Current mood: Tired, longing for bed.
Currently playing on my iPod: "Stranger Than Fiction" by Five Finger Death Punch
1. I have my laptop back now and though it still doesn't always want to acknowledge when it's plugged in, it's much better than it was and I have hope it will hold out until the Shiny New Laptop Fairy visits.
2. Yes, there's a Shiny New Laptop Fairy.
3. No, you may not burst my bubble.
4. I was told recently that I have nice, tight eyelids.
5. ...
6. In the realm of Potential Compliments, I admit this is one that never crossed my mind.
7. I suppose I should be grateful after three kids that something on me still qualifies for the "nice, tight" description.
8. My To Do list for the next three days is a scary beast with jagged little teeth.
9. Any blog readers live near Pelican Bay prison in California? Del Norte County, near Crescent City...I need weather, foliage, and basic scent and atmosphere descriptions for Twisting Fate.
10. I really don't like the character I'm introducing in chapter one. He scares me.
11. Of course, if he scares me, he's going to keep YOU up at night.
12. *cracks knuckles and gives evil little laugh*
13. Seriously, though, some minds are more difficult to inhabit than others.
14. I'm going to be interviewing the incredibly smart and talented Danielle Marie soon. She's an actress (who's also been a director, a teacher, and a writer...what an invaluable resource for a writer!) who is familiar with several techniques useful for getting inside her character's head.
15. Since I write by getting inside each character's head and listening, I resonated with many of her techniques.
16. Writing is, after all, like acting out every single part in the play.
17. I'm going to continue the Get Me Started entries again next week.
18. Thank you, Jake, for the ridiculously difficult first line you handed me. I'm going to make John McCain a donkey. See if I don't.
19. Btw, you'll notice in #9 I didn't solicit first-hand descriptions from anyone with insider's experience with Pelican Bay prison...this may be an oversight on my part since I will be writing about the inside...
20. If you're a prison guard, feel free to respond. If your Internet access is limited to one hour a week and you know exactly what Monday's lunchtime surprise tastes like, don't feel obligated to answer my query. I don't need to be that accurate. It's always good for a girl to flex her imaginative muscle, know what I mean?
21. Reader Question: What qualities in a villain scare you, stick with you, and haunt you days or weeks after you've finished the book?
Hmm, for me some of the scariest villains are the ones who honestly believe they're doing the right thing. Not the cariactures who are overly evil, but the ones who, when asked, can explain to you precisely why they did it and why they were right to do it. I find those the most scary.
ReplyDeleteAlthough sometimes characters who are just evil, no conscience can be creepy too depending on their actions. I have to be able to believe the character's motivations even if he is the bad guy.
I'm trying to remember a book where I was scared by a Villain but I'm coming up blank. Hmm, all the ones I've come up with are more scenes than an actual individual so I'm going to stick with their motivations/actions make them scary to me.
Going off topic now; finally got to take a break from school [reason I can actually post, lol] and I found this and thought you might find it cool:
http://lab.drwicked.com/writeordie.html
From the site:
"Write or Die is a web application that encourages writing by punishing the tendency to avoid writing. Start typing in the box. As long as you keep typing, you're fine, but once you stop typing, you have a grace period of a certain number of seconds and then there are consequences."
On 'Normal' mode in 'strict' or 'evil' the screen begins to turn red gradually to let you know to get typing and if you don't you'll get to enjoy the dulcet sounds of dogs howling, babies crying, etc.
on Kamikaze mode you don't get any noise, it just starts to delete your progress word by word. I no longer use that mode, lol.
And as a result of your computer being a slightly *cough* glitchy I found this site as well: mozy.com, which will back up the files on your computer every day at a time you set.
I haven't used that one yet because even though it was recommended from an author's blog [Jack Kilborn] I still want to do some more research about it but thought you might find it interesting.
You have a thing about introducing the bad guys right away don't you? I find it interesting since sometimes I like to learn with the reader who the villains are [although me+subtlety= brick to the head and arm waving "HE'S THE BAD GUY! YEAH, THAT GUY RIGH THERE!!" I'm working on it, lol] but if you know from the beginning it can be so much creepier. Which I think is what you're going for.
