the random picture post:

Some random mariposa. (I'm a failed entomologist.)

Some random blue curls, Phacelia congesta.

A random axis deer stag, Axis axis. They're also called chital, and an example of an introduced species (native to India and surrounding areas) that was brought to Texas in the 1930s. Now there are self-sustaining herds all over the place, but especially in the hill country (central/south central Texas). My family goes to the hill country area around Kerrville every year, and sometimes you actually have to stop driving and wait for the axis herd to cross the highway--there's that many of them.

Right. So there's some randomness for your weekend. Have a great one, all!

Currently listening to: Home--Phillip Phillips. And snoring Ridgebacks.

The Jaded Texan.

After spending my whole life here, I've grown pretty fond of my state. Even though I've travelled around a bit, there's no place I'd rather live (though Northern Ireland or Hawaii run a close second). Sure, us Texans get stereotyped. Some of those are valid. Others are annoying (lookin' atchu, Geico commercial).

Biologically, we're a diverse state with a whopping 12 ecoregions, in which there are many distinct sub-regions. You can go to the mountains, the beach, the forest(s), the hill country, or the desert--just not all in the same day. We've got lots of endemic species of plants and animals. Como se dice 'biologist's dream'?

I grew up in a really rural area, on a commercial cattle ranch. This past weekend a friend from the Dallas area came to visit and 'experience the country' (her words, not mine). I always feel like a hayseed whenever she's around. Hayseed may be my Granddad's vocabulary...

Country bumpkin, maybe?

Anyway, we loaded up in the truck and headed out, me thinking all the while how she was going to be bored stiff for the next three hours. Granted, she's a biology nerd too, but what can I show her that's 'country?'

A lot, apparently.

Seeing her joy at the landscape and wildlife made me realize (again) how freaking lucky I was to grow up where and how I did. Lucky that I could see something like this every day. My friend loved it all, and her enthusiasm was madly contagious. Not many people get to climb to the top of this...

Yucca aloifolia, more commonly known as Spanish Dagger. In some places
it's common to fry/cook and eat the blossoms. No idea as to the taste but,
until I get really hungry, I'll pass.

and see for miles, like this...

My dad found this several years ago, while he was riding horseback and
looking for some missing cattle. This picture doesn't even
come close to doing it justice.

Or quite literally stumble upon natural wonders like this.

I believe this is some kind of Ferocactus, but maybe it's Echinocactus texensis.
  (If that's the case, the common name is Horse Crippler...pretty flowers, serious name.)

Or get pictures like this, which, even though I'm not much into plant biology, are beautiful to me.

I'm not sure what kind of flower this is, but I've got a date with a botanist later this
week to find out. I've never seen this before.

 



What good would pictures of Texas wildflowers be without some bluebonnets?
Hello, Lupinus texensis, good to seeya. 

Reminders to stop and smell the flowers are always a good thing.

As always, if you like the pictures, please feel free to share them--linkage back to this blog much appreciated!

Currently listening to Nottingham Burns--Marc Streitenfeld

Setting the Hook.

Any writer seeking publication has heard all about hooks. Not the treble, fishing kind of hook. The book hook.

Your query should hook the reader. Your first sentence should hook the reader. Your blurb should hook the reader. Your style and word choice should hook the reader. Your concept better have a good hook. Your voice should hook. Your first page should hook. Your first chapter. Your first three chapters.

So many hooks, so little time.

To make things even more subjectively thrilling, no one hook works for all readers. Sure there's general concepts/themes that intrigue lots of people, but you never know how effective your hook will be. Take Hannah Moskowitz's INVINCIBLE SUMMER. A big part of the hook was the triangle between one girl and two brothers. Did it squick some people out? Probably. Did some people feel intrigued enough to read on? Definitely.

Different strokes for different folks.

Books aren't universal. Yes, I know--your book won't be universal. In all likelihood, it will appeal to a very small niche market. I know my current WIP, Hell to Pay, is most assuredly a tiny niche-market book. It might be so niche-y it doesn't sell. Who knows. But I do know that the underlying hook of the book is pretty universal. The theme is pretty universal. Will it make a difference, I have no idea. Time will tell.

The same idea of hooking the audience also goes for movies. Like books, visual entertainment connects or hooks an audience on an individual basis. There have been countless times I have walked out of a movie theater with a friend and had a completely different reaction than they did. Completely. To the extent of them saying 'I loved it' and me barfing on the floor in response, or vice-versa.

