call of the wild

There's nothing like three days of camping to make one appreciate the finer things in life -mainly refrigerators, air conditioning, hot showers, and flushing toilets.

We made it back from Mt. Charleston a couple hours ago and it feels good. Two nights roughing it in the wilderness, with tents, five kids, and tons of junk food may sound like a dream, but it can get rather exhausting. ;-)

I enjoy camping more than the typical OC grown Cali girl and not only to prevent me from taking certain things like the ones mentioned above for granted, but because I really do like nature. It's humbling. It's beautiful. And it's simple...in a mysteriously complex way. It has the ability to clear my mind and fill it with wonder in one awe-inspiring moment. And it's more real than anything else in the universe.

So as a salute to camping, I've written a list inspired by this most recent experience.

TEN THINGS I LEARNED WHILE CAMPING

1) Bug spray is a scam.

2) Hamburgers and hot dogs are best charred to a crisp.

3) Just because there are flushing toilets, doesn't mean they will.

4) If you want kids to learn to respect and love nature, leave the video games and TV at home.

5) Showers are for sissies.

6) Rain is only bad when your tent has a leak or you have to go to the bathroom.

7) Firewood at a campground works like cigarettes at prison.

8) Smores are worth every negative moment.

9) Cell phones are useless.

10) Reading a book is 10 times better lounging at the top of a sunny, green mountain.

On that note, I finished MacKenzie's Mountain by Linda Howard yesterday. I heard from the die-hard romance afficionados over at RomanticTimes.com that Wolf MacKenzie had won for readers' favorite hero. I had to check it out anyway because Wolf is half Celt and half Comanche; a half-breed similar to the hero in my WIP. It was a great story, a quick read, and very well done. I highly recommend it. It also heavily inspired me to keep moving forward with my current novel. If readers loved Wolf, wait until they get a load of my guy..He he....

grand total: 50160

Quote of the Day: Easy reading is damn hard writing. ~Nathaniel Hawthorne

long weekend

It's been a long and tiring weekend filled with fireworks, charred burgers, and swimming pool incidents. I'm both sad and happy to see it end. We've got the boyfriend's 12 year old here who always seems to be bored. I can't remember the last time I was bored. It must be nice.

I tried to get past 50000 on my word count, but I fell a couple hundred short. It just wasn't going to happen tonight. I'm betting on tomorrow though, when I've got a fresher outlook and more sleep.

I came across this video the other day and it made me laugh. The guy who programs the pizza band has done at least five other songs too. These mechanical characters usually frightened me as a kid, but now they only frighten me a little.



grand total: 49671

Quote of the Day: Don't tell me the moon is shining; show me the glint of light on broken glass. ~Anton Chekhov

i'm in love

For those of you who know me.....you're saying.....in love? What's new?

So when I fall...I fall hard. Sue me. :::sticks tongue out:::

I just finished Stephenie Meyer's Twilight... :::sigh, batting eyelashes up at some unseen shining star:::

Twilight is what all young adult romance should be; sigh inspiring, sweet, fun, humorous, smart, and well-written.

And Stephenie Meyer goes one step further by revolving the story around a stud-muffin vampire!

I had heard all the hype about this novel and still tried to go into it unbiased. Soooo many people raved about it; but I didn't know any of them from Adam, so I told myself not to expect much. I figured I couldn't lose, since the story had gothic elements and vamp love. I actually worried that since it was a young adult novel, it would be more urban fantasy than romance. Oh boy was I wrong.

I gave it a try and finished this 500 page masterpiece in three days! It's no Harry Potter...my former lover, but it's a different genre in my mind. All romance....

It's the story of Bella Swan, a teenager, who in order to give her mother the chance to be happy with her traveling ball player boyfriend decides to go live with her father in a small town in northern Washington. Bella is instantly the talk of the small close-knit town. She makes a few friends, but is curious about the group of pale, model-esque kids that sit together in the cafeteria.

From there she meets Edward Cullens, the youngest and sexiest of the group, and her life will never be the same.

I don't want to give away any more because I'm mean that way :-) Read it. There are three more novels in the series and I plan to get through them. I wanted to get this one read because the movie comes out in December and honestly, if I see the movie first, I hardly ever get into the book.

