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Where have I been? A few of my regular readers have emailed me that question. Behind the 8 ball is one answer. I have just come off 12 days straight at the blood center for which I work, and many of those days had nights interrrupted with calls for blood runs to hospitals. No straight-through hours of sleep for me.
And my landlord chose this my first day off to replace the huge front windows to my apartment. So all in all, I feel like a chew toy for a shark. No, not even that good. So no writing on my novels or my blog yesterday or today. Whew!
But I have been plotting on my sequel to FRENCH QUARTER NOCTURNE. And mulling over my irritation at all the pretty boy vampires and werewolves in recent books and movies. I mean, I fully expect to walk down a bookstore aisle and read the title, WHY IS MY VAMPIRE BOYFRIEND PRETTIER THAN ME? Another irritation is how most female protagonists are sought after by every good-looking character, natural and supernatural, in the book.
Yes, most genre novels are wish-fulfillments for the readers. But I, for one, lose belief in the character who doesn't have a blemish or two and who longs for one particular guy/girl to call who never does. There has to be a connection for me with the hero or heroine if I am to enjoy the tale. For me, James Bond became more interesting with CASINO ROYALE where all his edges weren't so polished, and he made mistakes. Pointer for all of you writers out there : make your hero someone the reader pulls for.
Of course there is the question : does the premise come first or the lead character? A killer premise is great for a one-shot. But if you want to write a series, then the character must come first. One of the things that killed TV's first NIGHT STALKER was taking it from a one shot movie to a series. You could buy a nosy reporter stumbling into one supernatural story. But week after week? The viewers didn't buy it. And they stopped watching. Except for me. I loved Darrin McGavin and Kolchek. You see, character.
Of course, it doesn't hurt to appeal to the fanboys out there as in this new summer movie :
And my landlord chose this my first day off to replace the huge front windows to my apartment. So all in all, I feel like a chew toy for a shark. No, not even that good. So no writing on my novels or my blog yesterday or today. Whew!
But I have been plotting on my sequel to FRENCH QUARTER NOCTURNE. And mulling over my irritation at all the pretty boy vampires and werewolves in recent books and movies. I mean, I fully expect to walk down a bookstore aisle and read the title, WHY IS MY VAMPIRE BOYFRIEND PRETTIER THAN ME? Another irritation is how most female protagonists are sought after by every good-looking character, natural and supernatural, in the book.
Yes, most genre novels are wish-fulfillments for the readers. But I, for one, lose belief in the character who doesn't have a blemish or two and who longs for one particular guy/girl to call who never does. There has to be a connection for me with the hero or heroine if I am to enjoy the tale. For me, James Bond became more interesting with CASINO ROYALE where all his edges weren't so polished, and he made mistakes. Pointer for all of you writers out there : make your hero someone the reader pulls for.
Of course there is the question : does the premise come first or the lead character? A killer premise is great for a one-shot. But if you want to write a series, then the character must come first. One of the things that killed TV's first NIGHT STALKER was taking it from a one shot movie to a series. You could buy a nosy reporter stumbling into one supernatural story. But week after week? The viewers didn't buy it. And they stopped watching. Except for me. I loved Darrin McGavin and Kolchek. You see, character.
Of course, it doesn't hurt to appeal to the fanboys out there as in this new summer movie :
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