Tuesday, February 27, 2007

Love scene epiphanies

I love this blog. I love my writing group. I love watching our friendships develop along with our craft. One of the beautiful things about this blog is that it gives our unique voices an opportunity to shine.

We blogged about our favorite love scenes a week and a half ago. Very interesting stuff. The more we blog, the more I see our voices emerge. I was particularly intrigued by the love scene entries. Actually, writing mine and then reading the others gave me insight into my own voice.

Since I write romance, understanding what I like in a love scene might be important. Here are some things I came up with:

1. I'm captivated by scenes where the lovers exhibit reckless abandon, where they make those kinds of decisions that you can't make with your head, but only with your heart. I believe that the heart is a better decision maker than the head. This, mind you, is coming from a girl that allowed her head to make most of her choices through her teenage years and early twenties. Fear drives the head to take over, to protect, but when you actually let your heart make your decisions, that frees up the passion and soulfulness in life. Actually, I think it's the heartbreak that inevitably follows if one makes heart-based decisions that creates a soulfulness that always resides afterwards. Regardless, I love to see characters take that leap based on the desires of their hearts despite the pragmatism of their heads.

2. When lovers make those decisions that are so good for their hearts but so bad for their circumstances, I can't help but keep reading to see if there is any way they manage to achieve happily ever after. I mentioned the Anita Blake Series by Laurell K. Hamilton. When Anita races to Jean Claude after witnessing her other boyfriend, werewolf Richard, eat someone, she makes a decision that is very good for her heart. Jean Claude loves her as is. Richard loves the idea of her, and her of him. Giving herself to Jean Claude doesn't make her life any easier, however. It damn near kills her.

3. I love intensity. Sweet love scenes are good and fine, but I want to the book to sizzle. I want to say, "Thank God," when they finally kiss or touch. Not all the scenes about which I blogged last week involved consummation, but some do. However, most of the time it isn't the love making that makes the scene, it's one little part, one moment of intense passion. Take the scene from Top Gun where Tom Cruise's character goes chasing after his flight instructor. He's already come on to her several times. They've had dinner, but she's played out his advances using her head up to this point. She's pointed out that he's reckless. When he ignores her, she tears after him in her car. Instead of being calm, sane, and rational, she listens to the blaring anger and desire in her heart and recklessly chases him. You can feel the adrenaline coming of the screen. It isn't their kiss or their love-making that gets me. It's their argument beforehand. You can only argue like that when your heart is invested. It's the first chance we get to see just how much both their hearts are invested. I love intense passion like that.


4. I love that first loss of control, that kiss that shouldn't happen but does. Both parties get a taste of the desire pent up in each other, but fight it – with their head, of course – and pull back. But, for a moment, they experienced the real deal, the passionate release, the admission of longing. Many times the lovers are taboo. They shouldn't be together. But soul mates are soul mates, and true north is hard to deny.

5. I also love a good self-sacrifice. The stories that end with those aren't quite as fulfilling to me. I really want people, even the make-believe ones, to get their happily ever after. But, the passion and heartbreak and declaration of love that self-sacrifice embodies is a different sort of love scene altogether. Think Bridges of Madison County. Think Finding Neverland. Think Braveheart.

What is it really about a good love scene? To me, it isn't about endearing love, although that's great, too. It's about that adrenaline rush that screams, "I'm alive. I feel. I choose. I am."

So, am I a true romantic at heart? I don't know. I think that rush that occurs when you live life heart first is what I seek. It's what I want to write. It's the soulful, pure, open, real, intense rush that I want to convey. It's how I feel about life, how I see the world. Now, I just have to get it on paper.

Macy

Sunday, February 25, 2007

Macy's Sunday Six (well, five again)

A villain. Someone who does evil deliberately.

We love to hate them.

In an effort to keep this to the point so I can get to my MIP, I’m not going to expound on the necessity of great villains. I’m just going to jump right in.

Villains I love to hate (in no particular order):

Voldemort from the Harry Potter series by J.K. Rowling. Voldemort divided his soul and hid it in order to prolong his life and give him more power. He effectively sold his soul. It was a prophecy that sent Voldemort to Harry’s parents’ home when he was just an infant. He went there to destroy Harry who it had been prophesized would someday destroy Voldemort. It was this act that provided Harry with some of his powers. Now, millions of eager readers anticipate that final installment where we all hope good will indeed triumph over evil. That’s the best part of a villain – seeing him get his due.

The White Witch from The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe by C.S. Lewis. I think what I love to hate so much about the white witch is her complete contrast to Aslan. She’s dishonest and deceptive to Aslan’s honesty and genuineness. Aslan is self-sacrificing, and the white witch is self-absorbed. I hated her even more after I saw the movie.

Adam Black from several of Karen Marie Moning’s Highlander Books. Adam is a member of the fae, the Tuatha Dé Danaan. He reeks havoc on so many characters in Moning’s books, but the part I like best is his redemption. Yes, he redeems himself. I didn’t think it was possible that I could like him, but in the end, he’s my favorite of her villains and heroes.

Sauron from the Lord of the Rings trilogy by J.R.R. Tolkien. He seeks the one ring that will give him power to rule all the people of middle earth. I hated Sauron. However, he brings out the best in the heroes of the story. That’s one of those things about a good villain; he makes our heroes look so, so good.

The lessers in J.R. Ward’s Black Dagger Brotherhood series. The lessers have been charged with annihilating the vampire race. They were evil before selling their souls and become even more evil afterwards. I don’t even like reading the excerpts from their point of view. They make me feel dirty. Truly nasty villains.

For the second week in a row, I’m minus one. Although there are other villains I hate, none compare to these five. Therefore, I’ll just end it here.

Macy

Katrina’s Sunday Six – Villains We Love to Hate

This week’s picks took a little work. Do I always say that? I tend to focus on the heroes and heroines, but great villains sure contribute to a strong story, don’t they? They create obstacles, increase the conflict for the hero and heroine, and give them something to unite against. They also give the reader someone to root against and to rejoice over when they get their comeuppance.

In no particular order, my “favorite” villains are:

Lord Voldemort, Harry Potter series, by J.K. Rowling – Who doesn’t hate Voldemort, yet he’s a perfect evil lord for Harry and his friends to fight against. I love how Rowling introduces more details about his past as the story goes on, so that we learn how he came to be so evil. His determination to conquer all and destroy Harry unnerves me. I don’t know how Harry will defeat him, but I know that he must, and I’ll continue to fly through those pages until the end.

Prince Humperdinck, The Princess Bride, by William Goldman – He’s snivelly, conniving and weak. He arranges a marriage to Buttercup so that he can stage her kidnapping and death in order to justify a war with another kingdom. He has Westley killed so he can’t stop his marriage to Buttercup and more importantly her murder that night, again so he can start that war. He’s a rat of the gutter variety, and I absolutely love it when Westley, weak from dying, intimidates him into submission in the end. His cowardice is delightful to watch.

Adam Black, Beyond the Highland Mist, by Karen Marie Moning – Adam is absolutely gorgeous, but with an evil streak. We’re not sure that it would be so bad to be seduced by him, but we know Adrienne belongs with Hawk, and Adam makes that so difficult for them both. He interferes, he manipulates and drives the struggling couple apart before they find their way back to each other. Of course, as most villains do, he loses in the end in a most satisfying manner. Later on, he’s the hero of one of my favorite Moning books, and it’s a delight to see him fall in love and go through all those wonderful struggles himself.

Daniel Cleaver, Bridget Jones’s Diary, by Helen Fielding – I’m thinking more of the movie version here, as I haven’t read the entire novel, but either way, what a great character. He’s not your ordinary evil villain, but he’s the guy that continuously, intentionally gets in the way of the love developing between Bridget and Mark Darcy. Oh, and let us not forget that he slept with Mark’s former bride-to-be shortly before the wedding if I recall. What a cad. But he’s fun and delicious and we see how Bridget gets drawn in time after time. Not that we aren’t delighted when he’s finally defeated, and Bridget and Mark finally share that lovely, albeit chilly, kiss in the snow.

I think that’s it for me on villains. I could probably come up with two more if I spent more time at it, but I’m letting Voldemort count for two since he’s in all of those Potter books and, with that logic, our charming Mr. Cleaver should count for two as well.

I especially like a fleshed out villain with some kind of redeeming trait – those characters whom we sense could have been good if it wasn’t for circumstance or a twist of fate that turned them along the way. I also like a glimpse of my own tendencies manifest in them, however difficult it may be to admit it, which helps me to understand them better, and possibly fear them more.

Katrina

Villains Alyson Loves to Hate

This week our Sunday Six is villains we love to hate. In honor of the Academy Awards, I'm picking mine from movies. All of my selections have something to do with the oscars if you think broadly although most were characters in books first.

