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DOES THIS BEAR SUIT MAKE MY BUTT LOOK BIG???
Be very careful how you answer...
When I published, I felt fairly well-informed about various aspects of the business. I knew about promotion and contracts and edits. But I was unprepared for one interesting by-product of putting my work into the hands of others--having my head shrunk from inside the pages of my books.
Walk with me through the potential minefield. The characters you've become so familiar with over time have made the fateful leap from your imagination to the printed page and now everyone can see them (which is freaky enough). So woo and hoo...but at the same time, the people who know you best suddenly acquire superpowers that allow them to glean additional insight into your quirky little personality. They read all in between those crazy made-up lines.
One friend completely analyzed my relationship with my parents after reading The Knot. Another decided she knew why I had problems with men (and what problems were these? I've avoided men for years! Ha ha.). And recently I got some rather entertaining feedback concerning my last release from a co-worker. She wants to have lunch to discuss because she has burning questions and assumes I have flamable answers. I'll have lunch with her, but I'm afraid she's going to be disappointed.
While it's true that writers can and do transfer subconscious thoughts to their stories, it's not always so deep. For example, years can pass between the first spark of idea and going to press. Some authors even run counter to their own proclivities--on purpose. Freud said it best. Sometimes a cigar is just a cigar.
Except, of course, when it isn't (wink).
There comes a time in everyone's life when...well, something has to go. Call it what you will--simplifying, downsizing, cleaning house, or retooling (that one makes me giggle). That time has come for me with my writing. I've had a very positive experience with The Wild Rose Press, and will continue to promote my work with them. However, I have nothing pending for release. In fact, I'm not working on anything for them at the moment, although I may eventually have a couple stories that would be at home in the Vintage line. And if I write something short, it's definitely going there first.
When I submitted my stories to TWRP, I did so for several reasons. First and foremost, I felt I was ready to be published. I wanted the experience of working with an editor, and I had four lovely editors who taught me many things. I wanted the experience of promoting both e- and print. I've now had that experience, and for the most part, enjoyed it. I've made many friends through TWRP and don't intend to lose them.
I do, however, want to slow down. With nothing "coming soon" or even "coming later" it's a good time to take a step back, evaluate and consider WHAT NEXT? There are some stories I've written (and am writing) that deserve my attention, and I intend to give them a fighting chance to see the inside of a bookstore.
What does that really mean? I'm off the loops, except for a few. I'll keep MySpace and Bebo focused on writing, but I want to pare down Facebook to keep that from being a promotional site. That may mean I have fewer 'friends' there. If that's you, I'm sorry, and I'll see you on the other venues we share. This blog will stay the same, because I don't intend to stop writing.
I admit that the trailers didn't really pique my interest. The visual of a platinum Julia Roberts slinking out of a pool doesn't give the first clue as to what this movie is all about. Which is a shame, but I understand they didn't think people would go if they knew it was about...Afghanistan.
Charlie Wilson's War tells the story of a Congressman from Texas who takes his tarnished reputation as a Capitol Hill philanderer and remakes himself into a hero of democracy by fighting to obtain the funding necessary for the Afghan rebels to hold off the invading Russians during the 1980's.
What you get: strong performances. Tom Hanks is convincing in portraying the irony between his selfish and wayward behaviors and his noble intentions toward the rebels, and old friends. Julia Roberts portrays a woman of means who sees what the government does not--that the Russians aren't after Afghanistan. They're after the Perisan Gulf (think Von Schlieffen Plan).
What you don't get: the whole story. It can't be that simple to appropriate millions of dollars from Congress--I'm certain that parts of the story were simplified so that viewers wouldn't get bogged down in the political process. Being me, I wouldn't have minded that part of the story, but I can see how it wouldn't sell tickets.
Bottom line: if you want to know the mindset and practice of the United States in other areas of the world--ie, how we blew it and continue to blow it, see this movie. Charlie is indeed a hero, but the government that backed him deserts him before the end game. Abandoning the Afghans once the Russians roll out is a terrible mistake that, historically, has been repeated by the US in many areas of the world for more than a century. It's doubly sad when you consider how different our situation in that neck of the woods could be had we just finished what we started. And then consider what we should do in Iraq.
My friend and fellow author, Carol Ann Earnhardt, tagged me for a game of tell-us-stuff-we-didn't-know...
The rules are:
List seven things about yourself
Link to the person who tagged you (see above)
Then I get to go out and tag seven other victims. Um, no, I meant friends. Yeah, that's what I meant.
Here we go:
1. I write right-handed, but eat left-handed
2. I've been coloring my hair since I was 18
3. I wrote an award winning book review in college
4. I have an 'adopted' sister of whom I am very proud
5. I am in line to inherit a child (should about 10 people kick off)
6. I'm afraid of balloons
7. I sleep with my television on.
I'm not going to tag anyone, in the spirit of randomness. Instead, leave me something we may not know about you!
Let the games begin. Saturday was orientation at the college where I work, the not-so-subtle signal that classes will begin the following Monday (a.k.a. "tomorrow"). Tomorrow, the new advising and registration center (ARC) will be open, and my hours will change. I'm typically an early morning gal, but over the next week I'll be transformed into a late night gal. Going from 7-4 to 10-7.
This should be fun. But seriously, shaking things up is good. And I'll get used to it, right?
Oh yeah...and GO BUCKS!!! Here's hoping I'm not as embarrassed as I was last year! And yes, I'll be wearing a jersey.
I'm not a fan of New Year's. Not the eve, the day, the food, or the resolutions. Of all the holidays, real or Hallmark, New Year's is by far the one I dread the most. I'm not sure there's any one thing that makes this day particularly difficult. It's not like the same thing keeps happening year after year--after all, that's the very definition of insanity. No matter my intention, circumstances conspire and the eve/day ends up, well...sucking for one reason or another.
Even if you don't make resolutions--which I avoid--it's difficult to escape assessing the past year and looking down the road into the next year. I've done a good job of making myself over into a "glass half full" kind of gal, so why is it that on this holiday, I can only see disappointments and failures? The list of all the things to fix or make over or throw in the trash is longer than the requests made to Santa.
Maybe this is why people drink so much on New Year's Eve. So I'm giving the proverbial finger to New Year's once again. If not for all the hype, it'd just be a day with a lot of football. I'm keeping my head above water today, and definitely getting some writing done. Tomorrow is another day that is NOT New Year's.