Thursday Thirteen

13 Worst Predictions

1. Theoretically, television may be feasible, but I consider it an impossibility--a development which we should waste little time dreaming about.
- Lee de Forest, 1926, inventor of the cathode ray tube

2. It doesn't matter what he does, he will never amount to anything.
- Albert Einstein's teacher to his father, 1895

3. We don't like their sound, and guitar music is on the way out.
- Decca Recording Co. rejecting the Beatles, 1962

4. King George II said in 1773 that the American colonies had little stomach for revolution.

5. An English astronomy professor said in the early 19th century that air travel at high speed would be impossible because passengers would suffocate.

6. Everything that can be invented has been invented.
-Charles H Duell, an official at the US patent office, 1899

7. I see no reason why the views given in this volume should shock the religious sensibilities of anyone.
-Charles Darwin in the foreword to his book, The Origin of Species, 1869

8. If anything remains more or less unchanged, it will be the role of women.
-David Riesman, conservative American social scientist, 1967

9. X-rays will prove to be a hoax.
-Lord Kelvin, President of the Royal Society, 1883

10. Television won't last because people will soon get tired of staring at a plywood box every night.
-Darryl Zanuck, movie producer, 20th Century Fox, 1946

11. The horse is here to stay but the automobile is only a novelty, a fad.
-The president of the Michigan Savings Bank advising Henry Ford's lawyer not to invest in the Ford Motor Co., 1903

12. It will be gone by June.
Variety, passing judgment on rock 'n roll in 1955

13. There is no reason anyone would want a computer in their home.
-Ken Olson, president, chairman and founder of Digital Equipment Corp. (DEC), maker of big business mainframe computers, arguing against the PC in 1977

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I'm just an addict...

If someone had told me that Fatal Visions would have turned out as it had, I probably would not have believed it. Especially not if they'd included the different plot lines and characters. Why? Because my story has changed so much over the years. When I first began, the story was a smidgen of an idea based on the Final Fantasy game and Medal of Honor.

That was it.

That first draft, I would never even recognize today. I was thinking about it earlier today at Williams with a friend and I can't believe just how much I've done on it. It's not that simple idea anymore. It's so weird how writers can take a seed of an idea... and then go with it and come out with an entire story or even more... a series. Everytime I start something new, it's just a smidgen of an idea. Nothing more.

But then I write as it unfolds. I don't plot. I can't. So ideas come to me as I write... and those ideas branch out into more ideas. And from there, entire chaos can occur. It's fun in one of those-- I don't know where I'm going but it's an adventure-- kind of way.

And when you finish that story? It's a high. So maybe all writers are just story addicts, out for their next hit as they search for ideas. :p

Kill Your Darlings...

… these were the words spoken by Eve Silver at a TRW workshop I’d intended earlier this month. Meaning? Sometimes, even those most precious, hard-worked gorgeous sentences need to be killed. This doesn’t just extend to wordplay but to characters and particularly, to scenes. Sometimes, they just don’t fit in the story or do anything to move the plot along.

I’m learning this more and more as I write and it never gets easier. Some scenes will be so awesome and shiny but they’ll do nothing. It’s a pain and often… a fight between wills- the stubborn ego and the practical plotter. Now, I’m not a plotter in the sense that I know where I’m going from point A to B to C. Heck no. My writing is utter chaos. If anyone were to read the rough drafts, they’d be lost because I write random scenes as they come to me and then string them up later to make some kind of a sense- a jigsaw puzzle. So for me, I’ll have a lot of scenes I’ll love or LOVE, but won’t be able to place. So out they go.

Characters… I’m not good with this. I’m not much of a kill off a character I like person and this also reflects what I watch or will read. I refuse, REFUSE, to watch/read something where the main character dies. For me, it’s a waste of my time. I don’t need a character to be doomed from the start. I want to see him/her struggle and get to their feet, to come out better for all that they’d gone through. So death to a main char is a sure way for me to put the book down.

