MOANday: Tom Hardy

I chose this month's MOANday inspiration because he's currently starring in the Valentine's movie This Means War. This movie looks like some guy tried to make a Valentine's movie interesting for both the guys and the girls (although I think girls still win, because we get 2 hunky hotties to check out and not just one), just so the men wouldn't be completely bored on their Valentine's dates.

Tom Hardy is an English actor who's been around quite a while, having performed in Band of Brothers, Black Hawk Down, and as the villain in Star Trek: Nemesis. More recently he was part of the cast for Inception. Maybe he'll also be inspiration for your very own Valentine hero!

Happy Love Month!

Angel

Coming Soon!

Join us Wednesday for guest author Tracy Sumner!

MOANday: Halloween Edition

I know it’s a day late, but I couldn’t pass up the opportunity to pay homage to some of the hottest guys from horror films. Often these films are ensemble casts and rarely have the traditional Hollywood hottie, but there are a few that provide welcome respite from all the blood and gore. I hope you enjoy, even if you aren’t a horror movie fan.

I’m very excited by last night’s premiere of The Walking Dead on AMC. This is a mini-series based on, you guessed it, Zombie Invasion!!!! But at the center of the story is a policeman played by Andrew Lincoln. You got to love a hottie in uniform, especially when his dearest wish is to find and protect his family.




The Saw movies were never my favorites. I’m a bigger fan of true mystery than gore, but Cary Elwes was a pleasant surprise when I finally gave in to watching the first one. I remember him from funnier movies like the Princess Bride and Robin Hood: Men in Tights, and though he spends most of this movie shackled to a wall, he plays the serious roles just as well.




I’m a huge fan of numerous Stephen King made-for-television mini-series and movies, as my next two choices will avow. The first is a remake of Stephen King’s Salem’s Lot, starring Rob Lowe, who attempts to save a small town from the evil vampire that has made his home in the mansion where Rob Lowe’s character was frightened as a child.





The other is Rose Red (my all-time favorite!) with actor Julian Sands playing a telepath with mind-bending abilities. I cried the first time I watched it, because I didn’t want him to die. :)




And last, but not least, actor Taye Diggs, for his role as a (former) baseball player who ends up at a mysterious birthday party and gets locked up in a possessed house. Lucky for him, he is adopted, or else the house would have eaten him. I have to confess that there are parts of this movie where I still have to close my eyes. And Geoffrey Rush revising Vincent Price's character as the murderous husband? Creepy!!!




I know I’m one of the few horror fan buffs around here, but I hope viewing these hunky heroes helped you overlook my Halloween indulgence. Until next month…

Angel

My Guilty Pleasure

I have a confession to make. I've become obsessed with those reality slash competition shows that have started cropping up on every channel. I think it all began with the first season of Project Runway which I was able to avoid for awhile until Smarty Pants pulled me down into the bedazzled, fringed and marabou feathered mud. I was hooked. And when it was over I was set adrift in a sea of uninspiring television until I found some replacements.

Luckily, Project Runway has recently returned for another season...but in the meantime I've been hopelessly hooked by The Next Great Artist, Cupcake Wars, The Next Food Network Star, Design Star and my old favorite America's Next Top Model.

Maybe it's my creative side that's intrigued by watching someone else in the middle of a creative breakdown/fit. And that's really what all of these shows boil down to. Lets take someone talented in their own field, give them little to no materials to work with, give them some inspiration or parameter that they have to incorporate into whatever they're doing and then give them just enough time to get close to done but not quite finish whatever vision they finally come up with. It's a nightmare of phenomenal proportions that I seriously hope I never encounter. But it makes for dang good television.

Tension. Drama. Personality clashes. Emotional investment. It's interesting to watch their minds work, to see evidence of the creative process captured forever. And they come up with some crazy and inspiring stuff.

I've given myself a pass, telling myself that watching these shows is a character study for some book I'll write down the road. I'm not sure I could get away with putting the eccentricity I've seen on the page. So, do you have a guilty pleasure? Have you watched any of these shows?

Instigator

A Little Mood Music...

