tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35907014242466454062024-02-07T19:00:09.799-08:00Into the BlackRamblings from a Chaotic MindIncy Blackhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11601008680166756610noreply@blogger.comBlogger24125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3590701424246645406.post-25616174719581878492013-03-01T07:55:00.003-08:002013-03-02T00:40:36.598-08:00Lost & Confused? Yeah, me too..It seemed prudent to get a website, so I did. What I did not anticipate was having to move my blog, but I have.<br />
<br />
You can now find me at <a href="http://incyblack.weebly.com/">incyblack.weebly.com</a> <br />
<br />
Huge apologies for confusion to those who follow me and if you just happened to land here whilst navigating the e-sphere, do please click the link above, you never know you may like what you find at the end of the yellow brick road.<br />
<br />
Travel safely<br />
<br />
Incy Black<br />
<br />Incy Blackhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11601008680166756610noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3590701424246645406.post-13987576324956058922012-11-22T09:15:00.000-08:002012-11-22T09:15:35.882-08:00Titting & Tatting
<br />
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<span style="mso-fareast-language: EN-GB; mso-no-proof: yes;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Shehanne
Moore tagged me back. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Tit for Tat!—a
tempting subject for a future posting with which I could have a lot of fun
given <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I’ve met a good number of tits (idiots
for those unfamiliar with the insult) and encountered a lot of tat (hookey
rubbish)…but that’s for another time.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;">
<span style="mso-fareast-language: EN-GB; mso-no-proof: yes;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Post
a snippet from your current WIP exampling the word ‘look’, Ms Moore challenged
in retaliation for me tapping her with an interview a couple of weeks ago. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
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<span style="mso-fareast-language: EN-GB; mso-no-proof: yes;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>A word I use rarely, I dismissed with a mad
muttering about not having time for such shennanigans.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Boy, was I wrong.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>58 uses of the word per the ‘Find &
Replace’ function and I’m only on Chapter 8. Damn.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
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<span style="mso-fareast-language: EN-GB; mso-no-proof: yes;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And I was wrong about how deeply buried the
word ‘look’ would be too.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Tripped over it
a bare six lines into my current work in progress…hmm.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
<br />
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<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><strong>Him? Set a honey trap? Not bloody likely! He’d give his life for the
Service—damn near had on the last occasion, taking a bullet to the gut and one
to the chest—but he drew the line at pimping his body. <o:p></o:p></strong></span></i></div>
<strong>
</strong><br />
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<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><strong><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>“…It’s imperative we locate her
brother. They’re close. Twins. She must to know where he is. Take her to bed,
gain her trust. Consider it an assignment with fringe benefits. Dr Treherne
isn’t bad <span style="color: red;">looking</span> after all.”<o:p></o:p></strong></span></i></div>
<strong>
</strong><br />
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<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><strong>She wasn’t, if you liked your women uptight and severe—which he
didn’t—and you were prepared to get your bollocks frozen off—which he wasn’t.</strong> <o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
<br />
<br />
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<span style="mso-fareast-language: EN-GB; mso-no-proof: yes;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">So
there you have it, challenge met (if a little ungraciously, but Ms Moore knows
where I’m coming from).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And to share the
pain, I now tag: Andrea Walpole, Joanne Stewart and Jane Linfoot.)<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
Incy Blackhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11601008680166756610noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3590701424246645406.post-23873045138897743402012-11-09T12:53:00.002-08:002012-11-09T13:16:21.889-08:00Aw hell, I am so screwed…<span style="font-size: x-small;"><br /></span>
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<span style="color: #222222;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">To date I have studiously ignored all attempts to ‘tag’ me, not because
I mind participating but because the guilt of inflicting the same sense of
panic on those whom I must ‘tag’ in return, twists me into knots tighter than
tangled dental floss. On this occasion however, I decided to test whether curiosity
did indeed kill the cat by accepting the baton from Aurelia B Rowl, in the ‘Next
Big Thing’ Blog Tour.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="color: #222222;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">I should probably confess that I’ve yet to master the art of tagging
others so the chain might well stop right here.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="color: #222222;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">Apologies in advance to Shehanne Moore, Aimee Duffy and Andrea Walpole –
y’all have been tagged – maybe. Ladies you are on your own from this point
forward….you now have to answer and post the questions below before tagging
three others to do the same. Good luck!<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<b><span style="color: #222222;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">What is the title
of my current work in progress?<o:p></o:p></span></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="color: #222222;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">‘Compromised’ – which sums up in a single word, about the only thing
Will and Angel have in common.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<b><span style="color: #222222;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">Where did the idea
come from for the book?<o:p></o:p></span></span></b></div>
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<span style="font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="color: #222222;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">From a strange and violent world far, far away, known as Planet Incy.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<b><span style="color: #222222;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">What genre does
your book fall under?<o:p></o:p></span></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="color: #222222;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">Romantic thriller with a hint of chilli heat.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<b><span style="color: #222222;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">What actors would
you choose to play the part of your characters in a movie rendition?<o:p></o:p></span></span></b></div>
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<span style="font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="color: #222222;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">They would have to be new, undiscovered and able to make the characters
their very own. In terms of physical attributes, Damon from TVD might
serve as Will but for Angel, I’m not sure that female has yet been born. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<b><span style="color: #222222;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">What is the one
sentence synopsis of your book?<o:p></o:p></span></span></b></div>
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<span style="font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="color: #222222;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">A sexy commitment-phobe with his eye firmly on the top job, falls for an
ice queen set on sabotaging his career by keeping secrets that could get them
both killed.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<b><span style="color: #222222;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">Is your book
