Mystery of Writing

A Tale of Twelve

mousewords — Sun, 03 Jan 2010 04:23:12 +0000

It’s been waaay to long since I’ve updated my writing blog (I’ve been off writing!) but now I’m back, and diving in head-first with an introduction to a crowd of characters!

I’ve been tagged by author Jeanette Bennett to participate in the “Tales of Twelve Characters” Challenge. The idea of the challenge is to list any twelve fictional characters, and answer the questions that follow.

Instead of tapping others’ books, Jeanette used the fabulous characters from her own “Adventures of Serendipity Brown” series. I loved that, because it helped me get to know them better! Plus, it inspired me to use characters from my own stories and the series I write with my sister StacyJMT.

Some of our brainchildren are known to the world through Twitter Fiction Events and the sample chapters of our upcoming novel; some will be arriving soon. I wrote their names on slips of paper & drew them from a hat to avoid subconsciously prearranging the outcome of the challenge (since I’d already read the questions). And, seriously—it’s freaky-spooky how some of this worked out.

So, here we go! Allow me to introduce:

1. Dierdre Bailey – Financial analyst [Barrister Mystery series]
2. Andrew Peterson – Lawyer, 1938 [Noelle]
3. Cassie Barrister – PR & marketing consultant [Barrister Mystery series]
4. “Cascavel” – Black market antiquities dealer [Kit & Sierra series]
5. Jeff Barrister – Security expert, businessman, co-founder of Barrister-Norman Security Technology [Barrister Mystery/Kit & Sierra series]
6. Kit Wiley – Physics professor, researcher, adventure travel writer [Kit & Sierra/Barrister Mystery series]
7. Sierra Dodge – Freelance photographer with a military background [Kit & Sierra/Barrister Mystery series]
8. Rusty Norman – Inventor, programmer, co-founder of Barrister-Norman Security Technology [Barrister Mystery/Kit & Sierra series]
9. Victor Vladimir – CEO, Innovation Media [Barrister Mystery series]
10. Palomar Blu – Refugee & star traveler from a distant future [Twitter Fiction Events]
11. Willoughby Atson – Burglar alarm sales manager with a PI license [Mystery series TBA]
12. Todd Patterson – Deputy Sheriff, skeptic [Barrister Mystery series]

Challenge Questions

1. Who would make a better college professor, 6 or 11? (Kit Wiley, Willoughby Atson) Both are qualified in scientific fields. But Kit IS a college professor – she’s enthusiastic about imparting knowledge & communicates in a gentle manner. Willoughby would arrive at class, get nervous, bumble a lecture, quit in frustration, and go find something more active to do.

2. Do you think #2 is hot? (Andrew Peterson – Lawyer, 1938) He spends most of his book fighting a fever, so…yeah, he’s hot all right.

3. 12 sends 8 out on a mission. What is it? Does it succeed? (Deputy Todd Patterson, Rusty Norman) If Deputy Patterson gave Rusty something to do, it would likely be orders to “Stay out of this investigation!” In off-hours, though, they’re friends; so the mission would probably be: “Russ, go pick up some burgers for the barbecue.” The mission would succeed, unless Rusty got distracted by a pretty face, in which case he’d come back with a 12-pack of soda and a loaf of bread.

4. What is or what would be 9’s favorite book? (Victor Vladimir) His checkbook register.

5. Would it make more sense for 2 to swear fealty to 6, or the other way around? (Andrew Peterson, Kit Wiley) Andrew & Kit live 70 years apart, so wouldn’t likely cross paths. If they did, Andrew would be more likely to swear fealty to Kit, as he’s a gentleman of a protective nature, and a lawyer accustomed to confidentiality.

6. For some reason, 5 is looking for a roommate. Should (s)he room with 9 or 10? (Jeff Barrister, Victor Vladimir, Palomar Blu) Oh good Lord. Jeff doesn’t trust Vladimir as far as he can throw him; but he cares too deeply for Kit Wiley to room with any other woman. Vladimir it is!