1. Anthony Hopkins as Hannibal Lecter of Silence of the Lambs (1991)
While the novels Red Dragon and Silence of the Lambs, both by Thomas Harris, were critically and commercially successful, it was not until Anthony Hopkins played Hannibal "the Cannibal" Lecter in the film adaptation of Silence of the Lambs that Hannibal Lecter became a bonafide cultural icon. Oscars abound in this selection -- Best Picture, Best Director, Best Actor, Best Actress, Best Writing (Adapted Screenplay). Anthony Hopkins' performance was truly astounding. When I think great villain, I think Hannibal. Brilliant. Cunning. Psychotic. A renowned psychiatrist turned infamous cannibalistic serial killer. His cat and mouse game with Clarice Starling kept me on the edge of my seat the first time I saw the movie-- and still does, as a matter of fact.


A census taker once tried to test me. I ate his liver with some fava beans and a nice chianti. --Hannibal Lecter

Horrified chills!

2. Louise Fletcher as Nurse Ratched of One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest (1975)
Another oscar grand slam here: Best Picture, Best Director, Best Actor, Best Actress, Best Writing (Adapted Screenplay). Nurse Mildred Ratched, the head administrative nurse at the fictional Salem, Oregon State Mental Hospital, is a fictional character from Ken Kesey's brilliant 1962 novel, One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest. The self-righteous (and rather sadistic) tyrant obsessed with her own power was portrayed deliciously well by oscar winner Louise Fletcher in the film adaptation. Could I possibly hate anyone more after the way she shames poor Billy and threatens to tell his mother of whom he is terribly afraid, so much so that he commits suicide? Well actually, yes. I learned to hate her even more. With a smooth, bland expression, smiling a tight little smile, she orders McMurphy's lobotomy in a toneless voice. I nearly died when McMurphy was lobotomized. I was breathless with hate and loathing and anguish.

3.Glenn Close as Alex Forrest of Fatal Attraction (1987)
Glenn Close was nominated for an Academy Award in the Best Actress category for this role. She hasn't won an oscar yet but she's one heck of an actress who plays one heck of a villain in this role and others. She is scary, scary, scary as the neurotic predatory female who stalks her married, one-weekend lover. She gave men everywhere nightmares. I won't be ignored, Dan! ( he, he)

Glenn Close was also amazing as the conniving Marquise de Mertuil in Dangerous Liaisons (1988), another role for which she was nominated for an Academy Award in the Best Actress category. The movie was based on a play by Christopher Hampton which was based on the classic French novel by Pierre Choderlos de Laclos. Just one year after Dangerous Liaisons was released, Milos Forman released his vision of Laclos' novel . The movie Valmont starred Annette Benning as the Marquise de Mertuil, and I have to say although I love Annette Benning, she didn't come across nearly as evil and villainous. Glenn is my cold stone beeyatch.

Incidentally, nearly a decade later, Glenn Close was perfectly cast as über-villain Cruella De Vil in 101 Dalmations, the movie ( 1996). She totally steals the show! Gotta love to hate Glenn as Cruella!

4. Bette Davis as Baby Jane Hudson of Whatever Happened to Baby Jane (1962)
I watched this movie as a kid, a rerun on late night television, and I was scared out of my mind. Both Joan Crawford and Bette Davis are amazing. If you haven't seen it, two aging actresses, sisters, live as recluses in a house where Baby Jane, a truly demented former child star "takes care of"-- read abuses-- her crippled sister, Blanche. Bette Davis was nominated for an Academy Award for this role. She didn't win that year, but she has won others.

5. Kathy Bates as Annie Wilkes of Misery (1990)
The screenplay was adapted from a novel by Stephen King and it features a romance novelist (bonus points!). Paul Sheldon (James Caan) is a famous romance novelist who has written seven novels featuring a plucky heroine named Misery Chastaine. In his eighth Misery novel, he kills her off so that he can begin to work on his version of the Great American Novel. He's tired of the dimestore novelist bit. Upon completion of this Great American novel at a remote mountain location, Sheldon heads out to New York City to meet with his publisher in the midst of a raging blizzard. He veers into a desolate snowbank. He is rescued by unstable ex-nurse Annie Wilkes, who happens to be Misery’s self-proclaimed "number one fan." At first, she nurses Paul back to health in her remote cabin, telling him the roads and phones are knocked out by the storm. She fawns over him until she purchases his eighth Misery novel and discovers that he has killed Misery. Kathy Bates won an oscar for this role. She plays one heck of a crazy nut job!

6. Robert DeNiro as Max Cady of Cape Fear (1991)
Robert DeNiro was nominated for an oscar for this role-- and, of course, he's a highly acclaimed, academy award winning actor. Max Cady is a very spooky, uneducated, scripture slinging, recently-released criminal who has been imprisoned for fourteen years on rape and battery charges. He stalks the family of the attorney who defended him because he knows that the lawyer intentionally buried a valuable document which would have shortened his prison sentence. He's hell bent on revenge. The scenes between him and Juliette Lewis are chilling. Max Cady scared the heck out of me.

7. Jeremy Irons as the voice of Scar from the Lion King (1994)
Consumed with jealousy and the desire for power, Scar is a villain of Shakespearian proportion (think King Richard III). Pure evil. He kills his noble brother, attempts to kill Simba more than once, and hangs out with the creepy hyenas. As my three-year-old says, "Scar is a very naughty lion." This fits here because, of course, Jeremy Irons is an academy award winner.

Honorable mention: Meryl Streep as Miranda Priestly in The Devil Who Wears Prada (2006). It just seems unnatural not to mention Meryl on the day of the Academy Awards. She's a hoot in this role, and I actually think she looks fantastic as the ball-busting fashionista mogul, Miranda.

Saturday, February 24, 2007

A Novel Approach?

Like everyone else on this blog, I am trying to write a novel. But for my “day job”, I write computer software. I work for a grocery chain and we write the systems that help them run the company. At first glance, writing novels and writing software don’t seem to have much in common other than the verb “writing”. Writing novels is creative and writing software is disciplined, right? Well, yes and no. Writing software is actually very creative. And writing novels is turning out to take a lot more discipline than I realized.

The more I got to thinking about it, the more I realized that there are a lot of parallels between writing novels and writing software – and that some of the lessons I’ve learned on the job could actually help me in my novel writing.

Let me explain.

Computer systems are big, complex things and we software developers have always struggled with how to deal with that complexity. When you first approach writing a new computer application, first there's the problem of understanding just what it is that the system users want it to do for them. Then there's the problem of translating that to technology, then actually constructing it, then combing out all the errors. If you make it through all that, you have working software that's of use to someone. If you don't, you have a failed project. Studies have indicated that as many as 70% of software projects fail, collapsing under their own weight as they grow. I don't think it's that high, but there are definitely a lot of failures.

Novels are also big, complex things, and the stages of writing a novel actually seem to parallel the stages of writing software. The "requirements" stage of software development is a lot like mapping out the plot and developing the characters of a novel, trying to put together something that the users (readers) will want to read. The "design" stage is like mapping out the scenes in detail, and the "coding" phase is the actual writing. The "testing" phase, where defects are found and corrected, is the editing and revising phase of the novel.

As I work with my writing group (and remember other groups I’ve had in the past), it’s clear that, like software developers, we’re all struggling with that complexity. And I’m curious what the failure rate is for novels that get started and never get finished. I’ll bet the success rate is in single digits.

Back to software. In order to alleviate the high failure rate, software developers have invented and tried a variety of methods over the year, all aimed at managing the complexity of the projects. For most of my career the "waterfall" method has held sway. The idea behind this method is that each stage of the development lifecycle must be completed before the next one is undertaken. For instance, all the user requirements must be clearly understood before any technology design work is undertaken, and all the design work must be finished before the actual coding starts. This method was based on the principle that an error is much easier to fix on paper, in the requirements or design stages, then in code or, worse yet, during the testing phase of the project.

The biggest problem with this method was that it was almost impossible to get the requirements anywhere close to correct, meaning that the remaining stages were built on faulty information. The reason it has been so hard to get it right is pretty straightforward: the future system users typically don't know what they really want. They have a vague idea, and they may articulate it as best they can, but they don't really know if it's right until it's actually built and they can put their hands on it and try it. Then they don't have any problem identifying what's working for them and what's not.

If the team followed the waterfall method, it could be many months or even years between the time they first start talking to the users and the point, after all the requirements and design work is done, when they actually start coding and giving the users something they could see and work with and give real feedback on. And if it wasn't right, they would have to rip pieces out and start over. Plus, the whole process took so long that the business might have actually changed while the software was being written, and it would be obsolete before it was delivered.