Music is a key fuel for my creative world.

Every time I meet a new character, at some point they lead me to their “theme” song. This soundtrack for their book gives me a glimpse into deeper issues for the character or summarizes their personality. Listening to the music makes it easier to slip into their point of view for writing sessions, quickly and easily.

We’ve also talked about “anthem” songs here on the blog, songs that inspire and encourage us when life is tough or frustrating. I have several of these on my iPod and they also encourage me in my writing. When I’m tired, frustrated, or simply lost in my journey, these songs urge me to stay connected and fervent in pursuit of my dreams.

This was especially important last year and the first part of this year. In the last 3 months I’ve received 3 rejections and had to pull 1 submission because it had been tied up too long with no show of interest from the editor. Quite discouraging.

Then my sister sent me this song, and I have to admit it has quickly become my new favorite. I hope you enjoy it too:

http://www.youtube.com/user/rascalflattsofficial?blend=1&ob=4#p/u/45/-N0yB24M7VM


Stand by Rascall Flats (I had to put the link because I can't figure out how to get this particular YouTube video to embed. Sorry!)

I especially love the video, with the words they use at the end. I'm a word kind of girl and use it a lot outside of writing too, like in decorating and scrapbooking. :) Very inspirational! I already have a character who has claimed this song as her own.

What kind of roll does music play in your life? Does it fuel creativity, influence your moods, or provide hours of entertainment? Do you secretly dance around your house with it up loud or blast out the car when you drive alone? (I’m guilty as charged!) ;)

Angel

P.S. Instigator is blogging today over at the Blaze Author's blog. www.blazeauthors.com. Drop by and see her!

Please Don't Feed the Gryphons

So the other day, I got a gift. I did a friend a favor and she told me she had the perfect gift for me. Yay, presents! We had trouble getting together with schedules and such (nevermind she lives less than a mile from me) so she had a friend bring it to me. I get an unexpected gift bag one afternoon with a peculiar thing inside...

A little stone statue. Some kind of gargoyle, I figured.

Honestly, I don't know much about this sort of thing. As far as I knew, they were creepy little statues on old buildings, steeped in mythology. They sang in Disney's version of the Hunchback of Notre Dame (which I refuse to watch). Skymall magazine sells ones that fit on your downspouts and shoot water out of their mouths. That's about all I had on the subject. So I was surprised to find out this guy below is the guardian of the writer! Who knew?


Curled up in his beak was a scroll of paper that explained it all...

This is Alkimos.

His name means "valiant." He is of a very rare group of Story Gryphons related to the gargoyle family.


His kind have been raised since their creation as defenders of the two most valuable things to this world: the story and the writer.


His razor-like beak and ripping claws drives away all that is the anathma to a writer: procrastination and writer's block.
With his wings he protects you from the harshness of critics, while ushering in the warm winds on inspiration, urging you to write.

Alkimos looks like a statue, but he is not. He gathers all of the creativity in the room and focuses it on you. His world is you.

There is only one warning! Alkimos, like any story gryphon, needs you, the author, to write. If you do not, beware! He does not fade. He does not die. Instead, his unhappiness grows until it turns to rage. He focuses his fury on your most treasured object, the manuscript that is sitting there, waiting for you. He will shred that manuscript in his frustration. (The trainers are working on this flaw with little success.) It is up to you to make him happy by writing.

May the words constantly flow and your creativity always burn because... Alkimos is watching you, and will gladly use your story as a snack.

Very cool. I didn't know there was something like this! Given as much as I was whining about lucky charms a few weeks ago, one landed in my lap. Mo (which is what I've taken to calling him because Alkimos is far too big a word) is my new good luck totem. He sits on my desk looking quite regal amongst all the other crap I keep there. He looks down on me as I work. Watching. Waiting.

There have been no casualties as of yet, although there may be shortly if I don't get on it. :) I'm horrible at getting gifts - I never know what to ask for. I sort of foolishly hope people know me well enough to pick out something without me pointing and grunting like a 2 year old. I'm usually wrong, but every now and then, I get a very pleasant surprise. What's the coolest or most unexpected gift you've ever gotten?