self-published or represented by an agency?<o:p></o:p></span></span></b></div>
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<span style="font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="color: #222222;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">Neither. My WIPs languish happily in no man’s land until
completed. Only then do I start searching for the most appropriate home for
them. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<b><span style="color: #222222;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">How long did it
take you to write the first draft of the manuscript?<o:p></o:p></span></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="color: #222222;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">Hey, it’s not finished yet!!! But
I edit and re-edit as I go along (must be the Virgo in me) so I don’t think in
terms of drafts (probably because I can’t count that high). As to timescales,
much depends on the number of interruptions life throws at me.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<b><span style="color: #222222;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">What other books
would you compare this story to within your genre?<o:p></o:p></span></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="color: #222222;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">How about James Bond tangles with The Snow Queen only to find out she’s
really Suzy Wong playing fast and loose with both their lives in a game of
Russian Roulette. (Hey, don’t pigeon hole me.)<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<b><span style="color: #222222;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">Who or what
inspired you to write this book?<o:p></o:p></span></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="color: #222222;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">The hero, Will Berwick, himself. Having played a supporting role
in two previous books and given the punishment he took in both, I felt he
deserved his own story by way of compensation. Aside from which he would
probably have hunted me down and shot me had I not given him his chance in the
spotlight.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<b><span style="color: #222222;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">What else about
your book might pique the reader’s interest?<o:p></o:p></span></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="color: #222222;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">Hmmm…it’s fun watching two complicated characters push each other’s
buttons to see who will be the first to surrender. Oh, and that’s without the
conspiracy, murder and mayhem and a very ill-conceived honey-trap.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></div>
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<br /></div>
Incy Blackhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11601008680166756610noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3590701424246645406.post-26249924596241240882012-10-28T06:24:00.001-07:002012-10-28T06:24:24.683-07:00Belly Button Fluff - Poor you if you've got none.<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">We are who we are. Statement of fact. But as individuals, do we really know who we
are? Are we aware of the traits that irritate the hell out of some and compel
others towards us? I’d suggest not. Thank God!</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br />If you think you
truly know yourself, then I’d venture you’ve spend too much time naval gazing
and whilst you might have the cleanest, fluff-freest belly button on earth, I
won’t want to know you. Not only are you unnatural (not a sin in itself) but
you are most likely the most boring, pointless person alive. That’s the real
crime.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br />Faults shape us, like the facets on a gem, they reveal the
flame within. Without faults to distort perfection and refract light you’re
about as interesting as a pane of glass without a view—of any kind.<br />This relates to writing, how? Well, nothing is more deadly than reading about
the piously angelic, Ms or Mr Perfect, that’s point one. Point two is if your
heroine/hero has faults and flaws, then they are unlikely to be aware of them. Keep your story real. Make sure your
characters flow with blood not ink. Too much introspection on the path to
self-knowledge is just not authentic. It’s also filthy boring for the reader.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br />A lack of self-awareness sparks friction, you should be able
to feel the rub of sand against sand in the interaction between characters as
they blindly bumble through life, trying their best, but largely getting it
wrong.<br /> Not that people can’t
change, they do, they grow (not necessarily towards sainthood) but only in
response to some trauma or challenge. Something they don’t like, something that
disrupts their peace of mind and prevents them from getting what they want,
now! Even then, it’s more a compromise
than an outright change of who we once were.
If you have a stinging temper and your current love interest reacts
adversely, then the chances are you’ll try and dull the sting. That’s not
self-awareness, that’s compromising to get what you want, but the temper that
is a part of you will still hold strong and there are times, even in the
happiest of ever afters that it will out.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br />If you’ve written a bitch or a bastard, chances are they are
going to stay a bitch or a bastard. But in romantic fiction the reader expects someone
to fall for the lead characters regardless. And if,
as a writer, you’ve done your job
properly, the reader will love them too, flaws and all. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br />If I’ve got this right, then a story spins more on
convincing reaction than long term changes in personality. Maybe that’s why series are popular. Readers
go back to see how their old friends are faring handicapped as they by flaws,
within a new dynamic.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br />Got a view? Then come on, rub some sand.</span><br />
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Incy Blackhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11601008680166756610noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3590701424246645406.post-28032740187121655262012-10-10T02:30:00.001-07:002012-10-10T02:32:55.825-07:00SYTYCW: AND THE WINNER IS…<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;"> </span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> HARLEQUIN
MILLS & BOON</span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> </span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">...that’s right, the organisers of this global writing
competition.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"></span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Now given I entered, it might seem the height of bad manners
to fork through what’s on the plate rather than consume gratefully but this post
is less criticism and more a reality check .<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"></span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><strong>Key Point:</strong><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The way
the voting works, SYTYCW is less a test of writing ability and more a test of
social media use and ownership of devices (you can vote more than once as long
as you do so from a different device).<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"></span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">It’s a popularity contest in other words.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Got enough family, got enough friends, got
enough followers, got BIG ENOUGH BALLS to tout shamelessly your entry across
the e-universe and you should go through to the last 25 regardless. (In
addition, the organisers choose 3 ‘wild card’ entries which, they believe,
merit attention.) Lucky 28 contestants.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Well
done! That upward streak is your profile on the rise. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"></span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">To the remaining entrants, don’t worry about not placing. It
is not a reflection on your talent but do learn to e-network (even if only with
other writers).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>There are some superb
opening chapters buried deep in e-silence, if yours is one of those, don’t give
up.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Cream rises. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"></span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Actually, no-one should give up. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Your ability to write, your skill at engaging
