• Rainy days …

    First of all, I have to give a shout-out to Ruth for inspiring this post. Thanks, Ruth!

    Now, onto the ramblings. It’s been raining where I live all weekend long. But I don’t mind.

    Because rainy days are my absolute favorites. Everything is gray and silver and quiet. The air is so humid that I can feel the moisture gather on my skin. Everything smells wet and fresh and clean (except for dogs, they just smell like wet dogs).

    It’s raining now. I can hear it pounding against my roof. Ahhh …. I think I’ll go curl up on the couch with a blankie and a good book.

    What about you? Do you like rainy days? Or do you prefer clear skies and sunshine? Inquiring minds want to know …

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    Why bad guys are so good …

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    My perusal of new TV shows continues. Watched Smith last night. It’s on CBS and is about a crew of professional thieves. They knocked over an art museum. A woman got tasered. People died. Stuff blew up. And I liked it. 😉

    And the show made me think … why do we like to root for the bad guy? We all do it from time to time. C’mon. Admit it. There’s a villain out there somewhere that you secretly want to win. You want Mr. Bad Guy to kick the hero’s ass, thwart the authorities, and convince the heroine to ride off into the sunset with him.

    Sometimes, the villain is what really makes a story sing. Just look at the comics. Where would Batman be without the Joker? Or Professor X without Magneto? Or Spider-Man without Green Goblin? Snoresville, most likely.

    What about you? Do you want the bad guys to win sometimes? Inquiring minds want to know …

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    Studio 60 and dialogue

    Watched the premiere of Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip last night. Really enjoyed it. Great cast, great concept, great execution.

    And really great dialogue.

    The intelligent, sharp, rat-a-tat exchanges between the characters were one of the best parts of the show. And one of the best parts of TV and movies in general.

    The truth is that you just can’t do that kind of rapid-fire dialogue in books. Oh, you can have great dialogue, no question, but you can’t go overboard with it the way you can in other mediums. After a couple of lines in a book or short story, people lose track of who’s talking. Without any visual aids to cue them in … well, it’s just not as thrilling as it is in the movies and on TV.

    What about you? Do you love great dialogue? Or does description make your heart sing? Inquiring minds want to know …

  • Erin Fry … my hero

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    Erin Fry is officially my hero. If you don’t know Erin, she’s one of the staff members at Romance Writers of America.

    And she really saved my bacon today.

    I submitted a workshop proposal for the Dallas conference to RWA … and then my computer decided to die. I didn’t have a backup of the proposal anywhere. Not in my e-mail, not in my documents, not in my files.

    Dumb, huh?

    Panicked, I emailed RWA, and Erin sent me a copy of my proposal in less than twenty minutes. Which saved me from having to do the whole thing over. Thank you, Erin! :-) 

    If you write romance, and you haven’t joined RWA, I encourage you to. It’s a great organization with a professional, courteous staff who are real lifesavers.Â