Nat’l Opposite Day

It’s National Opposite Day. It’s supposed to be a day for kids being silly.

But opposites is an interesting concept. It’s a tool writers use to keep their stories interesting.

Romance authors are often told, “write the firefighter and the arsonist.” Opposites create conflict. Conflict is what keeps a story interesting.

One tool authors use is called the List of Twenty. Write down the problem at the top of the page then come up with 20 solutions. The first five answers will be obvious. The cliches. The tried-and-true. The next five will be ridiculous. Supposedly the next ten will work for you because you’ve gotten the cliches cleared away and jumpstarted true creative thinking.

I used the List of Twenty with success while writing And Jericho Burned. My problems was what kind of trauma would my heroine have suffered as a child that would turn her into a claustrophobic. I think I came up with a great answer.

I read another interesting exercise the other day: write down nine things that wouldn’t work. Just the opposite of the above. This has the mind approaching the problem from the opposite angle.

In The Writing the Breakout Novel Workbook super agent Donald Maas suggests reversing motivations. Another of his exercises consists of figuring out what a character would never do, then have the character do that.  His standard advice on almost every aspect of writing is “do the opposite.”

In my February 28 release, Mask of the KingI made sure my hero reacted to something in a way my editor didn’t expect. That’s a twist. I think most readers will expect him to react in a certain manner, which is one of the reasons I didn’t write the scene that way.

Opposites. They don’t just attract, they rock.

 

 

 

 

 

Looking Back

I was leafing through an old note book and came across an exercise in which I was asked to describe my perfect work space.

Bare windows with blinds to close at night. Bare wooden floors. Pale apricot walls. A desk. A great chair.

Laptop computer.

Great audio system. A rocking chair in front of the windows.

I work there whenever I can. My dream schedule–work 7am to 3pm every day. No other people around.

How do I feel working here? Good. Productive. Fitting inside my skin.

Welcomed. I feel welcomed.

I guess it’s still a work in progress.

The Purse Project: J. Lynn Rowan

I kind of hate purses. This aversion goes back to my college years, when I felt it necessary to separate myself from the less-than-adorable purses my well-meaning relatives tended to gift me around holidays and birthdays. I had one of those itty bitty college wallets, embossed with my school’s logo, that didn’t hold much behind my official ID, driver’s license, and five bills. And if I could get away with not carrying even that tiny, relatively useless thing, I’d do it.

Supposedly, the contents of a woman’s purse can reveal things about her personality and lifestyle. You’d have to take the contents of my purse in tandem with the contents of whatever larger bag it’s usually being carried in to really get a sense of who I am.

Purse + work bag = teacher who keeps procrastinating about grading papers.

Purse + diaper bag = mom who really wishes her kid would figure out how to use the potty so we can downsize said diaper bag.

When you narrow it down to just my purse, though, it’s pretty basic.

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A wallet. Yes, it matches the purse (and diaper bag). I like things to color coordinate.

  1. Smartphone. Because connectivity.
  2. Gift cards that may or may not have money left on them.
  3. Lip balm of some sort, usually Blistex. My lips always seem to be chapped.
  4. Lipstick and lip gloss, specifically Mary Kay because that’s the only brand of lip color I’ve purchased in the past ten years. The only reason it’s even in there is because I went to a wedding a month and a half ago, and still haven’t remembered to take the lip color back OUT of my purse.
  5. Business card carrier, because you never know when someone might ask about your books and you want to send them easily to your website.

Interestingly, I rarely carry my keys in my purse, unless I’m out and about without one of my larger bags.

I guess I’m still a minimalist at heart.

At least when it comes to my purse.

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Marissa O’Brien has sworn off long-term relationships. But all her rules fly out the window when she grabs the attention of a sexy, international stranger during her weekly Girls’ Night Out.

Josh Mattingly has spent the last two years trying to turn over a new leaf. In Asheville, North Carolina, on business, the last thing he’d planned on was getting involved with a local girl. But one encounter with Marissa has him hooked.

Marissa recognizes a playboy when she sees one and tries to keep her attraction to Josh under wraps–until they share a passionate kiss that leaves both of them singed. Now Josh has to prove to Marissa that she can trust him with her heart.

The One I’m With is available at Amazon.

