Monday, August 10, 2009
Pass the popcorn!
Here it is! My first attempt at making a video, much less a book video. If you want to watch it on YouTube, the url is:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=obLNAPBbOGY
Hopefully by the time the next book is published (here I come, Lulu!), I'll have enough add-ons to iMovie that I can get it to do something I want it to do, rather than try a PhotoShop workaround. It also didn't help that this was the first time I'd ever used the video function on my camera. Next time I'll get better shots and won't have to use the cheesy keyhole effect to crop out stuff.
Welcome to the Art School!
Welcome to the first installment of my “how to paint” blog! I’m going to be alternating this with “how to write a book” and will try to post every Sunday or so. We're not starting off too well since it's Monday, but I was working all day yesterday on my very first book video. (Which you'll see here tomorrow.)
SO YOU WANT TO PAINT, huh? Terrific! What do you want to paint? Portraits? Landscapes? Florals? Abstracts?
Focus first. (You can always change your mind later.)
Which painters/paintings have really hit you over the head in the past, dazzling you so you exclaimed, “I want to paint like that!” and dreamed of the work afterward? Have there been really different styles that caught your eye? What do they have in common? Maybe you liked the colors they used or the way they used them or maybe the style. Maybe you like that they were different. There’s nothing that says you have to paint the same way all the time. (But try focusing in these beginning stages and get the basics down.)
First of all, you’re going to have to get materials so you can start to paint. There are a lot more things to paint with these days then back when I was an art student in college. You can use colored pencils and pastels, but I don’t know much about those so I’m going to ignore them. La la la, I can’t HEAR you!
That leaves us with the three major media for painting: watercolor, acrylics, and oils.
WATERCOLORS
Now, technically acrylics are watercolors because you use water to work with them. To differentiate, sometimes watercolors are called “aquarelles,” but most of the time watercolors are "watercolors."
Watercolors are fun because you can accomplish one with very little investment. You can travel with watercolors since they’re non-toxic (for the most part; read the label!) and airlines won’t think you’re a terrorist by packing awful solvents in your luggage. They dry quickly. If you’re working on paper you can stack a bunch together for storage and they won’t take up much space.
They do have a reputation of being difficult. I think it’s more of an attitude adjustment that painters from other mediums have to make. Once you get the swing of watercolor and figure out how to approach things (which are kinda opposite what you do in other mediums), you should enjoy watercolors. Oh—they do tend to be rather unforgiving, but there are ways to correct watercolors if you make a mistake. Don’t forget that the term “happy mistakes” probably was first coined by a watercolorist! Mistakes can be GOOD.
You need to remember that even though your watercolors will dry, they won't be protected for all eternity unless you do something to them, like put them under glass or use one of the new spray varnishes that are made for watercolors. Otherwise if you happen to sneeze near them or perhaps Fido comes in from the rain and shakes off near your watercolor--uh oh!
PALETTE
You can buy your WCs in little tins like you did in kindergarten, but I think most watercolorists get tubes. This means that you’ll need a palette to hold everything. Don’t worry if your paint dries on it; a little water will make it spring back to life. When you first get your stuff out to sit down to paint, spritz your WCs with a few drops of water so they'll be nice and moist for you by the time you lift your brush.
Which reminds me: NEVER GET “STUDENT” GRADE PAINT! In any medium! This is cheaper than the other stuff because it’s been thinned down. You need to use more to get the same effect you get from pro grade. Grit your teeth and resolve to stick with the non-student grades.
*** “STUDENT” ANYTHING WILL NOT BE ARCHIVAL! ***
Also be advised that watercolors dry lighter than the color you apply. Acrylics dry darker. Oils stay the same. Don't know why; it just is.
Be advised that the cheap plastic (and very portable) palettes will make your colors bead up when you’re trying to mix them. The expensive (and heavy) porcelain ones will allow the colors to sit in a nice puddle. Both will get the job done.
BRUSHES
With watercolor you’ll need watercolor brushes. Make sure they’re made for WC. These brushes will usually have shorter handles than oil/acrylic brushes. I think that’s because you’re expected to work up close with WC, but that’s not necessarily the case. WC brushes also need to be able to hold a lot of paint so you can get large areas of washes in. People will tell you to go with the expensive ones that use animal hair, but a lot of the new artificial stuff will do just fine, especially for a beginner. Plus there are animal hair/artificial mixes that are terrific and won’t completely drain your wallet.
