A Semi-Obligatory Flatland Reference

This is for everyone who had to read Flatland in high school. Because, quite frankly, since I had to read the book (which, in my view, sounded much better in description -- "A book about the government of 2D shapes" -- than it did in practice or when I had to write an essay about it), I feel like I should reference it when possible. Don't ask me why. (For expansion, click the image.)

An Obligatory Icarian Reference

Once upon a time, I attended a theater festival and spent an afternoon watching plays written by teen aspiring playwrights. These were actually some very incredible pieces. However, of the four presented, three had an Icarus and Daedalus streak a mile wide in them. Maybe one of the judges for the selected works had a thing for Greek myths, but even Greek myth loving me found that a tad surprising. Honestly, most teens I know aren't into Greek myths. Still, I can now no longer see an Icarus reference without thinking of Lincoln, Nebraska. (Go, Cornhuskers!)

Still, even if you've never set foot in a square state, this should amuse you. Especially if you've got a thing for Greek mythology. (Admit it, secretly, you do. Athena is your home girl. You know it.)
I promise I have never done this to anyone. That I know of.

I'm Worried

Okay, not super worried or anxious or anything like that. Just a little worried, you know. Because I'm working on Cordamant's Heir, and I'm about 21k in and inching closer to being done draft #1 in a Little Engine That Could sort of way, and I already know it's not good. I mean, there are a lot of things I really like about it, and I still love the plot and the setting and the characters.

But, it's got problems. I can see them already. There's slow pacing in parts, and I'm sure some of these scenes are superfluous, and I'm starting to think I don't know my characters as much as I thought I did.

I don't want to stop. I want to keep going, to keep seeing where this story takes me. But I've been really studying up on craft lately, and it's getting me thinking about the problems this book has and how much revision it might need, and sometimes that just makes me a little sad.

But, then again, this could just be the midnight talking. I'll probably feel better in the morning.

So, how are you guys doing? Have any fabulous weekend plans? Get any good news lately?

Who ARE You?

Once upon a time, about nine months ago, I started watching a new television show that had become quite popular. After observing one of the characters for several episodes, I came to a simple conclusion: If I hadn't gone to high school with that guy, I wouldn't have believed him as a human being.

Now, I didn't go to high school with the actor nor the fictional character. When I went to high school, I very much believed that young man as a human being, albeit a human being in a v-neck t-shirt. However, watching that T.V. show, I came to the conclusion that without that friend from high school, I'd have decided that T.V. character was absolutely ridiculous. I checked with some mutual friends, and we'd all had a very similar reaction.

I do believe that there are a great many true things in this world that no one would believe if they didn't see it in person. (I'm not claiming there's any sort of realism criterion for this. It seems to be at random. True things I've seen people not believe: My cousin once taught a student named Dragon Boat; Canada is not a barren wasteland; Hawaii is a part of the US. False things I've seen people believe: Canada just changed from the 25-hour clock to a 24-hour clock; everyone in Canada travels by dogsled; my sister and I speak 5 languages.) However, I do know for sure, one must make sure that people who aren't you and don't have your background believe your characters.

Ask yourself, is your character believable to a regular audience. How about that character who speaks with a British accent for no explicable reason? Or the character whose parents tricked him into thinking they were going on vacation in China for years when they were actually moving there? And the character who responds compulsively to certain sentences in a language they don't actually understand?

Will a reader believe any of these people? That's the question you've got to ask yourself. Because even if you've met a person just like that in your actual life, (and I've met all the aforementioned people), if that's the kind of person no one really believes exists, you're going to run into a problem.

Have you ever written a character people didn't believe? Have you ever run into such characters in books or T.V.? Have you ever met a person you almost couldn't believe?

Thanks

The charming Tessa from Tessa's Blurb was kind enough to think of me for the Versatile Blogger award. Thank you, dearie. :)

For the award, I'm supposed to post 7 true things about myself. I hope they amuse you.

1) The Other One and I once convinced the younger brother of a close friend that we had a triplet named Elizabeth. We took turns pretending to be Elizabeth, ourselves, and each other, which I'm sure didn't make it any easier for him to figure us out. We kept the charade going for a month and a half until he was about to introduce me to other people as Elizabeth. Then we decided it might be going a tad far.

