Writing Life
Did you know that Harlequin is having a Presents contest? They are! It's called Instant Seduction and you can read all about it here http://www.iheartpresents.com/ right now it's the number one post on the official Presents blog but if you're reading this entry after November 28th then you may have to scroll around a little to get the inside scoop.
I love reading Presents. Does that mean I should write for them? I'm not so sure. I do love Alpha heroes, I'm all for glamorous international settings, intensity, and emotion are great. But these are short books--tightly focused on the relationship between the hero and heroine.
They are character driven stories and I'm a plot driven writer. By the way, it took me ages to comprehend that last statement. Pity. I adore reading character driven stories.
I may enter the contest anyway. It's good to stretch writer muscles and push myself against the grain. Invariably, I learn things. However, entering the contest is only a good idea if it can be shoehorned in between other, already commited to, writing projects. And I promised myself a week off from writing when I finished the edits for the second Dangerous book. With a little luck that will be today!
My friend Sheila assures me people are interested in my real world life. Hard for me to believe, but she's been right about lots of other stuff over the years (she's very smart).
Here's what's happening in my corner of the 3D world. Got my windshield replaced (it was cracked, an evil rock chip) the replacer was a real cutie, who took pride in his work and was both courteous and professional. New windshields, while not free, are a lot more reasonable than I'd guessed--a happy surprise.
I called my telephone service provider to modify the service and mentioned that the name on the bill should be changed. That conversation went downhill in a hurry when the customer service representative insisted she had to talk to my husband before she could change the name on the bill.
There's a lot of paperwork and general bother required when a person dies. It seems wrong to me that these problems are dumped on the surviving spouse. However, that is how it works. Here's free advice for service providers, financial institutions, and anyone else who requires lots of hoops to change ownership or responsibility--there's a pleasant way to do things. Try it. My experience has been half courteous and helpful--the other half suspicious and adversarial. Customers have lots of choices about where to take their business, you may not need me as your customer, but if you offend all of your customers then you won't be in business for long.
I also put out the garbage, sanded my drywall patches and applied another thin coat of joint compound, walked the dog, raked leaves, taked to friends and family, fed the animals and me. You see my point, my real life is not exciting--even the pleasant parts make for dull reading.
One of the ongoing trouble spots is food. I don't think about it until I'm hungry. There's no little clock in my head that says better start cooking or driving or something because in a half hour you're going to be starving. This is a problem, because it takes more than a few minutes to put together a decent meal. So here's what I've done--I fix dinner for six once a week and then have it the rest of the week (eating out once). This solution probably doesn't appeal to very many people, but after all how many times a year do you eat the same dinner? Most do eat the same meals over and over again--just not in a row. So why not in a row? Seems sensible to me. But like all my plans, this is subject to modification.
Last weekend I made pork roast with a lovely sauce, orzo with gruyere and chives, carrot raisen salad, green beans, and blackberry crisp. Here's this week's dinner (minus the salad and dessert which require their own plating.
I love reading Presents. Does that mean I should write for them? I'm not so sure. I do love Alpha heroes, I'm all for glamorous international settings, intensity, and emotion are great. But these are short books--tightly focused on the relationship between the hero and heroine.
They are character driven stories and I'm a plot driven writer. By the way, it took me ages to comprehend that last statement. Pity. I adore reading character driven stories.
I may enter the contest anyway. It's good to stretch writer muscles and push myself against the grain. Invariably, I learn things. However, entering the contest is only a good idea if it can be shoehorned in between other, already commited to, writing projects. And I promised myself a week off from writing when I finished the edits for the second Dangerous book. With a little luck that will be today!
My friend Sheila assures me people are interested in my real world life. Hard for me to believe, but she's been right about lots of other stuff over the years (she's very smart).
Here's what's happening in my corner of the 3D world. Got my windshield replaced (it was cracked, an evil rock chip) the replacer was a real cutie, who took pride in his work and was both courteous and professional. New windshields, while not free, are a lot more reasonable than I'd guessed--a happy surprise.
I called my telephone service provider to modify the service and mentioned that the name on the bill should be changed. That conversation went downhill in a hurry when the customer service representative insisted she had to talk to my husband before she could change the name on the bill.
There's a lot of paperwork and general bother required when a person dies. It seems wrong to me that these problems are dumped on the surviving spouse. However, that is how it works. Here's free advice for service providers, financial institutions, and anyone else who requires lots of hoops to change ownership or responsibility--there's a pleasant way to do things. Try it. My experience has been half courteous and helpful--the other half suspicious and adversarial. Customers have lots of choices about where to take their business, you may not need me as your customer, but if you offend all of your customers then you won't be in business for long.
I also put out the garbage, sanded my drywall patches and applied another thin coat of joint compound, walked the dog, raked leaves, taked to friends and family, fed the animals and me. You see my point, my real life is not exciting--even the pleasant parts make for dull reading.
One of the ongoing trouble spots is food. I don't think about it until I'm hungry. There's no little clock in my head that says better start cooking or driving or something because in a half hour you're going to be starving. This is a problem, because it takes more than a few minutes to put together a decent meal. So here's what I've done--I fix dinner for six once a week and then have it the rest of the week (eating out once). This solution probably doesn't appeal to very many people, but after all how many times a year do you eat the same dinner? Most do eat the same meals over and over again--just not in a row. So why not in a row? Seems sensible to me. But like all my plans, this is subject to modification.
Last weekend I made pork roast with a lovely sauce, orzo with gruyere and chives, carrot raisen salad, green beans, and blackberry crisp. Here's this week's dinner (minus the salad and dessert which require their own plating.
posted by Evanne Lorraine at 9:00 AM
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