You.

Things I’ve learned in writing

1) Don’t start sentences with “It was” or “There were.”
2) Don’t use “she thought” or “she wondered” in deep POV.
3) 5 senses
4) give a sense of place and time at the beginning of a scene
5) show instead of tell, especially with emotion
6) POV (though I’ve become less of a purist – bad Mary)
7) Action tags ground you in a scene.
8) Don't use qualifiers, like kind of or almost - they weaken the emotional punch.

What I need to learn:

1) deeper emotion in each scene
2) how to plot
3) conflict in every scene
4) how to use dashes – why does that elude me? And does it stop me from using them? NOOOOO.

What have you learned? What do you need to learn?

I've written more this week than I did the first week of summer vacation. Getting up at 4 - well, 3 today - may have something to do with it.

22 kids - 12 girls, 10 boys, full house. They talk a LOT. One doesn't get picked up till 3:30! I'm off at 3:20. Got to go, keep 'em busy!

I watched BOUNCE this weekend, a straight romance with Gwyneth Paltrow and Ben Affleck. I loved it when I first saw it and loved it again this weekend. He’s less than heroic, true, but he falls so hard for her. And she’s just a terrific heroine. Have you seen it? Did you like it?

I’m almost caught up on my revisions on my self-imposed calendar. I told Trish I’m afraid of Spy Girl. It was such a blast to write – do I want to ruin that experience by trying to make it publishable, or do I want to leave it as a story for me?

I got my electric bill this weekend – not as bad as I thought. I was afraid it might be near $400, the AC ran so much, but it was less than $300. This month should be even less.

Here’s what I have submitted:

Queries:

Susan Litman for Don’t Look Back (2 months – have mercy, Susan!)
Jenny Rappaport for Surface
Kelly Harms for DLB - NEVER MIND, REJECTED TUESDAY WITH A LITTLE SLIP OF PAPER - OUCH

Partials:

Pamela Ahearn for Surface
Paige Wheeler for DLB
Kerry Donovan for DLB through From the Heart

Fulls:

Wild Rose Press for Where There’s Smoke
Kate Duffy with Kensington
Cori Deyoe with Surface

Outstanding contest entries:

Ghost of a Doubt – Indiana Golden Opportunity
Gateway to the Best
Contest Junkies
Hot Shot – Contest Junkies
Cleveland Rocks
Gather
Queen of the Night – Gateway to the Best

Contests I’m readying to enter:

Golden Palms – everything ST I have, I think, except Surface, since I plan to rework it, so Hot Shot, BD and DLB
The Emily – both paranormals, Hot Shot, BD
The Suzannah – no idea – may be low on cash at that point ;)
Linda Howard – BD and Hot Shot
Superromance – no idea – Hot Shot and Surface have been R’d, I want Susan to have DLB and BD – any thoughts?

Okay, off to my first day of school! Wish me luck!

Man, I fell down on those goals last week, especially the writing and housekeeping ones. Getting back into a schedule Kicked My Butt.

1) revise 30 pages of BD
2) revise 15 pages of Spy Girl and send to critique - 11 so far!
3) finish reading Trish’s revised ms - DONE
4) son to band practice TWICE (20 minutes there and 20 back, but lots of time to listen to iPod)
5) get my class going – shouldn’t be TOO bad. The worst is the construction throwing everything off
6) keep up house
7) judge one Golden Pen entry - DONE
8) enter Ghost Hunters in a contest

Enough!

This is before JDM and MLP broke up. Maybe two people with three names shouldn’t date…

Online workshops give me fits, but if I was going to take one, this would be it. Robin Perini is an awesome speaker.

Discovering Story Magic is back for the month-long workshop in September, 2007. Now is your chance to attend an enlightening workshop and get feedback from the instructors if you so choose. You not only get tons of extra material on this acclaimed 3-step method, but you also get to see it applied to dozens of working manuscripts as Laura and Robin comment on the process of those participants willing to share. It's a workshop for plotters and pantsters no matter what your level of writing-and all for only $25.00.

Read below for further details and you can go to www.discoveringstorymagic.com for even more information on the workshop.

*******PERMISSION TO FORWARD GRANTED AND ENCOURAGED!!*********

WritersOnlineClasses.com is proud to present a special four-week online class for the month of September, 2007:

September 1-30, 2007

DISCOVERING STORY MAGIC Returns (with a new movie!)

INSTRUCTORS: Laura Baker and Robin Perini

Cut-off date to receive registration and payment: August 28, 2007

For more information or to register, go to www.WritersOnlineClasses.com OR email info@WritersOnlineClasses.com

DISCOVERING STORY MAGIC RETURNS CLASS SUMMARY:
Writer's doldrums hitting summer lows? Need motivation? Inspiration? Simplification? More tangible methods leading to publication? Discovering Story Magic will bring you writing instruction packed with magical inspiration and concrete information to produce salable fiction. Learn how to weave together character, conflict, plot, realization, and turning points
from the beginning of the writing process through revision and even the synopsis.