7. 2, 7 and 12 are going out to dinner. Where do they go and what do they discuss? (Andrew Peterson, Sierra Dodge, Deputy Todd Patterson) They’ll probably grab a quick sandwich at the Trellis Cafe while they discuss the time anomaly that deposited Andrew in the 21st century & swept Jeff Barrister & Kit Wiley to parts unknown.

8. 3 challenges 10 to a duel, who wins? (Cassie Barrister, Palomar Blu) This would most likely be a duel involving video games. Palomar’s proficiency in futuristic technology would render this a close call; but by the time she got used to the archaic interface, Cassie would probably whip her rear.

9. If 1 stole 8’s most precious possession, how would (s)he get it back? (Dierdre Bailey, Rusty Norman) Wow. Dierdre *did* steal Rusty’s heart, then discarded it carelessly. Luckily for Rusty, another woman found it…but I don’t think he wants her to give it back.

10. Suggest a story title in which 7 and 12 both attain what they desire. (Sierra Dodge, Deputy Todd Patterson) “Justice.” Both Sierra and Todd are militant about protecting the innocent & bringing evildoers to justice. Todd does it because he’s a peace officer; for Sierra, it’s personal.

11. What kind of plot device would you have to use if you wanted 1 and 4 to work together? (Dierdre Bailey, “Cascavel”)
Actually…that’s not out of the realm of possibility…(*makes notes for later story*) Cascavel is a black market antiquities dealer and the main enemy of Dierdre’s former boyfriend’s business partner’s girlfriend. I don’t think anyone could convince Dierdre to risk her own safety in order to rescue Kit from Cascavel; but it would certainly be possible for Cascavel to show up at the bank where Dierdre works & enlist her financial expertise in the sale of certain artifacts. She’d have no clue he was a bad guy, and would get into all kinds of trouble, making it necessary for Rusty to step back into her life, complicating matters in his current relationship and…(*wanders off to Google Documents*)

12. If 7 visited you for the weekend, how would it go? (Sierra Dodge) The visit would go really well for a while. Then Sierra would get stone-cold bored of me rambling about characters & fonts, and she and my sister Stacy would go off rollerblading.

13. If you could command 3 to perform any service or task for you, what would it be? (Cassie Barrister) I’d probably ask her to speak up more in Twitter Fiction Events. She tends to get really shy and step into the background.

14. Does anyone on your friends list write or draw 11? (Willoughby Atson) This is kind of an ambiguous question. *I* write Willoughby. But in the boundaries of her story-world, she gets infrequent emails from her mysterious employer, Peter D. If anyone were to draw her, it would probably be her friend Ted, who would do it to amuse himself. However, this attention would send all kinds of mixed signals to Willie, and she’d go off wondering if he finally likes her.

15. If 2 had to choose sides between 4 and 5, what side would (s)he choose? (Andrew Peterson, “Cascavel,” Jeff Barrister) Andrew would choose Jeff, hands down. Jeff’s one of the good guys. Cascavel is cream of the crud.

16. What might 10 shout out while charging into battle? (Palomar Blu) “Shields up, divert power to fore cannons!”

17. If you had to choose a song to best describe 8, what would it be? (Rusty Norman) “Phenomenon” by TobyMac. [Lyrics]

18. 1, 6 and 12 are having a dim sum at a Chinese Restaurant. There is only one scallion pancake left, and they all reach for it at the same time. Who gets it? (Dierdre Bailey, Kit Wiley, Deputy Todd Patterson) If they all reached for it, Kit would draw back because she’s self-abnegating. Todd’s a gentleman, so he’d defer to the ladies. Dierdre’s pretty preoccupied with herself, so she’d be munching pancake.

