Friday, September 22, 2006

Anatomy of a Romance

Finn or Derek?

Nice guy with his heart on his sleeve, or married guy who doesn't know what he wants but is, apparently, great in the sack?

This, of course, is the dilemma facing Meredith on Grey's Anatomy. Forget the fact that her friend is lying catatonic on the floor in a prom dress. Or that she's supposed to be a surgical intern saving lives. Or that the hospital is under quarantine for possible exposure to the plague.

No, we're fascinated with the romance here. The gut-twisting, agonizing, on-again, off-again attraction between all the characters.

Most of my girlfriends vote for Meredith to be with McDreamy. Why? He's gorgeous, sufficiently flawed, and (as of last night) able to profess his love for her while taking the terribly chivalrous position of telling her to take her time making her decision.

A few of my friends think he's creepy. I mean, he is still married. If he really loved her, they say, he would let her move on, be with Finn, not chase her down and make love to her in an exam room.

And what about Finn? He's certainly likable enough, the sad guy who's just learning to open his heart again. He's cute, talented and (as of last night) strong enough to tell Meredith he's not giving up on the fight. Who wouldn't want him to win?

So who do we cheer for? Who do we want her to end up with? Why is it so hard to make that choice?

Wednesday, September 20, 2006

A Few Little Nibbles

So I've started sending out a few queries on my latest work, One Night in Boston, and to my surprise, have gotten a few requests back already, which thrills me to death. Of course, I've been down this road before, and the requests didn't amount to anything, but still. It's nice to at least know that my letter and general concept seem decent.

I actually got a telephone call from an agent yesterday...who only wanted clarification on a couple of things on my website and in my letter. The vibe I got was actually a little weird, so if she doesn't ask to see anything more I can't say I'll be heart-broken.

After that somewhat awkward conversation, though, I came home to find two other requests for partials, so that cheered me up. One is from a pretty big name, though I hesitate to mention her specifically only because her assistant also sent me this 2-page release form to fill out and send in with my sample material waiving any obligation on their part etc. etc. I'd never seen anything like it before but it's a big agency (Trident Media) so I read it over about 3 times and will probably go ahead and send it in.

Otherwise, still trying to move ahead with my serial work for Virtual Tales (I really do owe them about 30,000 words by the beginning of next week) and figuring out what other agents I want to query in the next few days.

Grey's Anatomy last-season finale tonight! Gotta go!

Monday, September 18, 2006

Prison Break

I'm addicted to this show. Well, this and Grey's Anatomy, but GA is at least in the ballpark of my writing style, whereas PB is nowhere near. And yet still I love it. Can't be the testosterone, though I'll admit I started watching because I liked the looks of Wentworth Miller. (Still do).

But when it comes to creating compelling characters, the producers of this show have hit a grand slam. They're all terrific, multi-faceted, flawed (well, of course; most of them are felons), stomach-turning, and yet somehow so fascinating that at times you're cheering for them all the same.

The best character? By far, it's T-Bag. You hate him - he's disgusting, he's a pedophile, he's manipulative and evil and doesn't have a decent bone in his body. But he is absolutely riveting to watch. If nothing else, every Monday night I am reminded about the intricacies of character development.

On the writing front, it's query time again! I have a list of about 25 agents that I'm targeting for this go-round. Half of them are e-queries, which is really helpful. My goal is 5 a day for the next week or or so and then we'll see what the feedback is.

Meanwhile, still working on my serial novel that Virtual Tales wants to look at - trying to have the first 30,000 words polished up in the next week also. It's been workshopped a bunch of times in the past, so I feel OK about it. We'll see. Those OK feelings tend to change without warning.

Luckily, no must-see TV in the next couple of days, so I can tie myself to the computer (well, not literally. Might be a little tough to get much accomplished) and produce. I hope.

Sunday, September 17, 2006

Juggling Too Many Balls

Have you ever found youreself in a place where you have all these ideas, all these storylines that desperately want and need attention, and so you're splitting your time trying to juggle them all?

It's funny. I've been working on my current WIP for the last 9 months or so, and just this morning finished the third revision. Yay! Feeling really pretty good about it. I have a query letter worked out, a 2-page synopsis (and no I'm writing any other version unless someone specifically asks for a 10-page one. Hate writing them at all), and a list of about 20 agents I'm going to start querying this week.

I also have the re-visited novel that I mentioned last post, the serial novel that Virtual Tales wants to see more of, so now I have to scurry around and work on the later chapters of that.

My website needs updating.

I need to decide if I'm going to enter anything in the Golden Heart contest this year.

I really should read and review some pieces I've been neglecting at one of my writer's groups.

My gardens need weeding and the pool needs closing and the lawn needs mowing and the outdoor furniture needs to be put away.

A stack of papers needs grading.

And the house could really use a good vacuuming.

How do people do it, who work full-time and put out 1 or 2 or 3 novels a year? I guess they don't sleep more than 5 or 6 hours a night. Or maybe they write faster than I do. Or maybe they don't have an addiction to Grey's Anatomy. Or spending hours online reading blogs and writing their own.

Gotta go. Have a terrific day.