Loving it all over again

I was listening to an essay by Tor's Jo Walton from her collection What Makes This Book So Great.  she writes about why she re-reads certain books and it got me thinking about the same thing.  Problem is, I don't really like to re-read books.  I get it the first time and move on.  Most of the time.

For example.  Did the obligatory re-reading of Lord of the Rings when the movie was about to come out.  It went ok.  Liked some of the parts that didn't end up in the movie.  Was not disappointed by the Treebeards, of course. Or the first appearance of Viggo-- I mean, Strider. Passed on The Hobbit, though.  I'm past my High Fantasy reading skills.  Read it for the first time when it came out and I don't think it will ever have the same feel for me again.  Well, except for the barrel escape scene.  I can do that again.  Maybe.

And that is it, the reason I revisit old stories.  There are moments in them that I remember and want to meet with again.  Rarely is it the writing.  Or the whole of the story.  And again, there are exceptions.  Asimov's cyborg detective remains an inspiration for how to blend genres and still manage to say something important.  Rowling is also someone I can listen to again (re-reading for those of us who prefer the audio versions).  It was several listenings before I stopped getting teary at Neville's meager ten points for Gryffyndor in the first book.  Or my cheering when the Weasley twins decide they have had enough school.  No, wait. When McGonagall tells Peeves it goes the other way.

I also recently went back into Zelazny's world of Amber and its Nine Princes.  I was a little disappointed. Why? Because it's a period piece.  It is more obviously written by a man than Asimov's books are, for example.

Are there more recent books or authors I'd be tempted to reread?  Yes. Now that I think about it, there are a few. Why?  Mostly because they have brought something new to my reading.  A new presentation of a trope is the usual reason.  How many ways are there to present fairies?  Or werewolves and zombies?

I am more likely to reread revisions.  What?  How many ways have we seen Red Riding Hood?  I can read more of those.  Or Sleeping Beauty?  Re-telling is the better term. Revealing elements of the world of he original story or connecting the past with the present in a new way.  That is what excites me.  Bringing the world into a different perspective.  Rowling does that.  Zelazny did that.  Asimov does that.  Even Tolkein did that.

So, what brings you back to old favorites?  How do you know your heart will still skip a beat when the story gets to THAT particular part?  Which covers show how comfortable you have become in your relationship?

Rituals and Writing

For most folks, practicing a ritual means to reap a certain result. Sometimes it seems superstitious, like basketball player, Michael Jordan wearing his North Carolina shorts underneath his Chicago Bulls shorts for every game. Sometimes it seems mystical, like Author, Steven Pressfield invoking the spirit of creativity by reciting Homer’s Invocation of the Muse.  Other times it seems unusual, strange even funny.  Hemingway pounded away on a typewriter standing up, while Capote wrote lying down and in longhand.  Some writers, like John Cheever and Victor Hugo found writing in their underwear or in the nude beneficial. Hmmmm.

In an article in the Scientific American titled "Why Rituals Work," it said, “Despite the absence of a direct causal connection between the ritual and the desired outcome, performing rituals with the intention of producing a certain result appears to be sufficient for that result to come true.” Basically, you could do anything as part of ritual, as long as you repeated the action each time you did it.

For me, I’ll go as far as writing in my pajamas but not my underwear. I will play a piece of music over and over again both for when I’m painting and when I’m writing a scene. It drives my hubby crazy, but it puts me into a kind of trance like state. Doesn’t happen all the time, but when it does, I love the results. 

Do you have a ritual that gets you going?

Till next time,

Elizabeth

 

 

Writers Online Pitch Event and Musical Inspiration

As usual, I'm modding some really cool writing workshops this month on the Savvy Authors website, including a fascinating study of Alpha Babes with Pamela Jaye Smith that will surely produce some soon-to-be awesome heroines for any genre. Even more exciting is the month-long event Prepare, Pitch and Publish, which features several mini workshops, pitch practice with feedback from peers and instructors, and a chance to present your polished pitches to agents and editors. It's an amazing opportunity, so all you writers out there get on over to Savvy Authors and get your pitch on!

Personally, I'm expecting a very creative and productive February as I close in on the final chapters of my PNR project, Rising Fire, while also jumping into the planning stages for the urban fantasy I'll be writing during the March-April Editor's Blueprint event. I'm already having a Devics kind of week, and I suspect their albums will be my musical muse for the coming weeks - haunting and romantic. In case any of you aren't familiar with them, here's a video. Love them, love the song, love the video. Have a great month!

Cheers!

Ella 

Sherlock Holmes and ADD

I've been putting together a collection of posts on my own blog on my experience of ADD. I don't meet the hyperactive markers that one might typically think of.  I identify with the "excessive daydreaming" kind. The attention to the outside world deficit.  In me, that translated--some five decades later--as Psychic according to the local community college career center.  Imagine that!

I was watching the PBS special on the new Sherlock Holmes series with Mssrs. Cumberbatch and Moffat.  It traced the history of the character and his peculiarities. But it's not the historical Holmes that got my interest.  It is how he is being presented in the current production--how his attention flits from element to element as he puts the whole picture together. 