a reader from the get-set-go, your future potential, has not been tested. Not
in a meaningful way. Not under this voting system. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"></span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">And why is HM&B the overall winner?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Free publicity.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>$$£££$$$ worth of it. They have gifted
nothing they would not otherwise have given, albeit by another means and under
different circumstances (the slush pile).<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"></span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Is this wrong? Nah, it’s marketing-smart and integrity often
takes a hike when protecting/growing market-share takes to highway.</span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
Incy Blackhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11601008680166756610noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3590701424246645406.post-49896457217464540702012-09-26T02:52:00.002-07:002012-09-26T02:52:17.706-07:00Not As Bad As You Think (I bloody hope)
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Amid the debris littering my desk (scraps of paper, half-drunk
cups of coffee, pens so old and mashed they vomit red, blue and green and lie
in the little lakes of their own making, war-torn Lego men courtesy of my son…and
yes, I do believe that is a regurgitated fur-ball - eewwww) I am determined to
find a prominent place for the notice<em> ‘It’s not as bad as you think’</em>.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Why? Because trust me, over-writing can suck the very life blood from
your work, leaving it in much need of a laxative.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">
Try and remember your reader is reading your story for the
first time.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Their eyes and minds will be
fresh and eager rather than bleeding.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Chances are they won’t give a flying-f about the correct use of the
Oxford comma, or occasional lapse in the sequence of MRUs, not if your story
flies, not if your characters rip free from the page and not if you have succeeded
in transporting them into a world they never want to leave.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">If you have done a half decent job on your story (getting
the GMC up front and central helps), they will not be bored stiff <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>to the point of applying leeches to their
eyelids and throbbing temples. Chances are they will be too engrossed and
therefore forgiving of little tics and errors. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>(Best to avoid sloppy typos and spelling
though, they’ll skin you for that or worse, abandon your book).</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">So, don’t hate your manuscript. Recall the verve that rushed
through your veins as you punched out the first draft. Because that is what it
means to write from the soul and that’s what will give your book its unique
personality.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>All over-writing ever achieves
is frustration on your part as the writer, and a Mogadon-effect in the reader. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Hence my new mantra: <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It’s not as bad as it looks…maybe?</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><strong>Caveat</strong>: This mantra does not excuse crap writing! </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><strong>Second Caveat</strong>: Those elipsey things (brackets) are all mine, and I'm on trend. My own trend.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
Incy Blackhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11601008680166756610noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3590701424246645406.post-43038224555745465142012-09-16T12:00:00.002-07:002012-09-16T13:03:16.989-07:00Bloody Afflictions!<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><br /></span>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">Of all the afflictions a writer might hope to avoid, ‘memory
like a sieve’ must rank near the top. I
have a tough job with names (even have to run through the register when
addressing one of my own kids), and book titles too. This makes it hard to share/recommend/enthuse
about a good read.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">And it’s no bloody
fun when you’re trying to track your own work.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">I do a lot of my writing in my head. Driving to work and
home again. Zoning out in meetings so tedious I want to open a vein. Even
sitting here blogging right now. One part of my mind is always preoccupied with
the story I’m working on. Problem is,
the minute I hit the computer, it all seeps away, can’t even find the thread to
tie a knot in it, half the time.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">Carry a notebook, you might advise. Ah, no thanks. I already have three points on
my licence (for doing 34mph—yup, still pissed off cos I forgot to send off the
fine and got hit for £230 rather than the original £60), and have you ever
noticed how in a meeting, your closest neighbours are always checking out what
notes you’re taking. Besides, I’ve tried scraps of paper and lose them every
time only to come across them months later, to wonder WTF.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">Yet I plod on, always back-reading what I’ve already written
(which takes hours) in the hope that something will stick for good or better
still trigger some random thoughts from earlier on. Why? Cos that’s another affliction of mine, a
cussed stubbornness not to yield any ground.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">Yes this all makes me a difficult person to live with but I
do have one saving grace, I value my friends, and damn straight, I never forget
them.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">Got any afflictions you want to share?</span><o:p></o:p></div>
Incy Blackhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11601008680166756610noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3590701424246645406.post-60559336489671242362012-09-06T08:49:00.000-07:002012-09-06T08:49:59.049-07:00Weird Shit...
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Exploring your earliest memories can produce some weird
shit. Here’s one of mine:<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">When I was three, four at the most, I would climb a tree at
the bottom of the garden (more a wasteland really, as I was born in Zimbabwe),
straddle a branch and argue the merits of flinging myself into the prickly
shrubbery below. Why? Because the fairies had promised to reward my bravery
with a little red suitcase if I did.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">I didn’t have any particular need for a suitcase, red or
otherwise. I’m not sure I even wanted one. But every day, I’d climb that damn
tree and the argument would commence. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><em>‘Wow, a red suitcase. From the fairies. Just gotta jump.’</em></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><em>‘Hmmm. It’s a long way down. It’s gonna hurt.”</em></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><em>“No pain, no gain.”</em></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><em>“I don’t want to die.”</em></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><em>“The fairies won’t let you die.”</em></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><em>“They might if they find out, I’d much rather have a pair of
red shoes than a stupid suitcase.”</em></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><em>“Careful. They can probably read your mind. Quick jump
before they reach up and drag you down.”<o:p></o:p></em></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">I never did make that jump and to this day, I wonder regularly
what would have happened if I had.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Would
the existence of fairies have been irrefutably proven? Was I demented even at
that tender age? Would the fairies have been offended if I’d asked for twinkly
red heels instead? Did I fail some kind of divine test by not jumping? What the
hell was it about a bloody red suitcase?</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Being me, I’ve got plenty of other little memories like this
that tease and torment but this remains the strongest and I revisit it a couple
of times a year in search of some answers. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>To date without much luck.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">So what’s your earliest memory, does it haunt you still?
