REAL Character Mashups: Do any other writers do this?

I have two friends who are both computer guys as well as musicians. Both are also excellent with intellectual debates. Other than that, they're complete opposites. One's country, one's rock and roll. Needless to say, I'd been dying to watch them have a conversation/ debate.

The opportunity arrived on our annual 4th of July barbecue. As there were many fun guests, great food and festivities going on, it took awhile for me to get them together and talking. Maybe they waited until I was done with my hostess duties to indulge me, or maybe they just decided to placate me since I wasn't exactly subtle as to my intentions. Either way it was well worth the wait and I got a front row seat.

As I'd suspected, they got into an epic debate about computer stuff. 90% of it was gibberish to me, so I had to observe their tones, facial expressions and body language to figure out who scored a hit. It was as fascinating as I'd hoped.

Which brings me to my question: Do other writers do this? I know we all create interesting fictional characters and thrive on watching how they react, but does anyone else do this with real "characters?" Does anyone else think, "I want to see how this guy reacts to that guy?"

If so, how does it inspire your writing?

4th of July, Redneck Style

Okay, I've never seen any rednecks go this far, but it's still funny. Happy 4th of July, everyone! 

7 Summer Series Reading Recommendations

Summer is a great time to read through a series so I thought I list a few I enjoyed.

H&W Investigations Series by Jess Haines

The Dark Protectors by Rebecca Zanetti

The Windham Family series by Grace Burrowes

The Sons of The Revolution by Shana Galen

Alexa O'Brien Huntress by Trina M. Lee

Eternal Guardians: Elisabeth Naughton

....and Just 'cuz I finished rereading it. The Dark Tower by Stephen King

Why I don't follow you on Twitter

Dave Mustaine is my all time favorite guitarist, but I don't follow him 'cuz he's doing it wrong.

1.) Spammers: If you do nothing but tout some product you're obviously being paid to advertise...this includes some self published authors, you're nothing but obnoxious noise to me.

2.) Trolls: No one wants to follow someone who picks asinine arguments just for the hell of it.

3.) Nothing but links: A.) I despise redundancy. B.) It makes me think you have no personality.


4.) Never replies:  This is usually an issue with higher profile people, celebrities, authors, etc. But many high profile people still are willing to converse with the lesser folk, so why bother following those who don't? Then there's those people who seem to think they're all that and only converse with their cliques. Either way, not worth clogging my feed.


5.) Nothing but retweets: As with #3, these are people who have no personality of their own. Worse, they seem to be attempting to make themselves look cool by piggy-backing off of the charm (or lack thereof) of others. I have no problem with retweeting something funny, useful, or interesting, but I do have issues with people who mindlessly RT people like an insidious echo.


6.) Talks only about self...especially if it's boring: I don't care about your latest bowel movement or where you're shopping. But...though some people bitch about tweets on who's eating what for dinner, I like those...if you share the recipe. I know I do! Food is good in reasonable increments. But I'm on twitter for conversations, not to read personal to-do lists.


7.) Combinations of any of the above: And here's where Mega-Dave Mustaine comes in. He may be one of the greatest guitar players to ever walk the earth. He may be hella cute. But Dave Mustaine does not know how to use twitter. He updates where he is and what he's doing and posts links and RTs...but only when they have to do with his band. I tried following him for awhile and he NEVER conversed with anyone. So, as much as I adore him and his music, I don't follow him on twitter.

Romance Writing Challenges: After they...you know.

Okay.....now what?

This weekend, I had the house to myself and finally finished the first love scene. Those can be difficult to write at times and I'll probably do a post on the subject later, but now I'm on to my next challenge. The afterglow and new tier of emotional conflict. As much as one would like for the hero and heroine to declare their love and get their HEA after they finally get it on, if the writer did that, there'd be no story. Also, I don't think sex has ever made an instant HEA in real life. Lust does not equal love and respect.

