April is six months away, and so is the release of Stone House Farm. Here's a short excerpt:
“What could you possibly know about my situation?” Amanda said. “And how does any of this involve you?”
The smile never faltered. “I understand it is a very generous offer.”
Amanda’s rage fired anew. Melisa had no part in this, and her opinion was not only unneeded, but also unwanted. “Generous if I were willing to sell out what my family has worked generations to build. I’m not.” Amanda turned back to Wade Preston, grabbed the letter from his hand and clutched it in her fist.
His frowning gaze turned to Amanda, his brows lowering until they nearly touched. “I don’t know what you are alleging. As I said, this is an offer at fair-market price for your property.”
“You missed the threat of an eminent domain seizure. I don’t care what dirty tricks you try with the bank, or the county Planning Department, or the Commissioners, or the township board. I will fight you every step of the way.”
“Then you better hire a lawyer,” Melisa cut in with a practiced tinkling sound that substituted for a laugh.
“Melisa…” Wade’s tone held a warning and his scowl deepened.
Amanda kept her regard on Wade, hoping her expression said I won’t back down. If she hadn’t been so pumped with adrenaline she wouldn’t have felt so defiant, but Melisa’s confidence ate at her self-assurance. Her diffident side advised retreat. Having said what she wanted, she turned on her heel and swept out of the office, escaping any further humiliation.
Tuesday, November 10, 2009
Wednesday, November 4, 2009
Yep, God help me, another new cat
No one sleeps with the peace and relaxation of babies. Here is Fred sleeping. He doesn't look particularly comfortable with his head and shoulders hanging off the pillow like that, but he is sound asleep.Being the youngest, you'd think Fred would be at the bottom of the pecking order. However, Fred is pretty much king of the roost through sheer charm and stubbornness. He has even inveigled the old toms Jack and Tom into playing with him. When Fred wants food, he demands first share. Fred is first to any bowl or plate; he owns an utterly voracious appetite. He climbs into the middle of the plate spreading his legs out as far as they will go, and growls at anyone who attempts to take a bite before he is finished. He is also a obstinate little cuss. We're not going to get along unless he learns some manners!
Tuesday, November 3, 2009
After the last post...
Talk about a prophetic post! (Well, not quite, I'm not going to die tomorrow!) I learned shortly after the last post that I have Hepatitis C, a so far incurable viral disease; except, there is a very expensive treatment that works 50% of the time. Hepatitis C is a liver disease, it slowly destroys the liver with scar tissue. Bummer! After the initial shock, (after all, I didn't partake of the usual causes of this disease -- indiscriminate sex or using dirty needles with illegal drugs) I've decided all I can do is go on, make plans, finish projects, live day to day, and remember no matter how bad a day might be, it is still precious.
I probably received this virus through a blood transfusion before there were blood tests to eliminate it from the nation's blood supply. I have guilt over the fact that I gave blood after my accident. I hope no one has this disease because they received my blood.
At this point, I'm still fairly healthy. I have to work to stay healthy; exercise, change my diet, and no alcohol. The healthier I am, the better my body can fight the virus.
I probably received this virus through a blood transfusion before there were blood tests to eliminate it from the nation's blood supply. I have guilt over the fact that I gave blood after my accident. I hope no one has this disease because they received my blood.
At this point, I'm still fairly healthy. I have to work to stay healthy; exercise, change my diet, and no alcohol. The healthier I am, the better my body can fight the virus.
Tuesday, August 25, 2009
The WHAT? Moment
On death, survivors and secrets.
Someday most us have to weed through the possessions our parents or other loved ones left behind. In most cases, their stuff will be familiar—the furniture, cars, boats, and other vehicles, perhaps their craft tools, and the objects, photos and art they kept on display. Drawers and closets hold the products people buy, use and keep: clothes, shoes, health care, beauty and cleaning products. Some things bring sweet memories. Others we deem junk and wonder why our loved one kept whatever object we’ve decided is junk. Finally, there is the what-the-hell object.
I remember my mother was going through her mother’s dressing table when she found Grandma’s what-the-hell object. The second drawer down on the left side held a stone—a good-sized stone, too, smooth and round in shape. My grandmother had MS for the seventeen years I knew her, she was tied to a wheelchair. This was in the days before handicap accessibility ramps, which wouldn’t have changed anything for Grandma because wouldn’t leave her house. She didn’t want anyone, especially the neighbors, to see her disability.
That rock had been in her dresser for decades. I know she sat at that dresser every night, so this rock was always close at hand. It must have held an inherent emotional memory for her, but no one living knew what. The rock was returned to the wild, where I guess it belonged. That wasn’t the only WHAT? moment Grandma left her children. They discovered a marriage certificate and not one with Grandpa’s name on it. She had been married before. Apparently, the marriage was annulled. Surprise!
