History as it was made

South Pacific was one of my choices of movies from the library this week. It is the remastered version of the 1958 movie and I grew up singing all the songs. All of them. I really hadn’t realized how well I knew all the words from the soundtrack until today. I didn’t know there was a remake of the movie in 2001. Now I want to see that one.

It’s fascinating to watch a movie made before I was born, representing a historical story of a time before my parents even met. Dad served in the South Pacific for the Navy during WWII. His stories were few and not washed with colors or romance. I’ve only unearthed some of his stories by going through memorabilia in the years since his death.

I do remember watching this movie – probably when it came to TV during my teen years – because I remembered a younger me being angry that Joe Cable died. I finally realized the theme of the movie dealt with prejudice taught. Having a romantic hero marry an island girl (and living happily ever after) would not have appealed to the audience of the time. A romance with a girl from Arkansas to an older Frenchman with native children was already radical and controversial. As I considered the story and themes as it was created then, with an awareness of how far we haven’t come, I realized the idiocies of prejudice from before my birth – still exist.

My sister and I have been affected this week by deaths that carry the flavor of the loss of mentors for us. My mentor is still alive but she lost the love of her life, in two weeks. Random doctor visit morphed into tests, emergency incidents, and then the sudden announcement of her husband’s death.

I could unravel all kinds of memories and reference a lot of interconnections in my life over the past ten years where Delle Jacobs played an important role in my personal and professional journey this past decade of my life. But I also feel grief at the loss of Jeff, the love of Delle’s life. Every time I met him I felt I was meeting a true gentleman. A good man.

I’m currently steeped in memories of the importance of those that left their mark on who I am today. But I have to promote once more one of my mentors and friends, Delle. She created the covers for her books and they are both gorgeous to look at, and a good read.

My sparse relationship with Delle has been huge with lessons and respect. Delle  is my example of being elegant and professional during those times when I may face bullies. Delle doesn’t have to argue about the future of ebooks now. Her achievements are awesome and I hope there are more. But that lesson of how to be elegant during those times when I need to speak with grace under the pressure of confrontation are the ones that matter the most at this stage of my journey.

So that’s my insight for this moment.

Being a pretty and cockeyed optimist was the objective of a woman before I was born.

Being elegant when it is necessary to be a scrappy bitch is more beneficial to me now.

That’s evolution, baby.

The Hobbit

A view of Rivendell

My sister and I spent the afternoon on Thursday in Middle Earth. We were viewing The Hobbit, the 1st of 3 planned representations by Peter Jackson of J. R. R. Tolkien‘s epic fantasy. It was fabulous. It didn’t seem three hours long. We were so enthralled it was a surprise when the credits rolled to realize we were again two women over 50 who had been sitting too long and now had to rise and walk. (Those creaky, bone popping moments aside…) There were times when I would have preferred less of the Orc-goblin-gore on the screen.

My sister Sherri, and I, both know the story well enough, even a decade or two since we’ve last read it, that we noticed the slight cinematic variations from the original text written in 1937. But we were okay with them as they enhanced the movie and connections to the continuing epic. We really were transported through time and space to an amazing journey. We were within the story.

My favorite part was seeing Rivendell. It was exactly like, yet so much better than, my memories as imagined by the text. I had read the whole set – from The Hobbit through The Return of the King – at least seven times before the first movie was made.

I read it from page one – through the Silmarilian – during the last trimester of pregnancy for all four of my girls. Ha. Now they know what their mom did prior to their birth. I went to Middle Earth! Galadriel is/was the female role model of grace, wisdom, patience, and power, that I focused on prior to the birth of my daughters. Maybe that’s why my girls are all such awesome women.

J. R. R. Tolkien did not have a lot of women in his stories but the few he portrayed were fascinating;  Galadriel, Lady Arwen, Goldberry, Eowyn, and Belladonna Took.

Yet, there is the unknown fate of The Entwives who were rumored to be part of the crotchety Old Forest bordering The Shire. Smeagol’s grandmother wasn’t a nurturing woman, and Shelob was female, so Tolkien did portray another side of feminine wiles.

Hmmm, I may be facing a marathon of reading Tolkien’s works. Some stories really survive the test of time.

Parallel Lives Lead to Lasting Friendship

In February 2009 I was new to blogging and used the word “synchronicity” in a post. I got a comment from Rob MacGregor that he didn’t see the synchronicity and he wondered why I used that word. He and his wife had recently started a blog on synchronicity because they were writing a book on the topic. Our online relationship has continued and since I was blogging to develop my Author Persona it was influenced by that first contact with Rob & Trish.

Morgan and I were barely acquainted in 2009 when we both attended a workshop on marketing for authors. We both had such a visceral reaction to the presentation we could read the other’s anger from across the room. So we hooked up and decided we’d put together a marketing presentation that was valid. We started meeting monthly and soon presented a short overview of marketing basics to our writing chapter. Attendees (many published authors) were stunned that this was such new information and requested a more in-depth workshop.

