Preposterous!

I've been thinking a lot recently about how far out there you can go with your story before people start shaking their heads and snorting "Preposterous!"

I think it's a lot further than we generally believe.

And what am I basing this on?  Well, I've seen two films this year based on stories by a well known Norwegian writer, Jo Nesbo.  Both film have been impeccably plotted and paced.  In fact, the first one I saw (Headhunters) had me seething with envy over how neatly everything was wrapped up.  There was a point where I thought the film was finished, and I was satisfied, but they went that extra step to wrap up every single little thread which utterly delighted me (if you haven't seen it, rush out and find it now.  You won't regret it.)

But...  When I was reviewing the film, I realized that while I'd been totally swept along by it while I was watching, on reflection, many of the plot points were utterly implausible.  In fact, the whole story was as mad as a box of badgers.  But I didn't care.

The second film (Jackpot) is probably even madder, but just as much fun to go along for the ride.

I think it has to do with internal logic.  If what you're putting up there makes sense within the world of the story, people can overlook the implausibilities.  And this comes down to the characters and making sure they act and react in ways that are realistic to them.  As soon as a character does something that's unrealistic for her, the audience takes note and that suspension of disbelief is strained, or broken.

What do you think?  And have you seen either of these films?

Reason number 1 036 452...

There are eleventy-million reasons why I love my critique partners and beta readers.  They are always full of useful ideas and suggestions and corrections that make my writing stronger and better.  But the biggest reason I love my CPs is when they come up with a solution to a problem I've been struggling with.  And yesterday, my gorgeous, wonderful CP, solved the huge plot problem I was having with my book.

You know the one?  I've been agonizing over it for weeks.  I rewrote the chapters involved five times in 3 weeks and still wasn't happy.  Yeah, that one.

My CP read the chapters and with one line, managed to solve the entire problem.  I couldn't believe I hadn't thought of it myself!  It was so simple.  And it will make the ending even more effective.  Not to mention I can cut two whole chapters out which will give me an extra 3-4K to play with later on in the book.

I'm so relieved!  I spent four hours last night tweaking and cutting and playing to make this new direction happen, and I'm surprised at how easy it has been.  And I know the book is that much stronger now!

If I get a good day's writing in tomorrow, I should still be on track to finish the draft by the end of the week.

How much do you love your CPs?  Give them a shout out in the comments!

The Next Big Thing Award!

The Next Big Thing Award!

I've been tagged in the Next Big Thing award by Laura from My Baffling Brain.

Thanks , Laura!  Always nice to get some recognition from fellow writers!

I have to answer a few questions about my writing, so here goes....

What is the working title of your book? 

The Sidewalk's Regrets.  Interestingly, I usually don't find titles easy to come up with.  Most of my books spend the first few drafts being called things like Chris and Casey until I come up with something more interesting.  But for this one I knew the title had to come from music and one line from one song kept creeping back into my head.  Amazingly, I've even managed to make the title work into the novel too!

Where did the idea come from? 

The whole book came to me in under 24 hours after seeing a documentary about a musician friend of mine.  There was one line his ex-girlfriend said that just handed me the book on a platter.  It was something that spoke volumes to me at the time, but after finishing the first draft, I went back and re-watched the film and couldn't figure out which thing she said was the one that sparked the book!

What genre does your book fall under? 

It's YA contemporary, like almost all my books.  It's a little more of a romance than anything else I've written, but I wouldn't call it a straight romance.

Which actors would you choose to play your characters in a movie? 

To be honest, I couldn't cast this with movie actors.  All the characters are very much based on  musicians I've known and worked with over the years, so in my mind that's who I'd cast.  Except those people as they were 20 years ago or so....

What is the one sentence synopsis of your book? 

When faced with life-changing decisions,  Sacha discovers that despite what the songs say, sometimes love isn’t all you need.

Will your books be self-published or represented by an agency?

I couldn't say at this stage.  Hopefully represented by an agency, but you never know...

How long did it take you to write the first draft of your manuscript? 

About seven weeks, I think.  I started at the beginning of May and finished toward the middle of June.

Who or what inspired you to write this book? 

Probably the musician the documentary was about and his girlfriend....

What else about you book would pique the reader's interests?

It's the sex, drugs and rock n roll book I was probably born to write, given all the years I've spent hanging on the fringes of that world....

And now I need to pass this award on....  Hmmmm.....