Playing to standing-room-only at numerous events and conferences across the country, Laura Baker and Robin Perini teach a practical, three-step technique applicable to all genres and all levels of writers. As always, Baker and Perini add new techniques and insights, including analyzing a different movie for this presentation. Then students can apply the technique to their own stories-with input from the two experienced instructors. It's like having Laura and Robin brainstorm with you over the course of one month.

So join us for a workshop about which New York Times bestselling author Cathy Maxwell has said, "The techniques and grids of Discovering Story Magic are revolutionary. They can help every writer understand the arc and plot development of unforgettable character. In fact, the format grid has become an important part of my pre-writing. Laura and Robin have tapped into 'magic' and created a concept that is a must in every writer's tool kit."

SPEAKER BIOS
Award-winning author Laura Baker writes romantic suspense novels set in the Southwest. From the first release, Laura's books have garnered critical acclaim and awards, including the Aspen Gold and the Daphne du Maurier (and its precursor, the Kiss of Death). The list of national award nominations include the National Reader's Choice, the RITA, and twice for Romantic Times Reviewers Choice Awards. Her last three books were all selected as RT Top Picks.

Laura's nonfiction articles on writing have been published in the Writer's Digest, the RWR, and newsletters across the country, and she presents fiction-writing classes at universities and conferences across the country. Twice she has coordinated the annual conference for Novelists' Inc, a national organization of authors published in popular fiction. One award she especially treasures is the RWA Service Award.

Laura and her husband own an Indian arts gallery in Albuquerque, New Mexico, and have been in the Indian business for thirty years. Her decades of experience as an Indian trader are the source for many of the off-beat characters and Indian legends in her stories.

Published in short, non-fiction, Robin Perini is a sought-after speaker on writing topics and time management. She is a four-time Finalist of the prestigious RWA Golden Heart Contest. She is a founding member of the Land of Enchantment Romance Authors and was on the committee that wrote, edited, designed and produced the LERA Writer's Guide, an instructional book for writers, which was the only self-published book, named as a resource in Writer's Digest's Romance Writers Sourcebook.

Robin writes contemporary and paranormal romance. She resides in Albuquerque, New Mexico and is currently a software systems developer specializing in internet architecture, but she also uses her skills as a graphic artist and web site designer in her own business, Web Magic & More. In addition, Robin is pursuing an MBA at the University of New Mexico.


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Writing Entries

My other Contest Junkies entry is up. Again, I can't tell you the name, but the title should be familiar ;) Please go vote!

I got my iPod to listen to audio books. Yesterday I set up my stereo at school so I could use my iTrip with the iPod and listen. I listened to most of Meg Cabot's Size 14 Is Not Fat Either, which is a mystery. It was really well done. Then I started listening to Austenland, which is about a woman obsessed with the BBC version of Pride and Prejudice and goes on a vacation where she pretends to live in that time period.

On my iPod are the following audiobooks - should last me awhile.

Carpe Demon by Julie Kenner
Bait by Karen Robards
Emma, Sense and Sensibility and Pride and Prejudice
Prior Bad Acts by Tami Hoag
Red Lily by Nora
The Ruins by Scott Smith
Twilight by Stephanie Meyer
The Historian

I also have my RWA CDs!

Okay, off to the grocery store, post office and bank :( Then home to critique and write!

When I had lunch with Healing Brother the other day, he told me about Rocky Balboa. HB was always a Rocky fan. He said he used to read the movie novelizations in math class and get in trouble. I took him to see Rocky 4 for his birthday and he's never forgotten that (I have.) I always remember the Rocky movies as kinda hokey.

But after that conversation, Rocky 3 came on TV and I watched it. And it was good. REALLY emotional, what with Mickey dying and Rocky losing and afraid to fight Mr. T because the guy was just STRONG.

Last night I watched Rocky Balboa. I scoffed when it came out - Sylvester Stallone is my DAD'S age. But you know what? It was a great movie, really harkened back to the first movie (which I now want to see again, and show my son.) Rocky's alone again except for Pauly. The love of his life, Adrian, has passed away, his son feels like a failure around his dad and so doesn't want anything to do with him. So he decides to go back into boxing. I cried a ton, mostly nostalgia, I think, because apparently I remember these movies better than I thought.

Rocky's just a really good guy who wants to be happy, and he'll do whatever it takes.

Are you a Rocky fan? I'm putting Rocky 1 and 2 into my queue.



Okay, off to my workday. No AC, because, you know, apparently summer isn't LONG enough for them to put a new AC unit in our building - they had to wait till TODAY. We also don't have a sidewalk on either of the two school entrances (they're putting in covered walkways, but, um, hello, school starts MONDAY) and if we park in back to unload our cars, we run the risk of flat tires (Cindi had one, the principal had 2, a kinder teacher had 2) because the construction folks just left nails and screws on the ground.