SP

A Vacuum Cleaner & A Paperweight

Here we are on the eve of a new year and I’m wondering what kind of resolutions I should make for 2009 and what goals I should write on a little piece of paper and stick into the new fancy box I bought for the top of my desk. Last year I wrote the following:

* Finish the novel. (I am really close)
* Get PRO pin. (once I finish the book, I can start down this path)
* Sell 6 Trues. (I sold 10)
* Get in shape. (well…)

As I’ve been contemplating the goals I set last year and the ones I should set for 2009, I’ve seen a remarkable connection between them and the gifts I received for Christmas.

Santa (AKA Mr. Playground Monitor) was quite generous. The first gift I saw when I went into the great room on Christmas morning was a brand new Dyson Ball vacuum cleaner. How thrilling, you say. Well, I did need a new vac. Mine is about 15 years old, is making noises and has been discontinued so I can’t buy replacement filters and parts for it anymore. I’d mentioned to the DH we were going to need a new vac and that I’d LOVE to have a Dyson, since it’s the Rolls Royce of vacuum cleaners.

Apparently he test drove one at the store and was impressed as I, so now I have one. But there’s a very interesting tale here. The story of its inventor, James Dyson, is a lesson in hard work, struggles and ultimate victory. He’s the kind of guy who likes to make things work better. He’s Tim the Toolman Taylor without the grunting, blown fuses and over-engineering.

One of his first inventions was a wheelbarrow with a large ball instead of a wheel. In the factory that manufactured these, he noticed the air filter clogged constantly with powder from the paint. To combat this, he built a cyclone tower that used centrifugal force to remove particles from the air. Five years and 5000+ prototypes later, he’d invented the first bagless vacuum cleaner.

The vacuum cleaner industry wasn’t interested, though, because vacuum cleaner bags were a £250 million a year industry. They turned him away, but he took the design to Japan, the home of all things high tech, and the bright pink G-Force vac caught on. It sold for £2000 and was considered a status symbol. Dyson used the royalties from this machine to manufacture another one under his own name. Through the years he skirted the edge of bankruptcy to keep his patents current and even successfully fought a major US manufacturer in court over patent infringement. Many companies try to copy his design, but the Dyson still remains the benchmark against which all bagless cyclone vacs are measured.

Another item under my tree was a pewter paperweight from my sister. The engraving on it reads “Most things are difficult before they are easy.” Truer words were never spoken. In the process of almost finishing the novel this year, I learned that what I once considered an insurmountable task, is possible. I don’t think writing a novel will ever be easy, but little by little, through practice and perseverance it becomes a little less difficult.

I’m sure James Dyson felt that way too when he was being turned down by major corporations and then later fighting them when they tried to steal the very technology they said wouldn’t work.

So what’s going to be on the paper I put in the box for 2009?

* Finish the novel for real. Close only counts in horseshoes.
* Get my PRO pin.
* Pitch the novel at the RWA conference in July.
* Write more Trues to help fund my way to said conference.
* Start another novel.
* Get in shape. Really.

Every time I suck up dust bunnies and tracked-in dirt, I’m going to remember the man who never gave up. And when I see the paperweight on my desk, I’ll remember not only its message, but my sister who was my biggest cheerleader during NaNoWriMo.

I had another gift under the tree too – a FrothXpress. I’m not aware of any special story behind it and it’s not engraved with any motivational saying. But it sure does make a great latte, and I’ve found that a latte fuels my brain wonderfully when I’m writing. :-)

Tell us about a special gift under your tree – either this year or in years past. What made it special to you? And have you figured out yet what your New Year's resolutions are?

One lucky commenter will be selected to win a copy of the Bylines 2009 Writer’s Desk Calendar that features me on the first full week in January with a short article about – setting goals! Then you can be like Problem Child and me and chronicle your life in a calendar.

Guest Blogger: Anna Campbell

The Playfriends are very excited today to welcome historical author Anna Campbell. She writes deliciously sexy and innovative historical romances that won her 2 RITA nominations this year. We’ll also be seeing her in School during January, where we’re posting an interview with her fabulous insight! Please give Anna a proper welcome.