19. What would be a good pickup line for 2 to say to 10? (Andrew Peterson, Palomar Blu) Man of 1938 vs. woman c. 3800? Cheesy lines about Destiny come to mind; but keeping it in character, decorous Andrew would say, “We haven’t been introduced, but those machine gun guys in the tinfoil armor seem to be giving you some trouble. May I offer assistance?”

20. What would 5 most likely be arrested for? (Jeff Barrister) If that little misunderstanding in Majorca caught up with him, he’d be arrested for conspiring with thieves & kidnappers.

21. What is 6’s secret? She thinks it’s a secret that she’s head-over-heels in love with Jeff Barrister. But as far as secret information goes, she has knowledge of her late father’s research that [**spoiler redacted**] causing a lot of trouble.

22. If 11 and 9 were racing to a destination, who would get there first? (Willoughby Atson, Victor Vladimir) This might be a tortoise and the hare scenario. Victor has money on his side, so he can hire planes, trains, and automobiles to get there first. But Willie is young, athletic, resourceful, and neurotic. While Victor lingers smugly at the door, Willoughby will be sneaking in a back window.

23. If you had to walk home through a bad neighborhood late at night, who would you feel more comfortable walking with, 7 or 8? (Sierra Dodge, Rusty Norman) I’d feel more comfortable walking with Rusty. I wouldn’t want to see what Sierra did to any aggressors.

24. 1 and 9 reluctantly team up to save the world from the threat posed by 4’s sinister secret organization. 11 volunteers to help them, but it is later discovered that s/he is actually a spy for 4. Meanwhile, 4 has kidnapped 12 in an attempt to force their surrender. Following the wise advice of 5, they seek out 3, who gives them what they need to complete their quest. What title would you give this fiction?
Dierdre Bailey’s financial consulting for Cascavel has resulted in her discovering that he’s linked with terrorists. Fearing for her own safety, she bypasses the authorities & contacts another client, Victor Vladimir, for help. Vladimir sees the advantage of playing the hero, while incidentally not compromising some of his “business affairs” that are indirectly associated with Cascavel’s network.
Meanwhile, Cascavel assumes the persona of a wronged lover & hires Willoughby Atson to get close to Dierdre & find out how far her “relationship” with Vladimir has gotten. Willie takes the job, not realizing that she’s imparting information to a black market criminal. Before long, however, her instincts set off alarm bells, and she plies Dierdre for details until she learns the truth. When both parties refuse to go to the police, Willie advises them to contact Jeff Barrister, who’s dealt with terrorists before.
Elsewhere: While following a lead in the Ventura hills, Deputy Todd Patterson gets captured by an ever more nervous Cascavel, who hopes to use him as a bargaining chip to buy the others’ silence.
Back in town: Jeff Barrister finally learns the whole story, and tells Dierdre & Vladimir to just go talk to Cassie Barrister’s dad, the police chief, which they should have done in the first place. They do, the SWAT team rescues Todd, vital information is recovered, and Cascavel escapes into the mist to torment the world another day. TITLE: “Tangled Webs.”

As a writer, this turned out to be a great exercise for character development—and I came up with a couple plots I hadn’t thought of before!

Your turn, as a writer or reader. Who would you pick for your Twelve?

A Four Hour Tour – World Book Day & Mass Twitter Fiction!

mousewords — Thu, 05 Mar 2009 18:54:05 +0000

I couldn’t resist a crisis.

In Honor of World Book Day and the Mass Twitter Fiction Event, I’m debuting the main characters of The Rosewood House on Twitter! For four hours today, along with many other courageous twitterers, Jeff Barrister and his friend Rusty Norman will face terror on the high seas. They thought a cruise on the Poseidon would make for a relaxing vacation from their security tech business…but they were wrong.

Meanwhile, Jeff’s cousin Cassie—stuck at home in Atlanta–watches helplessly from the sidelines.

Follow the events of the crisis via official Twitter updates, and see all the participating tweets at a glance on search.twitter.com.