Feel free to share, I just have. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Hark, is that knocking I hear? Men in white coats you say?
Okay I’m outta here. You lot be brave.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
Incy Blackhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11601008680166756610noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3590701424246645406.post-34655117740123381692012-08-22T07:56:00.001-07:002012-08-28T01:13:05.716-07:00Triumph of the Vagina<span lang="EN" style="font-family: "Tahoma","sans-serif"; mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">I’m not known for my subtlety hence I ‘try’ to
steer clear of contentious issues. So when:</span></span><br />
<br />
<span lang="EN" style="font-family: "Tahoma","sans-serif"; mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">US citizen, Todd Akin, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">the plonker</i>, committed political suicide by claiming women’s bodies
have a natural defense system against the possibility of pregnancy in cases of
‘legitimate rape’, I bit my tongue and stayed out of the fray in the belief he'd get what was coming to him.</span></span><br />
<br />
<span lang="EN" style="font-family: "Tahoma","sans-serif"; mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Enter George Galloway, the UK version of <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">the plonker, </i>who appears to view rape as
‘really bad manners’ and ‘bad sexual etiquette’. By now my tongue was a shredded mess and entering the fray looked like a long glass of chilled water after ten days in the desert. </span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">
<span lang="EN" style="font-family: "Tahoma","sans-serif"; mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">Then in rode <b><a href="http://www.facebook.com/lanidianerich"><span style="color: windowtext; text-decoration: none; text-underline: none;">Lani Diane Rich</span></a>, NYT and
USA Today Bestselling Author, </b>with quite the most erudite piece of writing
I have read in many a year, and my tongue is now recovering and I still have a job.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">
</span>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">
<span lang="EN" style="font-family: "Tahoma","sans-serif"; mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">Here’s what she wrote:<o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; mso-outline-level: 6;">
<span lang="EN" style="color: #333333; font-family: "Tahoma","sans-serif"; mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><strong>Psst.
Politicians.</strong>
</span></span><br />
<span lang="EN" style="color: #333333; font-family: "Tahoma","sans-serif"; mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /><span style="color: #0b5394;">
<em><span style="font-size: x-small;">My vagina didn't bankrupt this country or send all the jobs off to other
countries. My vagina doesn't work 17% less than a penis, yet it gets paid 17%
less. My vagina doesn't call anyone who disagrees with it a socialist and
expect that to end the discussion. My vagina also considers the entering of
said vagina without express permission as rape. PERIOD. (BTW, that includes
transvaginal ultrasounds.) My vagina reserves the right to defend its borders,
so to speak, and if you're gonna complain about all the babies on welfare and
wax indignant about abortion, perhaps you could shut the hell up about birth
control, which prevents everything you seem to have a problem with, except the
fact that my vagina has sex, which is none of your damn business anyway.<br />
<br />
Please remember that no matter what stupid ass legislation you try to pass to
prevent it, my vagina will be voting this November.<o:p></o:p></span></em></span></span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; mso-outline-level: 6;">
<span lang="EN" style="color: #333333; font-family: "Tahoma","sans-serif"; mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Bloody brilliant!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>On behalf of my tongue (and women everywhere), I thank you Lani Diane Rich. </span></span></div>
<br />
<span lang="EN" style="color: #333333; font-family: "Tahoma","sans-serif"; mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Check out Lani's work at </span><a href="http://www.lanidianerich.com/"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">www.lanidianerich.com<o:p></o:p></span></a></span>Incy Blackhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11601008680166756610noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3590701424246645406.post-72752542461587522892012-08-16T04:18:00.001-07:002012-08-16T04:18:17.769-07:00Cocking the Halo
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">You know you are not a bad person :-</span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpFirst" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt 36pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -18pt;">
<span style="font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">·<span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt/normal "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><span style="font-family: Calibri;">When you can drive for an hour along unfamiliar,
too-narrow. traffic logged roads, up hill and down dale, with a squalling baby
(make that screaming) and still comfort the mother with a ‘don’t worry, all
babies do this’.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>A big fat lie, most
babies sleep. My teeth are 5mm shorter from the gritting and grinding.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<o:p><span style="font-family: Calibri;"> </span></o:p><br />
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt 36pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -18pt;">
<span style="font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">·<span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt/normal "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><span style="font-family: Calibri;">When you want to throw your arms round all those
young people receiving exam results (and failing) and tell them to stuff the
system, to go out and define themselves.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>I hate the fortnight during which A Level and GCSE Level results are
released.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt 36pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -18pt;">
<span style="font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">·<span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt/normal "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><span style="font-family: Calibri;">When you keep your weak platitudes to yourself
and just listen when a distraught man of 87 years tell you his wife of 50 years
is unlikely to live beyond the weekend and you miss an important meeting.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<o:p><span style="font-family: Calibri;"> </span></o:p><br />
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt 36pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -18pt;">
<span style="font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">·<span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt/normal "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><span style="font-family: Calibri;">When you really, really want to write so bad,
blood is oozing from your pores and you forbid yourself to go near your ms for
at least a week because your family come first. (Hmm, wonder if working between
2-4 in the morning would be excusable?)<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt 36pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -18pt;">
<span style="font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">·<span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt/normal "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><span style="font-family: Calibri;">When you smile sagely instead of picking up a
knife and slicing the people dancing on your last nerve ‘because it’s not their
fault’ – my ass. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<o:p><span style="font-family: Calibri;"> </span></o:p><br />
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt 36pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -18pt;">
<span style="font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">·<span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt/normal "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><span style="font-family: Calibri;">When you agree to a birthday party you really
don’t want (in fact, the very idea of it channels thoughts of self-harm)
because it means so much to those throwing it.</span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt 18pt; mso-add-space: auto; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">This list could continue but frankly, reading it back,
it’s a little bit too navel gazey.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Think
I’ll take my tarnished halo, twirl it round my forefinger as a stripper might a
g-string, release and leave it where it wherever it falls (hopefully close to a
pub or for a laugh, on a bald bishop’s head.</span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpLast" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt 18pt; mso-add-space: auto; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">So what act of contrition have you performed today (ok,
this week)?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
Incy Blackhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11601008680166756610noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3590701424246645406.post-62585727427362042652012-08-10T04:03:00.000-07:002012-08-10T04:04:48.509-07:00Knock me on my ass – I beg you<span style="font-family: Calibri;">We are told that to throw a reader out of the story, to have
them pause, lose their thread and need to re-read a passage is a massive author
fail.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Hmm…I’m sure I can think of worse
sins, not least boring a reader to death but that would take this post in a
different direction when, for a change, I’d like to celebrate. Celebrate the
exquisite moment of being tossed out of a story and knocked flat on your ass.