Hi Writing Playgrounders! Thanks so much for asking me to visit today and talk about my latest release TEMPT THE DEVIL. You are obviously the cool girls in the classroom and I’m flattered you’ve asked me to hang out with you. Unless I have to go through some weird and painful initiation ceremony? Eeeek!




I thought today I’d talk about inspiration!

Was that a groan I heard from the back row?

No, I mean GOOD inspiration! The sort we all have fun with. Bear with me!

I don’t know if you’ve ever done one of those workshops which analyzes what kind of writer you are. As far as I know, there are three kinds. Visual – you see the characters first, you’re very aware of what each scene looks like. Auditory – you hear your characters and once you’ve got their voices right, you’re set to go. Kinesthetic – you picture your characters in action, they’re doing stuff and everything else flows from there.

I’m primarily an auditory writer. Characters start talking in my head and the story flows from there. And when I tell people that, they always look at me like I’m slightly odd. Well, maybe more than slightly. But I, like most people, have a strong secondary sense and mine is visual. I fairly quickly work out what these characters look like.

Often they look like REAL people. Well, actors and musicians and such.

I have friends who then go and cut out pictures of the people involved (I’m far from the only person who bases characters’ appearances on actual people) and stick them up on their computer. I don’t go so far. I just need that first impression and frankly, by the time I finish the book, each character has become so much an individual, that immediate impression of what they look like doesn’t matter so much. My characters look like themselves by the end. But that originating spark really helps me get a fix on a character.

With CLAIMING THE COURTESAN, Kylemore looked like Daniel Day-Lewis, or he did until I was doing my final rewrites and I saw Richard Armitage. My good friend Christine Wells (who writes fantastic historical romance if you haven’t read her yet) told me she’d watched North and South and the leading man was Kylemore come to life. I scoffed, resisted, then eventually succumbed by checking out this guy. Wow! He WAS Kylemore come to life. Dark, intense good looks, deep-set dark blue eyes, that commanding blade of a nose, that long, lean body. Verity always looked like Olivia Hussey in Franco Zeffirelli’s Romeo and Juliet. I wanted someone with that slightly Madonna quality – in spite of Verity’s profession!

With TEMPT THE DEVIL, my new Regency noir from Avon which is a January 2009 release, my hero and heroine were really strong in my mind right from the start, including what they looked like. This really is a blessing for a writer!



The Earl of Erith is an unrepentant rake in his late 30s. I wanted someone dark and louche and dangerous with a lazy, self-confident sexuality. I immediately thought of Bryan Ferry in the early 80s – around the Let’s Stick Together stage. For anyone who’s too young to remember, here’s a youtube link:

http://au.youtube.com/watch?v=bZTsW8WKy5c

And here he is as lead singer with Roxy Music. I love this song and I think it’s a gorgeous video in that overblown, romantic 1980s style:

http://au.youtube.com/watch?v=2zJdbpzfJMs

Doesn’t this guy look like your perfect Regency bad boy? The bad boy who’s done everything and seen everything and thinks life holds no more surprises. Well, my dear earl, have I got news for you!

Olivia Raines is equally decadent and jaded. She’s in her early 30s and the most sought-after courtesan in London. She despises her clients and her life but can’t quite bring herself to break away from all the glitter and glamour. When she agrees to become the Earl of Erith’s mistress, she expects just another meaningless affair. As you’ll probably guess, she has a few surprises ahead of her too!

I didn’t want a woman who was conventionally beautiful. But I wanted a woman so striking and so redolent of sensuality that she stops men in their tracks. Someone strong and smart and witty but with a hint of depth behind the spectacular facade. I immediately thought of a young Lauren Bacall.



So do you have real-life prototypes for your characters? Do you find yourself casting actors to play the hero and heroine in romance novels you read? If you chose people to play your favorite characters, who would you pick? My favorite answer wins a signed copy of my latest release TEMPT THE DEVIL!