We all have secrets. Many of us keep objects to cherish the memories they represent. As a pack rack, I tend to keep lots of stuff. I’m at an age that I can see an ending closer than a beginning, understand mortality. I’m sorting through my possessions, trying to get rid of the unwanted and unnecessary, let my kids know their great uncle who died in the Korean War made that table in high school type of information. Will they care? But I’m sure I have many stones, too. It’s amazing how many items have the WHAT? quality to them. If I value something so much, maybe I’d better leave a record of why it was special. How many WHAT? items have you stowed away in closets and drawers? Anyone know why you keep each one? Do you want them to know?
Someday most us have to weed through the possessions our parents or other loved ones left behind. In most cases, their stuff will be familiar—the furniture, cars, boats, and other vehicles, perhaps their craft tools, and the objects, photos and art they kept on display. Drawers and closets hold the products people buy, use and keep: clothes, shoes, health care, beauty and cleaning products. Some things bring sweet memories. Others we deem junk and wonder why our loved one kept whatever object we’ve decided is junk. Finally, there is the what-the-hell object.
I remember my mother was going through her mother’s dressing table when she found Grandma’s what-the-hell object. The second drawer down on the left side held a stone—a good-sized stone, too, smooth and round in shape. My grandmother had MS for the seventeen years I knew her, she was tied to a wheelchair. This was in the days before handicap accessibility ramps, which wouldn’t have changed anything for Grandma because wouldn’t leave her house. She didn’t want anyone, especially the neighbors, to see her disability.
That rock had been in her dresser for decades. I know she sat at that dresser every night, so this rock was always close at hand. It must have held an inherent emotional memory for her, but no one living knew what. The rock was returned to the wild, where I guess it belonged. That wasn’t the only WHAT? moment Grandma left her children. They discovered a marriage certificate and not one with Grandpa’s name on it. She had been married before. Apparently, the marriage was annulled. Surprise!
We all have secrets. Many of us keep objects to cherish the memories they represent. As a pack rack, I tend to keep lots of stuff. I’m at an age that I can see an ending closer than a beginning, understand mortality. I’m sorting through my possessions, trying to get rid of the unwanted and unnecessary, let my kids know their great uncle who died in the Korean War made that table in high school type of information. Will they care? But I’m sure I have many stones, too. It’s amazing how many items have the WHAT? quality to them. If I value something so much, maybe I’d better leave a record of why it was special. How many WHAT? items have you stowed away in closets and drawers? Anyone know why you keep each one? Do you want them to know?
Monday, July 13, 2009
New Book Contract
While I've been mulling over my thoughts about the mythic journey the characters of Pride and Prejudice (see previous posts) take, I received a contract for my first contemporary romance. Except I've learned it will be classified as a romantic suspense story.
Next April, check out STONE HOUSE FARM at Champagne Books! My first impression has been what a great company. The story is set in Manistee, Michigan. Hopefully the first of several Michigan romances.
Here's a teaser:
Wade’s eyelids flickered, but he didn’t respond.
Amanda continued shouting at him, unable to stop even though she doubted he heard. She pulled his body on the sled. His eyelids fluttered again, then his eyes opened.
He raised his head and his gaze locked on her. “You!” His soft, hoarse outcry cost him, his head fell back in a helpless fashion and his eyes closed to mere slits. He gasped as she pushed him further on the sled, his face grimacing, his eyelids scrunched shut.
“Why not me? You’re trespassing on my property.”
Wade’s words came thick and slow. “That why you shot me?”
Of course, an important part of the story is a stone farmhouse. Already in edits! Can't wait to see the cover!
Next April, check out STONE HOUSE FARM at Champagne Books! My first impression has been what a great company. The story is set in Manistee, Michigan. Hopefully the first of several Michigan romances.
Here's a teaser:
Wade’s eyelids flickered, but he didn’t respond.
Amanda continued shouting at him, unable to stop even though she doubted he heard. She pulled his body on the sled. His eyelids fluttered again, then his eyes opened.
He raised his head and his gaze locked on her. “You!” His soft, hoarse outcry cost him, his head fell back in a helpless fashion and his eyes closed to mere slits. He gasped as she pushed him further on the sled, his face grimacing, his eyelids scrunched shut.
“Why not me? You’re trespassing on my property.”
Wade’s words came thick and slow. “That why you shot me?”
~*~
Of course, an important part of the story is a stone farmhouse. Already in edits! Can't wait to see the cover!
Monday, June 8, 2009
Domestication
I know I am off my own topic, which I plan to return to, but I had to post this.
As a cat owner, I just had to read this article in June 2009, Scientific American Magazine, The Evolution of House Cats. Authors Carlos A. Driscoll, Juliet Clutton-Brock, Andrew C. Kitchener and Stephen J. O'Brien discuss their research into the genetic and archaeological findings. They give a creditable argument that house cats developed earlier than the Egyptian times previously thought. It was interesting to say the least. One sentence really caught my eye:
"And as to utility to humans, let us just say cats do not take instruction well. Such attributes suggest that whereas other domesticates were recruited from the wild by humans who bred them for specific tasks, cats most likely chose to live among humans because of opportunities they found for themselves." See whole article here.