But good movies and good books have one thing in common: they connect with you. They hook on some level that ellicits emotion, whether that emotion is joy, anger, despair, playfulness. They make you feel something. How strongly you connect is largely dependent on not only what you feel, but whether or not you like feeling that emotion.

I know writers have it tough to create hooker queries (ha!), I do. I struggle with them myself. But the cinematic world has a rough go with movie trailers--that's basically their version of the query. And we all know that some movie trailers are effective and make you want to see the movie. Some are not.

The Hunger Games trailer made me want to see the movie even before I'd read the books. In fact, I read the books because of the movie trailer. I'd heard lots of buzz surrounding Suzanne Collin's megaseller, but my to-be-read pile was (and is) enormous. I didn't see why I should add THE HUNGER GAMES, at least until I saw the movie trailer.

You know the part that hooked me? It's when the officials are leading Prim forward after her name's been drawn for the games. It's how Katniss struggled and fought and screamed, "I volunteer--I volunteer as tribute."

Every time I watch that scene a little part of my stomach clenches and the hairs on my arms prickle.

I love my sisters as much as life itself. That scene made me identify so strongly with Katniss (ass that she can be) that I rushed to my local bookstore and bought the series. Read them all in three days.

I'd say that hook worked for me.

What're yours?

Currently listening to: The time ticking down until I have to go back to work.

But wait, there's more!

A door-to-door salesman came by today.

Naturally he knocked when I had just hopped out of the shower, so I rushed around and pulled on the nearest available clothes before I opened the door. Yeah. A powder pink baby tee and a pair of long, red basketball shorts. It was high fashion, y'all.

Factor in two barking/growling/wanting out the door Rhodesians, and it was probably a pretty comical exit from my house to the front porch. Not to mention the fact that my feet were clad in my trusty leopard-print houseboots. (they're not houseshoes--they're houseboots. true story.)

But. There, with barely controlled soggy hair, a horribly mismatched color scheme and my houseboots, I was ready to listen, bells on.

It's true that there for a moment I considered not opening the door.

I really did think about letting him keep on knocking. While my dogs went berserk and tore down every available curtain/mini blind on the west side of my house to get a better look at the offender. It was sorely tempting, window treatments aside. But I've got some serious respect for people who go door-to-door to make a living. I mean, like, SERIOUS respect.

I couldn't do it.
I'm getting nervous and red and sweaty just thinking about it.

I know loads of people are naturally better at talking to strangers than I am. Though it still has to be a little daunting, especially because regardless of your pitch, factors beyond your control influence the potential buyer's decision*. There have been times when I really wanted to buy something, but financially I couldn't swing it. Even though I really, really wanted to. Ah, life.

As it happened, this salesman was really aggressive with whatever he was selling (honestly not sure I could tell you). It took about five seconds for me to realize that whatever it was, I didn't need it. Dude, however, was not to be deterred. At one point, he actually started trying to invite himself in my house** (we were both on the front porch, the door to the house closed. sometimes I can stifle my upbringing and not invite strange people inside and put a beverage in their hand. sometimes.) (common sense, FTW.) I would have been impressed with his tenacity if it wasn't holding me up from my day.

Short of getting irritated, I did what anyone with seven puppies in the backyard would do.

I tried to sell him a puppy.

That, my people, is the unspoken magic trick.

Not only did he bring his rather aggressive pitch to a screeching halt, but he left shortly thereafter.

The only downside to the situation was that he didn't take one.

Apparently we're both bad salespeople.

~~

Currently listening to: Kelly Clarkson--What Doesn't Kill You (Stronger)


*Sounds like publishing, no? Just be thankful we can email query, rather than go door-to-door with our pitches.
**This would have solved the problem. I guess he didn't hear the 160 pounds worth of growl and teeth on the other side of the door. When I walked back in, Bella and Roo were both laying side-by-side, facing the door. I love those crazy dogs.

Oh, Amazon,

how you tease me. Look what showed up in my inbox today as a suggested purchase:
(You may need to click on it to read...the text is a little smallish.)

I think it is a sign.

Like, 'Hello, Lee. Get off blogger and go write. Right now.'

*Will not argue with the AmazonGods.*
*going*


Currently listening to Thought I'd Never Call? by James Newton Howard

Snug Fit: Apparently it's not only me who needs to go run/workout. We'll start...eh...in 2012. :)

Hope you all are having a great week/holiday season!

~writerlee

(who is not off to go run.)

