My 500 word challenge- Answered! Take that!

So on Friday, last week, the pirates in the comments of Friday's blog, issued a 500 word challenge to everyone reading. The goal was to write something that weekend to just get the creative juices flowing. I have been having a difficult time lately sitting in one place and writing. But I managed it this weekend (a little) and a lot more this week in my slow minutes.

And yes, Lisa, I managed to get in the skin on skin challenge too- it's just not here.

Here is a little taste. This is planned for Sadie's second book, tentitively unnamed. Sadie is looking for her younger sister and has gotten herself into quite the predictiment posing as a waitress at a strip joint. Sadie's cousin, Kiki, has sent someone to watch over her. Fireworks ensue.

***

"Why me?" I took a deep breath and Cherry shook her head. "I'm the least attractive woman here."

Cherry reached behind her and grabbed two shot glasses and a bottle of cheap whisky.

"Well, honey," her voice smooth southern sugar as she poured us two clean shots to the brim. "Sooner than later all of heaven's angels have to fall into hell to be tested. Maybe this is your test." She handed me a shot and pursed her lips. I watched her tip the shot glass back and she sat the little glass behind her. "Just remember to smile, act like you want him to have a good time and don't say a word."

I stared up at her with wide eyes and she gestured to my shot glass, "Now drink up. You need all the liquid courage you can get."

I took a deep breath and tipped the glass back. The liquor burned past my lips, set fire to my nose. My eyes started to water. I couldn't even open my mouth to choke out, "Help, I'm dying!"

A weak cough made it past my lips and Cherry laughed, and patted me on the back. "Whisky virgin. Oh, honey, you've got a lot of living still to do."

I nodded, wiping the tears running down my face. There was a fire in my nose and the warm liquid only filled my stomach with more butterflies. I hated to tell Cherry this wasn't the type of living I wanted to do. "Thanks Cherry. I feel better."

"Don't mention it, sweets." She glanced over my shoulder and gave me a look. "Rob's on his way over here. Turn around and smile. It's the only way to get him off your back."

Cherry turned away from me and gracefully took the tray off the bar. She winked as she sashayed by me and Rob came up beside me, closer than I cared for and I plastered a smile on my lips.

"He's waiting for you in the last room." He took my arm and turned me in a half-circle checking out my ass. "You don't have time to change, so you'll just have to do."

"But the last room is the room with all the mirrors." I protested weakly as Rob steered me in the direction of the dark hallway. He gave me a little shove in the direction of the room and stood in my way of backing out and bolting for the door.

***

It's been a year...

And I'm still no closer to being done than I was before. In fact I might have less done now than I had before.

It is a curse. I write. I delete. I write. I change my mind. I write. I hate it. I write. The character changes character.

Honestly. On my scouts honor. Or whatever.

The challenge this weekend is 500 words. Now, they (the pirates) didn't exactly specify what the 500 words intailed. I must do something because Hellie said she was going to skin me and considering she's within skinning distance, I don't want to chance it.

So, 500 words, here I come. Wednesday I'll be blogging about it for sure. I don't have anything else to report. Other than writing is a slow process, only made slower by self doubt and reservations about what you're writing.

Could it be?!

Out of the five pirates plus Hal, I've updated my personal blog more recent?

How the hell did that happen? And I don't even have time for it.

I just thought I'd bask in this moment for a minute or two. I always get shit for not updating my blogger. Truth is, I never have anything good to talk about. I'm a procrastinator. We don't make conversation. We invent them in our head and have it with ourselves. Easier that way.

I thought I'd also take this opportunity to say I'm hoping to write 20k each week until my WIP is finished. I have a good start. Three days I've written 12k and hoping to write more tonight.

So how goes it, peeps? How's your word count coming along? Or should we go by page numbers?

Say What

Let's face it. I'm not nearly as witty as my last post. So if you're back to read something worth your time, you've probably stepped into the wrong dimension. I suggest backing up three feet, making a right hand turn, following the gravel road up about 50 paces and going over to the group ship, www.romancewritersrevenge.com

I've been writing lately, which is a testament to how utterly desperate I've been to rekindle my passion for the written word. I got out of the habit of writing everyday, using good excuses like my DH slobbered on my keyboard, my hair is caught in my round brush and I can't get it out, and my personal favorite, we don't have anything to eat in this house- I guess I'm just gonna have to have ice cream once again. I mean, I can come to terms with my procrastination abilities. I have mad procrastination skillz. I've been honing them since I was a baby in the womb. I mean, anyone who can hold out on being birthed for seven days deserves some sort of procrastination award. (That's a prop to you mom. Happy Mom's day. I'll be honoring you with Chinese take out on Sunday.)

So today's lesson in my procrastination is dialogue. I rather suck at it. Lots of people have said I don't, they truly must not know what the word "sucks" means. It's not that suction cup thing you do with your mouth either, Hellion. I'm talking about sloppy, uncoordinated, crap that spews from my fingers to the page. Stuff that doesn't even make sense when you try to read it aloud/out loud (screw it, either one works). So I've taken a lesson from the DH, Mattycakes.