Have fun, don’t be alarmed…and grab your virtual life jackets.

~~~

Blurbling

mousewords — Wed, 04 Feb 2009 10:02:45 +0000

Helloooo world!

It’s been a couple month since I blogged. Inexcusable. No excuses, but my reason will be the subject of another post! Side effects of carbon monoxide poisoning include slowed mental processes, which, for me, means I get tunnel vision. Trying to work on too many things at once is like trying to plug too many appliances into one outlet. **FZZZZT.** At the risk of sounding like a broken record, I want to make sure I describe the truth–so it doesn’t happen to anyone else. Have you had your house checked for CO safety yet? It’s free. Call your gas company or fire department today. Go ahead. I’ll wait.

Done? Good.

Where was I?

Oh yes. So with what mental processes I have, I’ve been spending all my focus on completing the novel.

IT’S EXCITING RIGHT NOW. A blog post on that is forthcoming, too.

But for today, I just wanna jot down a part of the coolness. I’m writing the final version of the blurb for the back of the book. I’ve been working on it on and off for months–but today I finally decided to just write it in my own voice, and not try to blurble. So here ’tis:

Any thoughts?

~~~

Got Goal?

mousewords — Tue, 25 Nov 2008 22:13:52 +0000

Well, this will be the last post tagged “NaBloPoMo” for a while—seeing as how I can haz fail at National Blog Posting Month. “Missed it by that much,” in the words of Agent 86. I set an alarm and everything—but at seven minutes past midnight the other night, I looked at the clock and went ungh.

Well, “dat smells stinkowiff” as Jar-Jar Binks would say. After my initial galling distaste for failure, I told myself, “I have a good excuse—I was so intent on working on the novel that I lost track of the time.” That’s a good-looking excuse. But the truth is, I heard the alarm. I could have just come and posted anything…even, “Can’t post now, too busy writing.” But I didn’t want to at the moment. My excuse for that? I want to post quality content to my blog every time, not filler. That’s a pretty excuse, too.

But I’ve been thinking about it.

What’s at the heart of the matter?

The real truth is, if I’d wanted it badly enough, I would have succeeded. I would have fit it in, and created a brief, quality post. But I didn’t; because posting every day for a month was never my intention.

I went into NaBloPoMo with one goal in mind: “I want to use this as a way to get back in the habit of blogging regularly.”

Wow. I made my goal.

The subconscious is spookier than any ghost story. I’ve read that it’s “power without direction.” It carries out what we ask of it—whether we want it to or not. My inner drive heard, “Blog regularly,” and that’s what I got.

That makes me take a look at what else is important to me. Do I have a definite goal written out, so that my powerful subconscious knows what to do? Do I have a definite completion date written so my inner drive knows when it needs to wrap things up?

If I don’t, you had better believe I’m going to do that now.

Because VICTORY tastes a heck of a lot better than FAIL.

~~~

Tagged – The Beauty of Life

mousewords — Sat, 22 Nov 2008 01:00:53 +0000

Tagged again! I’m running out of random facts, so I’ve decided to take inspiration from the ones who tag me, and put my own twist on this meme.

Leola expresses family love, true friendship, and reverence for nature on her beautiful blog. Her paintings are exquisite, often glowing against a dark background. Haunting aurorae; delicate flowers; powerful lightning; enchanted characters. Leola’s creations are most often tiny—she is an accomplished miniaturist. To see such beauty in so small a thing teaches me to appreciate the details in life.

Love of others; love of creation. What are six beautiful things that I am thankful for in life?

1: Loyalty — in family, friends, or pets. They love me when I’m least lovable, because they believe I can do better.

2: Faithfulness. Those who simply believe in God, goodness, and possibilities.

3: Miracles. Birth, rebirth—whether as a sunrise or a human life.

4: Plants. The vitality of growing things.

5: Sky — and everything in it and beyond it. Hardly gets more awesome than that.

6: Love.

And you? What are six details you appreciate in your life?