You know the drill.... comment to enter the contest to win a copy of Tempt the Devil. And check out Anna on her website at www.annacampbell.com .

Angel

Guest Blogger: Kati Dancy

The Romance Conversion

Playground Monitor here, with today's guest blogger. I "met" Kati at the blog of our mutual friend Michelle Buonfiglio. Kati lives in Washington, D.C. where she's an event planner for an environmental organization. She's been reading romance for over 25 years and is active in several romance communities. She is a reviewer and columnist for Romance Novel TV. You can visit her at her blog, Adventures in Katidom. Please give a big Playground welcome to our guest today.



I’ve been reading romance a long time, over 25 years. And those who know me well know there is little more that I enjoy than recommending books that I think they’ll love. But these are experienced romance readers. What happens when it’s someone who has never read romance? Or what if they have a disdain (that generally they can’t explain) for romance? What happens then? How do we get them to give the genre that we love so much a chance?

For me, I base my recommendations on what I know about them. If they read sci-fi, I might recommend someone like Ann Aguirre, who wrote the amazing Grimspace and its follow-up, Wanderlust. Both books are set in a gritty future-world where space travel is the norm and there are certain people who are gifted with an almost psychic ability to “jump” space ships from place to place. Or Linnea Sinclair, who writes wonderful sci-fi romances that feature strong, tremendously smart heroines and the sexy, domineering men who love them.


If the person is a fantasy reader, I might suggest C.L. Wilson’s incomparable Tairen Soul series. The series is deeply imaginative and magical and it captures the essence of “if you can dream it, you can make it so” of fantasy writing. Or, perhaps I’d suggest Elizabeth Vaughan’s Warlords of the Plains series, which are some of my all time favorite books. The books are set in a slightly alternate world that has a Native American flavor to it. The story is both a love story between a man and a woman, but also a nuanced portrayal of a woman who is a fish out of water and trying desperately to adjust and thrive in a new and foreign land. As readers, we discover her new world as she does.


If the potential reader loves mysteries, I might suggest the In Death series by J.D. Robb, which features a slightly future world, and a gritty homicide cop, her billionaire husband (one of the greatest heroes ever written in romance) and the beloved cast of secondary characters who work with her. The series has over 30 books in it and describes some pretty vivid murders, so it might appeal to a lover of the gory mystery book. If they want something with a little more heat, I’d recommend Dying to Please or Mr. Perfect by Linda Howard. Both have great mysteries, a very strong romance component, and Howard’s trademark sexual tension.

My latest conversion was my best friend, Amy. She was always slightly derisive of my love of romance. Not in a mean way, but more in that, “Kati, I can’t believe how much romance you read” kind of way. But this year, as she was getting ready to go on a business trip, she called me from Books-A-Million. She was casting around for something to read and wanted a suggestion. Amy happens to have been an art history major. So I suggested Nora Roberts’ The Three Fates. The book surrounds the search for three small, priceless pieces d’arte, the Three Fates. It also features some of the things that Roberts does best: strong smart heroines and delicious, Irish (!) heroes. Amy bought it, read it practically in one sitting, and called again. Now she needed something to read while on vacation. I handed over Homeport by Roberts again. She gobbled that one up, and came back to me. Now it was time to change it up. I’d recently read Just One of the Guys by Kristan Higgins, a new to me author who had recently won the RITA award for one of her books. I’d thoroughly enjoyed Just One of the Guys, and thought Amy might too. She called me and said, “I was crying on the plane over the book. And I finished it! Now I’ve got to find something to read for the trip home!” Last week, I brought her four more romances.

And there you have it. A romance reader is born. Do I expect that she’ll only read romance? Absolutely not. But she gave it a try, and with a couple of well placed recommendations, I was able to convince someone who had never even considered reading romance a shot.

So, my question is this, what books would you use to “convert” someone? How do you make your book recommendations to friends who are willing to give romance a chance? Have you ever converted someone to romance? How did you do it?

