He's Back!!!

Bond, James Bond will once again grace the screen with his presence. This will only be the second movie I will have seen this year at the theater. I don't go to the movies too often, I don't like crowds or the costs or the fact there isn't a bathroom right next to me. But I make exceptions and Bond is one of those.

Quantum of Solace has been getting hit with some bad reviews. Apparently the critics feel there is too much action and not enough plot. Really? In a James Bond movie? Folks, I'm not looking for Atonement here. I'm looking for larger than life action. I'm looking for bombs exploding. I'm looking for adreline-pumping chases through exotic locales. I'm looking for Daniel Craig to do a significant amount of scenes shirtless. If I want plot and deep characters, I'll read a book.

I've pretty much liked most of the Bond movies with a few exceptions. Some I have loved and would consider my favorite movies all around. James Bond is a character we live through vicariously. I think that is why there is so much debate as to who was the best Bond. Bond is something different to each person. How the actor personifies those qualities we admire is what makes us a fan.

I really like Daniel Craig. Really, really like him. I think he is my favorite Bond. I like the hardness he brings to the character, a little rougher edge, hailing back to Connery's style only more tortured. And there is so much action, relying more on the character's own intuition rather than gadgets. The gadgets were fun back in the day, but really, in this world of technical marvels, it takes a lot to impress a modern audience.

What does keep me coming to Bond is the action. The movies give me an outlet where I don't have to think. For two hours I'm carried away to exotic locales and my eyes are assaulted with scenes of chaos. It's mindless which is just what I crave. I have enough to worry about these days as do we all. The Bond movies give me a well-needed break from thinking. So bring on the action, leave the plot out of it.

So do you like Bond movies? Want to share your favorite? Who's your favorite Bond?

When Worlds Collide

I'm very much a two-world person. My online life is very different from my real life. Not in an exciting way or anything. I'm a lot more vibrant online, far less inhibited and much more entertaining.

In real life, I'm a low-key soccer mom. I appear to be as imaginitive as a rutabaga. People know I can cook. They know my kids are involved in way too many activites. They know my husband is a sports volunteer and that I'm involved in Girl Scouts.

They don't know I write.

It isn't a big secret, I'm not trying to hide it from anyone. But it is something personal and something I care very much about. I don't want it exposed for people's polite and trite commentary. I don't mean that in a negative way. First, writing is not something everyone understands. When I used to be more open about it, the first question I was asked was if I wrote children's books. When I answered no, I could tell they were tuning out. Or when they ask if I have anything published and I answer in the negative, they lose interest. And that's okay, I'm not offended. Frankly, if someone comes up to me and talks about their scrapbooking or basket-weaving, I'm going to do the same thing. I'll make polite noises and show a shallow amount of interest, but those are activities I can't relate to so my interest is feigned.

Hence, I keep my writing life exposed online only. People who read my blog are genuinely interested in what's going on. I know not everyone is a writer who reads this blog, but they are aware that I am a writer and know it often influences the rest of my life. When I am harping on some writing issue, I know there a dozen others out there nodding their head and saying, yeah, I know what she means. I generally don't talk about the specifics of my writing, for the same reason I don't like writing synopsis, I'm no good at describing the particulars. Plus, I'm more interested in the general problems of writing that we all share rather than the minute details. Again, you may not relate to my particular genre and I don't want to give you the yawns. Anyway, the point is, my writing world is based primarily in cyberspace.

Until Facebook. Boy, people can really find you on that network. Suddenly people I haven't heard from in 25 years are contacting me. People I know from my kids' schools are "friending" me. But like most things, my Facebook page is geared towards writing. One person I know in real life is my friend on Facebook and emailed me about my blog. Crud....I like the anonyminity of my blog. Another person said she had no idea I was a writer. Yeah, and that's kind of how I wanted it to stay.

For the most part, it is a non-issue. People are so busy with their own lives they don't have time to delve into mine. But I do feel like I have a secret identity which has been revealed and I wonder what people are going to think. Of course, if I sold a book and had a publication date, I'm sure I'd feel differently.

Struggling

I'm not used to writing rubbish. When I get the feel of something and decide its garbage, I quit writing and move on to something else. I'm not into heavy repairs. Somethings just can't be edited.

But now I'm doing NaNo and I don't have that luxury. Part of me wants to give up. Its a small part luckily, and I'm trying to keep my mind firmly focused on my goals. I'm writing something I'm not used to. This is an urban fantasy romance written in third person. It has been a long time since I've written in the 3rd so its a little harder work. I haven't written a romance in years. Oh, there is always a strong romantic theme in my writing, but not enough for editors to consider it romance.

I don't have any illusions that this book will actually see the light of day. And I'm not trying to sound pessimistic or negate the purpose of this NaNo. I do have a book in mind which is a romance and in third person which I am enamored of. I don't want it to be rubbish. I specifically chose something else for my NaNo project, essentially giving myself permission to write junk.

