What's in Your Wallet?

The other day I spent some time at a local hospital with my sister. While there I made the mistake of leaving my purse behind (this is not the first time I've left it, but that's totally besides the point). Security called me and I arranged for my sister to pick up the purse. When she started talking to the security personnel she was told that based on the contents of my purse I must be a fascinating person with one officer wondering how it was possible that I got so much stuff into one purse. (It's a Mary Poppins thing).

This reminded me of a character exercise I thought I'd share where you define everything that is in a character's wallet, purse, backpack, bat belt, whatever and consider what that says about the character. Is there a condom at the ready? A punch card which has never been filled, or is filled and not used? A picture of a child or an ex lover? How many credit cards do they carry? What's on the cards? What does it say about them?

I've not used this exercise in a while, but having lived a version of it recently I've started applying it again and it's fun to see who someone is as seen through the lens of their wallet. So there's your challenge gentle writer, take your main character and dump their wallet out on the table. Decide what they carry and why and see how this informs the character and how they work in the story. You might be surprised at what secrets can hide in the depths of a purse.

And for the curious my purse held: flower shaped buttons, a headband, some random electronic cords (no idea what those go to, but I might need them some day), two thumb drives, a coupon book, 3 writing notebooks, a variety of pens, chapstick, an iPad with a cracked screen, a half crocheted baby dress and extra yarn, scissors, bandaids, emergency feminine supplies, a book of checks, M&Ms in a ziploc baggie and some random receipts. Mostly I think that says the owner is a geeky writer who likes M&Ms and craft projects, but take from it what you will.

~J

The Benefits of PitMad, Even When You're Not Participating

For the uninitiated #PitMad is a Twitter event which happens four times a year. It has also spawned a lot of other similar hash tag events such as #sffpit and #carinapitch, but the idea being this is a 12 hour period for folks to boil their new book down to less than 140 characters and put it out on Twitter. During this 12 hours and usually a day or two thereafter, agents, publishers, editors and other such folks look through the pitches and if they have interest they give the pitch a 'favorite' and instructions for how to submit the book. The whole event is chaotic and crazy and lots of fun even if you aren't participating.

Yep, you heard that last line right. #PitMad is worth popping in and seeing even if you aren't ready to pitch. And a note to that, if your manuscript is not completed, polished, edited, polished some more and as good as you can make it you're not ready. Now, if you're not ready there are good reasons to attend anyway, which I'll get to, but there is also a really good reason NOT to attend. If you can't resist the siren lure of joining in and tossing out a pitch when you're not ready then stay far away. Because you want to pitch when you're ready, not when you could end up sending out a manuscript that isn't ready because someone thought it sounded interesting and now they see a manuscript that they don't want because it was hastily completed instead of one they would have wanted in two months when it was actually done.

Provided you can resist this, here are reasons to at least check the tag out.

1: You can get a feel as to which agents are there and sometimes what they're looking for. They'll list submission guidelines and you can follow the agents on Twitter to learn more.

2: You can get a good feel as to what is popular right now. What are other people writing and how does your manuscript fit into that?

3: You can meet a lot of people and build your network of authors which can lead to beta readers, reviews, critique partners and general awesomeness. This event is all about writers and agents coming together, but there's no reason writers can't come together too.

Is the event perfect? Nope. It's very spammy and you can really get sucked in all day if you let yourself. I expect we'll continue to see streamlining as it goes forward and some agents would really rather you just query them directly, always do your research and follow guidelines! However I still believe #PitMad is worth a visit and can be really exciting and inspirational to your writing.

The next one will be in June. I hope to see you there. You can find me on Twitter @janastocks.

Pinterest versus Toddler...

As we were making dinner this weekend my husband paused, looking down at a glass vase full of soapy water and half a banana. The banana was blissfully floating on top of the bubbly water and after a minute he made a face. "Is this a Pinterest thing? Does the banana help get the water spots off or something?"

Now, this really isn't that odd of a question. We've tried some weird Pinterest stuff before, some of which was brilliant and some of which was...well...ineffective. However, this time it was a case of the rabid toddler. She wanted a banana, then once she got one she didn't want it anymore and was about to throw it on the floor. I scolded her that we don't throw food, so she plopped it into the vase (which was soaking to get the spots off).

The next morning I tossed everything down the sink and gave the vase a good rinse. To be honest the spots from the flowers and hard water lifted right off. I don't know if it was the banana or not, but hey.... Maybe I should Pin the suggestion.

Writer Snacks - Tater Treats

One thing I have noticed that for many writers, we do our best work when our stomachs are full. I remember reading once that Janet Evanovich ate cheesy poofs while writing and had to constantly replace her keyboards and I'm certain she's not the only one. I try not to, really, but there's just something about chocolate and creativity that go hand in hand. But chocolate aside these sweet potato treats are one of my very favorite writing snacks and they're pretty good for you too!

Tater Treats

1 large garnet sweet potato/yam
olive oil
salt
shredded cheese
cooked, crumbled bacon
green onion

Preheat oven to 425. Prepare a cookie sheet by covering with foil then putting a cooling rack on top. This way the air can get to the bottom of the taters and crisp them up. Wash and peel the sweet potato and slice into 1/8 inch rounds. Hubby and I use a mandolin for this and it's the thick slice setting. Coat very lightly with oil and lay out on the rack, touching but not overlapping. Sprinkle with salt and bake for 35 minutes. Pull from the oven and sprinkle with cheese, bacon, onion and a little fresh ground pepper and return to the oven for 5 minutes. Once everything is melty and luscious remove from oven. Allow to cool just enough that the cheese doesn't resemble edible napalm and munch. Great source of fiber, vitamins and goodness and low carb to boot. You can go for lower fat by using turkey bacon and a low fat cheese, but if you're gonna splurge go for the good stuff!

So what treat fuels your creativity?

Loving Genre in Selected Media

I have often heard that to truly love a particular genre or fandom, you have to learn to appreciate it in all its forms from books, to movies, to music, to cons, etc. While I understand the fannish drive behind this idea, I have to disagree and think it is quite possible to love some aspects of a genre or fandom without being fond of all aspects.

For example there is a lovely sub genre called Steampunk which a lot of you are likely familiar with. But boiled down it is a look at life if invention had favored steam versus electric progression. There are a lot of fun things like airships and clockwork creatures and beautiful, expressive clothing for man, woman and child. I love this genre as a visual medium. I love the pictures and the clothing and the imagination it evokes. However, I have tried to read various Steampunk novels and short stories and while I get through them, they just don't cause the same kind of thrill for me. So I've had to decide that I love Steampunk visually, but not literarily (I may have just made up that word), and I'm okay with that and think it's alright if I participate in the parts I like and not as much in the other without it meaning I've ceased to be a fan.

What about the rest of you? Are there certain parts of a genre or subgenre that just don't do it for you, even when the rest of the trappings may be a favorite? Or am I alone in the universe?

JL