Because nobody wanted to start coding until they’d gotten everything absolutely right in the design, the project could easily bog down in the design process. In the search for perfection, the analyst would never feel they were really done with their phase. There is even a name for this condition: “"analysis paralysis.”

The novel writing community has coined the terms “plotter”, for writers who plot everything out meticulously before they start actually writing, and “pantser”, for those who jump in and write, navigating by the seat of their pants. In my analogy, plotters are using the “waterfall” method of novel creation. And I do believe that it’s easy to get stuck in analysis paralysis in that mode. And, for me, anyway, after putting in all the effort of outlining my plot, I finally start writing, only to find the story veering away from my plan as early as the first chapter. What looks good in an outline doesn’t always work in an actual book.

This may drive some plotters to make the leap to being pantsers.

There is a software equivalent to the “pantser”. (We call them cowboys.) Software developers who saw the waterfall method fail would frequently react by throwing out the whole methodology. They would instead have only the briefest discussion with the users and then start coding. They would show the users what they'd done, get the feedback, and rework the code. This wasn't a particularly satisfactory method either, though. For one thing, typically it meant a great deal of rework since the developer's guesses were rarely on the mark, or because a requirement discovered later in the process would completely change the underlying design, so it would have to be ripped out and done again. Perhaps most importantly, though, it's almost impossible to put together anything really complex with that kind of haphazard approach. You may be able to build a simple log cabin without a blueprint, but you can't build a skyscraper by simply stacking up a bunch of log cabins. And a computer system is more like a skyscraper than a log cabin.

A novel is more like a skyscraper, too. So where there may be a few brilliant “pansters” who can just sit down and let words flow and end up with something cohesive and readable. I would wager that most of us can’t.

What’s writer – of software or novels -- to do?

In the last few years, a new methodology has surfaced in software circles, one that tries to walk the line between planning everything ahead of time and doing no planning at all. It's called “agile software development”, and it goes like this:

  1. Understand the system requirements end-to-end, but only at a high level. Map it out, but not in detail. It will change as the project progresses.
  2. Establish a design framework. This may include decisions about what programming language the software will be written in, and its general organization.
  3. Pick a slice of this to work on first. It doesn’t have to be the “first” piece – for instance, the first screen the users see after they log on. It could be the most important piece, or the most technically difficult piece.
  4. Design this piece in more detail, keeping the bigger context and the design framework in mind at all times.
  5. Code this piece. Don’t worry about the bugs (software defects) at this time. It doesn’t have to work perfectly. It just has to work well enough to show it to the users for feedback.
  6. Show it to the users, then take their feedback and work it back through the process. This may mean adjusting the requirements a bit, adjusting the design a bit, and doing some re-coding.
  7. When the users like what they see, pick another piece to work on and go back to #3. Note that with each piece of the project, the developers gain more information, some of which may be worked back into previous pieces or even into the overall framework.
  8. Once you have the functionality of the system going the way the users want it, then go back and work out the bugs.
  9. When the software is as defect-free as you can make it, deploy it to the users.

I’ve been using this on the job for a while and it’s working like a charm. It’s not that we don’t get things wrong any more; we do. It’s just that everyone expects it to be an incremental process with missteps along the way. The first time we show software to the users, they don’t expect it to be perfect. They just expect it to be something they can give us feedback on. They know it will keep getting better as we go along.

I’m reminded of a quote from Thomas Edison, who apparently tried and rejected something like 10,000 designs before he perfected the light bulb. When asked how he felt about 10,000 failures, he said that they weren’t failures – that inventing the light bulb was simply a process with 10,000 steps.

So with this in mind, here’s my suggested guidelines for “Agile Novel Development” (maybe I’ll trademark it!):

  1. Understand the plot, theme, and characters of your book end-to-end, but only at a high level. Map it out, but not in detail. Know from the beginning that it will change as you go along.
  2. Establish a design framework. Who are the POV characters going to be? What is the target length of the book? Will it be dramatic or humorous? And so on. These are guidelines that will help you as you go along – and once again, they will change.
  3. Pick a slice of the plot to work on first. It doesn’t have to be the beginning of the book. If you can see the “black moment” or most pivotal scene in detail, for instance, but aren’t quite sure what led to it, then write the black moment. Or write the piece that excites you most, or the one you think you will have the most trouble with.
  4. Work out the scenes for this piece in more detail, keeping the bigger context and the design framework in mind at all times.
  5. Write this piece. Don’t worry about defects at this time. It doesn’t have to be perfect. It just has to be good enough for you to see whether it’s going to work. Depending on your style, you may also be planning to share it with a critique group, but only for high-level feedback. (This means the critique group has to be very aware of where you are in the process, and keep their feedback focused on what is relevant for that stage.)
  6. Review it and / or show it to your critique group, then take the feedback and work it back through the process. You may have discovered something new in writing this piece that alters the plot, gives you more insight about a character, or even changes the theme or genre of the book. This may mean adjusting the plot, characters, etc.
  7. When you are happy with that piece, pick another piece to work on and go back to #3. Note that with each piece of the project, you’ll gain more insight into the story, some of which may need to be worked back into previous pieces, or that may even change the overall framework. This is expected to happen! It’s not failure, it’s part of the process! Don’t get frustrated – expect it and even enjoy it, if you can.
  8. Once you have the first draft written, go back and work out the bugs. Remove wordiness, add foreshadowings, proofread, smooth out the prose, punch up the dialog.
  9. When the software is as defect-free as you can make it, deploy it to the agents and editors.
If anyone has made it this far, congratulations and thanks for reading! Hope there was something in here that you could use.

Happy writing!

Samantha

Wednesday, February 21, 2007

I will survive!

While running errands today, Gloria Gaynor’s song “I will survive” played over the radio. As I blasted the volume and damaged my little girls’ eardrums, (not by the radio but by my poor singing), I thought to myself “this song is a theme for a romance Novel!” I belted out the lyrics while writing the back story and act one of “Starlit Embrace” in my head. Ok, that is a pretty cheesy title, but not bad for a gal weaving in and out of traffic, singing at the top of her lungs, while sucking down a Jamba Juice.

Our Survival is so primeval. It is ingrained in our psyche from the earliest moments of life, from even before conception. The fact that the egg and sperm actually meet in the hostile alkaline environment of the womb is an amazing feat of God and Nature. A fact that many of us unfortunately struggle with for years in search of our own progeny. Unless, of course, you happen to be 17 years old and in the back of a Ford Taurus on Prom Night without adequate "protection". Then, of course, eggs and sperm have their own microscopic GPS receivers.

Thousands of years have taught us humans what we need to do to survive. Whether you believe in Evolution, Creation, or a Borg-like collective conscious, we can not deny our innate nature to push through the terrible events in life while searching for greener pastures. Perhaps we get the strength from our parents, perhaps from our own faith, or perhaps just from growing up in the jungles of urban, suburban, and rural America. What ever you believe, the truth is we are products of our own environment, but as much as we struggle, we are not in control of that environment. Those of you who believe you are in control are living in a plastic bubble.

The great thing about being a writer is that we have the experiences to draw upon for not only our stories, but for further life adventures. Observers by nature, I believe we are champions at the survival game. We use our powers of observation to challenge our mental and physical survival skills. We have the imagination that will bridge us from the heartbreak, confusion, and physical hardship to what ever we can imagine is on the other side of this gulf. We can imagine pretty great things. Writers will always survive, as they will always have the power to see their way through any situation as if they are a character in their own stories.
I will survive. How will you write your own story of survival?

At first I was afraid
I was petrified
Kept thinking I could never live
without you by my side
But then I spent so many nights
thinking how you did me wrong
And I grew strong
And I learned how to get along
and so you're back
from outer space
I just walked in to find you here
with that sad look upon your face
I should have changed that stupid lock
I should have made you leave your key
If I had known for just one second
you'd be back to bother me

Go on now go walk out the door
just turn around now
'cause you're not welcome anymore
weren't you the one who tried to hurt me with goodbye
Did you think I'd crumble
Did you think I'd lay down and die
Oh no, not I
I will survive
Oh as long as i know how to love
I know I will stay alive
I've got all my life to live
I've got all my love to give
and I'll survive
I will survive (hey-hey)

It took all the strength I had
not to fall apart
kept trying hard to mend
the pieces of my broken heart
and I spent oh so many nights
just feeling sorry for myself
I used to cry
But now I hold my head up high
and you see me
somebody new
I'm not that chained up little person
still in love with you
and so you felt like dropping in
and just expect me to be free
and now I'm saving all my loving
for someone who's loving me - Gloria Gaynor.

Tuesday, February 20, 2007

Belated Sunday Six (actually five)

I had listed several ideas for favorite love scenes. Alas, they are on my home computer, which is still boxed up from our move. I could wait until it is unboxed to post this, but who knows when that will be – certainly not the people who haven’t even finished our house yet!

