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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. 

  • It’s the best time of the year …

    I love fall. Warm days, cool nights, colorful leaves, pumpkins, Halloween candy, snuggling on the couch with that special someone, Sunday football, new clothes … the list goes on. 

    What’s not to like?

    What about you? What’s your favorite season? Inquiring minds want to know …

  • Lazing around on Sundays

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    Sunday is definitely my favorite day of the week. You know why?

    Because it’s the day I do nothing.

    Well, technically, that’s not true. Most of the time, I do quite a bit on Sundays. I usually work at least four hours on my latest book/editing project. But these four hours are sandwiched around a nice lunch and an even nicer nap. 😉

    I love Sundays because they’re the only days I have to myself. No day job, no errands to run, no housework to do. I can eat, I can sleep, and I can relax. It’s a little slice of freedom to start the week off right.

    What about you? How do you while away your Sundays? Inquiring minds want to know …

  • Random thoughts from the week …

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    Started reading Ally Carter’s I’d Tell You I Love You, But Then I’d Have to Kill You. It’s a cool, young-adult novel about a spy school for girls. Makes my own spy idea look totally lame by comparision. Sigh.

    Maybe my football teams will do better this weekend than last weekend. Maybe I’ll win the lottery and marry Pierce Brosnan, too.

    Eagerly awaiting the return of all my favorite fall shows next week. How I Met Your Mother, Grey’s Anatomy, etc. and new ones that look cool, like Friday Night Lights, Heroes, and Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip.

    Now, off to indulge in one of my guilty pleasures … watching The A-Team on DVD. My significant other just gave me Season Three, and I’m anxious to get started. The plots are totally cheesy, and everything is sooo dated. It’s so bad, that it’s good. 😉

    What about you? What are some of your guilty pleasures? Inquiring minds want to know …