And I’ll confess, because of this, I do often read the last page of a book. Or at least skim it to make sure that everyone is alive and in happily ever after. There’s too much ugliness in reality. I read to get away from it all. But I digress.

I’ve been editing my manuscript for a bit now. It had just gone through a critique so this past week I’ve been cleaning it up. I’ve realized two things: 1. Some of those nice pretty sentences? Aren’t needed because they are either redundant or confusing to the reader. 2. I have more clutch words than I expected and not just that… but actions as well. For instance, clutch words: just, simply. Action clutches?- certain lip movements, glaring or narrowing of the eyes.

So kill your darlings, because as hard as it is, your story will be better for it. Yes, those are words I took back with me from Eve Silver’s awesome workshop and it’s something that I’ll keep with me. Maybe I’ll even print it out in front of me while I write.


Speaking of Eve, I just finished her book Seduced by a Stranger and I highly recommend it. At first, I was a bit wary of the hero. He’s different. Darker. Harder. Colder. Just different from any other hero I’ve ever really read before. I wasn’t sure what to expect because his story is so… intense for a lack of a better word, and thought that it could have easily ended up to be one of those stories that I just didn’t feel the heat between the hero and heroine. I was wrong. It didn’t take long for him to grow on me. He has a past, a dark one that I found quite ensnaring and couldn’t wait to read more about. So yes, if you’re wanting to read a historical and are wanting something different this is definitely an edge of the seat read.

January Excerpt Monday

Once a month, a bunch of authors get together and post excerpts from published books, contracted work or works in progress, and link to each other. You don't have to be published to participate–just an writer with an excerpt you'd like to share. For more info on how to participate, head over to the Excerpt Monday site! or click on the banner above.

I decided to take a little break from my serial read this week. Instead, I'm going to post a little snippet of something I've been toying with.

A wet, naked man stared up at her, dark hair flopped over into his eyes. Despite his state of undress, he somehow managed to look both defiant and intimidating all while soaking wet. She took a step back in reaction as those eyes met hers before she caught herself and instead, squared her shoulders and took a stance, her hand clutching the amulet tightly in her fist.

“Give it to me,” he spoke in a thick Greek accent, his voice promising retaliation, even as he straightened from his crouched position in the shadows to his full 6 feet in front of her. “If you think you’re going to use me again, you’re mistaken.”

If she looked away for even just a second, he’d be on her before she could move fast enough. She could see his intentions in the flicker of darkness in his eyes, a flicker so black that it moved over the silvery blue of his irises.

Inching her chin up, she met the coolness of his stare. “No.”

He took another step, forcing her to lean back in order to look up at him. He was so close that she could feel the ends of his hair brush against her face, his breath warm against the curve of her ear. Those flicks of mercury were even more intense.
The world narrowed to those eyes that watched her intently and she fought a shudder move through her.

His hands circled around her wrists, breaking her out of her trance as he pulled her flush against him. Against hard wet muscle. The move jerked her forward, the amulet falling from her fingers to the floor. He let go, dropping to his knees to grab the jewelery then let out a hiss and dropped it again. “What magic did you use to enslave me, witch?”

She stared down at him and the redness of his palm. At the burn.

“Borne to protect, you do as I say, Talon.” She stared down at his form, meeting his furious gaze. She saw hate. It should have scared her. She would be wise to be more careful. “I put you away once, I can do it again.”

He said nothing but he didn’t have to. His entire body was strained tight with tension, his muscles primed, ready for battle.

Grabbing the amulet, Adrianna slipped the necklace back over her head. She stepped around him, grabbing the pair of mens clothing she’d placed on the table. It had taken her nearly five years to find the amulet again after all these years of losing it in the ancient city. Five years lost when she could have been preparing for the battle that was all about to occur.