Favorite Love Scenes (in no particular order):

1. One of my favorite love scenes is from Karen Marie Moning’s To Tame a Highland Warrior. In her book, Jillian St. Clair’s parents have gone off and left her under the care of 3 men that they hope will convince her to marry – one of them. The only one in which she is remotely interested is Grimm, who has a wealth of secrets to hide. The book has several romantic moments including Grimm abducting her from the altar when she is to marry another whom she doesn’t really want to marry. However the scene that sticks out in my mind is in the dining hall. She has finally tempted him beyond the point of return during a dinner alone. He’s a bit angry about it. He smashes the great table to get to her. The sex that follows is that kind of sex that rides on desire once carefully and meticulously restrained. Once it’s unleashed, it’s like an all consuming fire. Moning writes hot love scenes, but this one was very primal and need-filled. It was also the first of her loves scenes I read, so maybe that has something to do with it, too.

2. Another favorite love scene is from The Notebook – the movie, not the book. I never read the Nicholas Sparks book. I saw the movie first and loved it so much that I didn’t want to find out if the book was different. The love-making scene is great, but that isn’t the one that sticks with me. Let me set the stage: Allie is engaged. She sees an article in a newspaper about the restoration of an old house, a house that holds special meaning to her, by her soul mate and former love (Noah). She goes back to visit one last time. Before she leaves, he takes her for a canoe ride to a river full of swans. It rains on the way back – on the way back to a life that Allie doesn’t really want. She wants Noah. In the pouring rain of their return, she spins around and asks him why he never wrote. He tells her he wrote everyday for an entire year – all 365 days. (Her mother never gave her the letters.) The look of pain in her eyes when he tells her that and tells her that it’s never been over for him …. It will take your breath away. Their kiss is both tender and hungry, filled remembered passion. It is my favorite part of the movie.

3. Laurell K. Hamilton’s Anita Blake series has undergone some serious metamorphosis, but that’s a topic for another post. In The Killing Dance, Anita is at war with herself over which man to choose – the self-tortured werewolf, Richard, or the vampire to which she’s bound, Jean Claude. In an interesting turn of events, Anita witnesses Richard do the werewolf thing and can’t handle it. She flees to Jean Claude. Her need and desire for him overpowers her. This is the fifth book in the series and the first time any of the characters make love. The tension that has built between Anita and Jean Claude has swelled to the point that you can feel their desire crashing around them. I love that book. I love that scene.

4. I'd never read Nora Roberts until I read her recent Circle Trilogy. (Yes, it's true.) I liked all three, but the second one (Dance of the Gods) had a scene between two characters that just tingled. The characters sharing the scene weren't the focus couple of the book. Actually, their book was the third book -- Valley of Silence. The characters were Cian and Moira. Cian is a vampire fighting against the other vampires and Moira will be queen of her kingdom. Her people are doubtful of the existance of vampires and she has two captured and then fights one in front of her people. Exhausted, she orders the second released to fight her, but Cian knows she's spent and steps in and kills the vampire. Angered, she chases him as he leaves the arena. When she catches and confronts him, their argument is heated. He was afraid for her but won't say it. Here's an excerpt. He's picked up the sword she threw down and tossed it back to her in order to prove a point -- a point that he didn't even realize yet.

"There, you have a sword. I don't. Stop me."

"I have no intention of --"

"Stop me," he repeated, and moved quickly to give her a little shove back against the wall.

"You won't put your hands on me."

"Stop me." He shoved her again, then simply batted the sword aside.

She slapped him, hard across the face begore he gripped her shoulders, pressed her back against the wall. She felt something that might have been fear, that might have been, as his eyes held her transfixed.

"For God's sake, stop me."

And then, well, you'll have to read it for yourself. Naw, I'll tell you. He kisses her. A hard, hungry, angry kiss that surprises both of them. It may just be a kiss, but what a kiss!

5. I'll make this last one shorter. I'll have to in order to post it today! Top Gun. Great movie. One of my all time favorites. I love the scene where Maverick chases her across town. She's driving like a maniac in her sports car and he is just as crazy on his motorcycle. The scene when she gets out of the car is a heated argument and a crazy, intense kiss.

I don't have the time or the energy to discover 6, so 5 will have to do. However, I did have a little epiphany about what I like in a love scene. But, I'm not telling tonight. Check Random Ravings later in the week for more on this subject.

Later,
Macy

Saturday, February 17, 2007

Katrina’s Saturday Six – Love Scenes

In honor of Valentine’s Day, we’re venturing into love scenes this week. Confession here, due to how this latest holiday contributed to squashing a budding relationship, it may just be my least favorite holiday at present. Too much pressure. Too much to go wrong. A co-worker pointed out it should really be called Single Awareness Day. So true.

Anyway, I’m letting it go. Moving on. Freely admitting that I still do love a good love scene. So here are my top six favorites. At least for today. Nearly all are quiet moments. Not necessarily steamy and electric, but subtle tender moments between two people.

OK, I know I keep citing Bet Me, by Jennifer Crusie, in my top six picks, but I can’t help it. That first kiss between Cal and Min made me want to be her. She agrees to meet him at the park for a picnic and they’re sitting atop a table eating bratwurst. He’s mesmerized by how much she’s enjoying the forbidden delight. She balks when he tries to get her to eat a Krispy Kreme donut. She leans away and clamps her mouth shut when he tries to feed it to her. He pinches her nose (I know quite silly), and when she opens her mouth to protest he pops a piece of donut in. She shuts her eyes as the sugary treat melts in her mouth – frosting shimmers on her lips – and he can’t take it anymore. He leans in and kisses her. Of course, she kisses him back and there’s a moment where she asks for more and he thinks she means donut, but she means him. So fun. Jenny writes it so much more beautifully than my summation, but you get the idea.

From here I think I’m going to go to movies, because otherwise I’m going to mention more scenes from Crusie’s books and I think I should diversify a bit.

Do you remember that scene in Sound of Music, when Maria is outside on the patio with the children one evening? She’s trying to teach one of the boys a folk dance and the Captain comes out and cuts in. It’s a very quiet moment. It starts off somewhat platonic, but the movements are slow and the music soft. Romance descends on them. They’re both moved by it, neither one able to acknowledge what they feel. It gave me chills of the best kind.

I also love the scene in Jerry Maguire when Jerry takes Dorothy home after they’ve had an awkward dinner at a Mexican place. Anyway, he kisses her goodnight on her front porch. Soft and slow, then moves to brush a kiss on her neck, then lower. I just love that scene.

What about that moment from Say Anything when Lloyd is holding that boombox over his head outside her window? OK, so maybe that’s not a love scene, but I’m moved by his intensity every time I watch that scene.

In Notting Hill two scenes stand out to me. Anna goes to see Will in his shop, bringing him the original of a painting they both admired, and tries to apologize for how she’d treated him in the past. She reminds him that despite all the fame, she’s “really just a girl standing in front of a boy, asking him to love her.” Wow. Of course, he turns her down, which gives him the opportunity to have his own scene later. He crashes her press conference and makes a public confession in the form of a question in front of the entire British Press Corp, basically saying he was a “daft prick” and asking her to reconsider staying in London. I love the eye contact between the two in that scene. So much hope on both sides, then sweet relief as she agrees she’ll stay indefinitely.

Is that six yet? No? OK, I’m going to throw in another Crusie mention. In Getting Rid of Bradley, Lucy’s ex-husband left her for another woman, and Zack, a police officer, is protecting her while they track down someone who’s been shooting at her. I had to give you just a little background. The sexual tension has been building between them for days. He’s staying in her guest room in the attic and she’s trying to forget about him in her bedroom downstairs. Nothing works. Finally, quiet, proper, Lucy climbs the stairs dazed with desire for him. She’s afraid he’ll turn her down, but doesn’t care by this point. He hears the stairs creak and sits up, stunned. He tries to focus, as I recall, as she sits down on the bed and leans over to kiss him. It takes her two tries before he grabs on and kisses her back. The rest is, well a blur of sheets and passion and all sorts of fun stuff you’ll have to read on your own. I guess I love this scene because they’ve both been really drawn toward one another and fighting it for their own reasons, but underneath it all they need each other and definitely want each other and finally, with this scene, we’re all satisfied.

So, those are my six for this week. Not as thought provoking as Alyson’s picks, but they all give me a warm tingly feeling (among other things), and that’s always a good sign, right?

Katrina

Alyson's Saturday Seven

Best Love Scenes

It’s been a long, strange week. I had originally intended to cut this so it wasn’t so long, but alas, I’m afraid you’ll have to bare with me. I’m just not in an editing/get to the heart of it place. I’m in a rambling on and on mood . . . even more so than usual. Ugh!

