Skidding out of 2009 on Two Wheels

Just about two weeks left of the year, and I'm picking up speed. I have to get an ms cleaned up to send out early next week, as well as write a couple of gift short stories for the holidays.

It's amazing how much has changed over this year--I still can't believe what I've done, or what I'm hoping to do.

Still, it's not even Solstice and I still have decorating, shopping, and holiday movie watching to complete. :) Should be fun.

Oh, and did I mention I've got four chapters done on Fairville?

Life is good.

Happy Holidays, my friends, if I don't have a chance to post before.

What Writers Do When They're Bored

I mentioned a few posts back that I wanted to put a role in my new novel for actress Veronica Cartwright. That started me thinking about who I would cast in the movie version of All the Back Roads Home. So, without further ado, here is the IMDB listing for the A-List Feature Version of All the Back Roads Home:

Samantha Lawson: Ashley Judd
Mark Hunter: James Denton
Alan Lawson: Oliver Platt
Kattrina West: Dana Ivey
Frank West: Beau Bridges
Marion Lawson: Ellen Burstyn
Edward Lawson:
Celeste Lawson: Kristin Chenoweth
Mitch Williams:
Lou Mancetti:
Dr. Charles Ganault: Stanley Tucci

I chose Ashley Judd because she has that awesome mix of vulnerability and pure strength. James Denton because he's hot in a regular guy sort of way. Oliver Platt and Kristin Chenoweth as Alan and Celeste, simply because I think they'd bring a levity to the procedings. Dana Ivey and Beau Bridges as the Wests--Dana because she can play the complex mix of evil and frailty needed for Kattrina West, and Beau Bridges because he looks like he'd be such a nice guy--which would only make the character scarier. I'm still on the fence about Edward, Mitch and Lou, but Ellen Burstyn and Stanley Tucci are shoe-ins. Honestly, I'd create a part for Stanley Tucci.

Positive Thinking

I recently hit the 10K mark on my new book, Fairville. One of the differences between writing short stories and novels is that, with short stories I hardly ever worried about word count. My point was always to write the story. it was just a matter of getting everything done that needed to be done. The word count took care of itself.

With novels, though, I'm constantly stressing about how many words I have, how many words I've written, and how I'm ever going to make this story novel length.

I think I'm going to go back to my old way of thinking. I think I'm going to just tell the story. Put words on the page. Move the characters around on the Monopoly board like the little pewter darlings they are.

Accept that the word count will take care of itself, as long as I take care of the words that comprise that count.

One of the main reasons I quit pursuing a professional writing career back in the 90s was that I just stressed myself out worrying about the details. I worried so much about marketing and querying and publishing that I sucked all the joy out of writing for myself.

Down at the core, it's all about telling the tale.

Down at the core, it's all telling a tale other people want to read.

I can do that, folks. I just have to get out of my way.

Netflix

I am falling in love with Veronica Cartwright all over again. :) Got two of her films from Netflix--so very different, yet both incredible performances.

Bernice Bobs Her Hair: A very young Veronica plays a nasty little vamp in this TV movie of F. Scott Fitzgerald's short story. She's gorgeous, 3-dimensional, and holds her own with Shelley Duvall (not an easy task).

Straight-Jacket: Veronica plays Jerry Albrecht, a closeted, workaholic agent in the early 50s whose main client is an outrageous Rock Hudsonesque movie star who is more successful than discrete. The entire movie is a hilarious send-up of the old 50s romantic comedies.

So, what character could Veronica play in the movie version of Fairville? I don't know, but there will be a character for her. Seriously. I want this woman in my movie. (Yeah, Deb. Write the novel before casting the film.)

How Convenient!

Writer Unboxed posted this article. I'd been wondering whether or not it was worth sending out queries during the holidays.

NYT 100 Notable Books of 2009

I've only read a few excerps, but is there a reason so many of these books are written in present tense? I'm trying to figure out if I'm just gauche, or if this is some Important Writing Technique that separates the writers from the Authors.

Louisiana History & Stuff

I'm trying to find a balance between research and actual writing. Considering I haven't been putting very many words on the paper for Fairville, I figured I should do something towards getting the story done. So I spent a good deal of yesterday researching the history of southern Lousiana, particularly Lafourche Parish (where the fictional town of Fairville is set).

I left Louisiana when I was 27 years old, happy to be gone. And in the 16 years since, I've never regretted that decision. But my love-hate relationship with the state of my birth makes good fodder for fiction, I think. I'm especially fascinated with the idea of coastal erosion, and that much of the land that existed in Louisiana even when I was a kid is now under the Gulf of Mexico.

Course, you know the question has to be asked--what secrets are going to be washed away with the tide? What buried mysteries will be exposed as the land is drawn out to the waters?

My challenge here is to translate those questions into actual story, and to create characters compelling enough and ideas sound enough to sustain a novel. The problem is, how do you write a contemporary novel set in Louisiana without playing into the standard cliches (voodoo, hurricanes, murder, Mardi Gras, political corruption)?

I don't think it's possible--there will be at least one hurricane in my novel, and plenty of corruption. Murder is a strong possibility, too.

But hopefully I can find some aspect of Louisiana history that is overlooked by the hacks and use it as a catalyst in my book. It's just so much more than Mardi Gras and voodoo. Really it is.

The Progress in Sketch Form

I created a blueprint for The Progress, which is a pivotal location in Fairville. Unfortunately, I can't upload .tif files to Blogger. I'll see if I can edit at home and upload it later.

Maybe now I can make some little Monopoly-sized characters so I can block out scenes properly....

It was this or The Sims....