Proud mama!

My daughter was chosen as one of the core singers for the Perry Awards!!!

:)

(A Perry Award is giving for the best of the best in NJ musical theater. The award ceremony is in September)

Raising Elvis

I try to raise him right. Give him good manners and morals. Good food (he demands to eat whatever we are eating), a nice house-er-cage (Graceland), love and affection and I wake up this morning to hear "YOU'RE A BRAT! BRAT! BRAT BRAT! HEY BRAT! Come 'mere."

Then he clucks like a chicken. . . "Buc, Buc, Buc, BaGawwwk!"

I've been trying to teach him "I love you" for years but he seems to have an aversion to expressing affection. He also refuses to say "thank you."

And he's no snitch either. Although he calls each of the dogs by name, (then laughs when they come running, "heh, heh, heh") he refuses to tell me who tore up the garbage and spread it all over the floor last night. He had to see it, most was right in front of Graceland.

And he calls me a Brat!

And then as I'm sweeping up the mess-he laughs, which is more like the cackle from the wicked witch of the west. Sometimes I feel like he thinks I'm the slave in this relationship and sometimes I'm afraid he may be right.

Second thoughts?

Ever push that piece of work out the door and then get stuck with all the ...maybe I should have's...?
Maybe I should have changed this, added that, was this part too shallow? Too deep? Too wordy?
>Sigh<
Then you worry, fret and stare at the email while trying to push your thoughts into it by osmosis? Which leads me to ask if a piece of art ever finished? Can you write and write and then put it down for a bit and go back and say it is definately complete? Ever?
Or do you start the rewrite process all over again?
Did Van Gogh know when to stop putting the last star in Starry Night? How did Monet know when the the last water lily was complete?
Now the waiting is painful. Excruciating.
So I come here to moan and vacillate over what could have been, what could be-what I could do if I went over it just one more time!

Wandering Massachusetts

I've been traveling. Right now I'm in Massachusetts. Rolling hills, deep green valleys and some really nice people. Old houses and buildings reminding me of a Mayberry. I keep looking for Andy and Opie. (who names a kid Opie, anyway?)

I love the farms here and wish I could live in a place like that. Lots of land to let the dogs run free, neighbors that are not right on top of me and fresh air.

Amazingly, I'm getting a lot of work done here. I've carved out time and hid in my room and pumped out quite a few pages. Its getting easier as I relax and I think that's a problem sometimes. Not the relaxing part but the things that prevent us from relaxing. My brain constantly multi-tasks. Pushing out the day to day stuff is sometimes hard, sometimes impossible. Up here I'm not staring at the house, the critters and the things that need to be done. It's easier to turn outside things off, so I can get the stories out.

So how do you get past the everyday to find your stories?

What could cause the dog with the loudest voice to bark at 2:30 a.m.? I've never had a dog with this big a voice. When Okalani barks it blots out all other sound in the house. In the middle of the night-everyone gets up. And what could cause Okalani to go off at this ungodly hour?
Two semi-adult (21 & 24) children trying to sneak in because they forgot their house keys.

Yawn. And I had such plans for today.

I'm into the (hopefully) final rewrite. I've got my index cards out. One chapter, one card. Just a few notes so I can "see" a timeline. It helps. Going through each page, checking grammar, punctuation and story flow. And hoping this is the last time I'm rewriting.

So, what's you're final rewrite strategy? Any hints? Tips?

PS: Okalani is over there, sacked out on her bed, sound asleep now...

J.A. Konrath does it again in FUZZY NAVAL

J.A.Konrath will shock you with the first chapter of FUZZY NAVAL. Took me completely unawares. This book moved along at such a quick pace that I couldn't put it down. Vivid descriptions, scary characters and a story that sucks you right in and scares the pants off of you.
And if I ever see Konrath I'm going to have a long talk with him about the ending. It left me wanting more!

What I learned at NJRWA today

I sat in for a speed pitch session today at our NJRWA meeting. The amazing Lois Winston led this group and I think she made it clearer then anything I've read on the subject so far. Check out her "Talk Gerty to Me"- its one of my favorite books!
Here's your pitch: Goal, Motivation Conflict.
So, if you're pitching a romance (I write suspense, mystery, thriller and romance-I'm eclectic! But I'm pushing a romantic suspense out the door right now.)
Heroine: What's her goal? What's her motivation? Where does the conflict come into play?
Now your Hero: What is his goal in the story? What motivates him to keep moving? Conflict?
And what's bringing them together?
Simple? Yes and No.
I think when we work on something long enough everything starts to blur. So maybe we need a fill in the blanks:
She wants-xxx
Because-xxx
But look out for-xxx
He wants-xxx
And he has to do this because -xxx
But then-xxx-happens
And together they-xxxx

What do you think?
<"http://www.loiswinston.com/">