This was hard for me because I wasn’t sure how to define a “love scene,” but when I finally ran out of time to think about it, I decided to simply write down the scenes that for me best captured the essence of real love, deep love. In most cases, the scene itself is best presented in context so I tried to provide some context, which of course is what makes this blog entry tres long.

Here’s a link to my ramblings from earlier in the week so you can see how things changed when I just closed my eyes and said okay, best love scenes— not necessarily the hot monkey sex scenes (although I definitely like those), not necessarily the sweet, cute, pitter patter heartwarming scenes (although I definitely like those, too), not lust or attraction or sappy romantic scenes, but love scenes, scenes that represent what love means to you. C’mon, Alyson, you know the ones-- the ones that reached down and spoke directly to your soul, where your love resides.

Here’s what came to me. These aren’t presented in any particular order--


1. Like Water For Chocolate (the ending)

Like Water For Chocolate is at once a tall tale, fairy tale, Mexican cookbook, home remedy handbook and romantic, sensual love story all wrapped up together and published as a novel by Laura Esquival in 1989 . It was then made into a movie in 1993. I fell in love with the book first, but the movie is amazing, too. It won 11 Ariel awards at the Mexican Academy of Motion Pictures that year.

Like Water For Chocolate tells the story of Tita, the youngest daughter in a family living in Mexico at the turn of the twentieth century. Tita's love, Pedro comes to the family's ranch to ask for Tita's hand in marriage. Because Tita is the youngest daughter she is forbidden by a family tradition upheld by her tyrannical mother, Mama Elena, to marry. Her role in life is to take of her mother until her mother dies.

Pedro marries Tita's oldest sister, Rosaura, instead, per Mama Elena's suggestion, but declares to his father that he has only married Rosaura to remain close to Tita. Rosaura and Pedro live on the family ranch, offering Pedro contact with Tita, whose domaine is the kitchen. It is only through the joy of cooking and food that she is able to fully express her emotion, her sensuality and passion.

Tita's love for Pedro survives the Mexican Revolution, the births of Rosaura and Pedro's children, a stint in an asylum, long distance, even a proposal of marriage from an eligible doctor. In a poignant conclusion, Tita manages to break the bonds of tradition, if not for herself, then for future generations.

So now that I’ve set up the scene, the poignant conclusion, let me tell you what happens and why I love it.

Finally, after many years and the deaths of Mama Elena and Rosaura, Pedro and Tita are free to express their passion and true emotions without hiding or holding back, without fear of hurting anyone or getting caught. They make love and experience ecstasy so blissful, climaxes so intense, that a brilliant tunnel appears. Remembering what John Brown, the eligible doctor, once told her --

“If a strong candle suddenly lights all the candles we carry inside ourselves, it creates a brightness that shines far beyond our normal vision and then a splendid tunnel appears that shows us the way that we forgot when we were born and calls us to recover our lost divine origin. The soul longs to return to the place it came from, leaving the body lifeless”

– Tita checks her passion. She doesn’t want to die. She wants to explore these glorious emotions many more times, to live the remainder of her days with Pedro At the same time, however, she feels Pedro's heartbeat rapidly accelerate and then cease. He has died and entered the tunnel .

Tita desperately wishes she had gone with him. To rekindle the inner fire, Tita consumes the candles that lit the room up until the moment of Pedro's passing—her body needs fuel. As she chews each candle she tries to reproduce the moving memories of her and Pedro—the first time she saw him, the first time they held hands, the first bouquet of roses, the first kiss, the first caress, the first time they made love. The tunnel again opens itself to Tita, and this time she sees the figure of Pedro at its end. Tita leaves the world to go to him. When she meets him, their spirit bodies create sparks that set fire to the ranch.

The fire is so full of beautiful explosions that the townspeople mistake them for fireworks celebrating the wedding of her niece Esperanza and to the doctor’s son, Alex. Upon returning from their honeymoon, Esperanza and Alex find the ranch burned to the ground. They discover, under many layers of ash—ash which made every kind of life flourish on the land from then on-- a cookbook that contains all the recipes mastered by Tita.

The entire novel, the entire movie, but especially the ending in both, celebrates in the most unusual, beautiful, mystical and sensual ways both the true magic and the true mystery of love, and how it leaves a legacy, a trail, behind (the ashes fertilize the soil, turning the land where their love ignited into land on which every kind of life flourishes) That’s why I love it.

2. Life is Beautiful (the ending)

Life is Beautiful is a film fable of love enduring under the most horrific circumstances. The film begins as a sweet romance set in Tuscany in 1939. Guido (Benigni), an Italian Jew, arrives in the town of Arezzo. He's a jolly sort, a country mouse who relishes the big city, and his spirits remain high despite unmistakable signs of fascism all around. He works as a waiter, applies for a permit to open a bookshop, and falls for schoolteacher Dora (Nicoletta Braschi). True love triumphs, and after many comic maneuvers Guido marries Dora despite her engagement to a Black Shirt bureaucrat.

Several years later, after Guido has opened his bookstore and fathered a son, conditions in Italy have seriously worsened. For example, at one point Guido’s little boy asks his father about shop signs that say "No Jews or dogs allowed." Guido’s response is to point out the absurdity of such strictures. However, the inevitable does, indeed, happen: Guido and the child are herded onto a train for deportation to a labor camp. When she hears the news, Dora insists on accompanying them (wow!) and is taken to a separate women's area in the camp.

Out of desperate love—real love, true love, deep love-- for his son, Guido tells him that all the events in the camp are a game, and if they follow the rules, they'll win a prize. To play, the little boy must stay out of sight, because they are in a competition against "the men who yell." The winner gets a real, full-size army tank. The Americans will bring it. He is to stay out of sight from the men who yell until the tanks arrive. But the boy isn't fooled, particularly when the other children begin to disappear. He tells his father that "they're making buttons and soap out of us." Yet he goes along with the game, perhaps because he’s innocent but also with the poignant implication that he's doing so not so much to hide from the truth as to keep up his father's morale. (It’s soul wrenching.)

The scenes that slayed me (I was bawling in the theater and squeezing all the color out of my husband’s big, sinewy hand)-- Guido maintains his story about the game right until the end, when – in the chaos caused by the American advance drawing near – he tells his son to stay in a sweatbox until everybody has left, this being the final test before the tank is his, before he wins.

After desperately trying to warn Dora about the trucks that go to the gas chambers, Guido is caught, taken away, and shot, but not before making his son laugh one last time—Guido acts like it’s part of the game, he clowns while at gunpoint—and, oh God, the varied emotions that play across his face because he does not want his son to be discovered hiding in the sweatbox. When I heard the gunshot, I totally lost it. The little boy manages to survive, and thinks he's won the game when an American tank arrives to liberate the camp—his dad was right after all. The laugh his excitement at winning provokes is very much needed! A salve. At the end, the little boy is – mercifully-- reunited with his mother. And she knows. She knows.

Truly, the movie could have been unbearably sad without Benigni's comic grace and humanity. To me, the man is a true genius. The film handles a profoundly serious subject with a light touch, devoid of all sanctimony or saccharine. In the battle against evil and hatred, Benigni tells us that there are also the weapons of joy, love and imagination. The film’s title derives from Leon Trotsky. While in exile in Mexico, knowing he was soon to be assassinated by Stalin’s agents, Trotsky saw his wife in the garden and wrote:

" Life is beautiful. Let the future generations cleanse it of all evil, oppression and violence, and enjoy it to the full.”

3. Wuthering Heights (I am Heathcliff, plus)

Even though I was horrified by the turn of events when Heathcliff returns to Wuthering Heights and immediately sets about seeking revenge on all who have wronged him, I love this novel. There are two passages which stand out. First, after Hindley’s wife, Frances, dies after giving birth to a baby boy named Hareton, Hindley descends into the depths of alcoholism, and behaves even more cruelly and abusively toward Heathcliff. Eventually, Catherine’s desire for social advancement prompts her to become engaged to Edgar Linton, despite her overpowering love for Heathcliff.

She says to Nelly, “Did it never strike you that if Heathcliff and I married, we should be beggars? Whereas, if I marry Linton, I can aid Heathcliff to rise and place him out of my brother’s power.”

But that’s not the passage. This is --

Cathy says, "I cannot express it, but surely you and every body have a notion that there is , or should be, an existence of yours beyond you. What were the use of my creation if I were entirely contained here? My great miseries in this world have been Heathcliff’s miseries, and I watched and felt each from the beginning; my great thought in living is himself. If all else perished and he remained, I should still continue to be; and if all else remained, and he were annihilated, the Universe would turn to a mighty stranger. I should not seem a part of it. My love for Linton is like the foliage in the woods. Time will change it. I’m well aware, as winter changes the trees-- my love for Heathcliff resembles the eternal rocks beneath—a source of little visible delight but necessary. Nelly, I am Heathcliffhe’s always, always in my mind—not as a pleasure, any more than I am always a pleasure to myself – but as my own being—so don’t talk of our separation again—"

Then, of course, he’s gone, having not heard that last passage, and she’s bereft—up all night waiting for him to come back, drenched from a storm, fits of passionate tears.