As we continued to develop our Author Marketing 101 message we learned the need was great and we should bring a business focus to our workshop so it could be more easily promoted to lots of other chapters and authors. Morgan and I also came to learn we shared a lot of things!

We are both from Cleveland, Ohio and now live in Portland, Oregon because of our professional focus – in the electronics industry. Our approach to business is rooted in the core value of helping others and giving freely. We share an “open hand” approach to life, but we aren’t afraid to close our hand if we feel abused or misused. Both of us were raised in households filled with faith, but also are willing to question and be open to energies and God’s infinite possibilities. Introspective and energy work are critical components of who we are and how we choose to travel through this plane of existence. Our stars complement each other, almost perfectly – kinda scary.

So in March of 2012, Morgan and I have been amazed at how our AM101-Author Persona message is expanding in only a year and has become so fun for us, and beneficial to our author friends. We were at an intimate writer conference in WA and chatting in a parking lot with a literary agent from NJ. She ruffled through the draft of our workbook and stated, “This looks very professional. You two need to build your platform.”

This is so obvious that Morgan and I are stunned. It’s a combination “Aha!”  “Of Course!” AND “How the (expletive) do we do that?” A platform is a Marketing 101 concept required for any professional service business. Our message is that a platform does not apply to Novelists –  they need an Author Persona. But a Platform does apply to us regarding our AM101 message about the Author Persona being the dynamic core of a novelist’s marketing plan.

Morgan and I had created a free blogspot site where we put our 7 primary AM101 points into static pages to reside forever available in cyber space. But we weren’t doing anything with that blog, it was just an electronic handout for our workshop.

But as I was initiating my Author Persona back in 2009, my connection with the MacGregors was because they were blogging to build their platform and write their book. Hence, in May of this year, Morgan and I started blogging 3x a week and that’s when synchronicities seemed to happen every week as we would be inspired for a new post, or recruit a Guest Post. Our workbook will now have better examples and be a greater benefit to authors. We’ll be working on it again after the new year.

Because Morgan and I pay attention to synchronicities beyond the potential for a good parking space, we appreciate being able to see layers of synchronicities that build on each other. And that – to me – is a HUGE deal because though synchronicity is flavored with magic and mystery, it’s also the foundation for what is practical and good business.

And now, our Author Marketing 101 message is just what Trish and Rob need now they are Indie publishing their extensive back list of novels. And I’m thrilled they came to me for advice on their marketing.

The voice of a Lord

This is my first time embedding a video in my blog and it was easy but there is no way to resize it. I’m sure you’ll enjoy this two minute trailer even if you’re not into Historical Romance novels. The personal tidbit about my friend Delilah Marvelle’s new book trailer is the awesome voice-over is our friend Andy, who is not an actor but a friend Ed met through work when we first moved to Oregon 15 years ago.

The production schedule was set but the actor slated to do the voice-over left town. On Thursday night, Delilah made some calls and posted an Emergency Request to all her loops for someone local with a British accent – who was available to do the taping on Saturday. On Friday morning we contacted our friend Andy to give Delilah a call. Which he did, and that’s his real voice. He sounds a bit more serious than I’m used to hearing.

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I’ve known Delilah since 2003, before her first book was published in 2008 and became a “sensation.” I feel doubly blessed to have her as a friend but also to have had inside information on her career, during these turbulent years, as the process of publishing books and connecting with readers is transforming. She’s also one of many authors who are taking the Indie Publishing route at this time.

Indie Publishing is a hybrid process of creating ebooks (with print options)  that follow some of the same processes as traditional book publishing but the business model puts the author on top of the creative control and compensation pyramid.

I’m sure there will be more great things to watch for and emulate as Delilah continues to explore a variety of ways to reach and entertain her audience. And I’m doubly thrilled that the next time I see our friend Andy, I can address him as “Lord.”

Catch and Release

My daughters and I agree that Catch and Release is one of our favorite romantic comedies. I haven’t seen it in a few years so was thrilled to find it at the library. I’ve watched and analyzed it this week and it was just what I needed to chill and get back into my writing routine.

The scenery and soundtrack of this movie are worth savoring.

There are great props, like the sticky front door, and every character is nice.

This is a story where nothing really happens as the credits open at the funeral  of the main character – Grady. On first viewing, it seems to be the main character is Gray, and the story is the romance between her and Fritz. But all conflict springs from Grady, after his death, as each character now has to find out who they are on their own without this larger than life friend, who none of them really knew.

The humor is wonderful and the subplot romance of Sam and Maureen is way cool. It’s a great movie to study for the nuance of body language and how much information can be revealed in fingertips and eyebrows.

From Grady’s funeral, which was supposed to be his wedding day to Gray, until the final memorial in the peace garden a few weeks later, all the characters transform as they come to know the real Grady, and his big secrets. As they learn about the friend they lost, they redefine themselves as individuals, instead of through their relationship with Grady.

