Picture of the Day

Beautiful park near our home.

Distractions

I'm having far too much fun on my Bones blog. I did manage to write a new chapter to my fanfic last night and the next is half written. Eventually I'll finish that thing and be able to have one less thing distracting me from my book!

House - Post Script

I can't watch House post Bones. It will have to be late week Hulu or nothing. I can't come off the adorableness of Booth/Brennan talking about 'our' anything and go into House, even when it does have genuinely funny scenes like House asking Cuddy to cut Wilson in half. C'est la vie!

House

At my friend's suggestion, I decided to give House a try. How could I say no when I lovingly (I swear) nudge her to try Bones?

I played it on Hulu at my computer, through the speakers, just as I do with Bones. Dear Husband's reaction was swift: turn it off! Instant dislike. He didn't like the dialogue, or anything else for that matter.

I decided to watch all the episodes listed before making my decision. I was ambivalent at first but while watching 'Frozen' with Mira Sorvino I began to see House's charm.

I love the science aspect, however...I find it hard to believe that a single hospital would get so many rare and interesting cases continually. I would find it more believable if we were watching a team of investigators travel around the country assisting other doctors with their special cases and that could be another reason I liked 'Frozen' more than others. Caveat: I have only watched the most recent 5 episodes of House so I have no idea if this was addressed early on. I'm giving my view as a newly interested audience member.

I really do like the show's feel though. I like that the main character is a total jerk who has a completely caring and even needy best friend. I love the wit and the unexpected and how the many varied characters play off each other.

I still haven't decided if I'll keep watching this show but for now it has one thing going for it: it immediately follows Bones! I'll try to have a better review at the end of the season when I've seen a few more episodes.

Chosing a Voice

I am working on a novel and I've finally fleshed out enough of the plot to start actually writing the scenes. The book has 3 important characters. Lets call them 'Good #1', 'Very Bad', and 'Good #2'. Good #1 is who the readers should identify with, at least at first. 'Very Bad' is still very important though, and part 2 is to belong to the this person. Part 3 is where 'Good #2' shines and sets up the future. 'Good #2' will become 'Good #1' for any future endeavors. Can you tell I'm an optimist? All three of these characters are important throughout the book but the focus changes for each part.

My original intention has been to write a 3 part book using first person voice and actually changing who the 'I' character is for each part. However, now that I sit down to write it I lapse immediately into third person view. So I have a dilemma: should I keep third person and just run with it or do I write however I can fill the pages then go back and rework it into a different voice? (Check out this great article for explanations and examples of the different voices.)

I wanted first person for the depth it could bring. Nothing pulls you into a character more than reading it like it's a character's own personal journal. And I believe that it's important in this book to pull everyone heavily into all 3 of the characters. But can I have the same effect if I use third person, possibly third person objective? Will the difference between "I have to do this" and "She knew she had to do it" be that great?

I really don't know. So for now I'll write however I can. I'll tell the story and manage the details when I must.

Picture of the Day

Browsing through photos (I love you Picasa) on my computer today, I found this.

I took that in Cades Cove 4 or 5 years ago and have been back far too infrequently. Just a reminder of what's out there.

Why write?

As I expressed on my other blog, briefly, the writing on Bones impresses me greatly. My husband loathes crime shows and yet he has become well and truly addicted to Bones, initially through my sheer persistence in exposing him to my beloved show. But the true credit for the success of my endeavor belongs to the writers and the creator, Hart Hanson. For greater depth and breadth of explanation on my love for Bones, see here.

Reading Hart's reasons for writing provoked an internal challenge to articulate my own. I don't believe I can be as eloquent as Hart, and I know I am not as funny. I can't match his experience, his years, his wit or even his excellent punctuation. But I shouldn't try. The world has room for all kinds of writers and while I can daydream of being a part of something like Bones (which looks like a blast) I have chosen, at least for now, to focus on something I can do slowly and with whatever measure of deliberation I choose to adopt: fiction writing. More specifically, novel writing.

I am a tried and true observer. I love to sit back and pick apart things from afar. I'm deliberate and I love to mull. I could revisit this in a year, or 10, and while the delivery would assuredly improve I doubt the reasons would change. Hart writes to understand the world. I research to understand and then I write in hopes I can explain it to others.