Twilight is filled with romance, suspense, vampires, action, emotion, humor, and romance...Oh wait, I already said that. Growing up I had fantasies similar to the premise of Twilight and I think many teen girls did, too. Ok, maybe just the geeky ones. Still, give it a try and tell me what you think!

grand total: 48153

Quote of the Day: The pages are still blank, but there is a miraculous feeling of the words being there, written in invisible ink and clamoring to become visible. ~Vladimir Nabakov

the gothic novel part tres

Continuing with my quest to find deliciously decadent gothic novels, I came across an author who began writing contemporary romances in the early 80s and transitioned into gothic romances in the late 80s and 90s.

Beverly C. Warren wrote around the same time as Anne Knoll - my last gothic author reviewed. Both of them shared success in a rather obscure genre. Of Beverly's eight gothics, I've read one and own three. My review will be on Lost Ladies of the Windswept Moor, the cover of which is not to your left considering I couldn't find an image.

LLWM is a novel about a very young restorer of old paintings, Janet Clarke. Desperate for employment after the death of her famous painting restorer father, she secures a position at Cheviot Chase (insert Funny Farm reference here), home of Lord John Rathbone. Of course Janet neglected to inform Lord Rathbone of the fact that she was a woman until she arrives, a popular plot device I've seen in gothics before. I guess you had to do what you had to do as a woman back then.

Cheviot Chase (insert Caddy Shack reference here) is dark and dreary with depressed and bitter servants. But wait there's more!... Rathbone's first wife committed suicide and the second, a raving madwoman, went missing after burning down the East Si-eede of the manor. Then we have the usual mouchers living off Rathbone; a gout-ridden peer and his greed-driven ditz of a daughter, who, what do ya know, has her sights set on Rathbone, and a charming, yet devious gentleman with a fancy for Janet.

The drama and action are ripe, while the sex scale reads about a 7, with passionate kisses and long, drawn out tension that makes yours truly scream with frustration. But I thoroughly enjoyed the novel. Janet is smart, strong, and has a knack for disobeying Lord Rathbone's rules - qualities I find endearing at this time in history. The mystery thread had me stumped, always a good thing. I hate guessing the culprit too early on. The plot had a nice flow, with enough twists to keep it exciting.

My only qualms would be the extent of Janet's intelligence at a meager 19 years of age. She could rival women in their 3os today! Also, the dialogue and romantic scenes tended toward cheesy, for lack of a better word, but sometimes the build-up for those scenes overpowers those moments of mush.

As far as Beverly's other novels. I could only find one site - http://www.thepaperbackstash.com/search?q=beverly+c+warren -
that reviewed more than one of her novels in depth. Feel free to check them out at your leisure.
According to the review, LLWM is tame compared to those two. More death, debauchery and darkness, complete with rape and other cruelties fills the remainder. As long as they end happily, I'm game.

I'm eager to read Beverly's seven other novels based on LLWM. She knows what lies at the heart of gothic romance and exploits it with expertise.

The next gothic review will focus on Karen White's, Whispers of Goodbye. Until then...keep those roots dyed black ;-)

grand total: 48021

Quote of the Day: Fill your paper with the breathings of your heart. ~William Wordsworth

goodbye, my lover

Hallelujah! Hallelujah!! Can you hear the chorus sing?!

:::warning, spoilers within:::

It took me a while, ok, one year to be exact, and honestly, I don't know how I avoided hearing what happens throughout the book since my best friend finished wayyyy before me and heck, everyone finished it wayyyyy before me...But I did it! I completed the entire Harry Potter series - ending with the final chapter, this afternoon, 12:25 pm.

And guess what? I'm a wreck.

I have a theory (do I say that often?) that I languished over the final book, spreading it out as long as possible, because I knew it would be painful to see HP come to an end. I sensed this empty feeling would come, filling my soul with a resounding heap of rigid, cold, nothingness.

J.K. Rowling published the first novel in 1997 and I believe I was hooked about a year or two later, making HP part of my life for roughly ten years, like a behind the scenes lover - always there when you need him, ready to provide you with the escape and satisfaction you so desire.

We've been through a lot, HP and I; from envying Hermione for her brains and magical abilities, to the excitement of Harry's first kiss with Cho, to the crush I developed for Severus Snape and his dark and mysterious relationship with Dumbledore, Harry and Draco (most of that crush probably came about from Alan Rickman's portrayal of Snape in the movies, but still...). I cried when Dumbledore died. I cried when Harry came to the realization that he had to die to defeat Voldemort and I cried when Dumbledore cried reliving his misguided youth and the death of his sister. But I cried most of all when Harry won and we knew he would live, because that meant the story had come to a close.