Mattycakes is an accomplished conversationalist. This makes up for my lack of talent in this field of study. Not only can he just walk up to a random person in the mall wearing an Iowa football jacket (No, I'm not going to let it go. You know I was Christmas shopping and in the zone.) and talk to this man like he'd known him all his life (which I'm starting to wonder if not all Iowans aren't introduced at birth so they can hone in on each other while driving down the highway, walking down the street or using the bat signal). He talked to this guy for an hour! AN HOUR! All the meanwhile, I'm running around like a chicken without a head, screeching like a banshee while kicking packages down the tiled mall floors. I crawl back to him, packing packages on my back like a pack horse and these two grin at me like Cheshire cats.

"We're having dinner with Bill and his wife."

Oh, no we're not. "That's nice. Help me get these packages to the car or I'm going to murder someone with my tennis shoe."

Bill looks at me quietly, eyes sorta wider than they were when he witnessed me as a pack horse. "Can you do that?"

Mattycakes says very flippantly. "She's a mystery writer. She thinks she can do anything."

ARGH!

Dinner was very nice. Bill and his wife, Laura, were from Storm Lake, which is someone near Ft. Dodge apparently. Mattycakes remembers going there during the summer. All the while, I'm drinking like a fish, thinking about all the crap I have to wrap. We get home. I pour myself into my chair, presents forgotten in the back of the car.

Mattycakes can talk to anyone about anything. So for me to learn how to write dialogue, I take the Mattcakes class of Diarrhea of the Mouth style of Dialogue. Synopsis of this class would include:

How to make your mate uncomfortable in social situations.
How to walk up to a random stranger and talk for hours on end about Iowa. (Seriously, what the hell is there to talk about?)
How to be witty in awkward situations.
How to laugh at yourself. (Trust me, I have this in spades already.)
How to toss out one liners that make people stop in their tracks.
Acronyms- Making new ones and pushing boundaries.
And last but not least- Being a master of the double meaning.

Now, combine this with my already mastery skill of snark and sarcasm and I would be the ultimate conversationalist. So I've employed a new sort of experiment on my DH (You wouldn't be surprised on how often this occurs in our household.) Instead of trying to get him to push me up against a wall and make out with me (Trust me, I'm still working on it.) I've now started to draw him into weird conversations about stuff that happens in my WIP.

Conversation 1- Let me set the scene. He's just got home from work. I'm chillin' in my chair with my laptop. He drops his gym bag on the floor and flips his shoes off. I get up and follow him into a kitchen. I lean against the wall and watch him at the stove, much like what was happening in the scene I was working on.

"What are you doing here?"

He pauses what he's doing and gives me a sideways glance. "I live here babe. What's it to you?"

I grin and walk into the living room. I record this down like a court reporter.

Conversation 2- I'm sitting in my chair with the laptop, Internet is pulled up. I'm doing a little research on guns. I normally minimize my research, otherwise the DH thinks I'm thinking up ways to get rid of him mafia style.

"What do you think about this one?" I point to the Sub-Compact Beretta. It's a nice gun. 13 round magazine. My heroine could definitely use this one.

Mattycakes gives me a look, puts his hand on my head and leans over me. "This little gun holds 13 rounds?"

"All the better to blow your head wide open dear."

Sadly, he didn't find that as funny as me. Probably didn't put enough sarcasm into that one. Maybe that's not good as a one liner. I dunno.

Conversation 3- Katy Trail. Take One.

"How long do you think it would take before they found a body floating down the Missouri in McBaine?"

"I dunno. Are we contacting the police by Morse code?"

Conversation 4- Katy Trail. Take Two.

"If I were going to meet you down on the trail, where would you suggest?"

Sideways look. "Is this a trick question?"

"I would meet you at bridge 13. That way I can dump you over the edge and you could float down the river. Does that help make up your mind?"

"Yeah. It does. I'd meet you at Stadium and shove you out into traffic."

To which he got the eye roll and a "Yeah. Right. I'd wipe the floor with your ass."
---

So we know he's a spoil sport. But he's good for entertainment value. But he is still clueless so I'm having some fun with that.

So the point of the blog was- well, to talk about dialogue. And to ask, any good one liners you've had in the past that you're using in your WIP? Ever read any good ones that really stuck with you even after you closed the book?

PS. Hal, you're still kicking my ass, but I don't feel bad. I'll catch back up. Sooner rather than later.

