What makes a woman tough by today’s standards and how did they get that way? At this point and time, we expect a tough woman to be Lara Croft: guns, knuckles, money and brains. And if we’re talking about heroes, why then, shouldn’t she be a gun tottin’, mansion living, superwoman? We want our heroes …
Category: Musings
Why oh why don’t we give history a chance?
After weeks of planning, sewing, and just plain excitement about the event, I was forced to sit there with my jaw slack – cursing the current American attitudes towards education, especially history. Let me explain: One of my historical groups held a Dining Out in downtown San Francisco last Saturday. For this event, many of …
Get back in the kitchen, woman! (Pt. 1)
An interesting blog was circulating the internet last week, from the New York Times (http://www.nytimes.com/2011/07/03/magazine/a-plague-of-strong-female-characters.html?pagewanted=1&_r=2.) The premise of the blog was that there just might be too many tough woman characters out there. Hmmm – the Feminist in me perked her head up and the Victorianist in me rolled her eyes. More specifically, the blog …
What color is a villain’s Green Umbrella? Or, real props for Sci Fi, Fantasy, and Steampunk writing
Props? Green Umbrellas? But we’re writing, not putting together a costume, you say? Au contraire, my friends, props can be a writer’s best friend. And your character’s signature. A “Green Umbrella” is a term I learned from Therese Porter and Rydell Downward in improv-acting classes for the Dickens Christmas Fair. I’m not entirely sure where …
Steampunk, Sci Fi, Fantasy and Gaslight – whatever is the matter?
If there is one thing an author cannot avoid is putting “us” into to our own stories. If you try to create a great step-by-step fight scene or stunningly clever argument, you have had to mentally place yourself at each point of the action. There you are! Literally. But this is deeper than just working …
Continue reading Steampunk, Sci Fi, Fantasy and Gaslight – whatever is the matter?
Grieving in America – you have three days to get over it and back to work.
As writers we are observers of life, and we tap our own experiences to understand what makes us whole and thus our characters whole. Grief is a part of life. But in modern America, grief is an inconvenience that you need to ‘buck up’ and ‘suck your stomach in’ and ‘man up’ to handle. Most …
Continue reading Grieving in America – you have three days to get over it and back to work.
Who’s drivin’ here?
I hear so often from fellow authors that 'my character just took over the story,' or 'I don't know where we're going to end up, I'm just letting the character drive.' Not sure if I entirely buy that - but I'm definitely open to discussion on the topic. I've always felt that an author must …
That *&%#! delete key
As I complained about the 'ouch' that is necessary in the editing process of my novel (why yes, it was a brilliant scene but not for keeping the story moving along,) I had several folks remind me to save all those deleted sections. My father and another friend went so far as to suggest that …
The dark side of bright news
I can't yet go into the details but there is a strong probability that The Volcano Lady: A Fearful Storm Gathering will make it to publication. Oddly enough, I've never doubted that. Isn't that great news?! Yes it is. So what's wrong? For all the good news out there that we encounter, our modern minds …
Big Press, Small Press, No Press at all?
These days it's scary out there for new or, for that matter, established authors. It's the publishing world's To Be or Not To Be moment. Ebooks vs. Print; small publishing houses vs. big NY publishing names; agents; self-publishing. Definitely something that just makes your head spin. And, adds unlimited energy to an author's anxiety. Deep …
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