 Lexa Cain

Michael di Gesu

Crystal Licata

Mina Lobo

Suzanne Furness

Cover reveal!

I'm thrilled to be able to unveil the cover of Nyrae Dawn's newest book, Charade, here on my blog!

Isn't it pretty?  Nyrae writes such hot boys, and this cover totally brings this one to life!  Charade will be available from November 30th.  If you're a Goodreads person, here's the link to it there...

http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/15993374-charade

And what good would a cover reveal be if I didn't let you know what the book is about?

CHARADE By Nyrae Dawn

Nineteen-year-old Cheyenne tries to portray the perfect life to mask the memories of her past. Walking in on her boyfriend with another woman her freshman year in college threatens her picture of perfection.

Twenty-one-year-old Colt never wanted college and never expected to amount to anything, but when his mom's dying wish is for him to get his degree, he has no choice but to pretend it’s what he wants too.

Cheyenne needs a fake boyfriend to get back at her ex and Colt needs cash to take care of his mom, so they strike a deal that helps them both. But what if Cheyenne’s past isn’t what she thought? Soon they’re trading one charade for another. The game and the emotions building between them become the only things either of them have that feels real.

Both Cheyenne and Colt know life is never that easy. When tragedy strikes, their love might not be enough to hold them together.

Now, doesn't that sound like something you'd want to read?

Semi-weekly progress report

I realized I didn't do this last week, so I can't call this a weekly progress report.  So let's just stick with semi-weekly, shall we?  Like the semi-annual post holiday greeting cards I sometimes manage to get out in February each year.  So yeah.  I'm hopeless.  But at least I recognize that.  It has to stand for something, right?

So where am I?

I'm revising.  Still.  I've managed to get a lot done in the last two days.  Eight or nine chapters.  I'm thrilled.  Not entirely happy with the results, especially chapter 36 where I think too much happens in too short a time, but I'm leaving it because I don't want things to drag.

My first draft was 42 chapters long, but I've moved and changed things as I revised, so I'm thinking I'm going to wind up with 44, maybe 45.  They're all relatively short - under 3K, and most of them between 1500 and 2K.

I've reached the point where I need to write a bunch of new stuff because I've decided to change, not the ending, but the lead up to the ending.  I think that's going to be most of a chapter.  Then I have a few more things I want to tweak and change to clarify the character arc.  But I think I'm definitely on track to finish this revision by the end of next week which was my deadline.

Then it's off to the betas.  I hope they are full of fantastic ideas to smooth out the funky bits.  I'm already seeing a huge improvement in the chapters my awesome critique partners have read.

How are you doing with your WIP?

Gearing Up To Get An Agent Meet & Greet

I'm taking part in this month-long event run by the gorgeous Deana Barnhart.  The first event is this one, a meet and greet bloghop where all the participants can, well, y'know, meet and greet each other.  So I'm going to answer a few questions Deana helpfully supplied...

-Where do you write?

I usually write at home, in my dining room.  But in the middle of winter (no central heating), or when I'm really struggling to focus, I have a table I like to use at the public library.

-Quick. Go to your writing space, sit down and look to your left. What is the first thing you see?

The dining room table.  Which is, for once, not covered in a week's worth of clutter since I did the housework this morning.

-Favorite time to write?

Any time I can get.  With a full time job and two young kids, I grab whatever scraps of time I can get to write.  I prefer evenings though (I'm a night owl), but since I work a lot of nights, and often have functions to go to, I  get up at 5:30 every weekday morning so I can get an hour and a half in before the kids get up.

-Drink of choice while writing?

Red wine at night, but not too much of it or I can't type straight.  Green tea any other time.

-When writing , do you listen to music or do you need complete silence?

It really depends what I'm working on.  I find some books need a soundtrack, while others need quiet.  I prefer music without lyrics when I'm writing though, or music with lyrics in foreign languages.

-What was your inspiration for your latest manuscript and where did you find it?

The book I'm working on now, The Sidewalk's Regrets, came to me almost fully formed after I saw a documentary about a musician friend of mine.  His ex-girlfriend said something, just a single line amongst many others, that struck a real chord in me.  And by the next day I knew what my next book was.

-What's your most valuable writing tip?

Keep writing.  If you get stuck, write yourself a note in the manuscript and move on to the next part you know.  And if you get really stuck, set that project aside for a few days while you work on something else.  You'll come unstuck.

So, that's me!  I hope to pop around and see as many other participants as I can, so I hope to see you all!