2) Once, in my younger days, I put a friend in a locker and helped put some other people in lockers as well. Including The Other One. And my best friend. And school librarian. Twice. And the vice principle. (It's not as heinous as it sounds, I promise. It was part of a tradition. And I hopped into a locker myself while this was all going on. What can I say, we geeks at my Junior High were a little strange.)

3) I discovered earlier this month through a link someone sent The Other One online that we might secretly be Canadian citizens. I don't know for sure, because that would involve forms and documents and getting the government to look into things, but that greatly amuses me.

4) I have an almost encyclopedic knowledge of the first four Harry Potter books (did you know the first word Harry actually says in the series is 'Nearly'? yeah, I'm that geeky) and the first four seasons of The West Wing. And I'm getting there with the first four seasons of Bones. (Okay, what is it with me and the number four?)

5) I honestly do not remember the last time I got more than two inches cut off my hair. I have a feeling it was more than 3.5 years ago but less than 6, but any more specific time approximation alludes me. This fact does not prevent people from asking me for that information on a semi-regular basis.

6) I don't watch movies. I mean, I go to the cinema with my family when we're all together or with friends if we all have spare time, but left to my own devices, I tend not to seek movies out. I do not have a Top 250 movies list. I couldn't name 250 movies if someone paid me to.

7) On the other hand, if someone paid me to, I could recite all 50 US states in under 5 minutes. In alphabetical order. Yep, I've got skills.

Now, it's my pleasure to pass this award on to some other charming people.

1) Natalie Whipple at Between Fact and Fiction
2) Davin Malasarn, Scott Bailey, and Michelle Argyle at The Literary Lab
3)Dana Elemdorff at A Squirrel Among Lions
4)Tamara Heiner at Chasing Dreams
5)Elena Johnson at Elana Johnson
6)Stephanie Thornton at Hatshepsut
7)Kiersten White at Kiersten Writes
8)Lisa and Lauren Roecker at Lisa and Laura Write
9)xoxo at Making it up as I go...
10) Nicole Ducleroir at One Significant Moment at Time
11) Anne Gallagher at Piedmont Writer
12) Tiana Smith at Tiana Smith
13) Jenna Wallace at Writing in the Dream State
14) Beth Revise at writing it out
15) Roni Griffin at * Fiction Groupie *

This Amused Me

Until recently, my answer, when asked if I've ever read the Lord of the Rings trilogy, was, "I slept through half of it." See, my first exposure to the trilogy occurred when I watched the movies. Then, after that, my parents bought the books on CD, and we listened to them during a drive to Canada. (In case you didn't know, drives to Canada can take a while and get boring. And we did them a lot.) Well, I have a habit of sleeping in cars. So, I missed things.

Anyway, to rectify that situation, I've located those CDs and am now working my way through the books. It's been an interesting experience, especially considering the parts that weren't in my memory and which I believe I had a REM cycle through.

So, when my friend sent me a LOTR related joke, it made me laugh. It made me laugh, so I'm affixing it. Enjoy. (For better viewing, click here.)





















For the record, while I'd love to be this impressive, I'd never be able to pull this off for one of my books. Still, as far as I'm concerned, that's mad awesome. :-)

Wait, That's Mine?

You ever hear those stories about writers accidentally putting a lot of their personal lives or personal histories into their works? Or that adage about writing what you know?

Well, from time to time, I think about my work and realize I pretty well tossed those things out the window. A lot of what I write doesn't bear a strong resemblance to my own life. More often than not, I'd say any resemblance is pretty weak. Sometimes, I look back on something I wrote and think, "Where in the center of the world did that come from?"

Charlotte, my MC from The Thief Book, is a staunch Catholic. So is Leo, her love interest, and Alessia, her mentor. I've known a lot of Catholics in my life, but I am not one. That's why, now that I think about it, I'm a little surprised about how much Catholicism there is in the text. I'm really not the most religious of people, and most people I know aren't overly observant, yet I somehow wrote a character who considers her faith one of the central and unshakable aspects of her life. That, in hindsight, does surprise me. I'm almost wondering where this girl came from in my mind.

Do you ever have such realizations about your work? Do you ever write something into your story and not feel wholly sure how that idea became part of your subconscious?