Don't mix your WC brushes with your oil brushes. You get a little oil on 'em and you'll never be able to use them for WC again.
You'll need a large brush to do large washes. What size paper are you using? Use a size that'll go with that. And you'll need a rigger (buy more than one), which has really long, thin bristles that make for doing details and SIGNING YOUR NAME a lot easier. Note: brushes will be your biggest cost in WC. Look for specials.
PAPER TEXTURES
Watercolor paper is what you paint on, for the most part. It comes with two things to look for: “press” and weight.
• Hot-pressed paper is really smooth, almost slick. I find it hard to control. Definitely not for beginners!
• Rough paper is exactly that: really rough. Try some of both after you get the hang of watercolor.
• Cold-pressed paper has a moderate “tooth” to it, and is something I prefer, certainly best for a beginner to use.
PAPER WEIGHT (no, not paperweight)
WC paper that comes in 140 pound or thereabouts weight will need to be stretched, which means that you soak the paper and tape it to a board while it’s still wet so it won’t buckle up as you’re painting.
Now, I know the modern thing is merely to clip the dry paper to a board, but I still have my doubts about that. Instead, if I get 140 lb paper I get it in “blocks” that are glued on all 4 sides, which is sorta pre-stretching. It still buckles a bit, but not badly. To release the paper (after everything’s bone dry), you take a palette knife or some thin, dull metal something like a clean butter knife, and insert it in the tiny section on the side that is NOT glued. Then you carefully run the metal around the paper, freeing it from the glue. Ta dah!
If you go for the heavy paper, like 300 lb, you won’t need to stretch anything.
And oh dear, everything’s going metric. A 140 lb paper may be labeled 300 gsm (that’s grams per square meter). That’d make 300 lb paper something like 542 gsm or such.
Make sure your paper is archival quality, so it won't yellow on you as the months go by. "100% rag" used to be the standard to get, but these days they're developing new materials from the oddest things. At the very least, look for "acid free" and a major brand.
If you buy WC paper by the sheet, you’ll find it usually comes in 22x30” size. You can use a half-sheet or even a quarter sheet and be considered “standard” area. Store the paper flat and away from water and dirt. Don’t let anything hard rest on it, or you’ll see those creases appear like magic the first wash you apply. (There are even artists who insist on doing washes by pouring paint rather than brushing it on because the soft bristles will leave marks on the paper.)
OTHER SURFACES
Nowadays we even have watercolor canvas. This is primarily for ease in selling your painting. If you do a watercolor on canvas and use the new varnishes that work with WC, the theory is that the buyer won’t have to then mat and frame the painting under glass, which makes things heavy and the process convoluted. I’ve heard one WC canvas proponent swear that you can wash all color off a WC canvas and be able to start again like it was new. This claim is absolutely false. But it is easier to correct mistakes by washing off color on a canvas than paper, though it can certainly be done on paper (the heavier the better).
There are also watercolor boards. These are pretty neat. Consider them pre-stretched paper that has a solid back. Used with a suitable spray-on UV varnish (check your label!), they can also be plunked into a frame without glass. Or with. (These days a lot of people are saying that EVERYTHING should be under glass to protect it from pollution!)
Note: NEVER clean a watercolor painting by spritzing cleanser on the glass that covers it! The cleaner can seep under the glass and dissolve the color. Spritz the cleaner on a rag, and then use the rag to clean. Or do as I do, and never clean anything. It lets others feel superior and makes the world a better place.
Whew! A lot of info for this first column, and I’ll make it worse by saying that I’m not going to teach anything about actual WC painting, at least until I get back into it more. There are lots of videos and books out there that are outstanding. Hm. I think I’d start with Tom Lynch’s Watercolor Secrets. Oh, and his 100 Watercolor Workshop Lesson Charts are a great add-on. He’s also got a bunch of videos. He’s a very good teacher and has a lot of experience teaching on TV, plus he’s one o’ them Big Name Watercolorists so he actually knows what he’s doing. Start with him and then discover others. www.tomlynch.com
Happy painting!
SO YOU WANT TO PAINT, huh? Terrific! What do you want to paint? Portraits? Landscapes? Florals? Abstracts?
