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?

Salty language and graphic scenes! The church ladies demand it!

Good evening!

I've been a member of the same fairly conservative church for more than twenty years.  Like all churches, there's a core group of women, women who started out maybe as young moms, bringing their kids together for Sunday School, baking cookies for fund raisers, entering pies for church picnic competitions, who have now gotten older.  The kids are grown and have kids of their own.  Each woman has this physical ailment and that, something they share every week at church or Bible study, or women's group, or choir practice.  In short, these women, most of whom are a decade or more older than I am, share a ton of church time doing religious stuff and talking about kids and grand kids and physical ailments.

Nothing out of the ordinary for a group of conservative church ladies.

This past summer one of the women asked me if I liked to read.  Now, it's pretty well known in the church that I "write books."  Few know what I write and even fewer have read what I've written.  (Not unlike my real life.  LOL!)  I don't advertise much in church because, well, there's salty language in my books and yes, there's premarital activity.  Anyway, this lady asked me if I liked to read and told me that she and some of the other ladies liked to pass around novels they'd enjoyed.  She asked me if I was interested in reading some.

Church ladies LOVE her.  I
wanna be her.

Now I'm no dummy.  I know that inspirational novels have grown by leaps and bounds over the last few years.  I've toyed with writing one myself, I even have a series in mind.  Thing is, I think it would be too edgy for most inspirational readers because much of what I've read has been...well...dull.  Dull for me, but what I like to read is way different from what others like, so I'm open to trying books of all kinds.  Mentally preparing myself for some Janet Oke wannabe, I told the lady, sure, I'll read a book or two.

She handed me "Lethal" by Sandra Brown.  I'm not familiar with Ms. Brown's work, but the blurb on the back seemed promising.  So I read it.

I was shocked.  I was shocked beyond words.

And oh yeah, I was DELIGHTED!

See,  far from being inspirational, "Lethal" was everything I look for in a novel...and a few things I could do without.  It was suspenseful.  It had a ton of characters.  It had a bad boy.  And, wowser, it had salty, salty, salty language.  Made me recall the days when my mom was the librarian of my grade school and every new book we got, she'd attack with a black pen, marking out the bad words.

And oh yeah, I had to constantly check the cover to make sure I was reading a book written by a woman.  Why?  Well, there was quite a bit more...oral...than most women like to put in their books.

When I finally returned the book, I gave the church lady one of my own...no longer afraid of what the Old Guard ladies of my church might think!  (In my head, I'm always Scarlett O'Hara, but, you know, nicer.)  And my church lady friend said, "If you ever want another one by Sandra Brown, just let me know.  We all just LOVE HER!"

So sure, I still have that inspirational series in my head.  Only difference is, now, I'm thinking I'm going to turn it into some sort of dark, nasty, cuss fest with tons of nudity and all sorts of shenanigans. 

Hey, why not?  The church ladies demand it!


And yes, I do believe The Church Lady would read my books, and she'd get them by clicking here!

Why are there no "Gone With the Wind" remakes?

Good evening!

Well, fellow US authors, it's getting to be that time of year again.  It's almost October and when the rest of the world is gearing up for the insanity that is the Holiday Season, we writers sit down to our computers and begin the 50,000 word journey that is NANOWRIMO!  (National Novel Writing Month.)  If you haven't gotten yourself signed up yet, or if you'd like to try your hand at writing very nearly a whole novel in 30 days, click here!

I was thumbing through my Netflix account the other night and a friend and I were talking about good movies to check out.  I suggested the BBC remake of Charles Dickens' "Bleak House."  I had to caution her because, on Netflix, there are at least two versions of Bleak House, probably more, and I wanted to be sure she found the one I really liked.

That got me to thinking:  Many books are turned into movies over and over, either in true to novel form or in some sort of "inspired by the novel" form.  (Shakespeare inspires way more movies than you might think he does.  My personal favorite is a little thing known as "Scotland, PA."

Then I started thinking about just how many versions of "Pride and Prejudice" or "Wuthering Heights" there are out there, which brought me to my other favorite novel of all time, "Gone with the Wind."

While there might be countless versions of Jane Austen's, Charles Dickens', or the Bronte Sisters' classics, there is only one "Gone With the Wind."

Why?

I'm sure "GWTW" isn't the only classic novel that's only been movied (it's a word...I just made it up) once, but other than recent blockbusters like Harry Potter or Twilight, I can't think of any. Meanwhile, as we approach Christmas, how many movie versions of "A  Christmas Carol" will YOU be watching?