~~~

Tagged – Is There Anything Interesting Left?

mousewords — Fri, 21 Nov 2008 02:24:54 +0000

I’ve been tagged again! And this time by my good friend Tessa, who is a phenomenal artist and wonderful writer. Her work evokes a feeling of magic and possibilities. Through words and a paintbrush, Tessa encourages the world to LIVE LIFE TO THE FULLEST, laughing and dancing along the way. I invite you to visit her blog, An Aerial Armadillo.

The nature of the meme is to find seven more random facts about me. Trouble is, I have a tendency to think that I ran out of interesting facts five memes ago. But that’s surely not true—if I’ve learned anything from Tessa, it’s that there is an endless supply of magic in Life.

And so I was inspired to tweak this meme a little bit. In honor of Tessa’s example to embrace life, I will share seven fun, quirky, or unusual facts about me!

Here goes:

1: I used to be pretty good at twirling a baton.

2: “Vesti La Giubba” makes me cry. Every time.

3: I can read a little bit of Welsh.

4: I love to organize things. I tend to let my desk get messy just so I can organize it.

5: I like cocoa made with water instead of milk.

6: The dictionary is one of my favorite things to read. (I should add that to my Goodreads.com bookshelf…)

7: Topaz is my birthstone, but blue is my favorite color. So I wear blue topaz.

And there we have it! And now, I tag….

YOU! What’s fun, quirky, or unusual about you? Leave a few facts in the comments here, or link to your blog if you do the whole 7!

Need inspiration? Check out Tessa’s blog. And embrace the magic inside you!

~~~

The LOST Art of Editing

mousewords — Thu, 20 Nov 2008 01:00:01 +0000

Writing can be a blast. Usually, I write in bursts, as the ideas come to me; so I skip among chapters, riding a wave of enthusiasm, risking a wipeout when the inspiration curls and crashes. It’s a thrilling ride.

It makes for rough, but emotionally engaged, text. Because of the “rough” part, it needs editing. Yet every time I sit down to the task, I’m nervous—taking such a cerebral approach to an artistic endeavor is bound to cut away some of the initial excitement, right? Those spur-of-the-moment passages lose their potency as they’re filtered again and again through my left brain.

That’s how I feel. But it doesn’t have to be that way. Sometimes, editing can be cool.

That is so awesome I can’t even tell you. And before someone worked their editing magic, it did not exist.

I am…so inspired.

And I’m off to make some waves.

~~~

No Woman Is An Island – And No Book Is a Solo

mousewords — Wed, 19 Nov 2008 07:11:24 +0000

A Twitter friend sent me a message out of the blue this evening:

I thought that was such a thoughtful thing to do. I’m notorious for forgetting to blog before midnight—and if I forget, I fail at National Blog Posting Month. But thanks to @hotdogg, that day will not be today.

His tweet gave me an idea to write about, as well—all the encouraging messages I’ve received from others during this novel journey. When this book hits the shelves, Stacy and I will not have accomplished the feat alone.

The encouragement of others keeps us going. At three AM, when I’m frustrated over a plot hole, it keeps me going. This collection of encouraging messages from my Twitter stream only covers tweets back a couple weeks, since Twitter doesn’t let me go back farther. And it’s not all the messages—I just posted one per person, but my friends encourage me every day. This doesn’t count tweets from Twitterers with private profiles; or direct messages. It doesn’t cover emails, instant message chats, text messages, phone calls, in-person conversations, or prayers from many others.

But it’s still an amazing sight to see.

Whenever I’m writing and rambling about my challenges of the day, Twitter is always there to help. For example, a scene filled with glances drove me crazy. I considered not letting anyone look at anyone else in the novel. Twitter to the rescue!