Character Traits: The Baddest of the Bad.

this is mah worried face. im so cuute.

Meet Roo. (He's that adorable bugger on the left, pictured at 9 weeks old.) (Roughly 70lbs ago...eeee!)

Roo is adorable.

Roo is funny.

Roo is Bad.

Roo is, above all things, a character.

The Rundown.
Name/Aliases: Lord Remington LaRoo of Tsavo. Roo. Rooster. Rue. BadDog. MarleyWho? Torpe Torpedo. No (<--- this is the one he answers to most often.)

Puppy Group: Rhodesian Ridgeback

Character Traits

• Positive: Fun-loving, outgoing, energetic. Loves a good walk. Great companion. Excellent jogging buddy, crumb-picker-upper. Happy ALL THE TIME. Adorable. Good with kids and strangers. Low Key.
• Negative: (These are the faults, because every character needs them.) Demanding. Juvenile. Only barfs on the carpet, never the tile. Has terribly destructive affinity for cords of all colors and constitutions. Chases the DemonCat. Tail Wags at perfect height to clear coffee table in one swoop. Eats flipflops with unbounded passion. Enjoys un-potting grandma's flowers and other plantlife. Digs deep and random holes in the backyard, much to the chagrin of momma when she's walking around outside without the usual Constant Vigilance.

The Skinny: Roo is the happiest dog I've ever met. He also is the only dog I've ever wanted to strangle because he escaped and ran off for 4 hours while I was at home at my parents*. He has, in no uncertain terms, been the most destructive canine I have ever owned. However, all the negatives are off-set by his intense adorability (OH HAI, FAKE WORD!). Some days it's his only redeeming quality. (Well you know, besides being so happy all the time.) Even when he does something atrocious, like eat momma's netbook charger (the only one I have), his adorableness only decreases by two points for thirty seconds. That's the power of adorable, people.

In short, this is a fake blog post about characters. Okay, that's not true. This is a real blog post about (sorta) real characters. Make them real. Make them awesome. And make them adorable**.


hai. im bad.

*he returned unscathed, and (of course) happy as a lark.
**If they are villains, then this:

Hey, even villains need to be adora--erm...have redeeming qualities. Or at least a motive as to why they assassinate da flipfloppers. And when I did this in paint the ball and chain weren't floating, promise.

WordCountStuffs.

Short post here, as I don't have much to say (count yer blessings). Latest WIP busted into the 20k-ish range, which makes me pretty happy. I've seen on other blogs and AW that loads of writers reward themselves when that pesky word count reaches certain milestones: I think that's a wondiferous idea. I think a celebration every 10k is warranted, so obviously I get to have twice the party. :). Yes, I'm back-partying, cuz it's mah prerogative.

Anyway, whilst celebrating my two word count parties--I'm eating 2 cookies right now--I'm trying to remind myself not to enslave my person to that darn button, no matter how fun it is to click (sometimes). *Sigh*

It's hard being so complicated. I mean conflicted. I mean confused. Compulsive?

Anyways, I have a funny feeling that this rough draft is going to end up on the shorter side.

Tools --> Word Count sez so.

/writerfail.

*****

ps. Tell me I'm not the only one who struggles with the WC issue(s). Support group? Stepwise program? Something (besides more cookies)? (Ignore the last, more cookies is always a groovy idea.)

Welcome to the Blahhhhhg. [Subtitled: Voldemort Won't Be Dead, No Matter What the Last Movie Sez]

This week has been an epic, dismal failure on many fronts. Thus, for purposes of this post, I rechristen my blog a blahhhhg.

With extra helpings of blah.

I’m sick. In a fun, feverish, blah-kind-of-way. Thankfully, my momma's great. She demanded I come home when illness first reared its ugly, strepto-staphylo-infested head. (In my defense, I was planning a trip home to see the parentals anyways. Honestly.)

Okay. Initial trip to my friendly campus quack-shack (university health center) lead to a vague diagnoses (actually, I’m really not sure if I was given one, but with my mental acuity at the time, I probably wouldn't have remembered it anyways) and a prescription for pills that likely could have choked an bull elephant. And were a bright, obnoxious pink to boot.

This was on Tuesday. You can bet I started those badboys with the gusto generally reserved only for chocolate products.

Wednesday rolled around and I suspected I might live after all. I again had a zest for life: I moved from my bed to the couch.

Thursday happened and I felt like a million bucks. Okay, so that’s an exaggeration. I felt like twenty bucks, but that’s a far cry in the way of improvement from my previously negative balance.

