That thing in the book...

There's something in some books that bring you so far into the character and their world that you forget you're reading. When you have to put that book down all you can think about is what happens next. Some authors seem to do this easily, others...not so much. It has to be there and it has to be consistent throughout the entire book.
As I read and listen to books I try to figure out what this is. Is it the character's thoughts? Actions? Thoughts about their actions? It's something around that stuff.
In Meg Cabot's Insatiable she went into the main character's head a lot. We heard her thoughts and how she muddled through things happening to and around her. When other characters popped up it was inside the main character's head that we heard the discription.
Stephen King does this in The Dome. (Excellent book now available in paperback. I did the audio book.) We almost constantly see what's happening through the thoughts of the few main characters.
So is this the way you write? Omnipresent or inside a head? Which is better? Does one give us a more personal view of the world created?
This is my Edgar Allen Poe action figure. Every writer needs one.

When words ... show

I just finished Meg Cabot's Insatiable. Great book about a woman who doesn't believe in vampires learns they might be everywhere. This book was soooo well written I felt as if I was sucked into another worlds. The words Meg wrote gave vivid pictures, ripped the feelings from my soul and made me laugh out loud.
Now I'm reading Karin Slaughter's Broken and on the first page we get: "It wasn't so much raining as misting down a cold wetness, like walking around inside a dog's nose."
Can ya feel that? The cold dampness that sticks to your skin like a slick slime? These are words that give such an image that I can feel it. These are the words of a great writer. Someone who can conjure up a world and make me feel like I stepped right into it. Someone who can make me forget I'm reading.
I wish I could write such images. Even in the deepest end of my zone I don't think I could think to link rain to my dog's nose. Could you?
What are you reading and how well is it written?

The Zone

My best writing comes from a place I call "the zone". When I find the zone I can write for hours and shut out everything around me. The writing is smooth and flows like a river. I'm in the story, inside my characters and it is wonderful. When I leave the zone it's like coming up for air. I have to blink and focus to come back out of the zone. And as the zone slips back into the nether-regions of my mind there's a pang of regret.
I love the zone.
My day job is very slow right now. We're allowed to goof off. One girl cross stitches, one finger paints on her ipad, one has a jigsaw puzzle on her desk. I go crazy. Those close to me say I can use this time for writing, but that doesn't always work. The zone is hard to find when there's a lot of chatter going on around you. I use an ipod but we're only allowed to use one head phone. Sometimes not enough to blot out the noise, but it's better than nothing.
The zone doesn't come easy at the day job. Sometimes I can grab it and other times it slips through my fingers like sands through the hourglass.
This book is going to take me forever to edit.

Amazon-ing

It's a cold day here in NJ and we're hunkered down with movies, our computers and the wood stove. That's another 14 inches of snow on top of the 4 inches from yesterday morning and the foot from last week and the 30 inches from the week after Christmas. Can someone tell me when I moved to Montana, because I can't remember.
It's nice and warm in here as we watch the squirrels and birds raiding the bird feeders in the back yard. I feel bad for them. I'm going to have to get more seed.
So I wandered over to Amazon.com to see what's new. Now I know I'm probably late to the party but I found a Kindle app for my PC. My dh has a Kindle but I haven't gotten that far yet. Sooon...very sooon.
I'm not really a fan of reading too much on the PC but the Kindle app is pretty good. The words are clear and easy to read and flipping the pages is quick. I do get the urge to scroll but that's fading.
I didn't download too much because I'm going to get a Kindle and wasn't sure how to flip it back and forth from PC to Kindle. I haven't read any of the directions. I'm sure it's in there somewhere and I think I can copy them back and forth. The one think I couldn't see how to do was print a page. I would like to do that. hmmmmm
There has to be a way.
Anyway for those of you, like me, who haven't jumped onto the Kindle bandwagon just yet this might be a great way to get started. Surprisingly, reading on the computer wasn't as bad as I envisioned, but I won't be able to take it to bed with me. I definitely need a real Kindle.
Do I really need the 3G wi-fi? Or is the regular Kindle enough? And why?

Two Books...

Right now I'm reading two books. One by James Patterson & friend and one by Lee Childs. I'm struggling with the Patterson book. The internal dialog of the characters is weirdly feminine for a NY cop and the external dialog is stilted. Then there's the tags. The main character is a hardened NYC detective. Okay, so this guy should be kool under pressure but half the time he's freakin out. He's screaming and yelling in people's faces and otherwise acting like he's never seen any action before. He's such a girl! Even the female FBI agent working with him isn't as feminine.
Now the Lee Childs book is a Jack Reacher book. This is a character that's often seen in Lee's books. I'm only a few chapters into this book and I totally forget that I'm reading. Lee Childs pulls me into the story with such skill I can feel the snow swirling around Jack as he sets the flares out on the road. I'm shivering and worrying and so far into the world Childs created that I'm late for work.
When I finally left the house I was trying to think what it was in Lee Childs book that yanked me in to his world and left me forsaking the clock, the fact that the roads are an icy mess and I intended to get an early start and the dogs who are waiting patiently for breakfast.
I know what Reacher's wearing, where he's been for the last few days and why he got on that bus. I could see it, feel it and hear it.
Lee Childs is a master. I want to write like him.
I haven't finished either of these books yet but I'll have more when I'm done with them.

Cat Litter

I have a weird cat. She won't cover anything in her litter box. I have to take the little scooper-rake and cover things up so they don't smell. To make matters worse she won't use the box again if things aren't covered. It's like a punishment for not keeping up on my job. She'll pick a throw rug or towel or piece of clothing left on the floor to use instead. Once she even peed on the dog, but I think that was more of a vengeance thing.
What does cat litter have to do with writing?
Sometimes I'm meaning to get some writing done, but something in my environment isn't perfect and I put it off. I promise myself I'll write today but then I realize the room really needs vacumning so I'll do that first. Or maybe I'll just do a load of laundry or bathe the dog (because of the cat), or after Judge Judy (because the coming attractions looked like something I just can't miss!).
Whatever! It seems like there's something in the litter box that puts me out of the game.
This is my problem.
Now how do I overcome it?
I think when a woman has been a stay-at-home mom it's more difficult. For years while the kids were younger this whole house was my job. Kids grow up, I get an outside job and still everything in the house still seems like my job. It's like having two jobs.
It's hard to overcome or let go so I can get some writing/editing done.
>sigh<

Writer Brains

Writers can be hard to live with. Even harder to watch television with.
I can often guess the plot before the show is over. I catch glitches in the story and point out why the crime scene doesn't make sense.
Hawaii 5-0 recently had a show where one of the characters is found kneeling in a parking lot or some such area, with a bomb strapped to his neck. One of the cops says, "Don't move. That's a mercury switch, if you move it will blow up."
A mercury switch depends on where the little drop of mercury is in the switch. If you lean to either side the mercury moves and completes the circuit and KABOOM!
So then the 5-0 character tells his would be rescuers that he doesn't know how he got there he was knocked out and just woke up in the parking lot.
Now remember as we come upon the scene the man is in a kneeling position. So that means, if he was knocked out, he would not have been in an upright kneeling position. He would have been laying down. Now, if it is a mercury switch, and he would have had to move up to the kneeling position, this would have set off the bomb. That's the way a mercury switch works.
Hmmmm...
I just can't let these things slide. It's bad habit. It's so apparent I just have to say something. It amazes me that others don't see this stuff.
I give away the plot and I dissect the inconsistent. I think its a writer thing.
Anyone else do this?