What's on your island?

Good morning!!

For most people January is a month of dreary, cold, gray, blah days.  Christmas is over, all the holidays are over, and except for your neighbor up the street who won't take those lights off his house until April, yours streets probably look like mine:  Snow covered and cold.

In a sort of fun mind meld recently I ran across something that was running around Face book, and then I saw an episode of "The Office" that made me think about islands.  Warm sun, warm water, warm cabana boys bringing me a cold drink, that sort of thing.  And, since both Face Book and The Office were talking about what you'd take to a deserted island, I figured I'd play along.

So, what three _____________ would you bring to a deserted island?

Let's start with movies:

3 movies on a deserted island...I love, love, love movies.  Narrowing a list down to just three, well, that might be impossible.  But if I had to pick three movies to take with me to an island, I'd probably bring

1)  Prince Bride  (duh)
2) Pretty in Pink  (because it's awesome)

Drop. Your. Coconut. Bra.

3)  Gladiator  (Russell Crowe is awesome)

That's today...tomorrow that list is probably going to change.

Next:  Which three celebrities would you bring?

This might surprise some people who know about my "list."  (Oh we all have a list, don't judge me.) 

1)  Rick Springfield  (duh)
2)  Tom Hanks
 Because he's really well read and funny and because I'm pretty sure since he was in Castaway, he'd be able to handle a deserted island.
3)  Russell Crowe. 
 Oh wait, if I have Russell Crowe on the Island, then I don't need to bring Gladiator or ANY of his movies along because, I have him there.  So let's change my #3 movie to....any and all version of "Wuthering Heights." that's not cheating!  It's not!

Yes, I'll go to the islands with you!

Okay, now, music.  I'm a big music head, but lately I've been more about single songs than about albums.  Thanks, iTunes.  That said, what three albums would I bring?

1)  New Minstrel Revue:  Far and Away.
Great folk band, and probably the band I've seen live more than any other.  Thank you Renaissance Faire!
2)  Ice House: Man of Colours  
Iit doesn't seem to matter where I am, what I'm doing, this is the best music in the world to write to.  I've had a copy of this album in one form or another since the mid 80's, and I listen to it weekly.
3)  Barry Manilow I
 His first album and, in my opinion, one of his best. Argue if you want about whether this album stands the text of time, and I'll just sing a few bars of "I am Your Child."

What?  No rick Springfield?  No, because, see, I'm bringing HIM with me.


Finally, books.  What three books would I take with me to a deserted island?  Well, they'd have to be books I want to read over and over and over...and in the final analysis, this was a no brainer.

1)  A Lonely Sky  by Linda Schmalz  
(If you haven't discovered this heartbreaking tearjerking gem, run yourself over to Amazon and get it now.)
 Most books I read because I like a good story, but once I've read the story, there are very few books I'll reread just for grins.  A Lonely Sky is one of those books I've read and will read again and again.

2)  Wuthering Heights  by Emily Bronte. 
(Yes, it's my favorite book, and if I'm on a deserted island, with all those versions of the movie, I might finally have time to write a really solid critique of each movie version compared to the book.  Something I've wanted to do for a while.)

3)  Gone with the Wind/Scarlett/Rhett Butler's People.
I know, this is actually three books.  But I've maintained for a long time that Scarlett was one of the most ill conceived, poorly thought out,and badly written books, especially as a sequel to the sublime GWTW.  Rhett Butler's People, on the other hand is pretty brilliant.  Since I'm on an island anyway, and I'm guessing there's no satellite TV or Netflix to fill my days, I'd like to read the three side by side and determine if my opinions are well founded.

And there it is...my list of stuff I would take to and island.   So, what's on YOUR Island List?

New excuses for not writing in this high tech world...

Good morning!

I know, I can't believe I'm blogging this morning either!  After a great Green Bay Packers Superbowl win last night I can't believe I'm awake!  However, real life does not stand still, as we all know.  I still have the job, I still have the kids and they still have school.  So here I am.

A couple of notes on upcoming events:

1)  I will be guest blogging at a couple of very fine places in the next week. 

2/13  Long and Short reviews I'm taking part in their Valentine's Day event.

2/13  Goddess Fish Promotion Party Pavilion  I will also be taking part in their Valentine's Day event, there I'll be talking about Ramona and Jesse's first kiss in Dream in Color. 

3/22 and 3/23  I've got my friend and fellow Wild Rose Press author  Kelly Moran doing a two day guest blog for me to promote her fantastic new novel, "Summer's Road."


So I've got that going for me, which is nice.

Now, on to to the topic at hand.

When I got to work this morning, I realized, to my horror, that I'd left my flash drive and iPod at home.  OH NO!  How shall I write?

Then it hit me:  When did I get so tied to technology?  Why am I unable to write just because I don't have my flash drive?  When I started writing, 30 years ago, I used a pen, a notebook, and, when I was really lucky, a manual typewriter.  I wrote any time of the day or night.  I pretended to take notes in class and I wrote.  Have pen, will write!

I hear writers say all the time how they can't write because, "I can't write when the kids are up.  I can't write because someone's always at the computer.  I can't write because I have so many kids' games to watch.  I can't write because I need silence to work."

I've said many of the same things...and now I'm thinking that I've become a slave to the technology of writing.  I can't possibly write unless I'm typing.  I can't possibly write unless I have my soundtrack going.

Blah de blah blah.

Let's face it...using technology as an excuse to NOT write is just an excuse.  Real life gets in the way, we all know that.  And most of us have to work a paying job, again, we all know that.  But I'm honestly letting the fact that I don't have my flash drive stop me from writing?  Not a chance!