I got to wondering what that might have felt like as a kid. As a kid in the American school system that asks for right answers based on step-by-step movement through a series of programmed movements. At least that was it when I was growing up.  I just waited until everyone else got to the end of the steps before I joined in.  I'd most of the time got to their conclusions already. Put it together from other pieces having nothing to do with the current lesson.  Weird.  And I didn't get it right all the time, but I had fun getting there.

In another PBS special I discovered how much the story of Sherlock Holmes inspired modern forensics.  That means there are a lot of people who identified with him or thought that how he behaved was alright.  I mean their teachers. Yes, Holmes was logical and studied.  But how much of how he started out was the more daydreamy kind of behavior, taking in information and putting it in a new context? 

Anyone else have new insights into odd behavior?  This is spec fic.  Seeing the world through the eyes, the perceptions of those whose perceptions are considered faulty.   Sometimes they are called artists.   Do you know anyone who perceives the world so differently that you are encouraged to change your own perceptions?

Fast Edits

At this moment, I’m going crazy participating in Savvy Author’s Editpalooza.  I picked an old draft from NaNoWriMo 2010. While not officially complete, there is enough material to finish it once I iron out the trouble spots. The problem is those spots after the first three chapters. It's  going to be painful to work through it in one month, but I’m willing to learn how to edit fast.

I haven’t touched the draft since that NaNo, so it opened my eyes to my three main problems:

1.  A classic moment of pantsing. It started great, and then it went downhill after my main character left home. The original idea devolved quickly, and the scenes shifted  my original ideas. The plot left in the fifth chapter and never returned.
2. I hate my characters.
3. Somehow my novel turned into a fantasy romance novel instead of a high fantasy novel.

Unfortunately, approaching writing as a pantser can spell doom when you realize there isn’t much to work with. I wrote 71k, but how many good words are there? If I’m lucky, probably not more than 20k. I lost touch with the reality of the world I created. It’s painful to read and more painful knowing I wrote it. The first draft is meant to be this way, but I still didn’t want to believe it. Yet, I accept them to move forward.

Participating in Editpalooza isn’t going to allow me to think long and hard. The push to finish the next assignment is pressing against my forehead. Now they said, each assignment may take longer than others. I’m treating this event as a request from a real editor. If you want your book published on time, then you must meet the deadline. If I want a good 2^nd draft, then I will work hard to complete it by the end of the event.

How about you? Do you think you can edit fast?

SNOW DAY!

I'm avoiding the Snow Queen. She won't find me under the comforters.  Hehehehe!

Till next time,

Elizabeth

Gorging on Urban Fantasy

In my last post I mentioned that cleansing can be a nice thing to focus on as part of making a fresh start in the new year. I was referring specifically to the plan for hubs and I to do a fruit and veggie cleanse some time in January, and I was very pleased with the healthy feeling that came from it. Now, some people will do this kind of cleanse for a week or more, and more power to them. I can't go without coffee for that long, LOL. So while it may not seem like a huge stretch, I think going two days eating nothing but fresh foods and water is a worthy accomplishment.

Of course, a little dietary cleansing isn't the only way to clear the cobwebs and get energized. Cleaning out all the junk and unused items around the house, emptying all the old folders and bookmarks on the computer you'll never look at again, or just organizing everything so it's not such a hot mess. I decided it was time to purge more books to make room for all the awesome new reading material I want this year, including getting rid of several ebooks on my Kindle (and I so wish we could donate those to the library too).

I couldn't help but notice that there are quite a few urban fantasy series that I started reading over the last few years but have not kept up with. It might be my short attention span, or my attraction to shiny new objects, but I tend to jump from one series to another only managing to read one or two books before moving on. I'm also super anal about reading any serial story in order, so there you go. Very occasionally I'll keep up with each new release, but not often. Which means I have a lot of catching up to do, so I'm planning a good old-fashioned gorging of some of the series I loved but didn't get the chance to continue. Here's my list so far -

The Walker Papers by C.E. Murphy - loved the first book (thanks for the recommendation Melanie!), but never went back to it

Horngate Witches by Diana Pharaoh Francis - I actually reviewed Bitter Night for the Witches and Witchcraft reading challenge last year

The Hollows by Kim Harrison - I know this one is really popular, and I made it 3 books into the series before I got distracted

Descendants by Jenna Black - again, only read the first one and really enjoyed it

Cal Leandros by Rob Thurman - I don't even know how many are in this series at this point, but I've only read the first two

Dresden Files by Jim Butcher - another long series that I can't wait to get back to

In addition to these (as if it weren't enough to keep me busy all year), I've got a few series I've been meaning to start and haven't yet - October Daye and Incryptid series by Seanan McGuire, Elemental Assassin by Jennifer Estep, and the Sabina Kane books by Jaye Wells.

Yep, I've got a long and glorious UF road ahead of me this year, but I always have room for more. Which urban fantasy series do you think I should add to my list? Do you have any favorites you desperately need to catch up with?

Cheers!

Ella