Then there was the incident when I lost a scene…then found it again:

Then the reminders that I need:

(Nope…it wasn’t. Changed! )

Even Max Lucado—one of my writing heroes—has encouraged me:

When I read these, and think of how many people are cheering for me…it blows my mind.

I am humbled. And grateful.

Thank you.

~~~

When I Snap My Fingers…

mousewords — Tue, 18 Nov 2008 07:45:59 +0000

I rewrote the home page of this blog today. Does that count for National Blog Posting Month? No? drat.

~~~

Okay, interesting blog post. I’m going to tell you something about today’s editing experience, but you must forget it once you reach the bottom of the page. Like, wipe it from your brain. ‘K? Here we go:

This evening I’m writing a tender love scene—but I can’t do it from third person limited. That’s like…oxymoronic.

Third person limited gives me the phenomenal cosmic power of being inside a person’s head, thinking their thoughts, feeling their feelings. And, through my experience, the reader feels emotional closeness to the character. TPL is like pulling the camera in for an extreme close-up.

However. I made the decision to only use TPL on a select few characters, specifically to create just enough emotional distance from the rest that the reader never quite knows who they can trust. They may like a character, but don’t really know them. I know, that sounds counterproductive, right?

“I want to push my reader away so they feel emotionally distant from my characters! Woohoo!”

(I also wrote the early chapters with the intent of lulling the reader into a soporific state, but that’s a tale for another day.)

But emotional distance in a love scene?

Yet, when you think about it, movies do that all the time. With the exception of Lady In the Lake, I know of absolutely no movie that takes a third person limited perspective. It’s us, watching them, in every movie. Yet movie love scenes carry emotional impact.

True, movies have a soundtrack. But for me, my pacing is my soundtrack. Movies have visuals (hubba hubba). Well, I have adjectives. And verbs. (Hubba hubba, indeed.) I can do this.

It’s just harder.

But, y’know. Nobody told me that.

So, back I go to the chapter. And now you can forget everything I just told you about writing style and chapter goals, so that you’re able to read the story from a completely unfettered perspective. Right? Done? Good.

~~~

…as I was saying, I think I’ll take the rewritten home page for my NaBLoPoMo post of the day. Close enough.

Bye.

~~~

Saved By the Bell – Except the Bell Didn’t Ring

mousewords — Mon, 17 Nov 2008 07:51:18 +0000

You know, I have a lot of things keeping me busy these days. It’s easy to get overwhelmed a bit. Plus I have my damaged memory, which is always good for a moment of blissful ignorance (or three). So, usually, I use whatever I can to remind me of things that I need to do. I write tasks down; I have Google Calendar email me notifications; and then—my favorite—I set an alarm on my cell phone.

I’ve had one set for 10:30 pm lately, to make sure I don’t forget to post a blog every day. It’s National Blog Posting Month, after all–post one blog a day. I’ve made it halfway—I’d really hate to fail now.

But my memory is not to be trusted.

It’s been a full day, wrapped up by delving into the edits for Rosewood. I was off in another world. If a friend hadn’t called me and mentioned the word “blog,” I would have blown right past midnight without realizing it—I reset my phone alarm last night, so it wouldn’t go off during a movie. So instead of an alarm, I got a ring. Saved by the bell.

~~~

So. What’s new?

* I’m editing the final chapters of The Rosewood House, in which there is a way cool climax. I just summed up 4,000 words of backstory in four sentences. Ugh. But, on the plus side, this particular character is finally coming into his own. He’s had quite a tumultuous journey, which touched on both sides of the law. Which side did he finally wind up staying with? You’ll have to read it to see.

Someone suggested I release the backstory as a prequel. Hmm…maybe….

* My NaNoWriMo story, Aftermath, is on hold till later this month, since Rosewood gets precedence now. I’m not so sure I’ll still have 50,000 words as my goal for November—possibly 25,000. But, we will see.

And even though there’s more news, I will save it for another day. 11:49pm…time to post.

See you tomorrow.

~~~