Killer Fiction's Deadly Beauties

http://killerfictionwriters.blogspot.com/

Considering I update with the lightening speed of a sloth, I figured I'd take this time out to pimp the ladies at Killer Fiction and their hella great blog where you can find all sorts of goodies. I mean, personally, I stalk the site over there. Mostly as a lurker (because, let's face it, I can't remember anything to save my soul from hell and by the time I remember to check blogs, everyone has already said my opinion), but after seeing Leslie Langtry this weekend, she has reminded me of my duty as her stalker to help her out.

http://killerfictionwriters.blogspot.com/

But this isn't the point. I always get way off point. Another author that I adore is Gemma Halliday, who I've not had the pleasure of writer stalking yet. Gemma has a contest going on right now for an ARC of These Boots Were Made for Strutting. I must admit, I would love this book. I've never met a Gemma Halliday book yet that I haven't liked (even if only one of the stories is hers, I still want this book!). Her character, Maddie Springer, would be my best friend. I mean, hello, she's a shoe designer. I LOVE SHOES! I have these funky little white/black wingtip 4" heels that I wore in Chicago this weekend. I absolutely adore these shoes. We'll not mention that by wearing these heels, I become 6'4" because I'm not bitter or anything. Thank god for tall hot men like Ramirez. Jack Ramirez, whom I've loved faithfully since I first cracked open the spine of Spying in High Heels way back in Sept '06 and have been a faithful follower ever since. Even my girlfriend, Hellion, won an ARC of Undercover in High Heels and it was like she was telling me I had won the Golden Heart, a RITA, a multi-million dollar deal. I tackled her, ripping the book from her hands and nearly devoured her in my haste to read it.

I mean, she was going to give it to me. I didn't have to tackle her like I was a NFL linebacker. LOL

I'm sitting here in my office drinking my coffee in shock.

I've come to realize in my blogging haste that I've never written Gemma a fan letter. Wow. I'm like the lowest toad on the totem pole. I adore her books and I've never told her. I should be made to wear flats for a week as my punishment. Gemma, if you are reading this, I love your writing! I love your characters. I love your writing voice and every time you write Jack Ramirez on a page I want to slide out of my chair in a molten pool of lava and fan myself like a ridiculous school girl with a crush. Rock on Gemma !

Now, the point of this blog is to enter me in the contest to win the ARC of These Boots Were Made for Strutting. Go here ---> http://killerfictionwriters.blogspot.com/ and tell the world about this book! And about Gemma's High Heels series! www.gemmahalliday.com Don't miss this series! If you like Janet Evanovich's Stephanie Plum series (which I cut my writer's teeth to) then you're missing out on another series just as great in Gemma's Maddie Springer books!

And of course, but last- but certainly not least- Leslie Langtry's next book, Stand by Your Hitman comes out in September 2008. This is another series if you haven't been reading, you must be in a underground bomb shelter with a record playing and wearing a poodle skirt. Get thee butt to B&N and pick up her books! http://www.leslielangtry.com/

http://killerfictionwriters.blogspot.com/ Don't forget this blog! And maybe sometime next week I'll update about my own lack of progress. *g* To which, Hal, smile it up now girlfriend because if you give me a week or two I'll be kicking your ass again on the war of words.

Prologues

I've been debating this for a long time. To prologue Double Vision or not to prologue. Right or wrong.

It's hard to know what to do.

Just to tell you a little about it. I'm writing a crossover fiction series, probably more suspense than romance. Like a 80/20 split. Action is what I'm good at. Stick with what you're good at, at least that's what I heard.

There is a lot going on in Double Vision. In a short vanilla version of a blurb, Sadie Michaels returns home to rural mid-Missouri after a ten year absence. Her gig with the FBI has gone sour after a botched crack into a high-level overseas operation. With her cover blown, the FBI ices her, sends her on her way until they feel it's okay for her to go back to work. With no place to go, and her father dying of cancer, she comes home to a mafioso type questioning her about where she's been, a local FBI agent asking questions about her dead sister, and a couple of goons that look like straight trouble. Sadie decides the only way to keep herself safe is to get to the bottom of it all. By doing what she does best, sneaking.

Along the way we meet three guys who've been important in Sadie's life. Calvin and A.J. Kincade grew up with Sadie. Cal was Sadie's best friend until one night between her and A.J. doused any hope he had. A.J. who saved Sadie from a tornado as a child, was in love with her sister. And Manuel Ruiz, fellow FBI agent, and whom Sadie has had a "loose" relationship with for five years.

I have one main plot. Two subplots. And a twist at the end, I hope you don't see coming. I have a few character deaths. A past to sort out and a life to redeem.

So in my quest to tell a well rounded story in the first book, I feel I need the prologue. Does anyone have any thoughts on a prologue? Love them, hate them, skip them?

And Marn, Hal and the rest of the word count crew, count 'em up! What's new with you guys?

Neglicting My Duties

So, as I said, once again I have neglicted to update every week on my progress. But as most people know now, I've not been working on my original like I should. I had some important, unfinished business to attend. After this week I will be back to work on the original, kicking ass and taking names.

So watch out Marn and Hal. I've got your numbers. *grin*