Focus first. (You can always change your mind later.)
Which painters/paintings have really hit you over the head in the past, dazzling you so you exclaimed, “I want to paint like that!” and dreamed of the work afterward? Have there been really different styles that caught your eye? What do they have in common? Maybe you liked the colors they used or the way they used them or maybe the style. Maybe you like that they were different. There’s nothing that says you have to paint the same way all the time. (But try focusing in these beginning stages and get the basics down.)
First of all, you’re going to have to get materials so you can start to paint. There are a lot more things to paint with these days then back when I was an art student in college. You can use colored pencils and pastels, but I don’t know much about those so I’m going to ignore them. La la la, I can’t HEAR you!
That leaves us with the three major media for painting: watercolor, acrylics, and oils.
WATERCOLORS
Now, technically acrylics are watercolors because you use water to work with them. To differentiate, sometimes watercolors are called “aquarelles,” but most of the time watercolors are "watercolors."
Watercolors are fun because you can accomplish one with very little investment. You can travel with watercolors since they’re non-toxic (for the most part; read the label!) and airlines won’t think you’re a terrorist by packing awful solvents in your luggage. They dry quickly. If you’re working on paper you can stack a bunch together for storage and they won’t take up much space.
They do have a reputation of being difficult. I think it’s more of an attitude adjustment that painters from other mediums have to make. Once you get the swing of watercolor and figure out how to approach things (which are kinda opposite what you do in other mediums), you should enjoy watercolors. Oh—they do tend to be rather unforgiving, but there are ways to correct watercolors if you make a mistake. Don’t forget that the term “happy mistakes” probably was first coined by a watercolorist! Mistakes can be GOOD.
You need to remember that even though your watercolors will dry, they won't be protected for all eternity unless you do something to them, like put them under glass or use one of the new spray varnishes that are made for watercolors. Otherwise if you happen to sneeze near them or perhaps Fido comes in from the rain and shakes off near your watercolor--uh oh!
PALETTE
You can buy your WCs in little tins like you did in kindergarten, but I think most watercolorists get tubes. This means that you’ll need a palette to hold everything. Don’t worry if your paint dries on it; a little water will make it spring back to life. When you first get your stuff out to sit down to paint, spritz your WCs with a few drops of water so they'll be nice and moist for you by the time you lift your brush.
Which reminds me: NEVER GET “STUDENT” GRADE PAINT! In any medium! This is cheaper than the other stuff because it’s been thinned down. You need to use more to get the same effect you get from pro grade. Grit your teeth and resolve to stick with the non-student grades.
*** “STUDENT” ANYTHING WILL NOT BE ARCHIVAL! ***
Also be advised that watercolors dry lighter than the color you apply. Acrylics dry darker. Oils stay the same. Don't know why; it just is.
Be advised that the cheap plastic (and very portable) palettes will make your colors bead up when you’re trying to mix them. The expensive (and heavy) porcelain ones will allow the colors to sit in a nice puddle. Both will get the job done.
BRUSHES
With watercolor you’ll need watercolor brushes. Make sure they’re made for WC. These brushes will usually have shorter handles than oil/acrylic brushes. I think that’s because you’re expected to work up close with WC, but that’s not necessarily the case. WC brushes also need to be able to hold a lot of paint so you can get large areas of washes in. People will tell you to go with the expensive ones that use animal hair, but a lot of the new artificial stuff will do just fine, especially for a beginner. Plus there are animal hair/artificial mixes that are terrific and won’t completely drain your wallet.
Don't mix your WC brushes with your oil brushes. You get a little oil on 'em and you'll never be able to use them for WC again.
You'll need a large brush to do large washes. What size paper are you using? Use a size that'll go with that. And you'll need a rigger (buy more than one), which has really long, thin bristles that make for doing details and SIGNING YOUR NAME a lot easier. Note: brushes will be your biggest cost in WC. Look for specials.
PAPER TEXTURES
Watercolor paper is what you paint on, for the most part. It comes with two things to look for: “press” and weight.
• Hot-pressed paper is really smooth, almost slick. I find it hard to control. Definitely not for beginners!
• Rough paper is exactly that: really rough. Try some of both after you get the hang of watercolor.
• Cold-pressed paper has a moderate “tooth” to it, and is something I prefer, certainly best for a beginner to use.