How are we going to get a view into his head when Twisting Fate is written in first person?
Okay, I lied, I remember one of the few villains I find creepy, the Other mother in Coraline. I was about 13 I think when I read it, but at the time the idea of someone taking over the role of your mother and wanting to give you button eyes creeped me right out, lol, especially since she looked and sounded like your mother. Oh, and I think when I read the first Stephanie Plum book the bad guy in it was actually a bit scary, but mainly because there was nothing there. At all. He was the only one who got to me though.
I mainly get creeped out by scenes [Like the Quiditch match in Harry Potter that gets attacked, reading that whole scene got to me].
I also need to do something about my run-on sentences issue, lol.
Hope the Shiny New Laptop Fairy visits soon, hahah. BTW, points 19 and 20 = major win, LOL.
This is what happens when I don't comment for a while, it builds up and you get word spew.
ReplyDeletehmm the scariest villains are ones that are real, eerily human. Villains that are so over-the-top that they aren't believable don't scare me that much.
ReplyDeleteIt's the sociopaths that fit into society like the average joe/jane next door but end up being pure evil that scare me the most.
Jage - I like to rachet up the tension immediately with a sense of the conflict and stakes for the heroine. Sometimes I let the reader know who the villain is. Sometimes I keep his true identity secret.
ReplyDeleteThe scary guy in chapter one of Twisting Fate might not even be the villain...not sure.
Interesting web sites. I'll look at them this weekend.
Btw, want to read a book where the villain will haunt you for weeks? Try Keith Ablow's Psychopath.
ND- Sociopaths are truly scary, especially the ones who are totally convinced of the rightness of their actions.
You know, my brother in law worked at the Ventura County jail for 5 years- he just got promoted to patrol, but I bet he'd give you some insight. He was actually a detective in the jail and his job was to get information about and from the inmates to help out detectives on the streets. Turns out many of the plans are hatched in prison. His two fail proof go to methods- the Jumbo Jack with Cheese and Myspace. Who wouldn't sing for a nice tasty Jumbo Jack? And remember that party you posted all those photos of? Now the law knows who you are associated with...
ReplyDeleteOh, and the problem with your laptop is either the cord or the motherboard. The cord might have a break in it- you might be able to find a cheap one on ebay. Otherwise, the connection where you plug into your computer is pulling away from the motherboard inside (better pray for the fairy to arrive in that case). To diagnose, try playing around with the cord, twisting it in different place to see if you can get it to come and go. If it's the motherboard then often you can flex right where it plugs into the computer and that will make the connection come and go.
ReplyDeleteThe villains that get me? Those smarter than I (not difficult!!;) ) and those that I end up liking. When I like a truly nasty villain, I have to examine own morals and set of values and wonder if I'm so different! That gets under my skin and stir fries my brain in a most delicious way.
ReplyDeleteMy faves? Edmund (King Lear), Hannibal Lecter (Red Dragon), Satan (Paradise Lost), Dexter (Darkly Dreaming Dexter), Quilty (Lolita), Tamora Queen of the Goths (Titus Andronicus), Medea (Medea)...
"I really don't like the character I'm introducing in chapter one. He scares me."
ReplyDelete- Ah, to hear such utterances come from others, too. It made me smile, thank you. Good luck with him.
I believe rationality is the "get to me" factor of a villain. So, in essence, I am agreeing with everyone else. But a bit of mystery also ruffles my feathers (wait? I have feathers?). I am always intrigued/upset by the villains who are obviously capable of more than they let on. As an example, Maleficent in Disney's Sleeping Beauty. When she first appears, you're duly impressed. Yet she has an air of 'you have no idea what else i am capable of' to her. The woeful promise of methodical mayhem, in a nutshell.
Despite what one might be inclined to think, I can neither confirm nor deny the existence of that classification of fairy. To be one th safe side, go ahead and believe. ;)
ReplyDelete