I write because I want to create something. This desire manifests in many ways for me - photography, working with yarn, quilting, drawing, painting, and more. I feel a primal need to make things and I never make them for me. Point of fact; every blanket I have ever made I've given away. I feel the same about my writing. I cannot rightly claim it to be as altruistic as I seem to be making myself sound but I still do it primarily for the positive effect I can have on others. I write because I want to tell a story. I want to make something in the reader. I want to make the reader happy or sad or angry. I'll even settle for intrigued or bemused, for a time.

It's not art to me. I don't write for the sake of the work. I write for the impact I dare to hope the writing creates in you.

Fanfiction

I have to admit another secret. I have dabbled in fan fiction. More accurately, I am currently doing so. When I decided to return to writing I started working on my plot right away but that is a long way from the point of actually writing anything. It occurred to me that anywhere I could get practice would help me and also that the writers of Bones sure aren't going to give us the whole 9 yards of the Booth/Bones romance anytime soon. A story was born. It's fluffy and romantic and the writing is raw. But 20k+ words into it, and still not done, I feel that I am growing and learning a lot.

I thought that it would be easier than it has proven to be. On the one hand, I didn't have to create the characters or imagine any back story. Hart Hanson and his team have done both brilliantly. But on the other I had to attempt to remain true to characters I didn't create while putting them in situations that the actual writers have yet to do. I've simultaneously learned a lot about my writing and my readers.

I'm not going to link it here as I never want it to be in any way construed that I was attempting to make any gains, monetary or other, off characters I didn't create. I will admit to gains in the area of personal growth but I don't think there's a legal recourse to be had in that area. While an industrious person might be able to hunt down my story I won't render any aid.

I have at least another 10k words to write to finish my story and then I'll post more reflections here after it is done.

Back in the saddle

I feel new to writing, but, honestly, I'm not. Since that first poem in elementary school about the power of a smile I may have neglected this love from time to time but I never let it die. I won two poetry awards in high school and at the awards a kindly, or blind, old woman thought my Dad was my boyfriend. How many high school guys I have full beards? But I digress...

Until recently I dabbled with fiction but repeatedly wimped out. I once managed to complete a short story but the spot for that gleaming award on my imaginary mantle remains bare. I played with plot lines, but they remained unexplored ideas. A few dared to venture as far as a conceptual sentence or two but such impertinence was quickly handled by those vicious triplets - laziness, apathy, and procrastination. Lets give cousin self-doubt a little credit too.

I really don't know what changed but out of the sure knowledge that sometimes things are better left unknown and simply enjoyed I'll tamp down those questions in favor of more important ones:

-What do you mean there's not a funny fairy? I want some fairy dust on my work, dangit

-Can someone invent, or find, a brain implant to translate my tumbling thoughts and pictures straight into a heart stopping/warming/breaking (take your pick) page-turning literary masterpiece?

-How do I remain a loving & sweet wife when my dear husband interrupts me in the middle of the most brilliant sentence imaginable?

If Thursdays are for Lost....

...then Fridays are for obsession.

Every Friday after a new LOST is spent, for me at least, filled with obsessive chatter and speculation. I arrive at work, log into GoogleTalk, open my browser and wait. I have a contingent of friends with whom I wile away the workday but only one of them watches LOST. Sadly, he now takes off every Friday (the jerk!), leaving a sad void in my day. My husband is just as rabid about LOST as I am but there are only so many bounces each idea can maintain, passing strictly between he and I.

So, today, I simply ponder. And wait. Where art thou, Daniel? PST time is no excuse! I thought of Lauren last night, along with the rest of the legion of Sawyer fanatics (of which I have no camaraderie, sorry!). E won't give me my real fix for days, at best, so I look forward to the laughs and moment-by-moment commentary Daniel provides.

In the meantime, I'll drop a few of my own thoughts about last night's episode. If you're a militant LOST fan who obsesses about each detail and conspiracy theory this is not going to satisfy you. I fall somewhere between E and my father; who loves LOST but wouldn't know a wiki if it bit him on the you know what and don't even ask him what he thinks about Smokey.