At the end, I also love the scenes between Cathy’s daughter, also named Cathy, and Hareton. Cathy admits to Nelly that she feels guilty for having mocked Hareton’s attempt to learn to read. One day, Hareton accidentally shoots himself, and is forced to remain indoors to recuperate. At first, he and Catherine quarrel, but they make up and agree to try to get along. To show her good will, Catherine gives Hareton a book, promising to teach him to read and never to mock him again. Nelly says that the two young people have gradually grown to love and trust each other. In the final chapter of the book, Nelly tells Lockwood that Heathcliff has since been buried, and that young Catherine and Hareton shall soon marry, on New Year’s Day. The young lovers return to the house from outside and Nelly says,

They are afraid of nothing.”

My thought was, “Good lord, they’ve survived extreme cruelty, but risen from the ashes and found love.” I guess you could say the theme I love there is also life is beautiful.

4. Daughter of Fortune (the ending)

Born into a 19th-century society that values birthright above character, Eliza Sommers is an orphan of unknown heritage. She is raised in the British colony of Valparaíso, Chile, by the Victorian spinster Rose Sommers and her brother Jeremy. She doesn’t even know how she arrived at the Sommers household, but she realizes that she is lucky because she is loved, cared for and educated by her adopted family.

When she is not yet sixteen, Eliza falls in love with Joaquin Andieta, a poor yet terribly proud underling at her uncle's British Import and Export Company. Knowing that Rose, the spinster who raised her, has set her sights on a more socially exalted marriage, the girl conducts her love affair on the sly. When Joaquin announces he must journey to California to make his fortune in the gold rush, Eliza agrees to wait for this return. But, two months after his departure, she discovers she is pregnant with his child.

Eliza knows that the only solution to her predicament is to follow Joaquin to California–hardly an easy feat for a respectable girl with no money. With the help of a Chinese cook, Eliza stows away on a northbound ship. The sea voyage alone nearly kills her, and only through the ministrations of Tao Chi'en, the Chinese cook who is really an accomplished physician, does she survive both a miscarriage and the passage. Somewhat unwillingly Tao Chi'en becomes her protector when they reach San Francisco, and they forge an enduring friendship.

This book was an Oprah book. During the book club discussion, Oprah said, “Speaking of happily ever after, if there's one complaint about Daughter of Fortune, it's the ending. ... There are people that want to know what happened. Does it mean that they are — that they're not?”

Well, I loved the end. And I’m sorry, Oprah, no disrespect, but of course they are! Here’s the deal with the end. Four years have gone by since Eliza left home. Eliza has decided to finally write to Rose, to tell the woman who raised her that she’s not dead.

“You want your family to find you," he said and something cracked in his voice.

She looked at him and realized that she had never been so close to anyone in this world as she was at that moment to Tao Chi’en. She felt the man in her own blood, with such ancient and fierce certainty that she marveled at the time she had spent by his side without realizing. She missed him even though she saw him every day. She longed for the carefree days when they were good friends, everything had seemed simpler then, but neither did she want to turn back. Now there was something unfinished between them, something much more complex and fascinating . . .

I love that scene but it gets better!

Cut to a scene later when Tao Chi’en sees her dressed up for a photo, and drops a bottle—which is very unlike him. They talk about the fact that she is no longer going to look for Joaquin. He comments that everyone who came to California seemed to find something different than what they thought they were looking for. She asks what he was looking for, and he lists a lot of things. She says—

Why are you so unromantic, Tao? My God! Gallantry demands that you say you also found me.”

“ I would have found you anyway; it was predestined.”

(cutting a few lines of dialogue here, but hello, isn't that a great comeback on his part? )

“I am going to have my portrait taken to send to Miss Rose.”

“Can you have one made for me?”

This only makes sense, I suppose, if you know how unsentimental Tao is . . . he’s a good, honorable, brave man, but he’s not given to sweet, sappy, sentimental gestures. He wants a picture of her. He wants her!

Okay and now the ending . . . which is so unclear, apparently, to everyone, but not to me. As it turns out, Joaquin Murieta was an outlaw. His presumed remains and those of his sidekick, Three Finger Jack, are on display. Eliza goes to see the remains with Tao. Here’s the final passage in the book.

They stopped: she felt his grip grow stronger on hers; she gulped a mouthful of air and opened her eyes. She stared at the head for a few seconds and then let herself be led outside.

“Was it him?” asked Tao Chi’en.

“I am free,” she replied, holding tightly to Tao’s hand.

Okay, so that’s not hot monkey sex by any stretch of the imagination, but to me, the enduring friendship, the fact that she is now free in her mind-- to be herself, to follow her heart-- and then, the hands, the knowing grip at her time of need and the fact that she’s holding tightly onto his hand now that she’s “free,” that signifies real love, true companionship that will make it. To me.

5. Pride and Prejudice (Pemberly)

I love every scene between Darcy and Elizabeth—every scene—but I really liked the part when she’s at Pemberly and he arrives on the scene—

They were within twenty yards of each other, and so abrupt was his appearance, that it was impossible to avoid his sight. Their eyes instantly met, and the cheecks of each were overspread with the deepest blush. He absolutely started, and for a moment seemed immoveable from surprise; but shortly recovering himself, advanced towards the party, and spoke to Elizabeth , if not in terms of perfect composure, at least of perfect civility.

And then he’s so sweet. Love him! Love her!

I also love at the end, when she wants Darcy to account for his having ever fallen in love with her. They’re rehashing and she says, “You might have talked to me more when you came to dinner.”

“A man who had felt less, might.”

Okay, that one is a sweet, romantic, heartwarming pitter pat, pitter pat – but really, do you have any doubts that these two make it? Because there are so many courtships in the novel, I think that courtship takes on a profound, if often unspoken, importance in the novel. Each courtship becomes a microcosm for different sorts of love (or different ways to abuse love as a means to social advancement). Darcy and Elizabeth’s realization of a mutual and tender love grounded firmly in respect implies to me that Austen views love as something independent of rules and social forces, as something that can be captured only if both individuals are willing and able to escape the warping effects of hierarchical society.

6. Anne and Gilbert (first kiss, finally!)

So if you read my ramblings-- previously mentioned -- at my post at Alys on Love, you’ll see that I had Anne Shirley and Gilert Blythe of the Anne of Green Gable series on the brain. It took me awhile to figure out why. I mean, c'mon! I pride myself on being a bit wilder than that! An earlier post, a Saturday Sixteen regarding intermediate/young adult fiction, may shed some light. You see, I was very bitter about Jo March’s choice. I liked Laurie so much more than old Professor Baehr (until I saw the movie version with Gabriel Byrne as the old professor, but by then I was an adult). Because of that, I think I was extra thrilled when Anne and Gilbert got together at long last.

During childhood, Anne and Gilbert were rivals—and he teased her about her red hair-- but at the end of the first book in the Anne of Green Gable series, Gilbert gives up his teaching position in the Avonlea School to work at White Sands School instead, thus enabling Anne to teach at the Avonlea School and stay at Green Gables all through the week to help Marilla after Mathew dies. After this kind act, Anne wholly forgives Gilbert and they become good friends—and I fell in love with Gilbert.

In the third book in the series, everyone is getting married, and Anne receives her fair share of proposals—the first from the brother of her childhood friend Jane Andrews, who uses his sister as an intermediary. Anne refuses, saddened and amused at once at this very unromantic first proposal. Charlie Sloane and Gilbert Blythe also propose to her, but she turns them both down.

Eventually, Anne meets her “prince charming”, Roy Gardner, when he lends her his umbrella during a storm. They court, although Anne cannot totally suppress jealousy over Christine Stuart, Gilbert's current beau. When Roy proposes, Anne realizes she cannot actually marry him. After graduating successfully from her degree, she returns home. While in Avonlea, Anne learns from Davy that Gilbert is dying of typhoid fever. During a sleepless, anxious night, she finally realizes that she loves Gilbert. Gilbert recovers and re-proposes to her—he was never really courting Christine-- and she accepts, leading to their first kiss. My nine or ten year old heart rejoiced—and still does, apparently.

7. Natural Born Charmer (she's gone!)

I have to do one more, because I loved, loved, loved Natural Born Charmer by Susan Elizabeth Phillips. I have to include a love scene from a romance novel here. I feel compelled.

