Our favourite devices

I know that the title of this post could be taken as a little dirty, but it's not. I watched the season finale of Vampire Diaries last night, and as usual they made their finale sweet, and sad and full of lovely twisty plot surprises.

But at the same time, (and without giving away any major spoilers) they're reusing a major plot device that was awe-inspiring the first time and now when used on a different character, feels really, really lazy.

It's perhaps why most shows should stop after a few seasons. Change the characters, change the setting and breathe new life into a format, instead of trying to keep re-invigorating the same characters over and over.

But I digress. The real reason I was disappointed was because even a team of writers goes back to the same thing over and over. I know I do.

It's why brainstorming with other people is so valuable, because they introduce new ideas that my tired, mundane brain would never consider. Because if left to my own devices, my stories would follow the same path over and over.

And up till this season, TVD has surprised me over and over by not doing that, by proving over and over they're smarter than me.

Until last night, when I'm left in doubt and worried for the next season.

When You Like the B Plot Better

A lot of the reviews for my last book Act of Persuasion were only so-so, which I’m not going to lie is disappointing. You invest yourself in the characters and I really thought Ben and Anna, a couple I carried over from a previous book, were very special.

But I do concede that Ben was a very restrained very tight character and in many ways so was Anna. So you really don’t get to see all their vulnerability until the end of the story when they both basically lose it.

However, with almost every bad review the one thing that did stand out was that everyone really liked Mark’s story as he reunited with his estranged daughter. It will be interesting to see if people who liked Mark will still like him as he takes center stage in For The First Time which comes out in October. When people ask me about this book, they ask are we going to get Mark’s story and I tell them you’re really going to get Mark and Sophie’s story. Because this isn’t just a story about him and finding love. It’s really a story about Mark and Sophie and their journey of building a relationship and then finding the person that fits both of them.

Now in that story, and peripherally in AOP, I introduce Greg. I’m working on Greg’s story now and it’s probably the most suspenseful, the most plot driven of the Tyler Group series. But here is my problem. More than half way through and I find once again I’m really digging the B plot.

I shouldn’t be more excited to get to those scenes with the B couple then I am about writing the scenes for Greg and Liza who are the hero and heroine of the story.

At first I figured it was just because I was messing up Greg and Liza and knew I would need to go back and fix them. But honestly I think it’s because the B story is just easier. It’s not as intense as the main relationship. I don’t have to support the whole book around them. I just get to write a few lines of banter and emotion and then I’m done.

Then it’s back to the A plot and all the hard work of making good.

What about you? What happens when you like the B plot better? Does it mean you failed the A plot?

50 Shades of Don Draper

I'd love to know when that last episode was written and whether or not the whole 50 Shades explosion into popular culture influenced the writing.

But in this week's episode, Don Draper totally became a way hotter and cooler version of Christian Grey. And I have to admit that I kind of loved it. I wasn't sure how far the Linda Cardellini character was going to let him push it, and I kept thinking how Betty would have had NONE of that, and Megan, while she's way more sexually adventurous than Betty, wouldn't have either. Megan would rather be on the other side of that dynamic, I think....

So, it was interesting to see Don bring the kind of control he loves to exert over people at work into the bedroom. Especially at a time when he needs to feel extra-powerful at work.

Oh, I do love me some Mad Men.

Others who've seen it... Was it 50 Shades for you? Love? Hate?

Con Virgin

I am going to attend my first science fiction convention. I got the news yesterday from BayCon that I've been selected to speak on one panel and moderate another. The thrill of pure terror that coursed through me when I opened the email was like a glass of cold ice water poured straight down my gullet after a hot and sweaty 10K.

What was I thinking? I've never even been to one of these. Now I'm going to be stand in front of people at one and talk like I know something? What role does the moderator play? Is it like at RWA where you introduce people and try to control the Q&A at the end? Or do I create questions for the panel to discuss?

I've been googling my fellow panelists (I know one of them - Jeff Carlson - who is an incredibly fun guy on top of being a terrific writer) and everyone is way more science fiction-y than me. I had to look up what speculative fiction was and I'm still not sure I truly understand.

More important yet, what do I wear?

Please. Give me some advice. Tell me you've been to one of these and know what to do.

Don Draper is an Ass! Should we ruin him? Or redeem him?

This isn't news, is it? From the get-go we've known Don Draper is an anti-hero, but his ass-ness has been a moving target. It gets obscured partly by how good he is at his job, how freaking handsome he is, his strange and disastrous past, the odd moments of kindness and decency he shows people. Distant people, never those close to him. Those close to him get a very special kind of awful from the man. But last night - the cracks are showing. Don Draper is getting nervous about his job, his place in the universe and to counteract it he's going above and beyond in efforts to feel powerful. In control. The Big Ass On Campus. He sexually dominates a woman who needs, for a few days not to do any emotional heavy-lifting. And he drinks his competitor - a super nice guy - under the table in a chest-beating, bullying exercise of dominance.