About the author: Lynn Rowan started writing stories as a small child, usually starring her favorite cartoon characters. Most of her work through middle and high school was filled with typical teenage angst and melodrama, and usually mirrored the books she loved to read. But eventually she found her own author’s voice and decided to seriously pursue a writing career.

Historical fiction remains J. Lynn’s “first love”, but she has enjoyed the journey to becoming an author of romance and chick lit. She is a member of Romance Writers of America, the Central New York Romance Writers, and the Historical Novel Society. She is also a teacher who tries to instill a love of learning, reading, and writing in her students.

When she’s not writing, J. Lynn enjoys travelling, gardening poorly but enthusiastically, studying various topics in American history for her own expertise, and channeling Julia Child every time she steps into the kitchen.

A native of Oswego, NY, she now lives in Charlotte, NC, with her own Romantic Hero of a husband and the most adorable toddler on the planet.

Follow J. Lynn on social media:

A Tribute to His Bob-Ness

If you know anything at all about me, you know I am a Bob Dylan fan.

I have been a Bob Dylan fan since there was such a thing to be.

When I was a teenager, I wanted to be Bob Dylan. I wrote a term paper comparing His Bob-ness’s lyrics to those of Paul Simon.

I have actually read–multiple times–Tarantula. I still quote it regularly. And yes, it’s well-loved. (See the red electrical tape on the spine?)

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Yes, I still have the Milton Glaser poster, although it it battered from being hung in so many apartments. Unframed. With thumbtacks. Shoot me now.

On one of our early dates, TV Stevie asked me what my favorite Dylan album was. “Blood on the Tracks,” I replied. “Mine, too,” he said. Turns out the man had every single Dylan album, plus a lot of bootleg stuff. (Remember, music wasn’t as accessible back then as it is now. The bootleg stuff? Was really bootlegged.) I’ve been joking for over 25 years that I married TV Stevie for his Dylan collection.

The first concert to which we took the chromos was Bob Dylan (and Willie Nelson) at Doubleday Field in Cooperstown, NY.  X-Chromo does a fabulous Dylan imitation.

A current co-worker once said, “Everyone back then was a Beatles or Rolling Stone fan.” “Hello?” I said. “Not me. His Bob-ness was my musical mecca.” Co-worker laughed and conceded the point.

I have a mix of songs I call “Dylan Says It Best” that I listen to when I’m angry or upset. If the situation is right, I sing along as loud as I can. I don’t have to worry about being on key.

Imagine my utter delight when I learned His Bob-ness won the Nobel Prize for Literature. I have been saying for years that he is a lyrical genius. Guess I’m not the only one who thinks that.

So, just for fun, I’m resurrecting a post from April 2014.

Using only song names from ONE ARTIST, cleverly answer these questions.  Try not to repeat a song title. It’s a lot harder than you think!
Pick your Artist: Bob Dylan
Are you a Male or a Female: JUST LIKE A WOMAN
Describe Yourself: ONLY A PAWN IN THEIR GAME
How do you feel: FOREVER YOUNG
Describe where you currently live: GIRL FROM THE NORTH COUNTRY
If you could go anywhere, where would you go: BLACK DIAMOND BAY
Your Favorite form of Transportation: BLOWING IN THE WIND or LIKE A ROLLING STONE
Your Best Friend is: ABSOLUTELY SWEET MARIE
You and your best friends are: RAINY DAY WOMEN
What’s the weather like: A HARD RAIN’S GONNA FALL or HURRICANE
Favorite Time of Day: MEET ME IN THE MORNING
If your life was a TV show, what would it be called: WHEN I PAINT MY MASTERPIECE
What is life to you: I SHALL BE FREE
Your last relationship: MR. TAMBOURINE MAN
Your fear: MONEY BLUES
What is the best advice you have to give: DON’T THINK TWICE, IT’S ALL RIGHT
Thought for the day: ONE MORE CUP OF COFFEE
How I would like to die: KNOCKING ON HEAVEN’S DOOR
My soul’s present condition: BEYOND THE HORIZON
My motto: THE TIMES, THEY ARE A CHANGING

 

 

 

 

 

National Dictionary Day.

Celebrating dictionaries!

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All kinds of dictionaries!

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And yes, I can look that up in my Funk & Wagnall.

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But one thing I’ve never understood: when I used to ask how to spell something, teachers/parents would say, “Look it up in the dictionary.” Hello? How am I supposed to look up something I can’ spell?