Don't mind me, I'm just thinking.

I was wondering the other day what I would sound like as a writer if I wrote in first person.

I currently do not. I write in third person. I have two characters and I switch back and forth in their heads. Sometimes there are secondary characters that I hear from, but not often.

I think when I used to write stories in high school I did write them in first person. I can't prove it cause I don't have them any longer. I threw them all out a gazillion years ago.

But most of the time my female character was me so it would make sense if I wrote it that way. 

It was always me chasing after some guy (just like real life).

But of course the guys in the stories were completely unobtainable and I just happened upon them and they fell madly in love with me.


Convenient.


I don't know why, when I started my first book, that I immediately gravitated to the third person. I guess it didn't really occur to me to say 'I' at all.


I wouldn't change the current story that I am working on but maybe the next thing I could try would be in first person. 


I suppose this blog is actually me writing in first person, but it's really about me and all my bullshit so that doesn't count.


I wonder what kind of woman I would write about. Strong, broken, witty, sarcastic. Maybe she would be the woman I always wanted to be. It would certainly be interesting.


I still haven't heard a word from HQN. It's so hard to wait for a reply. I have never claimed to be a patient person.

It's 2010 and I'm waiting months for a yes or no response from one of the largest publishers on the planet.

I wonder if they ever work in 'real time' or if they are always this far behind.

I really want to send my book to Carina Press and say 'damn the consequences' but I know I should play by the rules or it will bite me in the ass later. 

So, I wait.

No discipline!

I'm pretty confident that I won't get any writing accomplished this morning.

No discipline!

If I sit down at the computer and don't go directly to my story, I'm pretty much screwed. 

I get caught up on Facebook and Twitter and all the blogs that I like to read. I send emails and check the news and before you know it, time is up and I have to do 'real world' stuff.

I did get some good writing in yesterday. I may have been able to do more but I found myself on the internet doing research for some crime scene supplies and that just takes up a lot of time. I bookmarked the sites so when I need them again it won't take as long but the damage was done for yesterday.

I do need to do a little research today too. It's probably what I should be doing instead of writing on the blog.

No discipline!


Maybe I could hire someone to stand over me and yell at me if I stray from my writing.

Maybe you only get that option if you publish!

I SO call bullshit!

This is where I have trouble pretending to be a 'writer'.

I don't agree with all these freaking rules.

Excuse me while I rant!

I'm sort of old but not completely old yet.

I have been reading romance novels since I was an early teen. (Back then they were the kind with the heaving bosoms and the throbbing members.)

But this, as my husband would say, chaps my ass.

I keep reading these statements: Don't add a sex scene to your book unless it changes things or moves things along in the story. There must be a reason for the sex.

So, here is my take...sometimes people, especially when they are getting to know each other or falling in love, have sex.

FOR. NO. REASON.

Certainly not just to move the plot along!

Sometimes they just can't keep their hands off each other.

Sometimes they can say more with sex than they can with words.

Sometimes they just want to have sex!

Gratuitous sex scenes wouldn't cause me to stop reading someone's story.

I can't imagine saying to myself, "Sex again? Really? Why would that be in a romance novel?"

Maybe, it's me.

So, I re-wired it!!

I've read a lot about character names.
I have spent many laborious hours on websites searching for just the right name for my characters.
The male character name that sounds great if the female character has to shout it out to save his life.
The female character name that sounds great when the male character whispers it in the dark.

In my opinion, great names can equal great characters.
It's very important.

When I think about my characters I think about them by name.
When I think about my next scenes and what the characters might do I think of them by name. 

Well, I was getting pretty sick of Devin.

I really did like this name.
It's Irish, which I 'm fond of.
It's a strong name. 
It's kind of exotic sounding.

But, it wasn't working. It didn't fit her. She is fun and flirty and this name was hard and uninteresting.
And, if I said it to people in conversation, they thought she was a boy. 
No good.

So, I changed her name.
25,000 or so words into the story and I used Find/Replace and changed her name.
To what? 
I'm so glad you asked!
Maggie.
What????
Maggie. Maggie for Margaret.
But, Heather, didn't you use Margaret in your last book?
Again, I'm glad you asked.
Yes, I did. Margaret was the mother of my last main female character.
So, I changed her name too!
You're just all kinds of crazy!
Yep, I surely am.
Now Margaret is Claire and Devin is Margaret. Well, Maggie.

I can hear him in my head. Do you know who I am talking about?
Gabriel Byrne.
Point of no return. 
Maggie for Margaret.
I loved when he said that.

Moving on. 

So, I fixed my name problem. I re-wrote some of the criminal elements and I'm right back where I started the other day. 
BUT!!!
I should have a clearer direction of where I need to go next.

Should.
 

HOLY CRAP! When did it get to be Wednesday?

What the hell?
When did that happen?

I had to spend a few days doing work that actually makes money so I have not been able to write or blog or write!

EEEEK!

I will have to make up for it in the next few days.

It's also that time of year when the magic box in the living room starts showing all of my favorite TV shows again! YEAH!!! It's very distracting but I try to remind myself that TV holds an important place in our lives.

First, I am a child of the 70's/80's and there is no doubt that I grew up in front of the box and continue to be its slave.

And like reading, we use TV to escape our daily stresses, to use our imaginations and to be entertained.

I love being entertained!
-------------------------
I may not have been writing but I have been thinking about my book's criminal element.

I was talking about the plot with my 'editor' SUZ and she was trying to figure out why my 'bad guy' did bad things.

I reminded her that some people were just bad or evil or worse.
Maybe there wasn't an explanation.
Maybe there were too many explanations.

But her unease at the reasons behind the crimes I have already written about have stayed with me.

I will have to come up with some juicier tidbits then to make us all happy.

Guess it will be time to stalk the FBI website again!

Read through a lot of blogs this morning trying to catch up. So much good information out there. I'm bad with leaving comments though. I really need to do that more often.