With that in mind, I have to work to express the new anxieties the characters face. How close are each to realizing their love for the other? What insecurities do they have about the new level of their relationship? How do they behave around the other? How is their environment and other characters affecting their actions and emotions? All this must be accomplished without too much navel-gazing and lack of action.

Often I handle this challenge by skipping ahead and writing the next BIG EVENT. This helps me analyze how far I have to go to reach it. How much needs to happen to the hero and heroine to face that event? So far it's working pretty well. I went back and wrote the first two "after math" chapters and have 1 1/2 more to go before the event occurs.

Fellow romance writers: How do you handle those chapters? Fellow romance readers: What are your favorite  ...and most loathed aspects of those scenes? 

Taking a week off due to defective internet.

Due to my provider's (un)fair use policy, I went over my monthly usage limit and thus they've slowed my internet down to a snail's pace. I watched too many rock star interviews for my research. So internet activity has been a pain. However, I still wanted to let you all know I'm alive and I miss you!

In the meantime, I'll hopefully get more writing done and things *should be back to normal next week.

To compensate for the inconvenience, I shall endure the ten minute swirly blue circle and attempt to give you another topless Johnny Depp.

....

.........

DAMN YOU, SWIRLY BLUE CIRCLE!!!

MMMMMMMM!

 Yay! It worked! Have a great week, everyone!

Summer Rerun: Hot Heroes: Reader's Perspective vs. Writer's

Been busy helping out at my local bookstore as well as my other job...and my other job: Writing. So bear with this rerun post. I welcome fresh input! 

This is a subject I've been pondering and longing to discuss for awhile. What pushed me to finally do it was when an awesome crit partner, Bonnie R. Paulson, made a comment about the hero in my current project, who's a rock legend.

"I love how he's older," she said. "He makes me think of Jon Bon Jovi."
She had the hero's age about right, though I never specified besides a vague hint. And she had his musical era down pat. The musical genre? Close, but not quite. Appearance? Well, they're both hot and had long hair and gorgeous voices. Still, it wasn't close to who I pictured, and that's great!

My point? I think I have a win here. In fact, I hope another crit partner pictures Dave Grohl from the Foo Fighters, though that's even farther from my vision. Why? For the most part, I want the reader to picture their ideal rock star, not mine.

While men seem to have a stereotype on the "perfect woman," i.e. medium height, blonde hair, thin, big boobs, etc., Women's tastes in men vary a lot. Some like 'em brunette, some like 'em blonde. Some like 'em pale, some like 'em dark. My best friend likes guys her age, another friend likes younger guys. I always went for older men. Some women like chest hair and I don't. I love Virginia Henley's novels, but every time I read about the heroine threading her fingers through the hero's "pelt," I cringe...and sometimes gag a little. Other than that, her books kick ass!

While writing, I often wonder: How specific should I get with my descriptions of the hero? Should I point out that in my mind, his chest is always hairless, he always has long hair, and unless specified otherwise, his face is usually devoid of scruff?

Then there's the other side of the coin. The ideal is that the hero should always be tall, muscular, and well- endowed. (Seriously, I saw that in a publisher's submission guidelines.) I'm going to let you in on a little secret: Not all of my heroes are tall and hung. It seems redundant and unrealistic to me. Many fit those qualifications, but some of my guys are average...and some may be short in stature for a romance hero...and okay, I admit, none are "below average" in the other aspect.

So far, I'm handling this by not getting too specific about those details. With some heroes, I'll point out that they're tall and have bare chests, but with others, I won't specify. I'll just mention his chest, or his presence with no reference to height or body hair at all. Same with the size of his junk. The reader can fill that in. One thing I won't bend on is that my heroes will either always have long hair, or they'll be bald. I'm an all or nothing kind of girl. :)

I remember an online discussion in which someone said, "If a man in a romance novel has long hair, I block it out."

Well, I'm the same way. Unless the author constantly emphasizes the hero's short hair, I picture him with long, lustrous locks, and with no "pelt" on his chest.

My question to you is: When is it fine for the author to leave things to your imagination, and when do you want the dirty details? When does MY idea of a hot guy freeze out yours?