Luck and writing

I wonder if luck exists, or if you make your own luck?

Well, that's my deep thought for the day!

The weather report says there are thunderstorms coming this afternoon. So far it's sunny and bright so I'm heading out the door for a while to spend some time in the garden. I have a few projects for today: vacuum and mop the floor, clean the entrance way, and change the sheets. But that will all wait until it starts to rain! I also have to finish a novella I've started and finish writing an outline for a book I'd like to write.
...thoughts about writing...Usually I write an outline for my books. It makes writing them easier, and it makes synopsis's and query letters easier to write as well. An outline consists of a chapter by chapter description of the book. (each chapter condensed into about a paragraph) with the major action and plot. It's also easy that way to check that there is a plot - conflict - a resolution - and character developement. That said, outlines are flexible. The plot can change and the characters develop differently than first imagined! That's what makes writing so interesting for me, but I do need that first outline to head me in the right direction and help keep my writing clean and clear.
...More thoughts about writing....
I was just editing one of my books the other day and noticed Another Alliteration! They seem to plague my writing. In every book I find one - and it usually cracks me up. One went: 'A wave of whispers washed over the watching women' - another was with each word starting in 'S'.
I used them on purpose in 'My Fair Pixie' - they can be very funny. (and I always hope I catch them in edits if I didn't mean to use them!)

virgins

Someone described the 'perfect' heroine as a 25 yr old veggie-virgin-rights' activist who'd never been kissed. I was drinking my coffee when I read that, and managed not to choke. Because, after all, everyone is entitled to their opinions. I suppose that the story of a 25 yr old virgin with tendancies towards empassioned preachy prissiness would really entertain some people. Especially if she discovered a passionate liking for bondange and ended up as Masterful Mistress M. at the end of the book. (dressed in black vinyl because she is still a veggie and won't wear leather.) (She doesn't realise her whips are made of leather, but we won't tell her that.)
But I digress.
I like books where I can identify and sympathize with the heroine. In the vamp post below I explained this. But the post about the virgin also got me thinking. I have a couple virgins in my books. (The Argentine Lover, Princess Lily, Diamina...) and Diamina waits until she's married to her beloved Lyo before giving in and giving away her virginity. So, maybe I am overreacting. Maybe more people than I imagined would think a 25 yr old virgin veggie with activist tendancies would be the perfect heroine. Would you?

Vamps

I read a series this summer all about a gal who falls in love with a vamp. It's cute and campy and tongue-in-cheek - everything I like about a book. It's also preachy and vaguely annoying at times. I could tell who was going to die. The character drank. Or he was gay. Or he participated in an orgy. Those characters died. The heroine, a spunky bartender who can read minds, was fresh and fun...and everyone fell in love with her. Everyone loved the heroine. Her boyfriend the vamp. Her boss. Her vamp boyfriend's boss. The boy next door. The dog next door. Hell, everyone loved her. And I couldn't for the life of me figure out why. Sure she was cute and spunky (heroines are called kick-ass but it basically means spunky.) but she was nothing special. I don't even know if I'd want her as a friend, which is kind of my criteria for really liking a heroine: 'Would I want to hang out with this person?' If yes, then I really like the heroine. For the hero it's a bit different. It's more: 'If he asked me on a date would I laugh in his face or go out with him?'
Anyway, this gal gets a regular infusion of vamp blood from various vamps which boosts her stregnth and gives her a 'glow'. I guess it must be that glow. Anyhow, I read the series and liked it OK. Just OK, not loved it, or even hated it. I liked it. And that, I guess, is the kiss of death.

Back home again

I've been gone all summer, and with hardly any internet connection.
First I was in NY with my family, and then I went to Spain. My husband was working there, and my daughter and I accompanied him. We stayed at a hotel with a fabulous pool, right near the rock of Gibralter. It was very hot, and there wasn't any internet at the hotel, so I really couldn't get my e-mail or post. But it was nice and relaxing. Not to say I didn't work. I took my laptop and got half of the next installment to Paradise Earth done. It's called 'Appocalypse', and it's pretty cool, if I can say so myself! I am also in the middle of edits (as usual). This summer I edited three books (when I say I edited, I mean my editor edited and I made the corrections, lol) and I still have one book to go. It will be coming out at Cerridwen Press and I'm pretty excited about that.
OK, I have to get back to edits, or I'll never finish.
I will be blogging more regularly now. Sorry about the vacation.
:-)