I received my first batch of feedback from a critique partner today, it made me smile. I’ve had about 10 different book ideas in the past 2 weeks, some panning out to 1k word start and some just being a one liner in my notebook. Almost all of them have been opposite genre to my first novel, a bit shocking. The feedback sent really made me hungry to dive back into my novel’s world and reimmerse myself in it’s world building. My partner helped to bolster my confidence in areas I thought I was lacking and also pointed out the plot line areas where they craved for more information. I’ll have to wait a few days for the typed notes, but already these characters I’ve loved for so long are getting antsy for another turn on the computer.
I just finished Repressed, by Elisabeth Naughton. It’s the first book in her new romantic thriller series, Deadly Secrets. Samantha and Ethan are choked full of tension, both romantic and mysterious past. I was suspicious of everyone Samantha came in contact with and was dying to know more. Naughton does such a wonderful job with the way she unveils each layer of the story and reveals more about each character. I cannot wait to read more in this series. I think this series will be one of my favorite by Naughton, I’m already a huge fan of her paranormal romance series, Eternal Guardians. Now what to read?
I’ve been watching Jared Leto’s new Great Wide Open series he directed. The first four episodes are out and I highly recommend them. There are some crazy people profiled and I’ll admit The Rockstar, episode 3, featuring Alex Honnold, made me cringe and hold my breath as they showed him soloing. But it was episode 4, The Wolfman, featuring Doug Smith, that made me stop and pause at something he said. He says “the wolf is the new west, not that romantic, macho, old west. The new west, where you don’t blow away every predator you see. And that takes more work and energy and thought. So yes, wolves are a pain to live with, yes, all these carnivores are hard to live with ‘cause they kill things we want. Maybe even us.” Something about this idea of the new west resonates within in. My creative spark wants to wrap itself around it and see where it could go. I’ll be the first to tell you, I’m not a western genre girl, so this is a surprise. But there is something exciting about toying with this “new west” idea. Another idea for the notebook.
After a particularly tough day yesterday, non-writing related but filled with a few writing moments which left me tongue tied, this gem showed up in my mailbox today. A friend had sent me a cryptic message a while back letting me know to expect an orange envelope, I thought it had to do with our other writing adventures, I was not expecting this. I love, LOVE, notebooks. I feel like I can never have enough of them. I’m sure both my budget and house feel over stuffed by them, with many of them still waiting to be filled or finished off. I have no less than 3 in my overstuffed bag I call a purse, right now. It’s so much fun to see my name on the cover of it. A nice little writing treat, right when I needed it.
I find this quote to be very true. I try my best to plot things out, but most of the time my characters wind up yelling at me and then it’s back to the drawing board.
I’ll admit to not being the most focused writer some days. A snail could probably fly by me on weeks where there is a creative drought. I wonder if it’s not a short attention span, if my habit of cramming all of my ideas in short spurts and odd ball posts has somehow damaged my ability to laboriously languish over paragraph after descriptive paragraph. But even when I start to think about flash fiction I start to perspire. Can I possible cram everything I want to say in to a thousand words or less? Surely not, I’m too wordy and would want more description (this stated in a haughty type voice). A vicious self-doubting circle, if you ask me.
But really, it’s I’m easily distracted. A lot of it is the Internet and surfing ideas and then it all going to shit when I get caught in a YouTube black hole. How does Shakira shake her hips like that? The Summer Olympics are almost upon us and all writing hope runs out the door with soccer or the swimmers or the gymnasts or the sprinters, and so on, you get the picture. Maybe I’ll have to reward myself with an event a page, or something creatively motivating.
What’s really distracting me right now, is Suicide Squad. The interviews from San Diego and all of the press have my curiosity piqued. I wasn’t a comic book fan as a kid, I knew of Batman through reruns with Adam West and then when I was old enough Val Kilmer (yikes, I know). As I got older and Marvel movies became popular, of course I jumped on Team Marvel. I loved Christian Bale as Batman and Christopher Nolan is an absolute favorite director or mine, but Marvel’s Spider-Man, X-Men, Avengers, they won me over. But this! This group of badass criminals released back into the wild has me bouncing on my toes. And I only know about the Joker! These other characters, I have no idea who they are, but they look deliciously fun. So, to write or watch another cast interview? Hm……
*Side note: A little late posting, but thanks to scheduling it’ll still look like it was posted on Friday <grins>.
I love The Beatles. Quite a few of their songs are my “go-to” songs when I need a pick me up or need to find a little inspiration. From their early songs, like “Love Me Do” to the latter ones, like “Something” their catalog is diverse and I love it. I picked up The Beatles Lyrics, Edited by Hunter Davies, this past week and I’m really looking forward to digging in. Maybe not to some of the speculation around what John or Paul or George meant by a certain phrase, that’s a bit like interpreting poetry without asking the poet if you ask me, but definitely to the parts where the editor actually knows what the musicians were thinking. I love seeing all the rough drafts and all of the thought process and creativity at work. Makes me feel a bit better about all my napkin ideas! I’m crossing my fingers it’s not a bust. Happy Reading!
SH Burgess 