There’s lots of great scenes, verbal and herbal zingers, and a wonderful male-bonding-brawl. The final lyrics, “I want to live where the soul meets body…” adds just the right flavor of transformation every character has now experienced.

50 Shades of Emmaline

We attended an annual summer event this weekend and I chatted with friends I only see at such events, and met new friends. I was amused that everyone wanted to know what I thought about 50 Shades of Gray. I really don’t think about it at all, haven’t read it and probably won’t. But I know about it as it has been discussed extensively on writer/publishing blogs for it is – #1 - rather ordinary as an erotic romance novel and #2 – had some rather awesome marketing.

Instead, if I’m going to chat about a romance novel, I’d rather share one that is a personal favorite from my keeper shelves.

I met Elizabeth Boyle in 2003 at a reader appreciation luncheon. It was my first event upon returning to the world of romancelandia as both a reader and aspiring author. My niece Kathy attended with me and a bond was born during that luncheon so that Ms. Boyle still calls me, “Aunt Mary.”

A week ago, I rushed through the library and chose a few movies quickly and later that evening was surprised that I’d chosen the 2002 movie The Importance of Being Earnest, which is based on Oscar Wilde’s classic comedy of manners play, of the same name. I’ve been dedicated to watching contemporary romantic comedies and had grabbed a historical, but Colin Firth was the star so I gave it a view and was delightfully surprised.

I was very busy this week as we were taking our 9-yr-old grandson for a mini-vacation but Elizabeth Boyle revealed “The Importance of Being Ernest” was the inspiration for her first book in the Bachelor Chronicles. I paused my packing and quickly found Something About Emmiline on my bookshelves and it was included in my supplies for the trip.

My copy was autographed “To Kathy” as we used to swap books and I quickly realized this FIRST book was the only one of the Bachelor Chronicles I hadn’t read yet. How’d that happen? As I read Emmaline’s story I was both entertained and amazed at the initial introductions of so many characters I knew well from having read their stories through the series.

This created a challenge for me while chatting with friends this weekend. I was reading this delightful historical romance novel by one of my most favorite authors while being asked about a much hyped fan-fic where readers were justifying that even without the nasty-bits, was a good story.

My dilemma in these conversations is that my opinion of a good story isn’t the same as my opinion of a good book. I also know many titillating nasty bits included in books like 50 Shades of Grey were the horrific reality in 1801, when the life expectancy of a young girl did not include attending college.

Elizabeth Boyle’s character Emmaline, inspired by Earnest, and who spawned a whole series of what I consider great books for their entertainment value and attention to manners, is a pretty shady character. Emmaline is a con-artist and card shark. There’s actually a whole host of shady characters in Elizabeth Boyle’s Bachelor Chronicles series, with all kinds of nasty bits in their past and present. Ms. Boyle is also a Seattle based author like E.L. James, author of the 50 Shades of Grey series…

The difference between the stories of then and now, in my opinion as having only read one of the two authors, is that in the past women needed to use their wits to avoid bondage and brutality. Now they can choose it for sexual pleasure. I guess that’s evolution or something.

So, from now on, when someone asks me if I’ve read 50 Shades of Grey I can simply respond, “No, have you read The Bachelor Chronicles by Elizabeth Boyle?” It may be a conversation stopper. BUT….

I’d really like to know what readers of the latest buzzed about book would think about a series that I feel has merit.

Thriving

Easter weekend was quiet for us, there were no egg hunts, parades, chocolate bunnies, or family gatherings. The weather was glorious and I was drinking my coffee on the deck wondering how my life had become so boring. But then the phone rang and it was our youngest daughter, did we want to go out for breakfast? Sure. She and her fiance are following a strict nutrition program and are amazed at how good they feel and they expect to look great in the wedding photos this December.

A few of my friends are at the RT Booklovers Convention, RT stands for Romantic Times which is a monthly romance reviews magazine for fans of the genre. Attendees are a rowdy bunch and photos are already being posted online. I’m sure I’ll go someday, though I am not a crowd person. This convention has exploded from small reader appreciation parties and authors love attending because they are also fans of the genre. Direct contact with readers will fill authors with enthusiasm to get back to writing more books. Next week, I’ll be hearing stories about rabid fans and authors behaving badly.

The MacGregors posted a link to a fascinating Thrive Movement. The movie explains the global financial crisis and how leadership based on conformity is not for the good of all. There has been interstellar communication with humans through history but this is the first time I’ve come across a comparison of Tesla’s free energy generator to the Arc of the Covenant. I have mixed feelings about the conspiracy theories but that’s because I’ve known many who have operated under that, “It’s for your own good,” sense of benevolent dictatorship.

Tonight’s library movie selection for me was “Monster-in-Law.” It’s amusing that I chose  a story of sinister matriarch energy that required compliance and perfection for her child’s happiness. Last night, the Thrive movie I watched exposed a sinister patriarch energy of global influence in government and finance. Who really has more influence on the life of a child?

