In which I rant and rave a little bit and try not to offend any future employers.

Editing: What’s in a term?

I have read a lot of stuff lately, some of which had some pretty significant grammar errors. This got me wondering about editors.  Everyone who is in the process of being published, or who is trying to be published, already knows this, but there are two kinds of editors:  Acquisition Editors and Copy Editors.

Acquisition Editors are the ones you need to suck up to impress with your work, the ones who buy your book and work with you to polish the story.  They are the “big picture” editors. 

Copy Editors are the proofreaders.  They are the ones who go through your manuscript and find the grammar mistakes, spelling errors, and inconsistencies that we, as writers, probably miss because we get too close to our stories and stop seeing mistakes that are glaring to someone who has never read the book.

 For example:  I thnik taht yuo cna ese the eorrs hree.  But you can also read what I said.  Our minds tend to fix things, especially familiar things.  A writer might overlook a mistake like this, but a copy editor should not.  Especially in this day and age of spell check and grammar check.  Alas, stuff gets through.  What is up with that? 

And then, the way I understand it, once your work has been through the copy editor wringer, it comes back to you for final line edits.  Where there is yet another chance to find mistakes. 

We all know how competitive the publishing business is.  Are publishing companies stretched so thin that they aren’t able to do sufficient copy editing? 

I am a little worried about this, especially in this day and age of e-publishing.  Material goes back and forth between parties awfully quickly, and I can see how a less polished version of a manuscript could accidentally replace the final version (I am trying to rationalize how these mistakes escape).  I can only hope that if when I have something on its way to market that my crit peeps will be looking over my shoulder to watch for those msiplelings. 

Genre Exploration: Steampunk

I like to read lots of different kinds of romances:  contemporary, with and without suspense, historical, and paranormal.  My first choice is generally suspense, as I am a huge fan of Suzanne Brockmann, Linda Howard,and  Sandra Brown.  The more time I spend learning about writing, the more interested I've become in other genres.  I think that the reason I am working on contemporary stuff right now is because I am just too darned lazy to do alot of research or world building required for historical or paranormal romance. 

I've heard alot about Steampunk lately, and I was like, "eeeuww". I was never into Jules Verne or HG Wells, and this is kind of what Steampunk is like.  If you are not sure what I am talking about,  here is the

Wikipedia  link to the definition of Steampunk.  It's basically a sci/fi alternate reality fueled by steam instead of petroleum.  Kind of. 

I recently won a copy of The Iron Duke, by Meljean Brook, so I thought I'd just dip my toes in the water and see what's up with the whole Steampunk phenomenon.

I haven't finished the book, but I am really enjoying it.  The first chapter was a little hard because there are a couple of different terms for the significant groups of people in the duke's world.  But after I got through that, I was good to go.  I like the external plot, and the romance is great.  The hero and heroine both have some major issues, and we all know how I love a damaged protagonist. 

When I decided to talk about Steampunk, and went to Wikipedia, I learned that this is not a new genre, that the movie Wild Wild West with Will Smith and Kevin Kline is steampunk.  Well,yeah, now that I look at it.  I just had never heard the term.  Maybe I need to get out more.

I'd love to hear what the rest of you think of Steampunk.  Have you read The Iron Duke?  Can you recommend any other Steampunk Romances?  What other genres should I explore and which writers do you recommend? 

Assignment: Compare and Contrast Exercise with Writing

I started the "I Really Mean It This Time Healthy Food and Exercise Plan" yesterday.  Again.  The good news is that I have been doing great (if you'll forgive the rest of my daughter's french fries yesterday afternoon).  I even went to the gym today. 

Here's the deal with me and exercise:  I KNOW I feel better if I exercise regularly.  But the gym is ALL THE WAY ACROSS THE STREET. I mean, it's like half a block away on the other side of the street.  So I drank enough Diet Coke to get a Nike gift card with my rewards points, and I ordered new sneakers.  Then our department business manager and I decided that we would be exercise buddies and go to Tone and Torture class on Mondays.  I have to say, I think I deserve another round of french fries today because
1) I remembered my stuff, and
2) I went, even though Teresa bailed on me. 

The class was taught by a 22 year old Exercise Physiology major.  I am used to taking classes from 30-something  yoga ladies, who appreciate that jogging in place is NOT a good idea for the majority of women over forty.  I had on a decent bra, so that wasn't an issue, but there were other things doing the wave, and it wasn't pretty.  The instructor kept looking at me.  I suspect she is suitably horrified and will now refuse to grow older or have children. 

Anyway. Afterwards, with endorphins singing through my bloodstream, I had a lovely sugar-free Muscle Milk for lunch and came back to work, refreshed and feeling pretty darn good about myself.  I thought, gee, this is kind of like writing.  I have a hard time getting started sometimes, and sometimes in the middle, I hurt and wonder what the hell I am doing, but when I am finished, I feel a sense of accomplishment. 