I have a goal, a very aggressive goal for a puzzle piece writer like I am.  I am going to finish the first draft of 7/8ths time by the end of February.  It's going to happen.  I've put it out there for all to read.

That might mean I have to carry a notebook everywhere.  That definitely means I have to be more organized, watch less TV, good on Face book way less.  But I'm going to do it!

Now, what are your goals?  What do you need to accomplish those goals?  To quote one of my favorite movies, Gladiator:  Imagine where you will be, and it will be so.

But I'm betting you'll need a notebook and a pen!

Characters matter...even on Reality TV.

Good morning!
I am a devotee of the show "Survivor." That's not a secret. I was hooked from the start and I've watched virtually every moment of the show's 20+ seasons. Most recently, The Girl and I are watching the few seasons that are on DVD.

I signed up for Netflix, because I wanted to get every season of Survivor on DVD to watch the history of this magnificently popular show all over again. It surprised me that I was not able to get all the seasons. In fact, of the 20 seasons available, I'm really only able to get about six.

In a time when everything from TV movies to the cheesiest sit com get put on DVD, it was a very big surprise that not all the seasons were put on. Still, I've been watching the seasons I can watch, most recently, rewatching the awesome "All Stars" season, which we finished watching last night. But before we watched the finale of "All Stars" we watched episode three of the current season, as it aired on TV.



SPOILER ALERT:

NFL coach Jimmy Johnson got voted off last night. Now, I was very surprised the 66 year old TV commentator even went out there. Face it, Survivor is a young person's game. Each year the cast gets younger, and more photogenic, and the older folks are few and far between. In fact, this season, it's the old folks against the young folks. The age divisions are everyone 40 and up on the old team and everyone 30 and down on the young team.
Yep, 40, according to Survivor, is old.

Here's the problem with this concept. When you're casting a show, a reality show where you want diversity and interesting people, by limiting the age groups right out of the gate, you're just not going to get very interesting characters. And then the show is boring.


Jimmy Johnson was probably the most interesting character on the old team. First of all, the man might be a bajillionaire, and as a Packer fan, I've cursed him out all the years he coached the Cowboys. But as a player on Survivor, the man had skills. He could have done very well if the other completely predictable, completely BORING old farts hadn't voted him off last night. Marty, leader of the oldsters now, is just not that interesting. He's a middle aged white guy who managed to take out the one guy who knew what was what when it came to planning a strategy at challenges. And, since the tribe is old and crippled next to the younger group, without strategy, they have nothing. Personally, looking at the old tribe, the seven remaining members are either frustrated jocks who think they know it all and can do it all, or meek little women who will do what they're told. The old tribe members keep saying they're all leaders in their fields. Well, that's not what I'm seeing. I'm seeing boring women, boring, predictable guys, and a losing tribe. (Except for Fire Captain Tyrone, who is funny, and plays things close to the chest. Watch for him to do well.)

That brings me to the younger tribe, or as I like to call them, the rainbow of bad stereotypes. You've got Nay, the PE Teacher who spends a lot of time and energy being loud, rude, and very...what was the term she called herself last night? Oh yes, very HOOD. (hmmmm, an African American woman who is loud and wags her finger at people and is pushy? I think that was done really well before...by Alicia in Australia and All Stars. So Nay is just a copycat, and sort of a mean one at that. Boring.)


And then there's Fabio. That's not his real name, but he has long hair and is sort of pretty. So everyone calls him Fabio. He's also as dumb as a stump, so it wouldn't surprise me one second if he's forgotten what his real name is.

Again, the youngsters pretty much fall into two groups: Boring jocks who think they're going to win and "get with" the pretty girls, and, well, the pretty girls. There is the one girl who has one leg, and I give her a TON of credit for being out there, but other than having an artificial leg, there isn't anything interesting about her. I don't even remember her name.


So I watched the episode last night and thought, "well, the most interesting person just got voted off, and it's only week three." Then I watch the finale of All Stars, which, even thought I knew who would win, was far more interesting and fun to watch.



What's my point in all of this? Even in reality TV, you need good, interesting characters. You need characters people are interested in, characters people care about. Other than Tyrone, who has the best facial expressions I've ever seen, and who is the one person in Survivor who knows to keep his face SHUT at tribal council, there are no interesting characters on this season. Not yet. Maybe some of them will grow on me. Maybe I'll just stop watching this season.

It's the same for writing. If your characters aren't interesting, no one is going to read your book. You could have the most fascinating plot on earth. But if no one cares about the people in the plot, it won't matter. Meanwhile, if you have a skimpy plot, but really interesting characters, you may have success with the book.



TV, movies, books. It's all about the people. I've watched movies that were terrible...but I loved a certain character in that movie, and I cared about what happened to them. I've read books sometimes not because the plot is great, but because I'm really interested in a character. It might seem like the two go hand in hand, but that's not true.



Why was "Gladiator" the best movie of 2000? Not for the movie itself. There have been a million action movies, gladiator movies, war movies. The difference was Maximus. Producers later bemoaned the fact that they killed Maximus, because he was such a strong character they could have made another movie.



Why are certain characters made over and over? "Robin Hood?" Because we love Robin Hood. Good movie, bad movie, it doesn't matter. Robin Hood is an icon that people care about.


Sherlock Holmes is another one. Face it, those books are predictable. You're not reading Sherlock Holmes to see "if" he's going to solve the crime. You're reading, and you're watching the movies, because you love Sherlock Holmes.


So it's the character, my friends. Now go forth and write!