Fortunately, both movies end with the same message. It is the creative spirit of the individual, who has the courage and determination to fight for happiness, that thrives in the end. Suppression and control are recognized and exposed so they can be relegated to the past and a new happily ever after can begin.

Obviously, I’m not intimidated either by an Illuminati or alien agenda any more than the mother-in-law from hell could impact my life. My maternal grandmother was one! I’d also be interested in a comparative analysis of the number of people devastated by the economic crisis against the number of thematic convention attendees. How do the numbers really stack up?

I don’t want charts and graphs. I’m content in my personal awareness that those individuals that were raised to conform are attending sci-fi, Lego, new age, romance, and TED conventions. Let’s meet for breakfast.

Cats and Dogs

 This 1996 movie was more interesting than many of the cheezy romantic comedies I’ve watched in recent weeks. Be warned, this movie takes “phone sex” to a different level of cheezy. 

The relationship between the short veterinarian and the tall willowy blond model is more fascinating than the romance. The romance is really more a love at first sight story for the dog.

It’s a Cyrano de Bergerac story where the love interest, Brian, is duped that the veterinarian he adores is the tall blond, instead of the short brunette.

However, there was one good, though badly worded, quote:

It’s mentally exhausting feeling really bad about something you can’t do anything about.

This quote is about regret. The vet, Abby, regrets that she didn’t stand up to be noticed at the first opportunity. The actions and events to follow were the journey she had to take to come to this level of regret, and were needed for her transformation. Regret is a powerful motivator because the only solution requires the courage to be totally vulnerable.

I have noticed that lessons of regret and being vulnerable are common themes in romantic comedies produced during the mid to late 1990′s and disappeared after 2003. Helpless victims and narcissistic characters have became the new flavor of fluff entertainment.

Regret is rooted within that which cannot be changed. Regret grows from fact, history, heredity, actions, events, cultures, beliefs, locations on this planet, etc. etc. Regret can also grow from actions not taken, missed opportunities, and overlooked possibilities.

It is mentally exhausting to be on a circular track of “if only” this – whatever it is-  didn’t happen. The more we focus on regret, the more it remains present.

In fiction, it is recommended that the author never save the hero from the journey of regret and transformation. In fiction, the characters need to be aware and in charge of their moment in time and space within the story.

We can learn a lot from fiction.

The American President-the movie

Tonight I’m going to watch one of my favorite movies.

The American President is what’s called an “Old Skool Contemporary” romance. According to a few agents and editors, this style of romance novel is in high demand. The characters are not loaded with issues, they don’t sparkle in the moonlight, (or is it sunlight that makes vampires sparkle?) and none of the characters are “packing heat” or “kicking butt.”

The conflict to the romance is primary to the character traits and career choices, not their species or their contact with sinister villains. The external events surrounding their romance are big enough to keep them apart, instead of some misunderstanding or secret. Their past (back story) defines who they are and what they bring to the potential of the partnership. The ending comes full circle to the initial cute-meet and first challenge faced.

The setting (the political arena)  is integral to the story and the glamour factor ups the world building.

I’m watching this personal favorite of mine tonight because this weekend I’ll be attending a local conference and Larry Brooks – creator of StoryFix is the primary presenter. He’s awesome and I recommend his Story Engineering for all aspiring writers as the how-to-write-book to read first.

After this conference it will only be a few more weeks and Mercury and Mars will move direct and that will feel great. I’ve been very productive under this restrictive energy. I finished one novel and sent it off to a beta reader. My current WIP is about half drafted, and both of these novels are “Old Skool Contemporaries.”  Our Author Marketing 101 workbook is almost “fabulous” and needs to be available for a conference in May as Morgan and I are doing a 90 minute workshop.

If you’re looking for entertainment to take advantage of the required pause from the two retrograde “M” planets, click the above Books & Movies tab and see all the ones I recommend. Have a great weekend!

Down with Love – the movie

 This could be one of my favorite movies. It’s delightfully madcap, exceptionally over-acted, and loaded with tongue twisting dialogue. The sets scream 1962 New York City fantasy success and the split screen sections need at least two or three viewings.

I really wish there was such a book and I could read it.

I adore dark chocolate but will never say it is better than sex, or a good replacement for sex. Um, no. It’s a joke.

However, I personally have issues with Catcher Block’s (he’s the romantic hero in this movie) objective in his exposé when he becomes a “new man” because of his love for the author, Barbara Novak. Catcher states he could win the Nobel Peace Prize for finally bringing an end to the battle of the sexes. He deserved the punch in the nose he got following that statement.

The battle of the sexes is the only battle I want to observe.

Chocolate could be the key to world peace but it should never be used to dilute or replace the battle of the sexes. I think (no facts were researched) that chocolate was created by Spanish monks who were not renown for their focus on fun and frivolity.