HP took me everywhere I wanted to go, through every emotion and every action and reaction. Toward the end I began looking for holes, or discrepancies in the writing, only to find nothing. Rowling is a master and I applaud her for it. She is an absolutely amazing writer.

So it's the end of an era. I thought it would be similar to how I felt when Friends ended, because I grew up with the show. And I know you can't compare film, TV and books, but they are all just stories, done in different media. But HP took me places Friends could never and I think that has something to do with the written word allowing you to use your own imagination, creating the characters within yourself, so much so, that they become part of you. Like Voldemort being part of Harry. It made his ultimate goal of snuffing out Voldemort akin to killing a part of himself...and who really wants to do that? I mean, would who you are change? How complex? How...brilliant? And in a young adult novel.... I'm blown away.

You would think it would depress me when it comes to my own writing, but I've found that it has made me hopeful. Hopeful that I might write something as wonderful as HP in my lifetime. It may be a different story, but even if I capture an ounce of Rowling's ability to breath such life into my characters, I'd be content.

At least there are three more movies to savor. Again, they aren't books....but anything to satisfy my HP fix.

Goodbye, my lover.....

grand total: 47001

Quote of the Day: Don't be too harsh to these poems until they're typed. I always think typescript lends some sort of certainty: at least, if the things are bad then, they appear to be bad with conviction. ~Dylan Thomas, letter to Vernon Watkins, March 1938

quick note

I just wanted to post some totals today, since yes, I have been writing. No, not blogging. And I apologize. I will continue the gothic reviews tomorrow.

I didn't make my goal of 60,000 words by tomorrow's RWA Chapter meeting, but hey, it was a mighty hefty goal.

I'll live and move forward.

grand total: 44207

Quote of the Day: The wastebasket is a writer's best friend. ~Isaac Bashevis Singer

crime scene break

I promise to resume the gothic reviews soon, but I felt the need to interject a post regarding my novel and some helpful tips.

I recall mentioning my lack of knowledge when it comes to police procedure and crime scene investigation in a previous post. This topic is important in my current wip as well as the next two in the series, especially the last novel, which features the Detective from this story as the hero! I bought Lee Lofland's book from Writer's Digest, Police Procedure and Investigation, and it has helped immensely, but as usual, I'm a stickler for detail and I have questions that are incredibly specific.

I peruse the Romantic Times website message boards (www.romantictimes.com) and thought I'd ask if any of the writers new of anything that might help me with specific law enforcement questions. A lovely lady gave me a nice list of websites and message boards to check out.

Here is the list:

This is the yahoo group everyone always recommends: http://tech.groups.yahoo.com/group/crimescenewriter/

Also the ask a cop forum
http://forums.realpolice.net/forumdisplay.php?f=112

Lots of good crime/mystery links here: http://inreferencetomurder.com/index.html

Various other crime related links
http://omi.unm.edu/ExternalOrgs.htm
http://www.firearmsid.com/
http://www.theboxotruth.com/index.htm

All of you who are writers that need this kind of technical help, I suggest you use these links.

I joined the Yahoo group CrimeSceneWriter and I must say I was impressed. I asked a question there are had great responses from a retired crime scene analyst and another writer. Also Lee Lofland posts there frequently. I bookmarked and recommend his blog, The Graveyard Shift (www.leelofland.com/wordpress/). He's entertaining and knowledgeable.

I ventured into the Ask a Cop site and read some posts. They weren't very kind to the writer who asked a question about murder investigation procedure, but maybe that's just one dude. They have a ton of people asking everything from how to deal with a restraining order to the three strikes law. Fascinating stuff.

Seriously, these sites are a perfect for the nerd like me, who needs real answers , fast.

It did throw me off a little in my writing because I need to rewrite a scene that wouldn't happen. But I'm going to move forward and take note of it so I don't ruin any momentum.

Anyway, enjoy the sites. Hope they help.

grand total: 41178

Quote of the Day: The time to begin writing an article is when you have finished it to your satisfaction. By that time you begin to clearly and logically perceive what it is you really want to say. ~Mark Twain