Sometimes it's a matter of getting it wright.  I realize I'm in the minority here, but I think Laurence Olivier is grossly overrated, ESPECIALLY when he plays Heathcliff.  Tom Hardy or Ralph Fiennes do a far better job, but that might just be because of the times.  Olivier worked when actors were just supposed to spew out lines and look good.  The raw, debauched emotions of Heathcliff were hardly appropriate for movie goers back in the day, whereas now I think the movie versions are getting closer to the twisted character Emily Bronte imagined.  (For the record, I think the Tom Hardy "Masterpiece Theater" version is slightly better than the Ralph Fiennes version.)

So why haven't we remade "GWTW?"

It can't just be because those are American novel.  And it can't just be that it's so iconic we don't touch them...it or is?

I know we're still making Civil War movies but I know that much of the reality of the Civil War is softened or touched up or whatever in today's era of "we can't hurt anyone's feelings...ever." 

I might be on to something here.  See, I watched "Roots" recently, and that was made for TV when I was a kid.  MADE FOR TV.  My daughter, aged 16, walked into the room and was horrified that I was watching something using the "N" word.

I'm not defending that word, don't get me wrong.  I don't use it, I think it's horrible.  But it's a word people used in our history and I just don't think we can ever remake those cornerstone Civil War Era movies because today's sensibilities simply will not let us. 

Maybe that's not a bad thing.  Maybe it's okay to leave masterpieces like "GWTW" or "Roots" alone. 

I mean, will there ever be anyone who can be a more perfect Rhett Butler than Clark Gable?

Let's ask Timothy Dalton.

Have we marginalized romantic heroes too much?

Good morning!

Yesterday I went on a rant about how we, ladies, as a gender seemed to have lost our feminine sense of mystery or shame.  In the process of being feminists, we seem to have forgotten how to be feminine.  I used the example of the woman on the radio show who got into an argument on the radio with a man she'd slept with after one date.  While she had no problems admitting she had sex with someone after one date, she was embarrassed and enraged that he didn't call her for a second date...because he didn't like how she had or had not groomed her private regions.

Friends, there is a reason that romance novels, especially historical romance novels, continue to thrive in an era when all other publishing loses ground.  There's a big reason shows like "Downton Abbey" have a massive and rabid following while "edgier"  TV dramas flounder in spite of their sexual

I can't picture any of these ladies griping that someone
didn't ask for a second date because the man didn't
like the way they trimmed their pubic hair.

content and language.  We, and by we I mean women, crave manners.  We crave polite conversation.  We ache for a romantic hero to come save us from this muddled world.

Thing is, we simply cannot admit it.  We are so busy being independent, strong, capable, that we can't admit what we really want is a good looking guy to die in defense of us. 

This trend is seeping into the romance novel world.  When writing my novel "Lies in Chance" I was in a really dark place in my own life.  I ached for someone, anyone to be my hero.

But my critique group had a different direction.  They told me that in today's world, the woman has to rescue herself...otherwise she's looked on as week and not someone today's modern readers are interested in.

I stood fast and held on to my flawed hero, (Because I love flawed heroes), but yes, my heroine became less of a weak girl and more of a strong young woman.  Still, in making the changes I needed to make to fit today's mores, I still wondered...what's the point of having a romantic hero if he 's not allowed to be a hero?

I have to think, since historical romances continue to sell so well, that the idea of a super...wildly handsome...amazingly strong man coming to our aid is not distasteful.  And I see the continued popularity of classic books like "Pride and Prejudice" or "Gone with the Wind."  Yes, the female characters are strong.  But they need a stronger man to save them.  This is really obvious in GWTW because Scarlett can run her own business, fight her own battles, but she is clueless how to open herself up to true love.  P& P is a bit different since Miss Bennett is ready and willing to stand alone in life for her principals.  Still she needs Mr. Darcy to rescue her from a lonely life, just as he needs her to rescue him from the same.

The concept of a mutual rescue is something I cling to because if I allow my heroines to simply rescue themselves all the time...the what's the point of writing a hero?  And if there's no hero...where's the romance?

Which brings us right back to that radio argument, which was decidedly NOT romantic.

Ladies, and I'm talking to the ladies right now, it's perfectly fine to admit you're not the strongest person in the room.  It's okay to admit you like a guy picking up the check, opening the door, maybe even standing up when you enter a room.  Maybe if we let men treat us like ladies, they wouldn't treat us like objects.