So.  What do you compare writing with?  Is it something like exercise, that you know is good for you, but you kind of don't want to do, or is it like a bubble bath, something that you GET to do?

Smile, Feel Good, Pass the Blog

Hi, Kids!  It's Time for a brand new Episode of Trading Blogs, where two writers go to each other's blog and, with the help of an embarrassingly sterotypical gay web designer, rearrange the widgets and change the background, pretending to cater to the host blogger's tastes, but really just taking passive-aggressive shots at one another. 

Not really.  But wouldn't that be fun?  No?  Well, okay. The lovely and talented Jessica Lemmon decided she didn't feel like writing her blog for today, and frankly, I have been in a bit of a slump myself.  We decided to write each other's posts, instead.  I love Jessica's Blog, it makes me smile.  With a title like Smile, Feel Good, Pass It On how could you not come away with a positive attitude?  So I'm over there, talking about Critique Partnering. 

Oh, wait.  I'm not supposed to be writing here today.  Shutting up now.  And heeeeere's Jessica!

I come to you today as a humble guest of Teri Anne’s.  Thank you for having me Teri!  And hello to  all of you regular readers! *waves*
I couldn’t think of a blog for my OWN blog today so I asked who wanted to write it. Teri Anne offered. Which meant I should reciprocate, which oddly enough, I was happy to do.  I guess you could say I am “cleaning her room” today (Go HERE to see my intro to her blog today if you want to know what I mean…)

But, I needed a topic.  She suggested: My Writing Routine.  So I thought  - okay, I can do this.  Routine, let’s see.  Timeline!  People with routines have timelines. I can have a timeline…

5 a.m. – get up for p/t job (not every day – just 2x a week)
7 a.m. – get up (hmm… sometimes I sleep in until 8)
8:30 a.m. – Coffee (unless it’s a workday then, earlier)
9:00 a.m. – Blog (if it’s Monday or Thursday… or Wednesday)
9:30 a.m. – Read a novel. Or blogs. Or a magazine. But mostly novels I haven’t read by authors I often read.
10:00 a.m. – eat breakfast of eggs and toast.  Or oatmeal.  Or more coffee.  Or – I’ll own it – cookies.
11:00 a.m. – write (although sometimes I do this at 1 p.m., unless I’m at work all day, then not at all)

Then I realized. CRAP.  I don’t HAVE a routine. 
That’s okay, I consoled myself, I’ll find a common denominator – the one thing I do every day? 
READ!
Reading is my one constant throughout my life as a (yet-to-be-published) author.  I read a lot. I believe it was Stephen King that said, “If you don’t like to read, you will never be a writer.” (Forgive my bad paraphrasing.)
When I decided to become a romance writer I ravaged Harlequin’s website *snicker* … so to speak. Guess what they suggest? That you (writer) read the category that you want to write.  VORACIOUSLY.  They actually used that word. Voraciously. That means, like, RAVENOUSLY.  Or, you know. A LOT.

Why, you ask?  I have a few theories…

1.       When you read the genre you are writing, your crafty subconscious latches onto words and phrases and tucks them away for use later. This is important.  Just as romance has its cliché phrases (heaving bosoms, anyone?), it also has phraseology the reader EXPECTS in a romance. Like the slanting of lips, the arching of eyebrows and the tilting of heads.  Stubborn chins, proud noses, pouting lips… you get the idea.
2.       You can learn from a good author because they have crafted a book out of various parts, just  as you are trying to do.  If you are interested in improving your own skill, pay attention to the where the plot shifts, the way the characters interact and how to SHOW rather than TELL what’s going on.

Often after reading a particularly wonderful book, I feel compelled to get off the couch and tackle my own manuscript with renewed vigor.  Especially after reading my favorite part of every Harlequin novel… wanna know what it is?
Come on guess…
If you said… 
The Letter to the Reader
You’re correct!

I love the letter from the author. On occasion the author will share where their idea originated, others clue you into their own process – like how they had NO IDEA that the story would wind up being the one that you hold in your hands.
But my favorite type of letter?  The letter from the debut author. No matter how divinely crafted that letter is, one message rings loud and clear.  Underneath the eloquent grammar, they really all say the same thing: “OMG!  I finally got PUBLISHED! I LOVE you! I LOVE my editor!  I LOVE everybody!”
If that doesn’t jet propel to your keyboard then I don’t know what will.
For today,
Smile, Feel Good, READ!!!

Keeping Track

I'm suffering a bit of blogslugosity this week, which is compounded by my attempts to catch up at work after my time off with my dad.  The Dad update is good.  Dad moved from the hospital to a rehab nursing care place, where he should stay for a couple of weeks.  I say "should" because I have a feeling he'll be trying to escape soon.  He really wants to be home, and as soon as his falling risk is lower, I think my mom will feel better about him being there. 