Chicago Stars quarterback, Dean Robillard is a bonafide sports superstar with a profitable side career as a buff billboard model for End Zone underwear. But as the child of a groupie-addict and a rock star who never acknowledged him, he has abandonment and trust issues.

Enter Blue Bailey, who he offers a ride while on a cross-country trip to his farm in Tennessee. When he meets her, she is dressed in a headless Beaver suit. She is actually a wandering portrait artist and the fatherless daughter of a world famous activist who was always too busy saving the world to raise her daughter. She also has abandonment and trust issues.

They end up spending the summer together. At the end of the summer, she’s ready to run, to leave before she’s left behind again. One thing leads to another, and she decides to stay on his farm throughout football season to prove her steadfastness. A picture of him kissing a model appears in a Chicago paper—and he knows Blue will see it. He rushes down to Tennessee.

She's gone. Her clothes aren't in their closet, and there are no signs of her living there. He’s devastated. His mom, who he has finally made peace with, calls. He drops his forehead into his hands.

“She’s not here, Mom,” he says unsteadily. “She ran.”

My heart sank. He of course has a terrible night. He believes he has lost his soul mate. He recounts all the mistakes he made. He takes a shower – and when he comes out, she’s sitting cross-legged on the bed and his knees go weak.

"Hey you," she says softly.

I love that moment. Turns out she had driven down to Atlanta to sell her art. She’s been painting in the guest house—to avoid fumes from the acrylic with which she paints-- so most of her stuff is there—and she couldn’t stand to sleep in their bed without him so she moved into his little sister’s room. Plus, she had forgotten her charger for her cell.

They make love, of course, but one of the really cute, telling parts is that she wears a pink, lacy matching bra and panties set—she has always dressed defensively in combat fatigues, black biker boots, drab colors,--to Dean's dismay--too afraid to be vulnerable and romantic, too afraid to let anyone see her sweetness, her inner self, her romantic, steadfast side, her "pinkness." She needs armor. But, finally, the armor is gone. I thought that was a nice touch.

The internal conflict, their abandonment issues, was so well done that the happy resolution was really satisfying to me. Plus, I simply adored the hero and heroine. As for happily ever afters, the book ends with a wedding.

Cheers and happy writing -- and reading! Alyson

Thursday, February 15, 2007

The Bed List


I have a local writer friend who has a great feature on her blog. She frequently posts a bed list and a dinner list. The dinner list consists of interesting men with whom she’d like a dinner date. The people she lists are usually smart, witty, controversial, or just down-right interesting.

The bed list is, well, guys with whom it would be interesting to get horizontal (or vertical against a wall – trying to stay PG-13 here – failing.) These guys are usually hot, and that might be an understatement.

My happily married, 2 kids, and a dog friend works a full-time day job, writes chick lit (ahem, I mean women’s fiction with humorous elements), and recently signed with an agent. She’s on her way.

However, like most writers, she day-dreams a bit (or a lot) and these men come out of her day-dreams.

Alyson has a list, too. (See her Dream On blog about her list of 5 celebrities).

I’ve been thinking about men lately, more specifically – heroes. We explored heroes in last week’s Sunday Six and I’m trying to make the hero in my MIP to-die-for. I’ve also been thinking about love scenes – this coming week’s Saturday/Sunday Six here at Affairs. All this thinking led me to hotties. Think movie and television hotties. What makes them hot? I don’t always think we’d like them so very much if it weren’t for their roles. It is their role in a movie or tv show that makes them hot. But what is it that makes them sooooo hot? What quality do we perceive as hottieness?

I recently saw Catch and Release. The romantic lead opposite Jennifer Garner was Timothy Oliphant. Have you seen him?


Look up. (Isn't he hot?)


I’ve seen him other places, but this time, (Pitter-patter, pitter-patter) wow! I think it was his unkeptness. I’ve always liked rough edges. And the way he looked at the heroine. Such intensity. I want to convey that look on the written page. It’s a definite bed-list look. No wonder she fell for him. I’m going to take myself to see the movie again, just so I can think about how I’d describe that look.

This makes me think that more than the actor, it really is the role that gets me all hot and bothered. Take Viggo Mortensen. Love him. He’s been okay in other things, but in Lord of the Rings as Aragorn, he was perfect. He was incredibly alpha. I’ve always been a little sad that Tolkien didn’t include any love scenes, especially after they cast Viggo.

I’d have to put Hugh Jackman on the bed list, too. I loved him in the X-Men series of movies. Virile, brave, a little crazy, a lot brooding and beautifully flawed. Flawed – another quality I like in a hero.

Okay, so far for hottieness, I have “the look”, alpha, and flawed. Come to think of it, I’ve always liked heroes with expressive eyes or lips (the look), who were alpha all the way, and, as I’ve said, who were rough around the edges (flawed).

What other heroes would I have put on the bed list in the past?

Brad Pitt’s character in Legends of the Fall – flawed, oh so flawed.
Eddie Cahill as Jim Craig in Miracle – flawed, stoic.
Oh, and Mel Gibson back in the Lethal Weapon days.

All of these men made the bed list, not because of who they are, but the roles they played. The character made the bed list.

It’s certainly something to think about.

Macy

Wednesday, February 14, 2007

We all need love, we all need a little escapism

The red rose whispers of passion,
And the white rose breaths of love;
O, the red rose is a falcon,
And the white rose is a dove.

But I send you a cream-white rosebud,
With a flush on its petal tips;
For the love that is purists and sweetest,
Has a kiss of desire on the lips.

John Boyle O’Reilly (1844-1890)

O, to have the fortune of Blogging on Valentine’s Day. I have spent the last three days trying to come up with something cute and clever to write about, something completely romantic. Alas, I have failed you. I do ask your forgiveness, I have been a bit discombobulated for the past seven months, following a series of strange, tragic, and wonderful events. My muses seemed to have abandoned me along with half my brain. The muses are sitting on a hillside in tibet, a great Buddhist temple looms in the background as they contemplate and meditate on the meaning of life. Everyone needs time off, even muses. Which leave me to the question, where did my brain wonder?

But it is Valentine’s Day, so let us talk about romance. I have heard it said that romance readers have sex 75% more often than non-romance readers. I do not know if that statistic is true, but it does leave much to ponder. If you subtract the celibate singles (and nuns), then romance reading is inspiring quite a bit more bedroom, or kitchen table, action than the statistics show.

I have also read that many romance readers read for escapism. I certainly do! I am a stay at home mom who home-schools two very active, special needs children. By the end of the day I am fried beyond belief. Two of the things that keep me going are the posts from my writing group and locking myself in the bathroom with my latest book. I desperately crave the escapism.

Does that call upon us, struggling writers and proficient writers alike, to inspire the masses to meaningful, lusty, romantic experiences and escape from the drudgery or complications of life? Is that our calling? Tell a tale that sweeps us out of our world into a world of adventure and create sex kittens from the overworked and over-stressed? Would that be a bad thing?
Some people want to save the world. Perhaps we are helping to do just that. A little more romance in everyones life would have a huge impact. Think of all the endorphins created from having sex, and to a lesser degree holding hands and snuggling with someone. Human touch is essential for survival, it improves physical and mental well being. Babies and the elderly wilt without touch, and so do we. We all need romance in our lives.

If that statistic is correct and Romance reading does inspire more amorous behavior then we do have our work cut out for us. It is our moral and social obligation to give the world more desire, more endorphins, and most importantly, more love.
Aloha and Happy Valentine’s Day from Hawai’i

Tuesday, February 13, 2007

Macy Lovefest & Audience of the Mind

First up, I would like to publicly congratulate Macy. If you haven't read her post from yesterday , it is a must see. What you may not know about Macy yet, but you will, is that she writes clear, lucid, delicious prose wrought with sexual tension and the just-right amount of danger and menace. She is, in fact, brilliant and prolific, but more importantly she never says "but. . ." Ever. I think that's key. She accepts all feedback graciously, hones her craft, makes revisions, rewrites, attends workshops and works hard all the time, with very little complaint. She just keeps getting better and better-- and she was pretty damn good to begin with.

Buy her books. You won't be sorry-- and follow along as she enters the big, bad publishing world. We're very proud of her.

Second up, I want to publicly thank Macy. Yep, it's a Macy love fest tonight. Thanks to Macy I'm taking the Care and Feeding of the Girls in the Basement with Barbara Samuel. You may have heard me mention that once, twice or thirty-odd times. Ha! Macy was very brave yesterday and bared her scars which inspired me to do the same this morning. To bare my scars honestly I had to confess a few sins and that made me feel really weird and vulnerable this morning. To keep it simple, we'll just say that I was a reckless "wild child" and I hung out with birds of a feather. We did a lot of dumb stuff. If someone would have ever told me that I would one day choose to bare my scars and sins to a group of women that includes quite a few self-proclaimed "good girls," many of whom have said they detest/avoid drama, I wouldn't have believed you. One of my scars has to do with cliques of girls shunning me and making my life a wee bit more miserable every day for four or more years. Because of that, I generally don't trust groups of women (which is one reason my writing group is so special to me). I suppose that's a bold statement since I write "women's fiction."