<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">For me all it takes is a certain turn of phrase. It might be
that the choice of words is shockingly original, or humorous, or beautifully cadentic*
but more often than not it will be down to the image painted.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt 36pt; text-indent: 36pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="color: #0b5394;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>…</span><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="color: #0b5394;">she
watched as black cinders showered, like so many dead moths…</span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></i><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;">This snippet stopped me dead in my tracks and haunted me for
months.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It still does. It’s so damn
powerful.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The piece from which it is
lifted was crafted by recently contracted, <a href="http://shehannemoore.wordpress.com/">Shehanne Moore</a>, writer of romantic
historicals, and I thank her for that very special moment when, as a self-confessed
speed-reader, I skidded to a halt, re-read the line (many times) and thought…bugger
me, I want to be able to write like that.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;">I’ve taken the liberty (with Shehanne’s permission) of including
a fuller extract here, but for me, it all comes down to that single sublime
image. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Fury (the heroine) has a contract
for Flint (the hero) to sign.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
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<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="color: #0b5394;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>“After all, I wouldn’t like to make it
difficult for you, or suffer more in your embrace than necessary. No.” She
smiled and tilted her jaw.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>“Now, why
don’t you just make your mark on the paper?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>So we can...how was it you put it again...get to it?” she said, tossing
him the pen.</span></span></i></div>
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<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="color: #0b5394;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He caught it and stared, for a long brittle
moment. Then with an abrupt movement he tossed it on the floor, where it
clattered and rolled, blobbing ink across the tiles.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Wordlessly he walked to the end of the
dressing table and held the paper in the candle flame.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Flames came from it and she watched as black
cinders showered, like so many dead moths, onto the marble surface of the
table.</span></span></i></div>
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<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="color: #0b5394;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>“What....what do you think you’re doing?”
she gasped, </span></span></i></div>
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<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="color: #0b5394;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>“What you said, Fury. Making my mark. Now,
that’s your terms. Here’s mine.”<o:p></o:p></span></span></i></div>
<br />
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;">*Cadentic is one of those words loathed by Spellcheck
because I’ve made it up.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Basically on my
planet, it means the beat of a pulse or rhythm.<o:p></o:p></span></div>Incy Blackhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11601008680166756610noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3590701424246645406.post-79549999383607003072012-08-08T04:00:00.003-07:002012-08-08T04:00:52.062-07:00Kaboom – Unashamedly Dropping the F-Bomb.<span style="font-family: Calibri;">My instinctive reaction to the smug who dismiss foul language
as lazy and symptomatic of a restricted vocabulary is an elegant, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Fuck Off</i>! <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span><br />
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Elegant because it’s uncluttered, immediate and leaves no
room for misunderstanding, surely the Holy Grail for writers.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;">There aren’t many reactions that can be captured in two
short words and fuck used on its own can convey myriad emotions – physical pain,
surprise, shock, anger, despair, amusement, pleasure – so why use a string of
unnecessary words when one will do? To avoid causing offence? Nowadays?(Please refer to
my reaction in the opening sentence.)<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Few words work harder than fuck. I haven’t been able to
think of one, so maybe the dissenters are right, I’m vocabulary challenged. But
used in the right context fuck reigns supreme. Four letters of the alphabet
combined into a single word that can world-build, reveal character/personality,
carry emotion like no other. I am in awe. Somehow other epithets lack the same
class.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">However, please note the caveat ‘used in the right context’.