Disclaimer: the “love” referred to in this movie in no way represents “love” as I perceive it either personally or in my previous post.

Wonderful walk in the woods

Okay, in this story rabid environmentalists succeed in kidnapping the Secretary of the Interior from a hotel bathroom with no bullets in their guns. What’s not to love about that premise?

The delight is, the book is better than the premise. The compelling story is framed within thirty days of extreme camping and communing with nature. It’s #1 on Amazon’s Conservation list, but I wouldn’t have read it if I didn’t know the author because my reading time is limited. This book was worth every minute of my time because – Pat Lichen not only wrote a good story, there were also many times I was delighted by great writing. Then, she delivered a great ending.

This is not a secret – a good story needs a great ending – it’s a primary aspect of story telling that’s often ignored or forgotten. A story is a promise and the promise is – the ending will be good. It doesn’t have to be happy or fluffy but it has to be GOOD in relation to the story. The ending also has to resonate as appropriate according to the audience who will choose to read the story.

I love the Pacific Northwest and the magic it holds, I’ve even hugged a few trees. But I relate more to The Lorax and this is the type of story I will only enter as a fictional experience within the pages of a book. If anyone hands me a shovel and demonstrates the best way to shit in the woods, they will get that shovel upside the head.

But I did enter this fictional world of rabid environmentalists in contact with one of the elite political leaders of our country. And I turned every page and read every word. And when I reached The End, I not only felt satisfied by the story but enriched by the experience of being a voyeur to the action on the page.

That’s how a story delivers on the promise made in the opening sentence.

Dirty Dancing

I’ve continued to get movies from the library to watch as the concentrated basketball season has been the focus of the after dinner hours in our home. This is so clique, where he goes off to his man cave with the remote and big screen TV. I slip into my office, put in a DVD and place ear buds in my ears.

The collection of movies for this week I snatched in a hurry because I only had 20 minutes before the library closed for the night. I’ve watched a lot of movies that I was happy to be able to fast forward to the end. Others I tried way too hard to figure out the intent of the movie and why the audience would choose that experience. I was done with exploring and when I set my selections on the library counter to check out, I said, “I only chose movies I know I like this time.”

But I was surprised when the librarian said, “Oh yeah, I’ve done that when I needed to heal after those years of taking care of my ailing parents.” That’s a loaded sentence for a casual verbal exchange between two people who don’t know each other’s name, and my reply was, “Yeah, thank God for Romantic Comedies.” Then we shared a chuckle and our encounter was over. But I don’t overlook random loaded sentences and the message of this one is obvious because when it’s time to heal from caring for aging parents it means they are dead.

I also look past the obvious and maybe the message of that sentence was – that I need to heal because I didn’t get to care for my ailing parents as I was on the other side of the continent. They had exceptional care from my brother and sister, but not me. Or – maybe the message was that it’s time to heal from trauma’s in my life. The past twelve years have been intense for me on many levels.

As I watched Dirty Dancing tonight I felt like I was in a time warp. I was experiencing a tiny slice of a world that existed in 1963, when I was four-years-old, as that world was ending. But it was revisited in 1987 when this low-budget film began it’s journey as a cult classic. By then I had been to the Catskills.

I’d also watched Jennifer Grey on the 2010 season of Dancing with the Stars and have the Patrick Swazye autobiography, after his death, on my bookshelf. This book winks at me but I still haven’t read it. That may be because I’m still in my personal healing cycle after years of trauma and joys.

Even if we become a cliche, it’s possible we are participants in a future cult classic.

A different audience

The movie I watched tonight was Mrs. Delafield Wants to Marry. This is a Kate Hepburn movie made in 1986 and from the little posted online about the movie the most information seems to focus on this being written specifically for Katharine to be the star.

I’m not sure what I would have thought about this movie if I saw it in 1986 but watching it for the first time in 2012, I found it a delightful and hilarious farce depicting the posing of people according to their perceived status. Kate, as the actor, and her character Mrs. Delafield, highest of upper-class WASP, were both stellar women. Harold Gould, as her Jewish doctor and lover, was superb.

A well-to-do widow shocks her snobbish WASP family when she announces that she has fallen in love with her Jewish doctor. His family is equally devastated by the news leading both individuals to have to fight the prejudices of their families and of their narrow-minded neighbors.

Margaret and Marvin find love and a reason to live fully again in their 70′s while their family and friends are stuck in their ruts ruled by society or religion. There’s a the peeping Tom neighbor who would have considered the death of his best friend preferable to her marrying a Jew. The children of these too-old-to-live-or-love lovers are so concerned about either inheritance or cultural sagas that only one says – go for it. Fortunately the wisdom of the aged can be awesome.

This movie portrays the most delightful multicultural wedding I’ve ever seen.

Watching Classics

I’ve been watching old movies from the library and some have been interesting.  Woman of the Year (1942) fascinated me on many levels.