PAPER WEIGHT (no, not paperweight)
WC paper that comes in 140 pound or thereabouts weight will need to be stretched, which means that you soak the paper and tape it to a board while it’s still wet so it won’t buckle up as you’re painting.
Now, I know the modern thing is merely to clip the dry paper to a board, but I still have my doubts about that. Instead, if I get 140 lb paper I get it in “blocks” that are glued on all 4 sides, which is sorta pre-stretching. It still buckles a bit, but not badly. To release the paper (after everything’s bone dry), you take a palette knife or some thin, dull metal something like a clean butter knife, and insert it in the tiny section on the side that is NOT glued. Then you carefully run the metal around the paper, freeing it from the glue. Ta dah!
If you go for the heavy paper, like 300 lb, you won’t need to stretch anything.
And oh dear, everything’s going metric. A 140 lb paper may be labeled 300 gsm (that’s grams per square meter). That’d make 300 lb paper something like 542 gsm or such.
Make sure your paper is archival quality, so it won't yellow on you as the months go by. "100% rag" used to be the standard to get, but these days they're developing new materials from the oddest things. At the very least, look for "acid free" and a major brand.
If you buy WC paper by the sheet, you’ll find it usually comes in 22x30” size. You can use a half-sheet or even a quarter sheet and be considered “standard” area. Store the paper flat and away from water and dirt. Don’t let anything hard rest on it, or you’ll see those creases appear like magic the first wash you apply. (There are even artists who insist on doing washes by pouring paint rather than brushing it on because the soft bristles will leave marks on the paper.)
OTHER SURFACES
Nowadays we even have watercolor canvas. This is primarily for ease in selling your painting. If you do a watercolor on canvas and use the new varnishes that work with WC, the theory is that the buyer won’t have to then mat and frame the painting under glass, which makes things heavy and the process convoluted. I’ve heard one WC canvas proponent swear that you can wash all color off a WC canvas and be able to start again like it was new. This claim is absolutely false. But it is easier to correct mistakes by washing off color on a canvas than paper, though it can certainly be done on paper (the heavier the better).
There are also watercolor boards. These are pretty neat. Consider them pre-stretched paper that has a solid back. Used with a suitable spray-on UV varnish (check your label!), they can also be plunked into a frame without glass. Or with. (These days a lot of people are saying that EVERYTHING should be under glass to protect it from pollution!)
Note: NEVER clean a watercolor painting by spritzing cleanser on the glass that covers it! The cleaner can seep under the glass and dissolve the color. Spritz the cleaner on a rag, and then use the rag to clean. Or do as I do, and never clean anything. It lets others feel superior and makes the world a better place.
Whew! A lot of info for this first column, and I’ll make it worse by saying that I’m not going to teach anything about actual WC painting, at least until I get back into it more. There are lots of videos and books out there that are outstanding. Hm. I think I’d start with Tom Lynch’s Watercolor Secrets. Oh, and his 100 Watercolor Workshop Lesson Charts are a great add-on. He’s also got a bunch of videos. He’s a very good teacher and has a lot of experience teaching on TV, plus he’s one o’ them Big Name Watercolorists so he actually knows what he’s doing. Start with him and then discover others. www.tomlynch.com
Happy painting!
Monday, August 3, 2009
A Writer's Frustration
A lot of you know that Star-Crossed, the sequel to Touch of Danger, was turned down by Cerridwen. In a way, that's a good thing, as sales for ToD have not been earth-shattering.
http://www.jasminejade.com/p-7215-touch-of-danger.aspx
My take? Number one, that the publisher doesn't promote Cerridwen a fraction of the way it promotes Ellora's Cave, whose books are XXX. Number two, that XXX ebooks are the ones that sell. Number three, that the vast majority of my books, including S-C, are not XXX. Number four, that print publishers have radically powered down their lines. So number five is: either find a small press publisher who's willing to take on an odd-genre book with occasional odd philosophical/relationship forays and is a sequel to a book published by another publisher...or self-publish.
I've had positive rejection letters from several publishers. They think the book has merit but their lines have no place for it.