<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">And there are certain words over which I do hesitate, ‘God’,
‘Christ’, or ‘Jesus’, because I don’t wish to offend or disrespect an
individual’s sensitivities – but fuck isn’t and never will be one of them.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Which word works hardest for you?<o:p></o:p></span></div>Incy Blackhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11601008680166756610noreply@blogger.com11tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3590701424246645406.post-51258790022084937042012-07-31T08:00:00.000-07:002012-07-31T08:00:03.140-07:00You Heard It Here First!Very short, to the point post:<br />
<h2 style="text-align: center;">
NAME TO WATCH: <span style="color: red;">Shehanne Moore</span></h2>
<div style="text-align: left;">
Writer (no, Wordsmith) of historical romance who is quite simply terrifyingly good. You'll know more when I do, but in the meantime, you heard it here first and I am smiling all over my face!</div>Incy Blackhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11601008680166756610noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3590701424246645406.post-27461052185487148532012-07-30T05:29:00.000-07:002012-08-28T01:06:54.797-07:00Scout (hearts) Dill<h2 class="separator" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;">
<img alt="" border="0" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhMcnR_kpgweS_n4mEfdjfoC3G1lcWjfKQN90vFWukwgqkZPRIq-PzHVYF3HU4Yv49HJY1bz6euF9pWVxRrOmFEpOolxmQu92gXc3bJorptNq5zXst5n4douY6cA6EFUXkpcr8RSRS9zu8g/s200/Scout.jpg" title="" width="200" /><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">Harper Lee's <em>To Kill a Mocking Bird</em> </span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">made me a Romance Junkie</span></h2>
<br />
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<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">There, I've admitted it, I was a weird child and possessed by <em>To Kill a Mocking Bird.</em></span></div>
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</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">I faded the ink of that book, reading it over and over
again.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I’d read to the end, flick back
to the beginning and start all over again. I was caught in a time loop without
end, so convinced was I that if I just read the story hard and often enough, I
could make it happen: Scout would get off with Dill.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">I was aged 11, maybe younger. My concept of what it meant to
be adult was zero. In my mind Scout and Dill weren’t bound by age, I didn’t
care that Scout was a child, she and Dill belonged together, forever, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">damn it! </i>And to this day, the lack of
closure, the absence of a HEA torments me.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">I didn’t picked up on the racism, I did on the injustice.
And Boo Radley scared the shit out of me.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Atticus Finch was the father I wanted as my own and Jem would have been
okay for a brother, I suppose. But I wanted Scout and Dill to fall in love and
marry. They never did.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">……and that’s how my affair with the romance genre started. I
was scarred by disappointment, felt cheated, and I distinctly remember making
the vow that if I were ever to become a writer, damn straight <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">my books</i> would have a happy-ever-after.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">By the way, I also believed passionately that Peter Pan fell
for the wrong woman—Wendy was such a prissy-priss—and Tinkerbell got a bum
deal!<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
Incy Blackhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11601008680166756610noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3590701424246645406.post-89479007753827270342012-07-27T05:40:00.001-07:002012-07-30T05:29:43.043-07:00Arrogant Bastards! - not a great first impression. <strong> <span style="font-family: Calibri;">…or, more diplomatically: Tone Can Kill.</span></strong><br />
<br />
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Subbing for the first time can be a scary process and I
wonder how many publishing houses/agents have missed the opportunity to sign
the next rising star (not me, not yet, maybe never) because they are unaware
the tone of their Submission Guidelines is off?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">I’ve certainly passed by certain houses and taken against certain
agents where the tone has been intimidating, blatantly hostile even.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Frankly, if submissions aren’t welcome, don’t
ask for them. Close your doors. Lower your shutters. Flick ‘Open’ to ‘Closed’ -
Sorry to have disturbed you.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Stipulating format, specifying genres of interest and
codifying dos and don’ts, admittedly makes for dry copy. But the funny thing
about words is link enough of them together and personality will out. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Submission Guidelines are an important part of Corporate
Image. They spark a first impression and often, an immediate judgement.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Get the tone wrong and the next big opportunity
might just walk straight on passed you and worse, they are likely to share
their first impression, however mistaken, with others they meet.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Why do I care? Because words are supposed to matter in this
industry, a sensitivity to tone is supposed to have currency. I know that SGs
are probably so far down a frantically busy agent’s/publisher’s/editor’s
priority list as to have fallen off the bottom, but making a good impression is
a two way process. Writer to publisher - Publisher to writer.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">So don't just proof read your words, feel them. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;">
(That sound you hear is me falling a few rungs further down the ladder on the climb to secure a contract)</div>Incy Blackhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11601008680166756610noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3590701424246645406.post-38160574647007822732012-07-16T04:28:00.001-07:002012-07-16T04:29:19.595-07:00‘Mummy’ Porn? – Great Genre, Lousy Label!<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;">
<br /></div>
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Why, when a woman choses to treat herself to a bit of erotica,
does it merit a nervous giggle? (And yes, the giggles are definitely nervous). If I was a man caught indulging in a bit of
porn, the very least I’d earn is a ribald guffaw, knowing slap on the back or a
censorious look of distain, maybe even disgust.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">And as a woman that is what I want; a bit of laughter from
the gut or envious congratulation or even quiet appal. What I don’t want is to
be patronised, ‘Mummy Porn’ indeed. The popularity of ’50 Shades of Grey’ certainly
has a lot more to answer for than a few newly slapped and bruised arses.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">As a woman, if I want to read about the ‘dark and dirty’ then
show me some respect, pray for my soul if you must, but show me some respect.