Inspirations From Bon Jovi

As many of y'all know, we headed out to Nashville last week for a Bon Jovi concert. I haven't been to a concert since I was a teenager, and then only contemporary Christian music. Let me just say I wasn't prepared for this experience. It was AWESOME! I jammed out to both Daughtry and Bon Jovi, and discovered something terribly embarrassing about myself: with just the right look, Jon Bon Jovi can make me squeal like a teenage groupie. :)


I've talked before about how inspired I am by music. Each of my books has their own soundtracks. I don't listen to the music while I'm writing, only while I'm plotting. Well, I thought I'd pass along the bits of wisdom I picked up from a night of listening to Jon, Richie, and a host of other characters.

Your love is like bad medicine
Bad medicine is what I need
Shake it up, just like bad medicine
There ain't no doctor that can
Cure my disease

Bad Medicine


Is there anybody out there looking for a party? Yeah!!
Shake your money maker, Baby smoke it if you got it.
We just wanna have some fun, If you don't wanna, Kiss this
Everybody raise your hands, Come on I need a witness.

We got it goin' on
We'll be banging and singing just like the Rolling Stones
We're gonna shake up your souls, We're gonna rattle your bones
'Cause we got it goin' on.
Ah ha ha. Ah ha ha. Yeah yeah. Ah ha.

(We Got It) Goin' On (with Big and Rich)

Watching these Hot Guys on stage is totally addictive!!! As I admitted earlier, I squealed like a little girl when Jon gave the camera a "Come Here Woman!" look. I might have even drooled when he shook that tight, um, booty. :) Oh, yeah, they've got it going on, alright. We partied all night.

I'm a cowboy, on a steel horse I ride
I'm wanted dead or alive
Wanted dead or alive

Sometimes I sleep, sometimes its not for days
And the people I meet always go their separate ways
Sometimes you tell the day
By the bottle that you drink
And times when you're all alone all you do is think

Wanted

As a writer, I'm always thinking about the character behind the person in front of me. Watching these successful men on the stage, I had to think about where they came from and what it took to get there. The hardships they go through, and how wearing it must be that everyone wants a piece of you.


Let me be the first to shake a helping hand.
Anybody brave enough to take a stand,
I've knocked on every door, On every dead end street...

Ohhh, if there's one thing I hang onto,
That gets me through the night.
I ain't gonna do what I don't want to,
I'm gonna live my life...
When the world gets in my face,
I say, Have A Nice Day.

Have a Nice Day

Coming off a string of rejections for my own work, I have to admit I admired the perseverance and strength it took to come to this place and this stage. Their professional journey is a model of living for every artist. We have to find a way to live the life we want, the one that feeds our souls, even if the world tells us we can't.

I like the bed I'm sleeping in
Its just like me, its broken in
Its not old -- just older
Like a favorite pair of torn blue jeans
This skin I'm in its alright with me
It s not old -- just older

Just Older

I can only hope someday to be this comfortable with who and what I am.


She says we've got to hold on to what we've got
Cause it doesn't make a difference
If we make it or not
We've got each other and that's a lot
For love - well give it a shot

Whooah, we're half way there
Livin' on a prayer
Take my hand and well make it - I swear
Livin' on a prayer

Livin' On A Prayer

I went to this concert with some good friends, friends who drag me out of my hermit shell to experience lots of fun and fabulous times. Without them and my husband, I'd definitely be a dull and drab girl. All work and no play. I've danced more since I've known them than I have my entire life (in public, no less!). I've smiled and laughed my way through hard times. Whether we make it in the publishing business or not, I've gained sisters for life.


Its my life
And its now or never
Cause I ain't gonna live forever
I just want to live while I'm alive
(its my life)
My heart is like an open highway
Like Frankie said
I did it my way
I just want to live while I'm alive

Its My Life

Being a writer, you have to learn to go against what people expect of you. I daydream and make up characters, talk to people in my head. Spend time writing books that may or may not ever sell. Go to meetings instead of spending time with my family. Would choose a conference over a child's event or family occasion.

Not a popular choice, but that's who I am and what I may have to do to make it as a writer. I'm trying to learn to live my life the way I need to in order to feel alive, while balancing that with my family's needs and wants. A tightrope if ever there was one.