One of our writers here at PHE, Inc. is an enthusiastic Lulu author, though when you try to pin him down (politely and delicately, as the subject should be approached) as to sales and such, he starts to admit matters aren't exactly on a level with the NYT best-selling list (which he's been on). A friend of mine has self-pubbed several books of romantic NC fiction but she taught that it was a lot of work and you had to visit bookshops constantly to push your titles. I'm not a pushy kind of person. I'm your basic writer-type: shy and withdrawn.
At this point I don't have any idea if Touch is going to see actual paper-print, and I can't get anyone to tell me yes or no. If it does, it will be another year, so I have time if I'm going the Lulu route with the sequels to think and prepare. I'm actually getting kind of excited about being able to do some Frazetta-style covers. (Anyone know some Frazetta-type people who'd model for some photos for me?) The visual impact of the four finished sequels with F-style covers (ooh, that sounds dirty!) presented together might sell a lot of books, methinks.
In the meantime, I'm shopping other titles around to a number of markets. One novel has been quite funny in that it gets extremely enthusiastic rejections. They love, love, love the book, but there's no place for it in their lines. Right now it's sitting in the Baen slush pile, which they say takes a year to go through, so I'll be sending it around simultaneously to other places. (Trying to sort through the garbage in my office [I'm cleaning it!] to see if Chris Keeslar has seen this in the past few years.)
And I've got one in the Harlequin/Mills & Boon slush pile. It's an excellent book (if I may say so myself), just an odd historical time period and place, with no lords and no ladies in sight. (It received an award in a writing contest a few years ago.)
What I'm hoping for is ultimately to wind up in eprint, self-print, and print-print (did I mention movies and/or TV maxiseries?), becoming a Modern Renaissance Writer. (A modern RICH Renaissance Writer.) Yeah, that's me! Carol A. Strickland, the symbol of the 21st Century writer.
So what do you do when your book is rejected? What do you think of Lulu & co? Of course it's the wave of the future, but right now--? Anyone out there published in different media? How do you like it?
And I need opinions on how I should be sending Touch of Danger out for review. Cerridwen says they send it to x reviewers (there are a LOT), but so far I've only seen one review (5 hearts out of a possible 5!). How does one re-send a book for review? Do any of you do this? Is a query letter: "Did you receive my book for review from Cerridwen?" enough or too pushy or what?
Ah, learning this business is such an educational experience! But I wish I'd graduate already.
http://www.jasminejade.com/p-7215-touch-of-danger.aspx
My take? Number one, that the publisher doesn't promote Cerridwen a fraction of the way it promotes Ellora's Cave, whose books are XXX. Number two, that XXX ebooks are the ones that sell. Number three, that the vast majority of my books, including S-C, are not XXX. Number four, that print publishers have radically powered down their lines. So number five is: either find a small press publisher who's willing to take on an odd-genre book with occasional odd philosophical/relationship forays and is a sequel to a book published by another publisher...or self-publish.
I've had positive rejection letters from several publishers. They think the book has merit but their lines have no place for it.
One of our writers here at PHE, Inc. is an enthusiastic Lulu author, though when you try to pin him down (politely and delicately, as the subject should be approached) as to sales and such, he starts to admit matters aren't exactly on a level with the NYT best-selling list (which he's been on). A friend of mine has self-pubbed several books of romantic NC fiction but she taught that it was a lot of work and you had to visit bookshops constantly to push your titles. I'm not a pushy kind of person. I'm your basic writer-type: shy and withdrawn.
At this point I don't have any idea if Touch is going to see actual paper-print, and I can't get anyone to tell me yes or no. If it does, it will be another year, so I have time if I'm going the Lulu route with the sequels to think and prepare. I'm actually getting kind of excited about being able to do some Frazetta-style covers. (Anyone know some Frazetta-type people who'd model for some photos for me?) The visual impact of the four finished sequels with F-style covers (ooh, that sounds dirty!) presented together might sell a lot of books, methinks.
In the meantime, I'm shopping other titles around to a number of markets. One novel has been quite funny in that it gets extremely enthusiastic rejections. They love, love, love the book, but there's no place for it in their lines. Right now it's sitting in the Baen slush pile, which they say takes a year to go through, so I'll be sending it around simultaneously to other places. (Trying to sort through the garbage in my office [I'm cleaning it!] to see if Chris Keeslar has seen this in the past few years.)