I started laughing. Opportunists? Cats? I definitely believe cats chose to live among humans. To say we have domesticated cats is a mistaken notion. The truth is: cats domesticated us. They find us very useful. Good owners provide their cat owner's every need. While they are often neutered by their 'owner,' enough humans do nothing about their cats' sexuality, providing ample means to keep the species going. Yes, cats usually ignore orders of any type. They only hunt creatures humans consider vermin at their own leisure. Who else works just for a few contented purrs from their cat? And yes, there are not perhaps as many good 'owners' as cats might wish, but enough to keep millions of cats happy. The rest keep hunting.
Sunday, April 26, 2009
Where The Story Starts 2
So how does this work? I’ve taken three romance stories many people have read. Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen, published in 1813; at the very beginning or romance writing. Devil’s Cub by Georgette Heyer, published in 1932, one of the first historical romances and Legally Blonde, the movie, released June 2001 based on a novel by Amanda Brown, a romantic comedy.
Why not use science fiction or fantasy stories? Because that’s where you expect to find mythological and folktale characteristics. If the precepts of the hero’s journey work, they should work with all genre and all media.
Opening sentences Pride and Prejudice:
“It is a truth universally acknowledged, that a single man in possession of a good fortune must be in want of a wife. However little know the feelings or views of such a man may be on his first entering a neighbourhood, this truth is so well fixed in the minds of the surrounding families, that he is considered the rightful property of some one or other of their daughters.”
Within two sentences Jane Austin has established her setting (Austen’s contemporary society) – a typical upper class neighborhood. This is the ordinary world of the heroine. Austin also indicates the journey about to be taken.
Opening sentence from Devil’s Cub:
“There was only one occupant of the couch, a gentleman who sprawled very much at his ease, with his legs stretched out before him, and his hands dug deep in the capacious pockets of his greatcoat. While the coach rattled over the cobbled streets of the town, the light from an occasional lantern or flambeau momentarily lit the interior of the vehicle and made a diamond pin or a pair of very large shoe-buckles flash, but since the gentleman lounging in the coach wore his gold-edged hat tilted low over his eyes, his face remained in shadow.”
I had forgotten the way this story started. I’ve always considered it Mary’s (the heroine) journey. And while most romances are about the heroine’s journey, Devil’s Cub is about the hero’s journey. That is why the story starts in Dominic’s very exclusive self-centered world. It’s his world that changes. While you might think his abduction of Mary significantly changes her world, it doesn’t. Mary remains the same character as when she first walks into the story.
From Legally Blonde opening scene:
A pretty girl in close fitting clothes riding a bicycle with an envelope addressed to “Elle in the basket. She is riding through a college town, passing frat boys and pulls into a sorority house. Scenes shift between typical happenings in the sorority. Hawaiian singer Hoku sings “It’s a Perfect Day.” (It’s a perfect day, nothing standing in my way.)
Everything about this is so upbeat. Elle Woods, the heroine, has a perfect life. She is blonde, beautiful and lives on the surface of life with few cares and expectation that only good can come her way.
So there you have it, openings showing the ordinary world that is about to change as the world of adventure calls.
Why not use science fiction or fantasy stories? Because that’s where you expect to find mythological and folktale characteristics. If the precepts of the hero’s journey work, they should work with all genre and all media.
Opening sentences Pride and Prejudice:
“It is a truth universally acknowledged, that a single man in possession of a good fortune must be in want of a wife. However little know the feelings or views of such a man may be on his first entering a neighbourhood, this truth is so well fixed in the minds of the surrounding families, that he is considered the rightful property of some one or other of their daughters.”
Within two sentences Jane Austin has established her setting (Austen’s contemporary society) – a typical upper class neighborhood. This is the ordinary world of the heroine. Austin also indicates the journey about to be taken.
Opening sentence from Devil’s Cub:
“There was only one occupant of the couch, a gentleman who sprawled very much at his ease, with his legs stretched out before him, and his hands dug deep in the capacious pockets of his greatcoat. While the coach rattled over the cobbled streets of the town, the light from an occasional lantern or flambeau momentarily lit the interior of the vehicle and made a diamond pin or a pair of very large shoe-buckles flash, but since the gentleman lounging in the coach wore his gold-edged hat tilted low over his eyes, his face remained in shadow.”
I had forgotten the way this story started. I’ve always considered it Mary’s (the heroine) journey. And while most romances are about the heroine’s journey, Devil’s Cub is about the hero’s journey. That is why the story starts in Dominic’s very exclusive self-centered world. It’s his world that changes. While you might think his abduction of Mary significantly changes her world, it doesn’t. Mary remains the same character as when she first walks into the story.
From Legally Blonde opening scene:
A pretty girl in close fitting clothes riding a bicycle with an envelope addressed to “Elle in the basket. She is riding through a college town, passing frat boys and pulls into a sorority house. Scenes shift between typical happenings in the sorority. Hawaiian singer Hoku sings “It’s a Perfect Day.” (It’s a perfect day, nothing standing in my way.)
Everything about this is so upbeat. Elle Woods, the heroine, has a perfect life. She is blonde, beautiful and lives on the surface of life with few cares and expectation that only good can come her way.
So there you have it, openings showing the ordinary world that is about to change as the world of adventure calls.
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