I wanted to see his come comeuppance a dozen times in this series - and last night - someone put a pin in him. Three times. The sexually dominated woman puts her clothes on and says enough. The super nice guy out macho's him. And Peggy. Peggy says act like a grown up. Really really gratifying television.

I've often lamented that Mad Men has been too smart for me at times. It's glacial pace makes me feel like I've missed something - WHY IS THIS IMPORTANT? But I think some of the plotting and pacing has just been bobbled by the creative team. This season though!! We are a match. Draper's feelings don't manifest in any normal way - we can't look at him and see any kind of trajectory. And that frankly is awesome. His character requires foils and mirrors, he's the rat in the maze, we're on his back and Peggy is a wall he has to figure out how to get around without showing too many of his faults.

I'm worried that the end point of this show is that he'll just be ruined. There are a lot of shows right now with protagonists who - in the end - will just be killed and should be killed. I would Don Draper to be redeemed. Is it because he is more handsome that Mr. White? Maybe. I am just that shallow. But it doesn't change the fact that the writers have worked hard to keep us intrigued and invested by showing glimpses of his humanity. I want him to find more humanity, be ruined so he can come back worth the time and energy I have invested in him.

How about you? Don Draper in ruins? Or Don Draper redeemed?

The times they are a changing

So I loved Stephanie's post from yesterday, and how she verbalized so wonderfully what almost all writers want. Because success means readers loving your books and acknowledgment, proof that we are good writers.

And you really can't 100% percent go after something until you admit you want it, so that is the first step.

But the route there has become a lot more fluid, and it requires writers to be fluid along with it. We've been hearing for many years now about the death of the midlist, and for the longest time I'd hear that pronouncement and shrug, and think no way. I've read mid list authors my whole life and I'm not stopping now. But now I think it might actually be happening.

A writer on one of my loops asked about her New York published book, thinking maybe she'd missed some sales numbers, because she got her statement and it didn't make any sense, the numbers were too low. A few other authors have expressed astonishment with how low their numbers are with their NY published books, so I know this is a common complaint.

And part of this is the reduction of the number of book stores out there. Walmart and Target are reducing the number of titles they buy, and so the retail outlets for the mid list authors have greatly reduced. But as an author, if you're lucky enough to be one of the books chosen for distribution into all the majors, then you can almost be guaranteed bestseller status.

But then there's the rise of self-publishing which has created breakout bestsellers and something of a mid list, but where most authors are lucky to sell a few hundred books.

Promotion is now something done mostly by the author, unless again, they are one of the chosen authors, and from what I've heard, the authors doing the best financially, are the ones doing a cross of self-publishing and traditional publishing.

I know for many years, my idea of success in this industry was being chosen. By an agent, by a publisher, by readers and that is still a measure of success, a really important one. But some really smart authors have adapted, they have chased, they've found other routes and found readers and success and I'm really impressed at their ingenuity.

so the point is that as authors we need to know what our version of success is, because it varies. For some authors it's still being chosen, for others it's readers, or great reviews and for a few others, being on a bestseller list, and not all happen simultaneously. Not any more.

I'm trying to figure out my version of success right now and I'm honestly not sure what that is. I think it's readers, but that could change, because you can get readers and not make any money, as many self-pulished authors are discovering with books given away for free or priced at $.99.

What's your version of success? It is one thing, or a combination of all?

I Want More....

Have you all seen that commercial? Where the guy asks the little kids if two is better than one and more is better than less. And the little girl tries to explain why more is better. And it basically boils down to… I want more…I want more….

That’s what I want for my writing career. The other night I tried to think about what that meant. Is it money? Sure. Who wouldn’t want more money? Is it fame? I don’t know about fame, but I do like the idea of respect. Of people being able to see my name and recognize that I’m a writer. Is it popularity? Maybe. There is this idea that there is a club of writers that everyone knows and you want to be in that club.

I remember last year going to the RITA/Goldenheart reception and seeing all these crazy talented writers sitting together at a table and thinking… wow, I don’t really belong here. But instinctively I wanted to feel differently. I wanted to feel as if I could sit at that table.

But really at the core of what “more” is… I just like the idea of more people reading my books. Lots of readers who read them, hopefully enjoy them. Maybe even talk about them.

I was thinking about how that is … I don’t know…. selfish, or self-indulgent or obnoxious. (Because as women we have this crazy mechanism that tells us being ambitious is somehow unladylike… read Lean In by Sheryl Sandberg if you don’t believe me.) But then I realized that no, wanting more people to read my books is completely normal. Because I’m a storyteller. Not all people in the world are storytellers, but the ones that are out there want to tell stories and more importantly we want listeners/readers to hear our stories, to read our stories.

So I want more…. More readers to read the stories I make up. I wouldn’t be a writer if I didn’t want that.

What about you as writers or readers… what “more” do you want?