And I've got one in the Harlequin/Mills & Boon slush pile. It's an excellent book (if I may say so myself), just an odd historical time period and place, with no lords and no ladies in sight. (It received an award in a writing contest a few years ago.)
What I'm hoping for is ultimately to wind up in eprint, self-print, and print-print (did I mention movies and/or TV maxiseries?), becoming a Modern Renaissance Writer. (A modern RICH Renaissance Writer.) Yeah, that's me! Carol A. Strickland, the symbol of the 21st Century writer.
So what do you do when your book is rejected? What do you think of Lulu & co? Of course it's the wave of the future, but right now--? Anyone out there published in different media? How do you like it?
And I need opinions on how I should be sending Touch of Danger out for review. Cerridwen says they send it to x reviewers (there are a LOT), but so far I've only seen one review (5 hearts out of a possible 5!). How does one re-send a book for review? Do any of you do this? Is a query letter: "Did you receive my book for review from Cerridwen?" enough or too pushy or what?
Ah, learning this business is such an educational experience! But I wish I'd graduate already.
Sunday, August 2, 2009
Learnin' as Fast as I Can
So I signed up for classes at Art of the Carolinas. These past 2 years I've tried not to sign up for everything since when I do I not only go broke, I get absolutely frenzied. I want to relax and enjoy these classes, especially now that I know pretty much who's a good teacher and who is not.
But I kept thinking about the class I didn't sign up for: Abstract Landscapes. I've been trying to learn abstraction and will be taking classes in that, so I thought: landscapes. Add some atmospheric perspective and the occasional tree and do them in earth colors. Right?
So I've been working on some, trying my hand. The first one is taken from a series of photos I took on my way back from Les Parents last month. The highway department keeps all kinds of wildflowers blooming along the highways, and at the rest stops they seemed to have planted all daylilies.
This second one is from a series of exercises I did per Bob Burridge, where you do several small sketches and then try to work up something larger from a sketch you liked. Don't know if I like the sketch better than the larger painting or not, but here it is. I'm saving a larger canvas board for the sketch that I REALLY liked, even though it scares me because it's rather simple. I'm calling this "French Broad" because it kind of sorta reminds me of the F.B. River up in the mountains, or it's got a mountainish/riverish feel to it.
Gotta be getting around to doing a painting for the NC State Fair soon, though. I'm entertaining ideas for suitable subjects! Last year I did a barnyard with two guys and two dogs and an ancient pickup and got Honorable Mention. This year: maybe something not so farmer-ish? Although I still have lots of reference photos from Lloyd's dairy farm, the place I used for last year's pic. The year before I did a pretty Hillsborough house that had lots of flowers, and got a red ribbon. What subject should I paint? (Be aware that abstracts rarely do well in the State Fair.)
PS: Have you sent off your postcards asking DC Comics to renumber Wonder Woman to where she should be?
Sunday, July 26, 2009
90% of Everything...
It's called Sturgeon's Law: 90% of everything is crap.
I took 3 days off last week, resulting in a 5-day mini-vacation in which I've gotten a surprising amount of work done in just about every area of my life, meaning that it's difficult to see any changes because there's so much to do in so many different places. But during my rest breaks I have managed to read 3 books. (Okay, the last one hasn't been finished yet.)
The first book turned out to be erotica. Why can't publishers post erotica ratings so as to warn readers who only want so much and no more? You won't be able to tell what book this is because it resembles so many others, but it was recommended as summer reading by a major publication, as were all 3 books discussed here.
The book begins as Our Heroine dresses stupidly (the obvious reason so she can shed her clothes more quickly) and goes off on a stupid trip to a forbidden, isolated midnight place she hasn't been to in years, a place obviously reeking with danger. There she stumbles across Our Hero, who says, "It's you," for they'd known of each other only by reputation in high school. To which Our Heroine says, "You!"
He was the school Bad Boy and she was the Good Girl, daughter of a cop or preacher or politician with high standing in the community. So of course she throws all that background to the wind and without further ado, they Go At It. Of course he makes sure she is pleasured first before he achieves his own (this is romance fiction after all), but it's the best, hottest sex either one has ever, ever had. They go their separate ways after angry post-coital words are exchanged. Well, at least they've started to talk to each other now.