So there are my musings from the weekend. Hope I haven't totally taken all enjoyment out of Bon Jovi's music for you. What music/artist is totally inspiring you at the moment?

Angel


Kelley St. John joins us on the Playground Blog on Thursday, May 1st. Don't miss it!

The deadline to sign up for the current Playground contest is Wednesday, April 30th, at noon!

The Carrot or the Stick?

Which one motivates you? Some folks like reward, while others do better if they’re avoiding punishment. I always tended to be a stick person. I think it comes from too many years in the dance studio, where I, quite literally, got hit with a stick.

But I think I finally found a carrot.

My ego got a couple of bad kicks recently. Let’s just say that Lynn’s Best Week Ever was the complete opposite of mine. Presents contest—nope. Golden Heart—nope. A one-two punch that carried that extra-special kick of being happy for someone else while bemoaning my own bad luck.

(And yes, I am genuinely happy for Lynn and her amazing success. I’d be happier for me, of course, but I’m tickled for her. She’s worked really hard for this.)

So on Tuesday night, after no happy Golden Heart phone calls, I was a little blue. Me and a thousand other people, right? I couldn’t help it. Yes, it’s a crap shoot. Yes, I should be happy with the other successes I’ve had. Blah, blah, blah. Yadda, Yadda, Yadda. I wanted to final in the Golden Heart, dammit, and no amount of justifications would take away the disappointment of not doing so.

Maybe I was a slightly deeper shade of blue than I thought, 'cause I seemed to worry the Darling Geek just a bit. I guess it rolled over into Wednesday morning as I was getting ready to go to class—I’m subbing for an instructor at the local university while she’s out on maternity leave. DG finally called on Wednesday afternoon to check on me and make sure that I wasn’t going to give up writing forever. He was quite surprised to find me totally recovered from my funk and almost chipper.

Seems I found the cure to the non-finalling funk.

Three back-to-back classes of eye-rolling freshmen with attitude problems had reminded me how much I dislike teaching. I’d rather write than teach any day. And as long as DG is willing to support my writing habit, I can stay out of the classroom, and those students can roll their eyes at someone else. Volia! One carrot.

DG wants to make it a rule that from now on, I have to teach the day after any contest results are announced or any letters from editors are opened. Just to help me keep it all in perspective, you know.

I’ll probably still need the stick occasionally. Old habits die hard. So are you a stick person or a carrot person? And what’s your carrot?



PC

Inspiration

I came to a startling conclusion today. I need some inspiration. I'm a little over 80 pages into my next book and I don't know what my characters look like. I know THEM. I know their attitudes, their mannerisms, their wants and needs but I have no idea what color eyes they have. Or whether they have a tattoo or pierced ears. Oh, I've filled in the blanks as I've written but I know my hero has changed eye colors at least twice so far. Yes, I could smooth out these details later because honestly, at this stage in my writing process it doesn't much matter to me. Except now that I've noticed the problem, every time I write down blue eyes I second guess myself and wonder if they're really supposed to be brown and that just interrupts the whole process.

What I need is a really good picture for both my hero and heroine. I've scoured my hero and heroine files. I have several dozen pictures in each. Nothing fits either of my characters. I've looked at a couple of online sites for models/actors. None of them have really been right either.

I'm hoping my friends on the playground can help me solve this problem. I need to broaden my search for pictures of sexy men and women but I've exhausted my resources. Anyone have any good links/sites they use for inspiration? If you use pictures to help you visualize your characters where do you find them? Do the characters start out in your mind like someone you've seen before, like an actor or model?

Instigator

P.S. HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO MAVEN LJ! We hope you have a wonderful day.

P.P.S. The winners from Rocki's blog yesterday are Lynn (signed ARC of THEN YOU HIDE) and Sherry (signed copy of FIRST YOU RUN). Please email PM here to claim your prize. Prizes not claimed within seven days will be re-awarded.

P.P.P.S. There have been so many wonderful things happening on the playground this week that we've decided to throw a Festive Friday party to celebrate. Please join us tomorrow as we congratulate our friends on some fantastic news.