“You can hate me all you want but fact of the matter remains that I control you. You’re the Guardian of the Veil and as the Guardian, it’s your job to protect.” The coolness of her words hit her. She couldn’t afford to feel. As one of the Muses of the Veil, it was her job to do what she had to in order to ensure that the Veil didn’t fall.

They didn’t have much time. Two years.

She turned away, just for a moment but when she faced him again, found him leaning up against the table, simply a foot away. Saying nothing, she handed him the clothes. He took them, turning his back on her to slip into the slacks. The dark tattoo was where she remembered, the panther slick along his shoulder blades.

He was all warrior, every inch of him.
She wanted to touch, to trail her fingertips along the smooth skin and see if he was as warm as he appeared.

“And what,” he growled coldly, “is it that you need?”

What indeed? Perhaps she’d been wrong. Perhaps this plan was going to blow up in her face. If she turned her back, would he take her life? Would he be the one to make the prophecy come true which would ignite the changes and take down the Veil? Perhaps this had been a mistake.

“Times have changed. This isn’t the world you knew.”


"Links to other Excerpt Monday writers

Note: I have not personally screened these excerpts. Please heed the ratings and be aware that the links may contain material that is not typical of my site.

Where would you rather be...

Last night I watched Inkheart that a friend loaned me. It's an interesting concept to me, people going in or coming out of books and it made my imagination go... what book would you love to suddenly find yourself in?

For me, I think that I would love to go into Elizabeth Peter's Amelia Peabody series. Why? Hot Ramses... archaeology... and in the famous words of Abdullah- Every year, another dead body! I mean come on, the banter of Mrs Emerson and the other characters is often quite hilarious and the mysteries... and pyramids...and...oh there are just so many reasons to love the series.

In the paranormal realm, it'd be to slilp into Nalini Singh's Psy/Changeling series. Who doesn't love hot men and abilities beyond the normal?

What about you? Is there any world you'd particularly want to jump into? Which character would you like to meet the most?

This week in review

Sometimes there are days when there are just no words. Today was one of those when it might have been better to just stay in bed. The one highlight: Going to the movies to see Sherlock Holmes. I really enjoyed it and the multi-layer plot/characterizations. Definitely a must see and something I would buy.

If you've lived under a rock this week, you might be curious to know that:

-Excerpt Monday held its first New Release Monday. Every first Monday of a month join us as we showcase new releases from our authors. Comment to win!
-Evolution's Footprints in Human Genome Precisely Tracked Using New Approach!
-Neanderthal Make-up Discovered
-Ancient Four-legged beasts leave their Mark

The Wandering Imagination

Sometimes, writing makes me research things I never expected to ever be curious about. Other times, research just doesnt' seem to be enough. Sometimes, there's just no other way than to live it for yourself, to experience it first-hand. Granted, a lot of what I write I could never truly experience just because I tend to write paranormal/urban fantasy.

For instance, I will never in my lifetime meet an ancient Greek warrior who was locked away in an amulet. Nor will I ever find myself in a Bed and Breakfast that just so happens to be a source for literal time travel. Some things, a person just can't experience unless it's in their imagination.

But there are things I never expected to -have- to explain. Like take for instance my Greek warrior, Talon, who suddenly is going to find himself in the modern day in the middle of a gunfight. There is so much that he's not going to know and it'll have to be explained. So what do I do today? I Google guns and how to work them and just what would be the perfect gun for my heroine to sport. This is something I could experience, if I wanted to, I suppose. If I went on a firing range... just how to properly fire and the tools and trades.

I love history, always have, so writing the book with this ancient Greek is fascinating. Yes, it's modern day, but he is still going to have a personality that is so different than what a person use to this time would have. His world as he knew it is going to come through in not only his attitudes about things but his words and gestures and just how he interacts with the world. I can't wait because I know he's going to be so fun to write. I'm only partially into the manuscript but I'm already loving him and the heroine.

And it's just one of the reasons I love writing. It can take me on such curious/wicked paths I would never have expected.