This movie was a contemporary romance seventy years ago and yet, the themes and tropes of a romantic comedy are still the same as what makes a good story today. The sexual tension between “Sam Craig” and “Tess Harding” practically jumps off the screen, even when watched in black-and-white.

The movie The Aviator (2004) includes the story of the romance between Spencer Tracy and Katharine Hepburn when it began with Woman of the Year. They continued their affair for 25 years.  It was a quiet scandal which was possible then. Yet watching the movie triggered a memory from childhood.

I think Spencer Tracy was my dad’s favorite actor and I know my mom admired Katharine. I was about seven when Spencer died and my mom told me the story about these two stars having an affair even though he was a Catholic married man with children. The reason mom told me about it was because it was news that Katharine would not attend Spencer’s funeral as that was for the Tracy family and she would not intrude.

My mom totally approved of that sentiment. She wouldn’t condone an affair with a married man, but those Hollywood people had questionable values. However, it was classy and admirable that Katharine would honor the Tracy family by remaining absent from the funeral.

What I found most fascinating was the “Tess Harding” character early in the movie addressing a room full of women (all wearing fancy hats) for not being more responsible about how they used the power of their vote “these past 20 years.” I wonder what “Tess” would say about that today.

Trash or Treasure

“One man’s trash is another man’s treasure.” This American proverb has spawned the weekend rash of garage sales.

In 2008, a website called “Smart Bitches, Trashy Books” created such a controversy regarding the treasure and tropes of romance novels it caused servers to crash and the term “romancelandia” was coined. It’s a mythical place where happy-endings abound.

Romance Novels have a complicated history that spans centuries. During my speech class in 2008, I presented an overview of the romance industry from the publishers side. This was prior to the Kindle but the digital publishing industry was already established, though tiny.

The financial data astounded the class. But that’s just business. One question I was asked after my speech was, “Why can I fly through a 300 page novel in a few hours, but barely read 3 pages of my textbooks before falling asleep?” My answer was, “They are written in present tense, active voice, and full of action verbs.”  Hint to scholastic writers and teachers…

Romances are used for literacy programs because they are easy reading and engaging stories. Even illiterate construction workers can soon breeze through them and are proud to have read them. Romances are also used for couples therapies and marriage counseling and are stocked at women’s shelters. These are the same places and programs that receive much of the industry dollars as well. Many romance novelists were victims where the first rays of hope, for personal power, came from the pages of trashy romance fiction and the required happy ending.

In the 1980′s, when I was a lonely stay-at-home mom, 300 miles from family, category romances introduced me to couples around the world pursuing happiness, and in the end, together. My epiphany was when I realized none of the characters were “normal” but uniquely ordinary people, in remarkably toned bodies, struggling to create a life worth living. They got distracted from their practical goals by sexual attraction. They endured conflicts to dump past baggage and heal emotional issues. They realized they deserved love and grew up. They could now give and receive love. The end.

Romances are often criticized for being fiction. Truly, the most criticism is that they aren’t real and give women unrealistic expectations of a relationship.

In the 1970′s there was lots of brutality inflicted on the heroines. During the 1980′s the victimization of women started to dissolve and some heroines actually had jobs out of the kitchen. Empowered woman began to emerge in the 1990′s and as a mother of four school age daughters, I was pleased.

Many old-skool romance novelists fought the battle of the “trashy” label in the trenches. These women maintained their dignity in relative silence, while laughing all the way to the bank. However, the new generation of romance readers and writers use the “trashy” mislabel as a battle cry and have whole libraries of high quality novels to promote.

The treasure today is knowing women around the globe who have little access to health care or education, who exist within cultures that promote victimizing and brutalizing women, are reading romances that empower women. These uneducated and victimized women understand the stories are fiction yet are getting that first ray of hope for happiness, equality, and personal power.

As the Chinese proverb says, “women hold up half the sky”.

the male view

Failure to Launch and Made of Honor are two romantic comedies written, directed, and produced by men. I recommend them for the entertainment value and especially to authors who want to study the male approach to romance.

It’s fascinating to watch the body language as these 30+ men try to explore emotional issues with buddies while rock climbing, playing basketball, and at sporting events. This attention to competition resonates to the way a man wants to solve problems, or fix things, with the woman in their life. The action distraction is a great example of Mars energy while the women in these movies all communicate with a musical, intellectual and artistic Venus flavor.

Age also has an impact on the male perspective as Nathan Bransford blogged about with his How Art Changes With Us post that he begins with “I recently rewatched the movies “Before Sunrise” and “Before Sunset,” which, if you haven’t seen or heard of them, are rather amazing.”

I have not watched either movie, yet, but Nathan explains that these two movies are the same relationship story set nine years apart. What makes this post a must read (even if you don’t watch the movies) is that Nathan explores how his perspective on the relevance of these two movies has changed in relation to his age and life experiences. He shows that a good story remains unchanged through time, but the reader experience is always unique. It’s a great male perspective about relationship stories. (He’s in his 30′s and exceptionally articulate.)