It turned out great. I came home and saw lots of supportive messages with virtual {hugs}. My favorite response was from Macy. I've printed it out and I'm keeping it forever. Macy is a deep, soulful survivor with a pure, true, open, giving heart and she's been the backbone of this writing group. I'm proud that she's my friend-- and I really don't care if I'm being a total sap. Sometimes you have to thank people for all that they do and Macy is one of those people who always does a lot. She's the sort of person you can rely on, lean on, trust. And every one of us in this group knows that.

Moving on but sort of related, this week our topic at Care and Feeding of Girls in the Basement is belonging. The topic, coupled with the notion of "ideal readers" that I mentioned in a prior post reminds me of a couple different articles I read at Holly Lisle's web site in the section for writers. If you've never checked out Holly's web site, put it on your list of things to do. There's oodles and oodles of good stuff!

In an article entitled "A Little Bit of me, A little Bit of You, Our lives as Fiction Fodder" she writes about the audience of the mind. Here are a handful of excerpts--

My secret audience-in-my-head consists of Mark Twain, C. S. Lewis, my high school Advanced Biology and Honors English teachers (as they were in 1977-79, NOT as they are today), and the person I expected to be but somehow failed to become.

I didn't actually set out to speak to these five people in my books. That just sort of happened . . . but the subconscious has deep reasons for choosing the audience it creates. . .

As you sit down and give this some hard thought, you'll discover an elite band of people you're truly speaking to when you write. If you acknowledge each of these people and what you have to say to each one in your project, you'll discover several things.

First, you'll have an easier time pulling relevant incidents from your personal experiences and translating them into meaningful fiction.

Second, you'll find that you're more satisfied with the work you're producing. The instant I become wholly involved in my fiction, I become a much happier person. The most miserable writing experiences in my life have been those that carried no personal risk for me.

Third, you'll find that essentially straightforward, simple plots become complex, developing multiple story lines and erupting with characters and details that you had not planned and could not have anticipated.

Fourth, and perhaps most importantly, your fiction will matter to others to the extent that it matters to you – and by putting yourself into what you write, you will ensure that you have something to lose. When you risk yourself, you care about the outcome.

All right, so I'm borrowing quite a lot from Holly, but I love this idea and she explains it so well. Who is the audience in your mind, your elite band of readers and what do you hope to convey, express, give to them?

I'm still pondering this. I didn't want to over think it so I just jotted down the first names that came to me and I came up with a pretty lofty group -- Jane Austen, William Shakespeare, Sheryl Crow, Macy O'Neal and my writing group, and the younger me, before I met my husband.

Why? Well, Jane Austen wrote sharp, witty romantic comedies in which the heroines came of age and found love. Her observations were keen. She stuck to the world that she knew. And she didn't falter or grasp at straws. She stayed true. I think of her as the one who keeps me on track. Don't lose sight of what you want to write. If you write about what you know, there will be universal truth in it. She reminds me that women's fiction matters-- it can be "classic." I want to tell her what courtship is like here and now with similarly keen observations (I have a ways to go on the latter!)

William Shakespeare -- does that need an explanation? He reminds me to stick to the form because it works, but to play within that form. He also reminds me to entertain the crowd while providing insight into human nature. I want to tell him what I've found to be true about human nature -- that he was so right-- and I want to entertain him as much as he has entertained the multitudes. ( Yep, lofty.)

Sheryl Crow . . . hmm. I've been listening to a lot of her music while I write and she reminds me to be brave, to put my soul into it, to be true to my own voice. I want to confirm her belief in happily ever afters.

Macy and my writing group remind me to accept all feedback graciously, to work my tail off, to set goals, to keep daydreaming, to not put in too much back story, to be real, to keep the pace moving without skimping on the internal conflict, to not get too far-fetched and that sometimes brevity is a good thing. They inspire me, cheer me on, keep me on track, offer fresh ideas. For them, I want to write the best draft possible and make sure I get the sexual tension right-- I also like to throw in a couple of hot sex scenes because a few of them seem to like that. Ha!

The younger me-- well, I want to tell her that love must prevail, to hang tough, that's it is going to be okay, and that I've made our dreams come true-- that yes, indeed, we're brilliant, soulful and prolific writers. I also want to make her smile.

I may, of course, revise the group tomorrow, or think of others. For now, it looks like I have my work cut out for me!

Cheers and happy writing, Alyson

Monday, February 12, 2007

Roxy's Sunday Six

Roxy is joining us again for the Sunday Six. Maybe we can get her to blog more often -- Hint.

Like last week when I could only think of one heroine, I can only come upwith one hero. And like last week, it made me think about my story so it was a good exercise.

My Hero is Don Quixote. Yes, that crazy old man tilting at windmills. (The rules were that we can look across genres) (I hope those were the rules! I may have bent them a little.) There are many versions of the story and it'sbeen many years since I read the original, but I'm thinking mostly of the Broadway musical version in "Man of LaMancha". You know, "dream the impossible dream" "you are my dulcinea" and all that. Why? I guess because he's the epitome of idealism, doing the right thing no matter how hard, seeing the beauty in others. Does he have a flaw? Sure, he's crazy.

What about romance? Don Quixote fell for Aldonza, a local prostitute, called her Dulcinea, beautiful and pure. By the end of the play, she believes him and sees herself as he does.

What about my hero? My protagonist is a young woman named Carolyn who iscrossing the Oregon Trail. Her romantic interest is a young man who is somewhat quiet and unassuming, but has a core of steel. Always does the right thing, never wavers. He sees the beauty in Carolyn and finally shesees herself as he does. I didn't see the parallel with Don Quixote/Aldonza until I thought about this. Now, does my hero have a flaw? Not yet. And he's not crazy. I'll have to figure out what makes him human.

Roxy

Sunday, February 11, 2007

Katrina’s Sunday Six – Heroes

In thinking about this week’s Six, I’ve discovered that I like my heroes flawed. Either by self-doubt, a past they’re trying to overcome, pride or some other weakness. It’s so fulfilling to see them fight through these issues to win the girl, conquer the dragon, or obtain whatever it is they’re aiming for. And fight they do, because my favorite heroes are also driven and aren’t afraid of a little (or big) challenge. In no particular order, because they really can’t be compared are my favorites:

Aragorn, Lord of the Rings trilogy, by J.R.R. Tolkein – He’s haunted, rough around the edges, noble, loyal, honorable, courageous, and faithful to his love for mankind and his sweetheart, despite the seemingly insurmountable odds against him. Viggo Mortensen’s portrayal of him in the movie did me in. A perfect hero.

Cal, Bet Me, by Jennifer Crusie – He’s way too confident, a heart-breaker by reputation, but meets his match in a feisty statistician who thinks she sees through his games. I know I’m not selling him here, but he really is such a great hero. He’s smitten by Min and I love how their relationship grows and how he overcomes his issues.

Adam Black, The Immortal Highlander, by Karen Marie Moning – He’s lived for thousands of years and has done some horrible things in his past, but as the story goes on, we learn of the motivation behind some of those acts and that he may have a heart after all. When he falls in love he shows his vulnerability, his true colors and what really lies underneath his intimidating exterior. He’s willing to give everything up for her. Beautiful.

Harry Potter, by J.K. Rowling – Yep, I love Harry too. He’s an underdog. He comes from a hugely dysfunctional family. He’s loyal. Most importantly, he’s courageous when faced with horrible odds and immense evil. He never gives up. You have to love that.

Wesley, The Princess Bride, by William Goldman – "Death cannot stop true love." What a hero. He goes off to find his fortune so that he and Buttercup may marry, he’s abducted by a pirate pleads for his life, serves him for years, returns to rescue Buttercup from kidnappers, gets abducted himself, comes back from the dead and saves the day once again.

Mr. Darcy, Pride and Prejudice, by Jane Austen – Proud. Not too smooth with the ladies, although he’s handsome enough. He declares his love for Elizabeth in such a painful way that no one could believe she’d accept him. But he doesn’t stop loving her and continues to show his love in hidden ways, with the intent that she never find out. Longsuffering love. Honorable love. Of course, she does find out, her heart is softened and all works out well in the end.

These are the six that came to mind today. I fear I’m cheating out some great heroes and will likely remember more tomorrow. However, these will suffice for now. They represent what I love in heroes and what I hope to create in my own.

Katrina