When it comes to TV shows I have a different view. Especially if they’re crime shows. CSI has spoiled me for stuff like that. Now every time I see a crime show I EXPECT them to flashback and actually show me how the crime was committed, not just explain it to me. I’m a visual person, I want to see it. The boyfriend and I have been watching Jonathan Creek and I’m thrilled that they use the flashback technique to show you how things were done. Love it!

All that said, or I guess written , I’m on the fence about flashbacks in literature. Done well they are a great tool to give insight into a character or reveal backstory that needs to be known. But is it necessary for the reader to always “see” that information? Sprinkling that backstory in narrative or putting it in dialogue keeps the reader in the story’s present and doesn’t interrupt the flow. Of course maybe the writer wanted to slow the pace and used a flashback as a tool to do that and give important information at the same time.

The story I’m reading now has at least one flashback. It was done well. I forgot I was reading a flashback until the character came back to the present and the story continued. If a writer is going to use them they should be very careful about when they use them and how the flashback is triggered. The flashback themselves should be tense and have conflict. The one I read didn’t feel like a flashback, it didn’t feel like it was slowing the pace. And it gave me information I’m sure I’ll need to know later even if I don’t quite understand it right now.

Readers, do you like flashbacks? Hate them? Writers, do you use them in your writing?

I’m off to work.

Until next time…

Cindy

National Geographic Channel Canada is having space week this week. I can’t tell you how excited I am about that. I love shows about space. And there are so many of them this week. The boyfriend isn’t too happy about the amount of space my space shows are taking up on the PVR though. I had no choice though. We were busy organizing the house and wouldn’t be able to watch them all. Plus some of them (Aftermath, the one on the Big Bang) could help with revisions with one story and research for another.

So let’s see, what did I tape. A ton of episodes of The Known Universe, Aftermath, Death of The Universe, Monster of the Milky Way, Origins: Back to the Beginning, Origins: Where are the Aliens, Alien Worlds. And there were probably more. I can’t wait to watch them all. Who knows when that will be though. Way too much to do around the house and with the writing to watch much television.

I’m off to get ready for my writing sprint.

Until next time…

Cindy

The first episode was about a fire breathing dragon that terrorized Poland in the seventh century. It had scales that made it impenetrable to swords. It breathed fire and charred everything in its path. It had jaws
that could crush a bison. And it could fly. The creature was called Dragon Smok. Many knights tried to kill it. Sacrifices were made. A cobbler named Krak came up with a plan to kill the beast. The dragon liked to eat things whole. Krak stuffed a sheep with sulphur and planted it for the dragon to find. Sure enough the dragon swallowed the sheep whole. The meal expanded in the dragon’s stomach and Dragon Smok died.
To honour the cobbler the Polish now bears his name: Krakow.

One of the things I loved about the show was that they tried to recreate this beast. They searched for animals that had the characteristics of the dragon and put them all together in a 3D modeling computer. They even tried to figure out how they could make it breath fire. It was fascinating stuff. I’m looking forward to seeing some of the other beasts in the series.

This post was way late so it’s time for bed.

Until next time…

Cindy

My pet peeve is the stripper thing. I’ve read ONE book that got it right. There are a surprising number of books out there that include strippers at some point. I knew the stereotypes for strippers and strip clubs. Before I worked in one (as a bartender) I believed them all. But you might be surprised at how they actually work. And the strip clubs where men take off their clothes are WAY worse than the ones where women take off their clothes.

You have to do research even if you write short stories. Who knew? Certainly not me. But then I got an idea for a short story and I can’t write it without researching – of all things – spiders. Shudder. On my short mystery loop someone was asking research questions about guns. Yay for wanting to get the facts right!

I love it when authors at least try to get it right. I know of many writers who have taken citizen police academy classes (me included) so they can get the crime stuff right. Yes, they’ll tweak things for the sake of the story. They might change something because they need to for a plot point or to help with the pacing. When they do that though I like to know at the beginning. A little note from the author saying they changed certain things for the sake of the story is all that’s needed.

So the next time you put something in your book where someone could go – Wait a minute, that’s not how it is – please, please, please research it first. And for anyone thinking of putting a stripper in their book, please do me and my walls a favour and don’t just talk to people who have been to strip joints. Actually go to one and see how it works. You might be surprised.

Off to work.

Until next time…

Cindy

Then we settled in on some television watching. I’ve always been a TV snob but for the wrong reasons. Before it was for the production value. I love being Canadian but I hated Canadian TV. Until Flashpoint and The Border. Those were good shows and didn’t look typically Canadian unless there was a shot of the CN Tower. But now I’m a TV snob for good writing. Not just good. Brilliant. British TV is the absolute best. We’ve been watching an old show called Jonathan Creek. Love it. It kind of reminds me of Murder, She Wrote only WAY better. And it’s not so hard to believe he’d be looking into the murders in the episodes. I love a good murder mystery. And these are really good.

We watched more episodes of Merlin. Love that too. I’ve always loved historicals. And King Arthur and Camelot have always intrigued me. Of course this is before Arthur is king. I’m loving it so far and my only complaint is that we don’t get the episodes here at the same time as they air in the UK.

Next up was a new show. Sherlock. All I can say for that one is BRILLIANT! The Sherlock character is great. I love the characterization. I love the dialogue. I love the interaction between Holmes and Dr. Watson. I’m so glad there’s going to be more of that show.

And of course we can’t forget Doctor Who. Amazing show. I can’t wait for that to come back. As with all the other shows my one complaint is we don’t get it here right away. I just hope we don’t end up months behind like we’ve been in the past.

Because of the boyfriend I’ve been watching a lot of British TV. And I have to say most of it is really, really good. The dramas, the comedies. Great television.