The example of a male view in my life right now is a bathroom remodel has begun. Ed has some vacation days to use before the end of the year and he’s often viewed long holiday weekends as a good time to begin a home construction project. There were a few years when his projects and my holiday party preparations overlapped and caused concerns that there was sawdust in the wineglasses. But our family gathering has shifted to our daughter’s home this year and the construction mess will be resigned to an upper corner of our house.

Our view of home improvements has shifted as we have tucked years and life experiences under our belts. He enjoys the projects because he likes working with his hands and his work is good. But we are less interested in the improvement to our lifestyle in this house and more focused on the resale benefit someday.

I do enjoy the view as men do physical work or engage in sporting competitions and will watch these two movies again before I return them to the library. I’ve realized that conversations between 30+ men attempting to create a relationship with a woman they desire are fascinating. But when a man is content in his relationship for years, his conversations with his buddies (topics like work, politics, investments, and bodily functions) are not as entertaining.

This means, I’m most interested in man-speak when my view is handsome and athletic 30-year-old men who are wondering how to please a woman, and exploring emotional issues, while flexing well tanned biceps and abs.

Expendable by Maggie

It’s been ten days since I blogged, I think that’s a record for me. There are draft posts in my cue to review to see if I want to publish them. It’s been a potent mercury retrograde (nostalgia on steroids) with a full-moon-lunar-eclipse to scramble my thoughts, yet I’ve made good progress on my new process of writing a novel.

My Christmas preparations are done and the newlyweds (in June) intend to become homeowners and viewing five houses with them in one afternoon triggered all kinds of memories. I’ve attended holiday parties and craft fairs. I got a Kindle (for $79!) and I’ve been downloading books as I want it to be library of  my friends books so I can carry them all with me.

A few weeks ago, Expendable by Maggie Jaimeson arrived as a prize and I have not been able to do a review of this story as it is so – wow. Intensity! Texture! Dark thriller! Powerful romance! I read it in two days and spent the next two wandering around thinking about it. I don’t choose to read dark thriller/horror stories but I adore Maggie and trusted it was a romance and would deliver a happy ending. It does, and it’s good, but it was a wild journey to get there and that’s what a reader wants.

Except I couldn’t write for two days. And I couldn’t do a review so I read other reviews and realized I read/watch romantic comedy and adventure stories, with the occasional sci-fi or intrigue. I don’t do “Silence of the Lambs” and Expendable had more that flavor. And -drat it – I want to read it again…

To be able to get my thoughts back to my own writing (and life) I grabbed a Terri Reed Tiny Blessings tale that was published by Love Inspired in 2007. This is a classic sweet and cuddly romance where all you can do when you close the back cover is go, aawwhh….

As a reader, I knew from the first page that Expendable was not a book I would choose for entertainment. I don’t like being grabbed by the throat and dragged into a sinister world with PTSD battle flashbacks, or rescuing victimized children from narcissistic scientists.

I’m also not sure how to respond when viewing potential homes with newlyweds who discuss the merits of living on the property during the pending zombie apocalypse. But between books and daughters and holidays and pesky planets, sometimes we just have to go with the flow and be open to anything.

Life is a journey and nothing is written in stone until it is published.

what’s in a blurb

It’s time for some books and movie recommendations. The blurbs on the back cover of the book or DVD case are to entice the audience with a promise that the time investment to read the book, or watch the movie, will be worth the cost. This is highly subjective because what entertains or inspires one is not what works for others. So here’s some promo blurbs and my opinion of the story I watched unfurl then reread the blurbs…

The Jane Austen Book Club (2007) [Blurb] Six Californians start a club to discuss the works of Jane Austen, only to find their relationships — both old and new — begin to resemble 21st century versions of her novels. 

I haven’t read the Jane Austen novels. This admission is considered heresy within the historical romance community but I’m a contemporary writer so can admit this lack to my education. I adored all the twists and dramas as six unique women created a personal network because of their love of Ms. Austen’s novels. I’m not sure why the “Six Californians” are the first two words of the blurb since that was the setting. The setting was a very integral part of the plot but the story portrayed timeless characters, universal themes, and was entertaining enough to watch twice because the final twist related to the men in their lives actually becoming interested in – what interests the women in their lives.

Miss Pettigrew Lives for a Day (2008) [Blurb] Guinevere Pettigrew, a middle-aged London governess, finds herself unfairly dismissed from her job. An attempt to gain new employment catapults her into the glamorous world and dizzying social whirl of an American actress and singer, Delysia Lafosse.

Yep, all true for the first 20 minutes of the movie. This movie is a delightful representation of pre-WWII London, from the point-of-view of a woman who has nothing left to lose, so she sheds all her prejudices and dogmas as well. For one day she is less an observer than participant, but this is a role she’s played for years and suddenly she no longer observes but becomes a participant in the life happening around her. Miss Pettigrew has her image spruced up and when the whirlwind of her story that day settles, a good meal with a good man is gained. What makes him a good man is his interest in women as a designer for their lingerie.

