Monday, March 16, 2009

Characters and planning and soundtracks, oh my!

In addition to my current WIP (work in progress), I've decided to write a short novella aimed at Nocturne Bites. A couple of my first steps when I tackle a new story are, well, finding characters for the story, duh! But I have them. They need backstories--histories. Then I work on their GMCs (Goals, Motivations and Conflicts). What they want out of life ties in with what has happened to them in their past.

While all this is running around in my head, I'm also playing with the story idea. The story has to be about something, right? Sometimes that part comes first, sometimes the characters come first. In this case, I have characters, now I have to decide what their story is.

Before I can write the story I have to write a blurb. Sort of what you'd see on the back cover of the book. That part kills me. It's hard to nail down the heart of your story in just a couple of paragraphs. But if I can do that, then I know that I have a really good grasp on the heart of my story. I also like to make a "soundtrack" for my story. Having a mix of songs to put on when you're writing can be a signal to your brain that it's time to stop being mom or maid or chauffeur and begin being a writer. So I'm spending some time digging through my iPod, paying close attention to the feelings a song evokes looking for that something that makes me think, "yeah, this fits my story!" I'll be sharing some songs with you this week. They may go on my soundtrack or they may not. Just sit back and listen and enjoy. Here's your first one, unusual video and all. :-)

Saturday, March 14, 2009

Unscheduled Lazy Blog Post

Thanks to Holly, I have found the perfect tool for those days when I don't know what to say here in the blog. Check out the Lazy Blog Post Generator. Here's the post I generated with it:

Dudes I just opened mine eyes, and lo! I have not updated this since long before Shakespeare wast a boy... You would not believe that my hands were chopped off and I was waiting for bionic ones. Unbelievable.

I am tied up with setting fire to people wearing Crocs, driving from one end of the city to the other, just generally being a pain to society in general. My day starts with the dawn patrol, from the time the light through yonder window breaks to the point I am begging my kid to go to sleep or so help me God that kid will be decorating my wall, 'Duct tape still life'. I am putting money aside so I can run away. My kids think I don't make sense any more.

I won't promise anything to you, but I will make more of an effort to blog more often--at least until the nice men in the white coats come back, or until I need your shoulder to cry on. The Piccaninnies say I have to!

Friday, March 13, 2009

Friday Lazy Video

Yeah, it's Friday and I'm feeling kinda lazy, so you get a video. I'm a child of the 80s and I believe that this song was out in the 80s or early 90s. Anyway, I thought this new take on the video was funny, so I'm sharing it with you. Aren't you lucky?

Wednesday, March 11, 2009

mp3 players

We all have iPods, all of us except my husband. I have a full size iPod, my daughter has an older Nano and my son has, well, not the newest Nano, but the one before that. They came out with the new design about a month after he got his. Doesn't that figure?

Anyway, while we love our iPods, they don't allow us to listen to audiobooks that we check out from the online branch of our Public Library. It seems that Overdrive Media and Apple don't play well together. It's never been a big problem for me because I can download the audiobooks onto my smartphone and listen to them that way, but the kids don't have smartphones. So today I picked up an inexpensive mp3 player at the store that says it will sync with Windows Media Player and will play DRM protected files. (My daughters phone will sync with WMP, but won't play DRM protected files--WTH?)

I'm sitting here listening to the radio on our new RCA Pearl mp3 player. I think it's going to be a pretty good investment. But I'll have to remember to keep the AAA batteries charged!

P.S. Someday I'll have to tell you all about taking my malfunctioning iPod to the Apple store, and how the "geniuses" behind the Genius Bar were oh-so-helpful, NOT!

Friday, March 6, 2009

Better late than never?


My intention was to re-awaken this blog in January. Somehow I didn't quite make it. The truth is, I guess I didn't have much to say. Or I didn't bother to think of anything to talk about. In all honesty, I'm a procrastinator. One of the world's best! It's a problem I've been trying to overcome for years, but I don't ever seem to make progress. Or if I make any progress, it doesn't last and I slip right back into my old bad habits.

Why is it that bad habits are so hard to break and so easy to fall back into, yet good habits are so hard to establish and so easy to let go of? It's a question that has no answer, I believe. So if anybody has any new ideas or ways to break bad habits or establish good ones--please share!! I need all the help I can get.

Oh, and if you've never visited despair.com, it's a fun place to procrastinate. :-)