This is within the first 10 pages of the book. Our Heroine quickly returns home and does five Incredibly Stupid Things that will lead her back into the arms of Our Bad Boy Hero. At this point I put down the book, make a note of the author's name, and determine never to buy anything from her again.
This kind of unfeeling, completely unromantic romance seems to be what sells the best. Why is that? It makes me feel dirty instead of excited when I read it. Besides, it requires stupid heroes/heroines, and I DESPISE reading about stupid people doing stupid things.
Book #2 had promise. At first I thought it was something that I'd helped shape the query synopsis for in our local group, but the author's name wasn't familiar. After a while, the plot diverged from that other one and I was intrigued, wondering where this would go.
But it was formulaic. I'll give it points in that it plunked one extra layer onto Our Heroine, but everyone else in the top tier of characters was by the book. The author must have realized that because she added over a dozen others to the secondary and tertiary tiers, all part of the big family (another hallmark of too much romance fiction, usually to allow for sequels that involve the other members being brought up to primary status for their own books). The trouble was, they were all alike and I had no idea who was who, what differentiated them from each other. They all had the same relationship problems, all had characters with no depth at all, and all spoke in interchangeable pseudo-psychologist patter. The climax to the plot was dealt with quickly (and questionably, as in huh? How did that happen?) in order to wrap things up for everyone and deliver a HEA without going over the publisher's required page count.
Formula. I realize that there is a basic structure of romance fiction, but must it be simplified so much? Where's the zing in reading a plot that we've read a hundred times, be it set in contemporary, historic, fantasy or sf setting? Yawwwwn. Next time, put a little thought into it, please.
With two books down I reached for my third, done by an author who rarely disappoints. Why is this? She may follow the basic fiction tell-a-story structure, but she's brought to the table an interesting and clashing mix of unique characters who come from unique situations, who reveal new layers of themselves as the plot continues. Almost every chapter brings a surprise of some kind, a twist that makes the characters work to sort themselves out while learning more about themselves.
The story bounds forward with zest. Sexual elements are gradually folded in, and when they arrive they come with humor, disappointment, a possibility of things getting better in the future... a sense of reality that fiction does so well in giving us in its own unrealistic way. Haven't finished the book yet, but if it's like her others, the sex scenes will occur only after the characters start to relate to each other in ways that frighten them and force them to deal with their own innermost secrets. When that final sex scene comes they'll be interlinked not only in body but in mind and purpose. And it'll finally be the best sex they've ever had because they're with the best person for them. I know I'll need a Kleenex to get through the end of this, and I know that I'll remember the characters long after I finish.
Hooray for the 10 percent!
I took 3 days off last week, resulting in a 5-day mini-vacation in which I've gotten a surprising amount of work done in just about every area of my life, meaning that it's difficult to see any changes because there's so much to do in so many different places. But during my rest breaks I have managed to read 3 books. (Okay, the last one hasn't been finished yet.)
The first book turned out to be erotica. Why can't publishers post erotica ratings so as to warn readers who only want so much and no more? You won't be able to tell what book this is because it resembles so many others, but it was recommended as summer reading by a major publication, as were all 3 books discussed here.
The book begins as Our Heroine dresses stupidly (the obvious reason so she can shed her clothes more quickly) and goes off on a stupid trip to a forbidden, isolated midnight place she hasn't been to in years, a place obviously reeking with danger. There she stumbles across Our Hero, who says, "It's you," for they'd known of each other only by reputation in high school. To which Our Heroine says, "You!"
He was the school Bad Boy and she was the Good Girl, daughter of a cop or preacher or politician with high standing in the community. So of course she throws all that background to the wind and without further ado, they Go At It. Of course he makes sure she is pleasured first before he achieves his own (this is romance fiction after all), but it's the best, hottest sex either one has ever, ever had. They go their separate ways after angry post-coital words are exchanged. Well, at least they've started to talk to each other now.
This is within the first 10 pages of the book. Our Heroine quickly returns home and does five Incredibly Stupid Things that will lead her back into the arms of Our Bad Boy Hero. At this point I put down the book, make a note of the author's name, and determine never to buy anything from her again.
This kind of unfeeling, completely unromantic romance seems to be what sells the best. Why is that? It makes me feel dirty instead of excited when I read it. Besides, it requires stupid heroes/heroines, and I DESPISE reading about stupid people doing stupid things.