It’s porn, soft porn, (some of it is even hard core) but what it is not, is ‘mummy’
porn.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>(I’m new to the
genre, not yet an expert but working on it. I’m not even sure what qualifies as
erotica, porn or outright filth, but I’m certainly not ashamed to say I enjoy
it. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Have you stumbled upon Taylor Lee’s,
Grandmaster series? If not, and you’re interested, go search it out. It’s hot. )<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Oh, and I welcome return recommendations.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">No giggling or tittering allowed!<o:p></o:p></span></div>Incy Blackhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11601008680166756610noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3590701424246645406.post-77550805482111602692012-07-02T04:05:00.002-07:002012-07-02T04:05:30.327-07:00PAPER CUTS - Minor but Sting like a SOB<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">I don’t care what people say or how brave a face they put on
it, receiving a rejection is akin to a full body flay of tiny nicks from an
exploding paper mill.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Paper cuts hurt,
so do rejections and all the sage advice in the world—don’t give up, sub to
another house, start a new ms, take solace from the many thousands who have
suffered likewise—isn’t worth a damn whilst the cut is still smarting.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">I know, I received one and I very much pretended to be
brave, whilst privately wishing I’d booked a bed at the local A&E
department. God, did it hurt—for days!<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Only thing that made me feel better was receiving a request
for a full at the end of the same week…so maybe the sage advice isn’t totally
wasted, sub far and wide, because publishing is subjective, and if <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">the force be with you</i>—luck by any other
name—you will get a break…eventually.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">My moment of
sagacity: <o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Rejection</b> = pain <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt; text-indent: 36pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Pain</b> = Heart (you need a heart because without one, you’re a
sociopath)<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt 36pt; text-indent: 36pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Painkillers</b> (balls + bloody mindedness)
= Relief (maybe)<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt 72pt; text-indent: 36pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Relief</b> = Bad Hangover!<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt 144pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Bad Hangover</b> = Hair of the Dog (get back to writing)<o:p></o:p></span></div>Incy Blackhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11601008680166756610noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3590701424246645406.post-63739050893938356592012-06-19T02:22:00.000-07:002012-06-19T02:22:06.539-07:00To Pan or not to Pan?<span style="font-family: Calibri;">The writing community is huge…and it’s also very small, so
when reviewing a book do you go with honesty or cover your ass to avoid causing
offence?<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">I dither over this issue and swing from
self-loathing for being a mercenary coward to self-congratulation for being ‘nice’.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">But being ‘nice’ doesn’t cut it for me, not at the expense
of honesty and frankly the self-flagellation wasn’t much fun either.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">So I’ve struck a deal with myself.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I’m backing honesty all the way—I’ve read too
much crap recently to do otherwise.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But I’m going to stress that my view is but a
ripple in a heaving sea, a single voice in a massed choir, a solitary grain of
sand in a vast desert…and bloody well hope that gets me off the hook.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">So what is your preferred approach? Want to join me on the
dark side?<o:p></o:p></span></div>Incy Blackhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11601008680166756610noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3590701424246645406.post-66445977335169634112012-06-11T04:47:00.000-07:002012-06-11T05:07:53.543-07:00A Round of Applause, Please…<span style="font-family: Calibri;">To date, I’ve heard nothing but good things about Entangled
Publishing, which is always encouraging for a writer on the look out for a
break. Not least because let’s face it, there seems to be little beyond a whole
world of woe out there, written about traditional publishing, e-publishing and
the changing relationships between author/agent/publishing house. Scary stuff
and the industry does not come with a road map, at least not one that makes
any sense to me.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Hence, imagine my excitement when I read that Entangled
planned to launch their ‘Dead Sexy’ line showcasing romantic
suspense/thrillers/action adventures of<strong> quality</strong>, (my preferred romantic
genre).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Not only does this present as a
great opportunity for writers but as an avid reader of the genre, I’m delighted
that there will be another source of great titles in the market place.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Love a win-win, never fails to put a smile on my face!</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Check out the opportunity on: <a href="http://www.entangledpublishing.com/category/category/">http:www.entangledpublishing.com/category/category/</a></span></div>
<br />
<a href="http://www.entangledinromance.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/05/DeadSexy-BusinessCard-Template-e1339037931864.jpg"><img alt="" class="size-full wp-image-2039" height="240" src="http://www.entangledinromance.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/05/DeadSexy-BusinessCard-Template-e1339037931864.jpg" title="DeadSexy-BusinessCard-Template" width="400" /></a>Incy Blackhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11601008680166756610noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3590701424246645406.post-59710011663772643782012-06-07T02:31:00.000-07:002012-06-07T02:31:19.893-07:00There’s Pride to be found in getting it Wrong<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;">
<br /></div>
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">First off, I’m an appalling blogger, haven’t posted in
ages.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Why not? Well, because I’ve really
had nothing to share, nothing half meaningful anyway, and most of the time, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Silence is Golden</i> and there is too
little of it about.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Time too. (That’s my
excuse and I’m sticking with it)<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">What has struck me, though, is the level of insecurity
expressed across the forums by unpublished writers who are terrified of getting
something wrong.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>(I include myself in
this crowd.)<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Questions that keep me
awake at night include: Did I screw up the submission guidelines? (Probably) Am
I using Social Media enough? (Much more and I won’t have time left to write) <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Is what I’ve subbed complete crap? (Ouch, this
could be excruciating).<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;">My point is that we need to take solace in having subbed in
the first place. It takes BALLS. Huge, shiny ones. Hanging down to the knee,
ones.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And like testicles, they are
vulnerable to a kicking and, boy, it is going to hurt!<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;">But at least we are all putting ourselves out there. That