I'm hoping this frantic writing pace will kick me into overdrive. By letting the instinctual writer in me lose without presure, I hope to work the kinks out of my writing and feel more compfortable writing the next book.

I guess that is what I hope to get out of NaNo. For those of you doing NaNo, what do you hope to get out of it? For the rest of you writers, do you ever give yourself permission to write rubbish?

Speakings of rubbish, my word count numbers were down yesterday. I decided to wash all the upstairs bedding. Heavens, it was a much larger task than I planned. There are four beds upstairs. I employed both of my washers and dryers and still took all day. Today my legs are sore from going up and down the stairs so much. And I'm not done. I'd like to sweep and mop the floors up there. I'm thinking of taking my laptop up with me and giving myself breaks in between.

I Am So Damned Glad...

...the election is over. Please, everyone, take your signs down. They are like Christmas lights. Particularly since most people's signs have been hit with a continuous barage of sprinklers and weather and they look terrible.

Why Rene, aren't you a bit touchy? YES! I'm doing NaNo and it makes me cranky. It doesn't take much to set me off. I can feel that itchy feeling in my skin like I've had too much caffeinne. Only I haven't. Part of my brain is constatnly engaged in my novel so the rest of my brain has to compensate. It doesn't like it.

Not helping the situation is Thing. She has started Fall Frenzy. My kids go through a horrible phase that begins at Halloween and lasts through Christmas. We have way too much going on. Obviously Halloween is a big deal. Next is the soccer parties. Both girls have their birthdays in November. Thanksgiving is a huge deal. My son's birthday is in December and of course there is Christmas. For 3 months my kids are complete messes. They have no self-control and their emotions are raw. They grow out of it. My two olders are fine. But this is the year of the Vile Thing. This morning she asked her dad to fry her an egg for breakfast. He made it over easy and the yolk broke. OMG, she threw the biggest tantrum. She refused to eat the egg and wanted her dad to make her another one. THIS WENT ON FOR AN HOUR!!!!!

She's off at school now and I'm trying to regain my sense of calm so I can dive back into writing.

No No NaNo Weekend

Having NaNo start on a Saturday is not a good idea for me, particularly when Friday was Halloween and I have children running around on a methaphetimine-like candy high. Thing was totally out of control. None of them would listen and if they saw me on the computer they picked that time to demand something or chat about their lives.

My kids sense there is a new "baby" in the house and they don't like it. This new creature is taking Mom's attention away from them. And right now, the new kid is my favorite. I don't have to make it lunch or urge it to get dressed. I also don't have to yell at it to clean its room.

The NaNo website has been difficult to put it mildly. I can't get in to post my word count. Not that it is impressive. I've got some making up to do this week. I should have time.

I will give some kudos to my AlphaSmart and I'm starting to wonder why I haven't been using it more. I took it with me to the baseball game and did some writing while I waited for the game to start. Not a lot of words but any little bit helps.

Happy NaNoWriMo

I went back into ye olde archives to see if I had a nuggets of wisdom to pass on for this year's NaNoWriMo. I went back to November of 2006, the year I won and found this from an old "Thursday Thirteen:"

Thirteen Things I Learned About Myself and NaNoWriMo

1. That I can win. This was my first year trying and I'm flushed with triumph.
2. When I push myself in my writing, I can get it done.
3. I can do this and still have a life.
4. I waste a lot of time doing nothing. After seeing how many words I could produce in a day, I realized I do spend precious minutes doing nothing. A disconcerting discovery to be sure.
5. Oh, I do love to write. Being immersed in my writing takes me away.
6. The more I wrote, the easier it got. Except for the end. I finished my book yesterday but realized I had come up short for Nano. I spent two hours adding 500 words.
7. Instead of being exhausted creatively, I'm invigorated. I'd love to jump right back into it today but I don't think my back could take it.
8. The idea behind Nano is to turn off the internal editor. Discovered my internal editor is as much a part of my writing as anything else.
9. I need to go back to the gym. I devoted the time I would have been at the gym to writing.
10. My kids have a sixth sense. If they see I'm heavily involved in my writing, that's the time to totally misbehave and get into stuff. For example, Thing wandered out of the kitchen naked and covered with flour. I asked her what she'd been doing. "I peed in the flour." File that under "why I drink."
11. Non-writers think I'm insane, but they respect it.
12. Atmosphere is inconsequential when I write. If I can crank out 4K words while "Power Rangers" is blaring non-stop from the t.v., I can do anything.
13. I MISSED YOU GUYS AND THE BLOGOSPHERE IN GENERAL. I'm going to start catching up today

I'm glad I read this. It addresses some of the doubts I have. And since I made it through once, I know I can do it again.

Good Luck and Happy Writing!