In other news, the White Death is upon us again, and my boss, lovely woman, gave me a very loose homework assignment and told me not to come in.  So much for getting caught up! Since my cultured cells will survive nicely without me for a couple of days, I didn't fight her about that.  We've been fighting my non-scientific approach to science lately, and I'm having to make some adjustments to my recored keeping.  Like writing down the stuff I do, so that if I get different results from two separate experiments we can figure out why.  Whatever. 

Seriously...I have a hard time with details.  I think I am doing things exactly the same, but then I change one little thing and forget to write it down, and two days later, when I realize my experiment didn't work, I can't remember what it was I did.  So I am getting much better at writing things down, except it's usually on a paper towel that I grab because my notebook is in another room, and then I accidentally use the paper towel to wipe up toxic waste, and I am again in the dark about what I did. 

I totally do the same thing with my fiction attempts.  I think of something brilliant, I write it down on a reciept, and tuck it into my purse Three months later I clean out my purse because it's so heavy that can't add even a bottle of ibuprofen to ward off the back ache that my ten ton purse causes. I pull out a reciept, wonder why I save a reciept for five cheese coneys and a diet coke, throw it out, and my brilliant idea is lost.

I do have a couple of little notebooks that I keep tucked into the external uterus that is commonly referred to as a handbag.  (Side bar:  I call it the external uterus because the males of the species, especially husbands,  are always asking us to carry stuff for them.  Like wallets, car keys, and babies). Unfortunately, the little notebooks seem to be hiding when the brilliant thought strikes, and all I can find as I grope, one-handed because I am driving, is a reciept. 

I thought maybe I would be a better writer than a scientist, but if I have to keep track of stuff, I might as well bag it all and apply to be a professional talk-show audience member. 

Plotting: Hopefully not a Cemetery Plot for my Novel

My goal last week was to get my NaNo project in better shape. Fortunately, I am nothing if not adept at rearranging my goals.  As you may know, my dad had open heart surgery last week (he's doing really well, should be going home this week.  Thanks for all the good wishes).  I figured since I would be sitting around watching him sleep for a few days, that I would have plenty of time to focus on writing.  Yeah. Not so much.  I spent more time jumping up to hold Dad's heart pillow over his chest, so he could try to cough, than I anticipated.  Which is fine.  My parents spent plenty of time taking care of me, I'm glad to return the favor. 

When I did have time to open my NaNo folder and start trying to assemble scenes into some sort of sensible order, I got depressed because my plot is full of holes. Actually, it's more like shredded mozzarella than Swiss cheese.  It needs triage, badly.  So, as with every other issue I've had as an adult, I consulted the modern Ouji Board, Google. 

I found Plot Diagrams, which I actually remember from high school English:



I found lots and lots of websites with suggestions on plotting: 
Patricia Sargeant's version of Jennifer Crusie's method

Freemind is an interesting program, and a free download.

suite 101 has suggestions.

I could go on and on and on, and there are alot of great suggestions out there.  Unfortunately, I don't think there is any surefire method that doesn't include BICHOK (Butt in Chair, Hands on Keyboard).  And finding those holes, plugging them, then going back and filling in the next one that crops up.  And then melting the shredded parts together. 

Remind me again why I wanted to be a writer? 

WTF: What the Friday?

I had a really clever idea to blog about this morning, but it was one of those ideas I had while I was driving, and it's gone now. Oh well!

I've been hanging in the Cardiac Intensive Care Unit the past three days with my dad, who had open heart surgery on Weds.  He's doing much better, although in a lot of pain.  It's been hard to step into the role of caretaker with my parents.  It's probably much harder for them to let me be a caretaker, though.  My dad is doing much better today than yesterday.  He has a lot of pain, so I spend a lot of time pressing on his giant stuffed heart pillow to help him cough.  He had a really cute guy nurse yesterday, Mark.  I think Mark might moonlight as an Abercrombie model, but he didn't take his shirt off, so I can't be sure.

ANYWAY.  This morning C.J. Ellisson posted an edit of my NaNo excerpt on her blog, which is just totally cool of her.  I was very nervous about this, since it's like taking off my clothes in Time Square.  But she was very kind and gentle with me, and I am not ready to toss my laptop into the Ohio River just yet.  So please, go check out what she said, and let me know what you think!

C.J. wrote Vampire Vacation, which I have been reading with interest.  V. V. is an erotic UF, with a different type of voice than I am used to--but I like it!  She writes in first person present, something I am used to with Urban Fantasy, but not erotic stuff.  It works for me.  But I probably need to not be reading this while I'm at the hospital with Abercrombie Mark wandering around.