takes courage. So help yourself to a medal—I’m <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>taking two.<o:p></o:p></span></div>Incy Blackhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11601008680166756610noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3590701424246645406.post-50953582471933244302012-03-14T09:27:00.000-07:002012-03-14T09:27:09.661-07:00I no longer have a bottom lip – I’ve chewed it off<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">That's right, I no longer have a bottom lip - I've chewed it off, shared it with the dog, grappled to get it back, re-affixed it, chomped down on it again...and so it goes on.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;">You may well be suffering the same disfigurement if you’ve been following the heated debate around Traditional Publishing v<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Self-publishing or Legacy contracts v Agency contracts (personally, I’d settle for a contract whatever its name).</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Hell, from what I recently read, those established ‘mid-listers’ (I’d give my <em>upper</em> lip to be one of them) could be under threat too. Some blame Amazon, a lot blame the ‘Big 6’ (a scary bunch who you really do not want to piss off).</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Frankly I blame GMC and those MRUs played their part too. (Premise, Concept and Theme stayed on the side lines, Scenes arrived late and High-Concept was kept back in English class and so missed the Conflict).</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Lost yet? That’s my point. Writing introduces you not just to a whole new vocabulary but a whole new world of war and you’ve got to flog the blogs to make sure you stay on top of things. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Or is it a ruse to keep upstart Newbies out? Who knows? Who cares?</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Best advice I can give – don’t take sides, smile at absolutely everyone and never confess to not knowing what the hell is going on (because you are in fine company).</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Want to know how to recognise a newbie writer? No bottom lip, that’s the dead giveaway…oh, and the overuse of brackets as demonstrated in this post.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;">And to think I just wanted to write…</span></div>Incy Blackhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11601008680166756610noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3590701424246645406.post-40684957793369620602012-03-07T09:34:00.000-08:002012-03-07T09:35:42.004-08:00Have Her Eat a Soulful-Eyed Abandoned Puppy<div class="MsoNormalCxSpFirst" style="line-height: normal;">
Sweet heroine, modestly decked out in frilly doilies with a Pollyanna smile and nought but pure thoughts – hate them, they make me want to barf!</div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Altruistic acts of kindness are great (and more convincing) if random. I am never going to believe in a heroine (its usually a heroine and sadly there are a good few about in romantic fiction) who spends every night cooking apple pie for the elderly whilst abandoned three-legged puppies, shaved kittens and adoring orphans play at her sensibly shoed feet, and the homeless make free in her neat studio apartment. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Saccharine only works for me if used as a weapon, more usually against fat, but acceptable when combined with sarcasm to score a point against an opponent. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In fact, ‘nice and sugary’ offends me. It’s a cheap and lazy way to attempt character ‘likeability’ – sorry but I’m not that gullible.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;">If the heroine must work for/help out at a charity, at least show her fighting for a cause or deep rooted belief. If she is one of the sainted, how about ramping it up a notch by having her eat one of those puppies or at the very least accidentally food poisoning the hungry (no one has to die) or getting rat-arsed on the communion wine. I don’t mind paragons of virtue if they are being set up for a fall of monumental proportions but please, please protect me from the asininely good.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Have a pet hate specific to the romantic genre? – do share…I’m going too when one next hits me over the head or has me reaching for the bucket.</span></div>Incy Blackhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11601008680166756610noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3590701424246645406.post-28487528331771544272012-03-02T02:05:00.000-08:002012-03-02T02:05:17.462-08:00I once fired a Musket<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">I once fired a musket and 25 years later my ears are still ringing. Hence I hate guns (and anything else that bangs out of tune) and know very little about them. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Which brings me to the point of this post – Research using the internet and who is watching who.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Over the past few months I’ve typed in:</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Assault rifles, automatic pistols, the Taliban, terrorist organisations, oh, and AID (artificial insemination by donor). Luxury yachts were in there too and ‘who wrote the hit ‘Cold as Ice’, (Foreigner if you’re interested). <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Each search has led me to some fairly interesting websites but my question is: Have I been ‘red-flagged’ and if so by whom?</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">No doubt I’ll get an answer one day when I get a knock on the door.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Have you ever researched anything that has caused you considerable disquiet (because we are all paranoid to a degree)?</span></div>Incy Blackhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11601008680166756610noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3590701424246645406.post-10645128870109443922012-03-01T06:19:00.000-08:002012-03-01T06:19:31.999-08:00The What and the Warnings<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">I flit around in cyber space prospecting for hints, tips, comments and advice on all things pertinent to one day landing a publishing contract.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Should you decide to follow or occasionally just drop by this blog, you should know what you are getting into, hence:</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><strong>My Aims </strong></span></div><div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpFirst" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt 36pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -18pt;"><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">1.</span><span style="font: 7pt "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span><span style="font-family: Calibri;">To share what I find helpful</span></div><div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt 36pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -18pt;"><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">2.</span><span style="font: 7pt "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span><span style="font-family: Calibri;">To share what I find amusing (you don’t have to laugh)</span></div><div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpLast" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt 36pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -18pt;"><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">3.</span><span style="font: 7pt "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span><span style="font-family: Calibri;">To share what I find provocative (you don’t have to care)</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><strong>Caveats</strong></span></div><div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpFirst" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt 36pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -18pt;"><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">4.</span><span style="font: 7pt "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span><span style="font-family: Calibri;">I try not to sweat the little things (too much) like spelling, grammar, punctuation, split infinitives etc.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>because sometimes I will get it wrong.</span></div><div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt 36pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -18pt;"><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">5.</span><span style="font: 7pt "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span><span style="font-family: Calibri;">I’m not going to open a vein every time I inadvertently cause offence. It’s not deliberate and I apologise in advance.</span></div><div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt 36pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -18pt;"><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">6.</span><span style="font: 7pt "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span><span style="font-family: Calibri;">I’m not good on the defence (see 4 and 5 above). I will try harder.</span></div><div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt 36pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -18pt;"><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">7.</span><span style="font: 7pt "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span><span style="font-family: Calibri;">I will avoid ranting (except when compelled to do so) </span></div><div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpLast" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt 36pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -18pt;"><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">8.</span><span style="font: 7pt "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span><span style="font-family: Calibri;">I will try<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>not to get sued!!!</span></div>Incy Blackhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11601008680166756610noreply@blogger.com2