Friday Five- Getting Ready for a Workshop

As you read this I'm on my way to a writer's conference in Spokane, WA. I'm giving my Characterization workshop on Saturday morning and sitting in on a book signing in the afternoon.

I'm excited about this conference because I missed my February RWA chapter meeting due to the weather and I feel like I'm having withdrawals. LOL I belong to a local writers group and attended, in fact, spoke at the February meeting, but there is something about being around other romance writers and participating in a conference that energizes.

So the five things I did to get ready for this conference.

1) I tweaked my power point presentation, adding music and making sure I have examples for exercises.

2) Made copies of the hand outs.

3) Put together a box of goodies to hand out to those who participate in the exercises.

4) Put together my goodies, books, and signage for the book signing.

5) And last but not least, worrying over what to wear... The hardest part. Comfortable? Professional? Does this make me look like a cow? Is this frumpy? Too over the top? Will they take me serious in this? If only I could look like my friend's daughter! (photo above)

I'm happy with the workshop, just not me!

Hope you all have a wonderful weekend!

Yep, I'm going multiple personalities!

Good Monday morning all! Today, I'm over at Elizabeth L'Inconnu's blog talking about how I like to use historical trivia in my stories. Tomorrow, Tuesday, I'm at the Cactus Rose blog, revealing some bank robber history about the country where I grew up.

And tomorrow I'm excited to dig into some research for my current WIP. I've been stalled because I need some factual info to move the story along. In the interim I've been working on a story for a Christmas Anthology and another author asked me to join her in authoring a book about two sisters adopted by two different families when their parents are killed on the way to Oregon in the 1800's. It is going to be a fun challenge.

The hardest part about working on so many projects at once is keeping the secondary characters and even sometimes the main characters in their perspective stories! I know with the Halsey brother series, there are times I type the wrong brother's name. Then I have to stop and make sure I'm thinking like Clay and not Gil or Zeke, or Ethan! They may be brothers with a strong physical resemblance, but they are each an individual, and I have to make sure I keep them that way.

Have you ever read a series and thought the main characters could have been cloned?

Character study-Olympics

Are you caught up in the Olympics? I am. All my kids were in sports and it is something I miss. Going to events, the adrenaline rush of watching them, the sorrow when they lose or get hurt and cheering, so now I'm an armchair sports mom. I couldn't stay up to watch the men's 4x100 relay last night, just too tired, but of course with the age of computers, I just finished watching the extraordinary win. I watched the women's gymnasts overcome not only technical flaws but pick themselves up and give wonderful routines.

As a writer, I like seeing the character of the athletes as they compete and the emotions that are held at bay with a loss or disappointment or let loose with exaltation for a win. Even the interaction between team members says a lot about a person. So not only do I like to watch Olympics to see great sports, it for me, is a study in character.

My favorite sports to watch are swimming and beach volleyball. I think because my kids were on a swim team in grade school and there is nothing like watching someone power their way through the water to a win. And I like volleyball because I enjoyed watching my younger daughter play on school teams and a traveling team.

As a writer do you watch certain things for insights into character? Do you watch the Olympics and if you do- what is your favorite thing to watch?

What a week and end!

Last week I cranked out 17,000+ words on the WIP and it felt good! When you can stay that focus I believe the words come easier and you can stay in the characters POV (point of view) easier. I'm going to try for 20,000 this week. I really want to have the first draft done by Nationals (end of July) and have the beginning of the historical sparkling so I can pitch both and send off partials if they are requested. Then it will be a sit your butt in the chair writing again to get the historical done and the fourth Halsey brother book.

Snippets of scenes and ideas for Clay's book (fourth Halsey brother)have been zinging in and out of my head. I'm getting a better feel for his character but the heroine is eluding me at the moment. Maybe once I settle on a name, she'll become clearer in my mind.

The weekend was the usual when we go to Princeton. We left when the dh got off work on Friday. Got to the cabin at 10 pm. Slept, dh got up early to start the irrigation pump, made breakfast, he worked on the wheel line mover, I edited, then we did some cleanup and unloaded the trailer we brought with us. Power poles and old fashioned bathtubs. We set the bathtubs one on either side of the porch. Then we unhooked the trailer from the 4 wheel drive pickup and went to the top of the hill and over the other side. We still haven't see the back fence that connects us with BLM. The walk is too steep, and we haven't felt like dragging ourselves back up out of the ravine after we check it out. We either have to get the horses over there or some 4-wheelers.

Then we put the mover on the wheel line, filled up one of the bathtubs and as it was getting dark, washed the dirt and grime off. The next day we put siding on a shed and built the roof on the porch of the cabin. So it was a good weekend. But I'm looking forward to this week and pumping out more words on thw WIP!

How was your weekend? Work or relaxation?

Christmas Cards and Character

I think at this time of year everyone is bustling around, decorating, baking, purchasing and wrapping gifts, sending out cards or letters.

Receiving Christmas Cards is one of the best parts of the season for me. It's not just seeing what everyone else is doing, but the different cards and seeing who sent what kind of card or letter. And tying in what they sent to the type of person they are. I guess it's the writer in me- always digging to see what makes a character uniquely who they are.

My WIP is coming along nicely, but I keep thinking I haven't flawed my hero enough. Although in this last scene he - a man who has always known what to do in a situation- found himself lacking. I find it humorous. Of course he doesn't! LOL I'm hoping I've written him well enough the reader will believe his lack of knowledge. Ahh... do I have you wondering?? You'll have to read the book to find out what I'm talking about!

I went off track! I not only like to receive cards but I like to send out a Christmas letter, letting people know what the immediate family is up to. And of course I have to send it in an interesting way or it will be tossed to the side like the card from Great Aunt Sadie that looks like she recycled by putting a white address label over someone else's name and wrote hers! It's the thought that counts!

Hope you are all getting a moment to relax during the rush of the season! What interesting card/letter have you ever received at Christmas?

Workshop Titles

I'm headed out of town early Wednesday morning, so here's the Wednesday edition of my blog.

As I've stated before, I'm putting together a proposal for a workshop on characterization for RWA National Conference. The info they send out about making sure your proposal gets picked is having a catchy title. So... Here is what I have so far. What do you like or what do you suggest?

Walk in your character's shoes

Characters that jump off the page

Unforgettable Characters

How to make your character come to life.

Characters- minimal words, maximum impact.

Something that might help spark a title- I'm using country western songs to show how you can make an impression with a character without going into a lot of narrative or inner thoughts.

Okay, comments, suggestions? Fire away!