Book #2 had promise. At first I thought it was something that I'd helped shape the query synopsis for in our local group, but the author's name wasn't familiar. After a while, the plot diverged from that other one and I was intrigued, wondering where this would go.
But it was formulaic. I'll give it points in that it plunked one extra layer onto Our Heroine, but everyone else in the top tier of characters was by the book. The author must have realized that because she added over a dozen others to the secondary and tertiary tiers, all part of the big family (another hallmark of too much romance fiction, usually to allow for sequels that involve the other members being brought up to primary status for their own books). The trouble was, they were all alike and I had no idea who was who, what differentiated them from each other. They all had the same relationship problems, all had characters with no depth at all, and all spoke in interchangeable pseudo-psychologist patter. The climax to the plot was dealt with quickly (and questionably, as in huh? How did that happen?) in order to wrap things up for everyone and deliver a HEA without going over the publisher's required page count.
Formula. I realize that there is a basic structure of romance fiction, but must it be simplified so much? Where's the zing in reading a plot that we've read a hundred times, be it set in contemporary, historic, fantasy or sf setting? Yawwwwn. Next time, put a little thought into it, please.
With two books down I reached for my third, done by an author who rarely disappoints. Why is this? She may follow the basic fiction tell-a-story structure, but she's brought to the table an interesting and clashing mix of unique characters who come from unique situations, who reveal new layers of themselves as the plot continues. Almost every chapter brings a surprise of some kind, a twist that makes the characters work to sort themselves out while learning more about themselves.
The story bounds forward with zest. Sexual elements are gradually folded in, and when they arrive they come with humor, disappointment, a possibility of things getting better in the future... a sense of reality that fiction does so well in giving us in its own unrealistic way. Haven't finished the book yet, but if it's like her others, the sex scenes will occur only after the characters start to relate to each other in ways that frighten them and force them to deal with their own innermost secrets. When that final sex scene comes they'll be interlinked not only in body but in mind and purpose. And it'll finally be the best sex they've ever had because they're with the best person for them. I know I'll need a Kleenex to get through the end of this, and I know that I'll remember the characters long after I finish.
Hooray for the 10 percent!
Tuesday, July 14, 2009
A Wolverine State of Mind
Took a vacation day today to edit wip, and so far I haven't done it. However, I have weeded a bit, readed a bit, and painted. Finally got to work on that Wolverine abstract I wanted to do. It's not bad, but I think I'll try another to get it just right.
Sunday, July 12, 2009
Playing Catch-Up
Can't believe it's been so long since I posted. I sit at work thinking about everything that's happened and come up with fairly decent blog ideas, but where are the blogs?
Since the last blog I had the sequel to Touch of Danger turned down by Cerridwen. Bummer! But people gave me names of publishers who have put out sequels to books that were published by other companies. So I sent it to Samhain. Hope to hear positively from them within 3 months.
The day after the rejection I got my first official-type review from "Lanta" at "The Romance Studio." Five out of five hearts; highly recommended! Woo hoo! Since I don't have any sales figures yet for ToD, I could add that to my query letter to Samhain.
Currently I've dusted off an ancient manuscript (one that won Honorable Mention in the 2002 Heart of the Rockies contest), a historical romance, and am editing it to be sent to Cerridwen. Hopefully (since work should be slow this week) I'll have that done by next Monday.
Bought and watched the latest Joe DiGuilio DVD (as opposed to his free videos which are available at Jerry's Artarama) and determined that I would paint an abstract, by golly. On watercolor paper. Seemed to me that I had some wc pads in the corner of the studio, and I did. They're only 140 lb, though; I should get some 300 lb at Art of the Carolinas this November. But it worked well enough (see above), and I'm pretty pleased.
I was trying to work with colors from my plein air painting which is STILL waiting for me to finish it, in order to explore a more simplified palette. I think this worked well. About 3/4 of the way through the big spangle just refused NOT to be painted, so I had to include 2 more to balance it. It's the Wonder Woman fan in me, I suppose, plus all the red, white & blue. When I turned it on its side and found the best aspect for it, the swashes turned into the letter "A." Oh no, it's Captain America!
Instead I named it "Born on the Fourth of July." The date's close enough. Hope you enjoy it. It's 15x21" and acrylics. Wonder if anyone on eBay might be interested? Hm...
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