I’m off to work now. Can’t wait to see what we’ll be watching tonight.

Until next time…

Cindy

The story goes that a girl wears a new dress to a dance. During the evening she feels faint several times and gets her escort to take her outside for fresh air. Sometime later in the evening she becomes very ill and dies in the bathroom. Later investigation reveals the dress came from a deceased girl. The dress had been removed from the body just before burial. The formaldehyde from the dead girl seeped into the dress and then the girl at the party.

In the CSI: NY episode it was a wedding dress. And I think a man actually died first because he was wearing a suit stolen from a dead guy. I think it was also on Urban Legends (love that show) Of course the legend has been proven not to be true. But it did give me ideas for stories.

Well, this was really late and now it’s time for bed. Next week’s posts should be on time.

Until next time…

Cindy

I finally got all of my random scenes (aka the Nano mess) into my Write It Now software. I also inserted all the chapters I had already written when I was writing in order. I moved stuff around. Figured out what chapters the random scenes needed to go into. Created some new chapters. Chapter ten is currently only two paragraphs so that one will need some work. I was so happy it was finally all there. But then I needed to compile it into one document complete with page numbers and chapter breaks so I could see what I actually had.

I printed up the document yesterday and was pleased to see I had 207 pages. So I’m more than half finished. Now I need to add about 40,000 words. First, I need to read those pages and see where the gaping holes are in the story. I had a writing meeting last night where we discussed my book and I realized by their questions there are things I need to address in the book that I haven’t. I actually can’t wait to go through and read what I have. I can’t wait to fill in the holes and finish this sucker so I can start on the next book.

The reading will have to wait though. It’s past my bed time.

Until next time…

Cindy

After suffering through the whole movie I decided there was nothing remarkable about it. Nothing really new when it came to the vampire mythology except the whole sparkling thing. The story was predictable. It was over acted. The dialogue was horrible. Even though I can’t see what all the fuss is about I can see why teenage girls would like it. The movie (and I’m assuming the book) tapped into all those teenage girl fantasies. But there was so much about the story I just didn’t buy. I won’t be reading the books and I doubt I’ll be seeing any of the other movies. Somehow though I don’t think Stephanie Meyer needs my help. I’m sure she’s laughing all the way to the bank.

Next up on Friday was Paranormal Activity. I wanted to know what all the fuss was there too. And, I still don’t know. I was waiting for something scary to happen. And I kept waiting. It started off slow. They tried to quicken the pace but it never quite worked for me. The whole movie had maybe two actual scary moments. And of course the little message on the screen at the end didn’t have any shock value for me since I’ve seen the trailers for Paranormal Activity 2.

Sunday brought us Frequently Asked Questions About Time Travel. Loved it! It was well written, funny. I love science fiction. I love time travel. It didn’t feel like a time travel movie I’d seen a million times before. And I would probably watch it again.

Last up for the weekend was The Men Who Stare at Goats. Hmmm. Weird movie. It wasn’t overly bad. But it wasn’t overly good either. It was just okay. I think it could have been a lot better than it was. Of course I feel that way about most movies I watch.

Well, off to work. It’s going to be a crazy, busy week.

Until next time…

Cindy

Gargoyles have been around for a long time. A very long time. They can be traced back to ancient Egypt and Rome. But they are more commonly associated with the middle ages as well as gothic architecture. The gargoyle is actually the hollowed out stone carved grotesque used as a water spout. The carvings not used as a water spout are simply called grotesques. Commonly found standing guard on top of churches, they were believed to ward off evil. So how could they ward off evil? Well, they’re hideous and can frighten off almost anything. They come alive at night and can protect you while you’re sleeping. They return to their perch when the sun comes up so no one is the wiser.

I like some of the guesses for the origin of gargoyles on the Gargoyle Etymology & History page. The rainwater plumbing is practical. But some of my favourites include the idea that they were carved out of mischief, retribution for not paying the stone carver, caricatures of local townspeople.

I’m not going to go into all the history, religious and architectural. There’s way too much out there for this little post. But check out some of the links from the post is you want to know more. Looking into gargoyles has nudged my muse and got the creative juices flowing. Not that my muse needed any help of course. I already have enough to write about. But now I’m thinking there might be a gargoyle story in my future.

Well, off to get some work done.

Until next time…

Cindy

I’m taking two online workshops right now on how to be more productive. Yes, one isn’t enough for me, that’s how much help I need. For one we had to list what gets in the way of writing. After looking at my list I realized the only thing that gets in the way is me. I could be more disciplined. The boyfriend is very supportive. He asks me if I’ve done my words for the day. We share the cooking. He does the laundry. There’s no reason I can’t write more in the evenings. The second had us write out our schedule for the day. I looked at that and realized how much time I wasted on email and Facebook. It really isn’t necessary to hit the refresh on email every two minutes. Or hit the refresh on Facebook every five minutes.

If I want to accomplish my goals of finishing one novel, one screenplay and six short stories I have to get cracking. So far I’ve finished three short stories and submitted one. Which is actually more than I had done in the past year and a half. I’ve got another short story on the go. I have my novel input into my Write It Now software so I can figure out what’s missing. And I’ve got 25 pages of the screenplay done. The goals are still doable.

To help me write more I will be keeping Outlook closed until I’ve written my minimum words for the day. I’m upping my minimum words of 100 per day to 500 per day. Facebook will also be closed until I’ve reached the minimum for the day. The big step is getting my office set up. I need my things around me to write. I need my desk and my printer. I need my office supplies. I need my reference books right there so I can flip through them when I need them. I can’t wait to have that. I know I’ll be able to get lots of writing done that way.

No writing for me right now though. I’m off to work.

Until next time…

Cindy