And wouldn't THAT be romantic?

Well here's a list that will give you a confidence boost!

Good evening all!

One of the biggest drags...and hence the biggest fears...in writing is the rejection letter.  I have a file of them someplace, mostly, though, I ignore the rejections. Nowadays, it's a rejection email, which isn't much better, and not nearly as satisfying to destroy.  BUT, as they say, every rejection gets you closer to publication.  Even when it doesn't feel like it.

To that end, my friends over a Bachelor Degrees Online hae provided me with a brilliant top forty list of classics and ultra popular books that were once, twice, perhaps more than that, rejected.   We've read most of these, we own most of these, and we've seen the movies for most of these books.  In short, inspite of the initial reaction, these books are huge success stories.

Enjoy...take heart....and ignore the fact that Moby Dick is on the list.  Face it...sometimes editors and agents do get it right the first time. 

40 Famous Manuscripts That Were Rejected At First

 

It is one of the weird quirks of literature that people who don't necessarily have the skills to write epic masterpieces themselves are put in charge of deciding what gets published and what gets canned. No doubt they have a difficult job and they correctly weed out much material that does not need to be inflicted on the public. And yet, from time to time, editors make some of the absolute worst decisions that future generations look back on and say, "What on earth were they thinking?" Persistence paid off for the authors of these 40 manuscripts who refused to take no for an answer and were rewarded in the end.