The Thirteenth Tale (2006) [Blurb] Sometimes, when you open the door to the past, what you confront is your destiny. Reclusive author Vida Winter, famous for her collection of twelve enchanting stories, has spent the past six decades penning a series of alternate lives for herself. Now old and ailing, she is ready to reveal the truth about her extraordinary existence and the violent and tragic past she has kept secret for so long. Calling on Margaret Lea, a young biographer troubled by her own painful history, Vida disinters the life she meant to bury for good. Margaret is mesmerized by the author’s tale of gothic strangeness — featuring the beautifuland willful Isabelle, the feral twins Adeline and Emmeline, a ghost, a governess, a topiary garden and a devastating fire. Together, Margaret and Vida confront the ghosts that have haunted them while becoming, finally, transformed by the truth themselves. 

This is actually a pretty good blurb for the book. The writing is lyrical all the way through to the final page. It’s a bit spooky, a bit mystical, and since Margaret (the biographer) is even more reclusive than her subject I really enjoyed watching the tortured Margaret transform into a woman who can be happy as she strives forth into her life once the story/assignment is complete. Maybe… The men in this story are only scantily revealed but create  pivotal  turning points in the lives of the women that psychologists and English teachers will be able to dissect for decades.

Enjoy!

Gambling on an Angel

I’ve known Paty Jager for a few years and recently recommended her as a speaker to my sister, who was organizing diverse events for a weekend conference. As a result, my sister has been thrilled to discover Paty’s books. Gambling on an Angel is one I hadn’t read yet but my sister was adamant that I would love it. I did but I’m not going to review it, instead I want to share why I liked it…

First – the writing is rich and textured. There’s no rushing into the story with guns blazing. It opens on the Lower Cascades dock on the Columbia River in 1873 Oregon. As the words flow, I am totally there, over a century ago. Good historical novels are my personal time travel experience.

Second – since I’ve traveled back in time, I  became absorbed into the concerns and hopes of Bas Slokum and Letha Harrison. The physical baggage they haul cross-country for creating a whole new life may only be one suitcase, or a few crates, but the emotional baggage is more complex.  Life was shorter and more precious. Choices were clearer – wash clothes or starve.

Third – the passionate fervor for a cause is the same in any century in the American past. The example in Gambling on an Angel explores the Temperance movement against the Wild West saloons, and as a subplot, the reality of building a railroad to connect this massive continent.

My personal conclusion, after reading this enjoyable book, is that building a physical infrastructure is an important foundation for progress. Societies are established from a personal need of connection to the greater whole, even prior to TV and the internet. But personal fulfillment comes from the connection with individuals and the best connection is when love and partnership is established from those on opposing sides of the train tracks.

This was a love-thy-enemy-for-they-are you type of book. It is wonderfully written and a rich tapestry to read. Enjoy!

care-less characters

The movie Always seemed to be a good compromise to watch as Ed’s interest is in aviation sequences and I love a romance. The ghost story could be a plus, or so we thought. John Goodman made this movie worthwhile, the rest of it was good photography.  Richard Dreyfuss and Holly Hunter are great actors and portrayed these quirky characters with skill and passion.

I knew from the blurb their romance was doomed but even death hanging over the love story wasn’t enough for me to care about them. The romantic hero was instantly recognizable and hardly on screen enough to like, and the final trauma was give-me-a-break melodramatic. But I liked John Goodman and his portrayal of the character Al, who was in most scenes and the only character who took action and made decisions. He made the story.

Bed of Roses by Nora Roberts was my chosen vacation read. It’s book #2 of a quartet of wedding stories. I believe they were written during the time Ms. Roberts was totally involved in being mother of the bride (or groom). It was written “For girlfriends” and both the cover and internal flaps are a nice presentation as are the weddings described in the pages. I do not like offset pages that make the edge of the book look like a sloppy paperback, and this was one more book of Nora’s that I wish had been edited into a novella.

The reason I couldn’t care about Emma or Jack’s romance is because they are too nice and become more clueless at the end. Neither will survive a real life conflict or challenge. I did read the whole book because the descriptions were beautiful and some of the other characters were cute. I also wanted to see if the final conflict was going to be as lame as I expected. It was worse.

I’m trying to care about the characters in the novel I’m currently reading except the heroine is a former art thief and the hero an expat billionaire so I’m not relating to their lifestyle or attitudes. The appearance of a “dead” father and now a theft and potential intrigue probably won’t elevate this story to one I’ll care to finish.

Fortunately, I’ll have dinner with my sister tomorrow in honor of our dad’s birthday last week and she’ll give me a book to read that she enjoyed: Paty Jager’s Gambling On An Angel. It’s a historical and I’m trying to stick with contemporary novels right now but I’ll probably read it this weekend because I want to care about some characters.