Saturday, April 29, 2006

Not every book recommendation is a good one

I've read two books written by Fern Michaels. They are recent ones so I can't even sluff off the bad dialogue as beginners error. I think Fern may be on speed. Certainly her characters are. The dialogue drove me nuts.In Pretty Woman, her characters mouths run on, flipping from one topic to the next in the same piece of dialogue and then the person they are conversing with answers in the same ADHD type conversation. It drove me nuts. I didn't love the characters. Didn't feel any sexual tension and what the hell is up with the totally evil, selfish, mean bad guy all of a sudden changing his ways in the 11th hour. For no apparent reason! I hated this book. But she was recommended to me and I liked where the plot could have taken me so I finished it. I picked up another of her books right away hoping she was just having a bad book or perhaps that was how she wanted these particular characters to speak. Although I really couldn't come up with an excuse for turning the bad guy good.
The first piece of dialogue made me scream with frustration. What is with these people I thought. Does Fern talk like this. Does anyone talk like this? Of course they don't. Maybe in the heat of an argument but not in every conversation with every person they meet. I kept at it for a few more chapters before threw it against the wall.
The sad thing is the story lines are intriguing. I want to see what she does with them but every time a character speaks I want to scream. So no more Fern Michaels for me.
Sorry to all her fans. I think it just goes to show that all writing styles have an audience.
The audience isn't always interchangeable

Tuesday, April 25, 2006

The past is.....

I've realized why I love the lead singer in Nickelback.
He reminds me of a boyfriend I had when I was sixteen...And nineteen and several times between twenty and twenty-three.
Scott Coltman.
I'm not sure who loved him more, me or my mom, but love him we did. I 'm sure my mom thinks of him as the man I should have married. And maybe I should have but some how I don't think reality would have lived up to the memories.
They say you never forget your first love. I guess he was mine. He is the only man I have ever dated that I can remember what he was wearing the first time I saw him. That was over twenty years ago. Maybe I remember because his tight black t-shirt emphasized his huge muscles. And to me they were huge. He was tall and blond and muscle bound. And he was dangerous with his long blond hair and tight jeans. Tall boys my age were not muscle bound. They did not have broad shoulders, they were not dangerous. I had known them all my life. The this stranger walks into the room and I am lost.
Last I heard Scott was getting married. A sad day even though we hadn't seen each other in at least 10 years. I hope he's happy and I hope he is still gorgeous and not bald. I hope he still looks like the lead singer in Nickelback.

Sunday, April 09, 2006

The circle of .....music

When I was a young girl my friends and I would pick old songs and sing them at the top of our lungs while walking down the street. Or in parking lots or the hallway at school. We were good. Or so we thought. My son David has taken the singing old songs baton and is running with it. LOUDLY.
"I will survive" Gloria Gaynors hit song of long ago has been revived in our household and played repeatedly for weeks.
I know David is a boy. The song doesn't fit. Apparently he and his friends like to sing it- loudly- while walking down the street.
I hope his friends can carry a tune.

I'd like to add an apology here.
Mom, I'm sorry I sang loud and played the same song over and over until I moved on to another song which I played over and over. Really I am very, very, sorry.

Saturday, April 08, 2006

Procrastination

I am such a procrastinator. In every aspect of my life. It doesn't pay to procrastinate. Case in point this blog.
The other day I thought of a great post. Had I come right over and posted it would be here. I thought I'll save this one for tomorrow. Now I can't remember what it was. I hate that.

I did find a cool writers counter on another site and promptly copied it onto my own. Now you can see how far I am on the several books I'm working on. I've only posted two cause they will be the priority right now.
I've also decided to do some contests. Just small ones to kick my butt back into gear.
I have edits to do on the first 7 pages of Alexa so I can send them to the Emerald City Opener.
I would also like to do the Utah Great Beginnings contest but don't know if I'll be ready for that as the postmark deadline is April 15th.
I've been procrastinating on the things that make me happy and healthy and for the next couple of months those things are a priority.
Priority number one WRITE!

Tuesday, April 04, 2006



come here my pretty



beautiful music

juno pics


biggest band seen at junos....or anywhere else for that matter

Junos



Watched the Juno's on Sunday night. I watched because I love our music scene and wanted to support our country's musical artists. Ok and I also love Nickelback.
It was crap. Utter and complete crap. Not because of the music and not because of the artists. Because the sound guy was, for sure, the nephew of one of the co ordinators, because we picked the sluttiest Canadian known to man for our MC, because the show kept cutting out at the most inopportune times and because it looked unprofessional like a bunch of children had thrown the show together. What an embarrassment. Some of the bands must have hired their own stage crew because the ones that could afford it had a fabulous set complete with light shows and a fire while others had less than nothing. When are we as Canadians going to get it together. No wonder our talent goes down south. They are respected and appreciated in the US in Canada they get ghetto prom night. A sad display.
Next year pay Jann Arden some bucks and let her MC.
Next year do a freak'n sound check. Make sure it sounds good on tape so those of us at home get good sound as well.
Next year do the stage up right. This is Canada we have taste. Lets show the world.
Next year .... Well lets just do better Canada

Saturday, April 01, 2006

Silver linings

When you have the flu everything seems bad. In fact the wish to just die and have it done with crosses everyone's mind at least once during a horrid flu. However there is a silver lining in that big black cloud. That my friends is weight loss. The pleasant side effect of being nano seconds from throwing up every minute of every day is weight loss. I know from past experience with this dread disease that the weight loss is temporary but we must find the positives where ever we can. That is my positive.
The negative is that we have seen the sun for the first time in months and I am un able to drag my sorry ass out of bed.