1. A Confederacy of Dunces by John Kennedy Toole: The Pulitzer Prize-winning, cult classic novel was rejected by multiple publishing companies, including, famously, Simon & Schuster. In despair of ever getting it printed, Toole committed suicide.
2. Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone by J.K. Rowling: The first Harry Potter book was turned down by multiple publishers, including Penguin and HarperCollins.
3. Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance by Robert Pirsig: This incredibly well-known book only exists thanks to the persistence of its author, who endured more than 120 rejections before finding a publisher.
4. Watership Down by Richard Adams: Now Penguin Books' best-selling novel ever, Richard Adams' classic story was rejected by 13 publishers, some of whom later sent him "groveling letters."
5. The Tale of Peter Rabbit by Beatrix Potter: Upon seven publishers declining to give her a book deal, Ms. Potter published her book herself. More than 150 million copies have been sold since.
6. Twilight by Stephanie Meyer: Of the 15 manuscript copies Meyer sent out, nine were rejected and five had no response. Only one (wise) company wanted to meet with her.
7. Animal Farm by George Orwell: If T.S. Eliot had had his way, Animal Farm would never have seen the light of day. As the head of publisher Faber and Faber, Eliot called the manuscript "unconvincing."
8. A Wrinkle in Time by Madeleine L'Engle: Twenty-six publishers wish they could travel back in time and not reject this beloved children's book that has sold 10 million copies in the U.S. alone.
9. The Help by Kathryn Stockett: Kathryn Stockett was fanatical about getting an agent to represent her and her book The Help, even working on her manuscript while in labor with her daughter. Finally, after 60 no's, she got her "yes."
10. Carrie by Stephen King: The prolific writer got so many no's (30) for his first attempt at a novel he threw it in the trash. Luckily his wife fished it out.
11. Catch-22 by Joseph Heller: One publisher's rejection letter said this book was "not funny on any intellectual level." Today the book is recognized as one of the best novels of all time and the title itself is a household phrase.
12. Jonathan Livingston Seagull by Richard Bach: This short fable about a seagull by a retired Air Force pilot was rejected 40 times before an editor at Macmillan took it under her wing and helped it become a classic.
13. Chicken Soup for the Soul by Jack Canfield and Mark Victor Hansen: Canfield and Hansen heard from 123 publishers that their book had a stupid title, had no sex or violence, and no one would read it.
14. The Shack by William P. Young: Publishers either found this book too Christian or not Christian enough. So 15 photocopied editions led to a self-publishing company and eventually 15 million copies sold.
15. Gone with the Wind by Margaret Mitchell: Nearly 40 publishers wished they had given a damn about Mitchell's Civil War drama when it grossed more than $1 million and won a Pulitzer in its first year.
16. MASH: A Novel About Three Army Doctors by Richard Hooker: We never would have had one of the greatest TV shows in history if Richard Hooker had been deterred by the 21 publishers who turned down his book.
17. Dune by Frank Herbert: More than 20 foolish publishers turned down Frank Herbert's classic that would become the highest-selling science fiction novel of all time, at more than 12 million copies sold worldwide.
18. The Autobiography of Alice B. Toklas by Gertrude Stein: Stein's only bestseller received a famous, rude rejection letter from a publisher who turned her down by mocking her trademark style of repetition of simple sentences.
19. A Time to Kill by John Grisham: On his way to becoming a master novelist, Grisham's first book racked up rejections from 16 literary agents and 12 publishers before landing a deal.
20. Lord of the Flies by William Golding: Although Faber & Faber would eventually publish the book, the first reviewer called this book "rubbish and dull" and "pointless."
21. Atlas Shrugged by Ayn Rand: Rand was already a successful writer when her publisher, who had first rights to her new book, declared it "unsaleable and unpublishable." The book has since been called the second most influential book ever, behind only the Bible.
22. The Diary of a Young Girl by Anne Frank: As crazy as it sounds, 16 publishers declined to buy the story of Anne Frank's experiences in World War II. Doubleday's risk paid off as the book has sold more than 30 million copies to date.
23. Moby Dick by Herman Melville: Publishers initially told Melville his long book about whaling was "not at all suitable for the juvenile market." Ninth-graders everywhere wish he had listened.
24. Dubliners by James Joyce: Because of the edgy content, this classic by James Joyce was not an easy sell. He was shot down 22 times before landing a deal with Grant Richards Ltd.
25. The Spy Who Came in From the Cold by John le Carré: Now known as one of the finest novels of the genre, one publisher rejected the book while saying of le Carré, "He hasn't got any future."
26. Lolita by Vladimir Nabokov: One publisher said of this book, "I recommend that it be buried under a stone for a thousand years." If it had been, one of the best books of all time would have been lost.
27. The Hunt for Red October by Tom Clancy: Alec Baldwin should thank Tom Clancy for being persistent. Without Clancy believing in his book through 12 rejections, there never would have been the bestseller or the great movie.
28. On the Road by Jack Kerouac: The book that defined a generation went through a seven-year gauntlet of rejection from publishers who were put off by the book's talk of sex and drugs.
29. Kon-Tiki by Thor Heyerdahl: Twenty rejections from publishers didn't stop this true account of men adrift at sea from making it into book form in 66 different languages.
30. Auntie Mame by Patrick Dennis: Auntie Mame was on the receiving end of 15 rejection letters for being too outrageous, but it became a bestseller, selling 2 million copies in its first run.
31. The Jungle Book by Rudyard Kipling: Kipling's timeless story was rejected multiple times, with one publisher commenting that Kipling did not even understand the English language.
32. The Life of Pi by Yann Martel: It would later rack up awards like the Booker Prize, but The Life of Pi met with unbelievers at five publishing houses before breaking through.
33. Naked Lunch by William S. Burroughs: At first, publisher Olympia Press turned down Burroughs' book as too controversial. However, when excerpts were sent through the mail and the postmaster general called it obscene material, all the attention got Olympia interested again and they agreed to print the book.
34. The Giving Tree by Shel Silverstein: In a classic case of getting it exactly wrong, editor William Cole rejected this beloved children's book because he thought it fell in between the interests of kids and adults and wouldn't sell.
35. Dances with Wolves by Michael Blake: Michael Blake lived out of his car while struggling to finish Wolves, and then every major publisher rejected it. Of course, lucky for him, a young man named Kevin Costner found a copy and the rest is history.
36. Lust for Life by Irving Stone: On its winding road to selling 25 million copies, Lust for Life was denied 16 times by publishers, with one calling it "a long, dull novel about an artist."
37. Anne of Green Gables by Lucy Maud Montgomery: Countless girls read this book or watched the made-for-TV movie based on it. But Montgomery was turned down by five publishers before securing a book deal.
38. The House of the Spirits by Isabel Allende: On the advice of a receptionist at a publishing house, whose company she told Allende would never publish the book, Allende found an agent who helped her sell it despite "nobody" wanting to read it.
39. Flowers For Algernon by Daniel Keyes: This moving short story that has been made into movies, plays, and TV shows almost never saw book form. It was rejected by five publishers over the course of a year.
40. The Princess Diaries by Meg Cabot: Cabot says her novel was rejected by "almost every publishing house in America." But she persevered and the book and its sequels have sold millions of copies and been translated to the silver screen.