Day: December 27, 2021

Changes

It’s the time of year when I finalize my reassessment of my life goals. I’m making major changes come January 1. I revealed one in last week’s post: no more RWA local chapter. That one saddens me, but I’m also looking forward to being a part of revitalizing a once vibrant community.

The major change is that I am retiring from my day job and becoming a full-time author.

Another big one is putting this blog on hiatus. I have been blogging for years. The time is right for me to take a breather.

I am also revamping my newsletter. Instead of publishing only when I have news to share, “MJ’s Musings” will be emailed on the second Tuesday of every month. The newsletter will have a new look in addition to the new title.  You can sign up to receive the newsletter right here on the blog/website. The sign-up form is at the top of the right-hand column.  There will also be links on my social media sites.

Thank you for following me here. Have a wonderful 2022.

 

 

Movie: The Flower of My Secret

My husband said, “It’s about a romance author.” So we watched it.

This 1995 Spanish film is about the falling-apart life of a famous, best-selling romance author. The opening is freely based on a short story by Dorothy Parker. Miles Davis composed the soundtrack.

  • The main character, Leo, wants to expand her repertoire. Her publisher wants her romance novels. They reject her “darker” work, saying it violates her contract.
  • Her marriage is disintegrating.
  • A script she wrote and threw away has been made into a movie–without her knowledge or permission.
  • The people on whom she thought she could depend either betray or abandon her.

The film is filled with interesting characters, passion, and even some melodrama. There are incidents you see coming; plot twists you may not.  It is in Spanish, with subtitles.

Four stars.

Thursday Thought: Typewriters

The other day I recaptured a memory from when I was very, very young.

My aunts and uncles and cousins always got together with extended family, so I knew my cousins’ aunts from the other side of their family.  This memory comes before I went to school, so I couldn’t have been much older than three or four, but it is very vivid.

My cousins’ aunt, a teenager at the time, had a toy typewriter. It was red. It typed purple, like the dittos I would later receive in school for classwork. I was obsessed with the typewriter. I remember wanting desperately to play with it. Longing to use it.

Even then, I knew I was a writer.

MJ Monday-Manuscript: Character Backstory

A member of my local RWA chapter has started virtual write-ins several nights a week and on weekends. For some reason, this has jump started work on the manuscript.

I wrote a flash-back scene a couple of months ago. I love the scene. I think I did a great job on it. However, one of my critique partners doesn’t think I need it, that I can thread the outcome of the scene through the story. This scene shows the motivation behind the decisions one of the characters makes.

But did I write it because I as the author need it or because the story needed the info in a chunk?

If I do end up cutting the scene, I’ll send it to my newsletter subscribers as extra content.

There’s always an upside.

MJ Monday-Manuscript: Excerpt

Here’s an excerpt from the very rough draft of BESIEGED BY THE MOON, tentatively scheduled for July 2020 publication:

“So you’re doctor? My mother will be thrilled,” Phoebe lied.

Parker chuckled, the vibrations rumbling against her back. I’m an EMT, working toward being a paramedic. Big difference.”

“They have schools that teach lycan medicine? Doctors and nurses?”

“I’m not a doctor, and no, I’m not aware of schools for werewolf paramedics.” He rubbed his new erection against her bottom. “Homo lupus and homo sapien are close enough in basic physiology that I can adapt my knowledge to help my pack.”

He didn’t ask her a thing about herself. That was okay. The fewer lies between them, the simpler life would be.

“Does that mean you don’t want to play doctor?”

He didn’t react. Maybe he didn’t know the sapien joke. He was male. Males didn’t have to worry about sexual assault in any form, whereas she’d been raised to be always conscious of what males were up to, especially sapien males, no matter that age.

Dustin had taught her that.

“No, I’m an EMT. Long way from being a doctor,” Parker finally said.

She tried again. “You don’t want to examine me? See if I’m hurt?” She tried to sound playful or seductive, but neither role was in her repertoire.

“I hurt you?” He was immediately concerned. “Why didn’t you say something?”

And she was the one who thought she didn’t understand the meaning of fun. What was she thinking, trying to be playful and carefree with the lobo the Creator had chosen for her? One more sign, as if she needed another, that she was meant for other things. Joy and fun were not on her agenda, right along with passion.

“You didn’t hurt me.” She swallowed a sigh. “I was being frivolous.”

Focus. That’s what Corbie would say. Stop being distracted by the unimportant. How silly to have believed mating was important.

“I don’t understand.”

“Unfocused. The important thing is we’re mated. You’ve marked me. We are one in the eyes of the Creator.”

“The Creator?” Suspicion darkened his words. “What’s your pack again?”