SPOILER WARNING!

First I'll start out with a pointless beg; save Danielle. That crazy trapper chick has always been one of my favorite characters and though I knew she was about to bite it I couldn't help but hope that Jacob has some crazy plan to bring her back a la Locke. Now that that waste of breath is out of my system...on to this week.

I was happy to see a Ben flash. I guessed it was future but they left that unconfirmed at first. I must say that I am not a Ben fan but I do respect the man. He is prepared for everything, as he proves yet again later in the episode. (as long as the rules are obeyed) When he beats down 2 guys with guns using wits and a rod I was duly impressed. Who actually bought his later story that he reached the desert by boring, non-Ben means? Anyone? Anyone? I didn't think so. The man doesn't do 'normal'. I think he got to the middle of the desert in a Dharma jacket the same way a certain polar bear did and if you expect a theory as to how exactly he did that...keep searching elsewhere. I leave the theories to others and enjoy the ride and a bit of speculation.

I don't remember the ship Doc dying previously so the body washing up on the island leaves a lot of questions for me. My best guess is that maybe he came with the mercenaries? I'm interested to find out the story here but there are so many variables I really don't have a good theory. How long would it take a body to float between ship and island even if there weren't some strange time donut in the middle? And is the ship lying that the doctor is fine or could said donut have some effect that on the ship the doctor hasn't died yet? The time thing really throws me but definitely keeps the suspense up. Side note: I like it when Bernard gets to be cool. He can never die. EVER.

I know other women will hate me for this, but I was really rooting for a shocking Sawyer death. I doubt the studio execs will ever let them do it (How many women would just quit watching? Seriously.) but man it would make me happy. I just really do not like the guy. I feel bad for him, but I don't respect him and he annoys me. There, I said it. Don't hurt me too much. In the same scene I wondered if we'd finally found out how Aaron got off the island without his mother but alas that mystery lives on for another day.

The death of Ben's daughter was a surprise and...not a surprise. While every sign pointed to what was about to happen we've all been conditioned to Ben's ability to win in every situation. The most shocking part was not that they killed her, but that Ben couldn't stop it. The shock on his face mirrored our own. It's a bit flooring to watch Superbadman go wide-eyed and speechless. It was easy to wonder if he was going to sit there all day or simply go insane, shooting everyone and it became painful to watch. When he brushed past the group and locked them out of his room I couldn't decide if he had a plan or an escape. I must say though...

He had the coolest plan ever!

I love Smokey. The scene reminded me of the scene in LOTR when the trees destroy the Uru-kai army. Smokey may have taken out some good people in his time but when he comes out I am definitely cheering for him. It's been far too long since we saw that lovable little smoke bomb and he came back with a glorious vengeance.

If my Danielle beg was pointless and weak here's a stronger one: let Penelope and Desmond be together forever! We know Jack and Kate won't be lovebirds but give us Penelope and Desmond. She's devoted all her time and resources to finding him and it should pay great dividends. They are a classic romance. Lets hope they're more Odysseus and Penelope than Romeo and Juliet.

Not much else struck me about this episode. I'm excited to see what happens when they find Jacob. What will he look like this time and what will he say? And who thought Jack was being poisoned? I must confess I did, at least until I saw next week's preview.

Once more I'd like to plug E for those looking for a great LOST blog. I don't know the woman, but can you feel my love? She accomplishes a great mix of recap, review, theory and humor in an a manner easily understandable by a large audience.

My favorite blogs...

Blogs have been my dirty little habit for some time now and I range far and wide. From the sailor-mouthed infertile, to the David Boreanaz obsession , and again (c'mon, someone make one devoted just to him and I'll love you forever. On second thought...that would quickly turn creepy and wrong) and the gobbling of celebrity drivel.I get around. I read about Lost, a gamer girl playing a creepy male gnome, and everyone else's dirty secrets.

Unsatisfied with even that rapacious bit of consumption I have now decided to jump into the fray myself. I am currently writing a novel. It's my first and I'm sure I will have many stumbles along the way. Come, grab a glass of iced tea and laugh at my expense!