Thursday.5. Mysterious, full-body rash. I know, I know…SEXAH. Madre wigs out. She makes (I wasn't consulted on the matter) me an appointment with her doctor. We have several brief but intense arguments over the pink-elephant-pill continuation. She says stop. I say pshhh no moms, you be crazzzze*. I’m finally starting to feel better. So what if I look like a diseased tomato with straw for hair because I haven’t brushed it since the advent of Pill 1. So, like, dc! 

Moving on.

Friday. Doctor. (yay.) He takes one look at me and gives three possible causes, two of which passed for interesting in my fevered-congestion-aching-head. They were:

Bad reaction to the meds. [Snores] Level on interest scale**: -100.

Mono—when a dying soul has mono and takes this certain antibiotic, they get splotchy. I was game for this diagnosis: I could blame the so-called ‘kissing-disease***’ on the BF. (I always knew those darn boys had cooties, Microbiology or not.) Level on interest scale: +5. (Mainly because I could blame BF for all my troubles. He loves that.)

The last option was fascinating: scarletina. That’s Scarlet Fever, folks. How cool**** is that? It’s rarely (like hardly, hardly, hardly ever) fatal these days, but people still shudder when then hear the name. I love a good shock factor. Level on interest scale: +11. Archaic sickness, I think so.

Two lab tests later, I feel like I’m on a game show (one where there's no free oxygen in the room), waiting to hear if I get the prize behind the sure-to-be-the-winning door I picked.

[Drumroll]

…

Damn allergic reaction. Hello no-fun-story-to-tell plus a -100 interest rating.

Today: New pills. Feeling...meh. I believe I will survive. To pass the time, I’ve taken to divining the flavor of my Halls citrus cough drops without unwrapping them. It’s quite a challenge, requiring the perfect combination of lighting and non-watery-eyed vision. I could really use a pair of jewelers’ glasses, or whatever they’re called. Here’s what my discernment has led to thus far:

The pile on the left is considered safe. (Read: Orange.) The middle is a sketchy grapefruit flavor, which will do in a pinch but is inherently less desirable than orange. The farthest right is a septic pool of lemon-flavored atrocity. *Shudders*  I think they’re burning a hole and oozing through my mom’s mesquite coffee table. They’re an abomination. I think Voldemort created them. Maybe they're little bits of his soul. HARRYYOUMISSEDAHORCRUX!!!! Game Plan: Avoid. At. All. Costs.

Every once in a while they get sneaky, but I am wayyy dedicated to my sorting quest.

They all have captions on the wrappers. I tried to get a picture of couple of them, but they all turned out stinking blurry. But I'm noticing something--the lemons all have the most enthusiastic sayings, such as "Conquer Today!" or "Get Back in the Game!" which makes me think of a cheesy junior-high sports movie. Probably the strategy--get you so pumped you mistakenly eat one of the little bastards.

Oh how you try, you snaringly captioned little drops of poison. No matter your tactics, I shall not be fooled.

oye.

           

*Antibiotic resistance is bad, peeps. Always finish ALL the antibiotics that your doctorperson prescribes. Srsly. *Is glad something semi-intelligent came of this ramble.*

** For practical purposes, the Interest Scale ranges from -100 to +10.

***’Kissing disease’ is a misnomer. But BF doesn’t know that.

**** I’ll be the first to admit my nerdiness. It’s my blahhhg today and I’m running with it.

The Chaos Between

Ah, the Shiny New Idea (SNI) strikes again. I've started a new mantra (as of 9:00am this morning): I am going to finish my current WIP. I am going to finish my current WIP. I Am Going To Finish My Current WIP. IAMGOINGTOFINISHMYCURRENTWIP!

Maybe I should tattoo that backwards on my forehead. And then carry around a handmirror everywhere I go.

Okay, so maybe not. But I could definitely use a little in the way of focus right now. I'm so excited to be writing again that I've got a twenty-nine point five zillion ideas going on in mah lil noggin which makes it ohsohard to concentrate on anything at any given time because there's so much going on or so much I could be doing if I could only work on twelve WIPS of different genres all at one time....

Right. You get what I mean.

Hi, my name is Lee, and I'm battling SNI addition.

[Must. Not. Give. In.]

Suffice it to say, after this current WIP is completed and sitting nicely in a drawer for thirty days before editing, I shant be twiddling my thumbs in want of an idea. Or seven.

*head desk*