I Heart Crappy Books

Oh, yes I do! There are several in my ebook collection as well as my bound book collection. And yes, they are keepers!

I love books with plot holes, bad transitions, cardboard villains, poor punctuation, and adverbs galore. Books with dues ex machina endings. Books that suddenly shift genres in the middle. Books with heroes and heroines who are too stupid to live. Books where heroes would need tentacle parts and be made out of rubber to be able to actually pull off the sex scene.

Wanna know why?

Because it gives me hope. If these are getting published, then why not mine?

I'm not saying that I make all those blunders I listed above. There are some that I do. (I'll let you ponder which ones.) But whenever I get really down on my writing- like now- I pull out one of these little gems and read and laugh and fan that tiny ember of hope within my little writer's heart that someday, I too might get published.

Does It Make Me Pathetic If...

I still want Freezy Freakies?



I always wanted them when I was a kid, but never had them. I found a pair on ebay, but of course they only come in kids' sizes. *sigh*

So things around Chez Quinn have again gone into ludicrous speed. We may have even gone into plaid. I'm a little unsure at the moment. So suffice it to say, not a lot of writing is getting done. Yet for some reason I find the time to fantasize about Freezy Freakies. Go figure.

I've reached my monthly goal for my writing group, but not my weekly goal for my accountability partner. Check in is tomorrow with her. Hopefully she's not reading this and preparing to kick my ass.

So what crazy stuff is going on in your life? Anyone so out of control that they've reached plaid? (And you earn a Chez Quinn salute if you tell me the movie to which I'm alluding.)

The Chez Quinn salute looks a little like this:

Heard From The Back Seat

- Um, unicorn, I can't help you right now. My babies are trying to kill me.
- I have my duckies. (Imaginary ones) The green one bites, so watch out. His teeth are huge. The purple one just gives kisses.
- EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE...Eeeeeeeeeeeeee....eeeuuuueeeeee
- No! I'm not talking to you! I'm Cinderella and I'm DEAD!!! So No Talking!


My mechanic once noted that no car seats could fit on the back of my motorcycle. I turned to him and replied sweetly, "That's kinda the point."

B. B. King Is A National Treasure

Chez Quinn started the year off right. Not only did The Man and I get to go on a date, but he took me to see B. B. King. It was an outstanding show.

We've seen B. B. King on two other occasions. The first time was a few days before 9/11 in Hershey, PA where he performed with Buddy Guy (who is AWESOME too) and John Hiatt. The second time was three and a half years ago when I was eight months pregnant. So technically, the youngest urchin has been to a B. B. King concert too. The sound table was obstructing our view of that one. But things turned out fantastic because we were moved to the third row where I could see every fret on Lucille.

The Man and I really wanted to see him again, since we knew he's getting up there in age. He announced at the concert that he is now 85 years old. And let me tell you, the man can still rock. The singing and guitar playing were brilliant. Plus he talks to the crowd quite a bit and is funny as hell.

His band has been with him for years. The "new guy" has only been with him for twenty years, so you know these are top notch musicians. They put on a great show too.

After his performance, Mr. King threw guitar picks to the crowd, posed for pictures from the stage and signed anything handed to him. For thirty minutes. The man is a class act. He's been an ambassador for the United states and has toured over ninety countries.

On the way home, talking about the show, I informed The Man that B. B. King was a national treasure. In Japan, people can become living national treasures when they are "keepers of intangible cultural properties." And I believe with all my heart that B. B. King is one of The United States' living national treasures.

So The Man and I started playing one of our favorite games. "Who/What Would Be On Your List?" And I figured I'd play this game with you. Who would be on your list of Living National Treasures of the United States of America?

I'd truly love to know!

Writing Advice

No, not from me to you. At this point I'd be the last person to take writing advice from. I just wanted to share some advice I read in two different places last month that really stuck with me. Here it is.

Don't be afraid to write a crappy first draft. You can always go back and clean it up later, but you can't fix a blank screen.

Seems pretty obvious, right? I think I was finally ready to really hear it last month. I've been yelling at myself to finish a wip, any wip, for the past year, but for one reason or another it didn't get done. I'm not sure if this advice will help with that endeavor, but it's really resonating with me.

I was getting in my own way whenever I found the time to write last year. This year I'm going to make a concerted effort to turn off the nay-saying voice that drones in my head as I write, and just get the story out.

Easier said than done, in my case. But I'll give it a shot. Though at this point the nay-saying voice turns into Yoda.



So, is there any writing advice that you heard when you were actually ready to hear it? Or maybe some advice that really stuck with you. I'd love to know what it was.