See that bottle of lotion? Top shelf, right? It's massage lotion from Garden of Eden! I'm giving away a bottle of that! I picked the custom fragrance of...you guessed it. Fresh Grass! No kidding. It smells like a dream and surely something Adrian would brew up! Also, I willthrow in a nifty desk calendar and a pdf copy of Green Grass for one lucky winner. All you have to do is leave a comment here, on my blog during the next week, August 2nd-8th. I will pool the emails and select one winner.

I recently did an interview with the hero of my new release, GREEN GRASS. (Out today from Whiskey Creek Press Torrid! http://www.whiskeycreekpresstorrid.com) If you want to check out the interview, it's over at my author page at Coffee Time Romance.
http://www.coffeetimeromance.com/board/forumdisplay.php?f=1351

It's great fun to "talk" to your characters. Dang, they can be clever. But here's the rub. Get really close to the monitor, because I am going to whisper something....they are not real.

At some point the conversation becomes inevitably ridiculous.
"So Kevin, do you wish I would have given you a bigger dick?"
"Ah, yeah Gem. Why so stingy? And I want to be a body builder, not a scientist."
"Too late to change you."
"Will there be a sequel?"
"Perhaps, but some body parts I can't change."

It's all in good fun. Honestly, relating to my last blog about writing conflict, I think it might be good writing technique to interview all the characters BEFORE you write them. Get them on the couch. "So tell me all about yourself. What are your goals? Your motivation? Your conflicts?"

Wow, I am onto something here. Gotta go. I'm going to do some interviews....

Check out Green Grass!

Gem

Writing Conflict

That title has multiple meanings. I am having a writing conflict lately. I sit and write endless dialogue -- some of it really pretty darn good. Page after page turns into chapter after chapter. What's the problem? No conflict. My characters are just blathering along, happily, with occasional angst. We are getting to know them, we are getting a sense of place, setting, emotional involvement. JUST NO CONFLICT.

My strength as a writer is in character development. I've also "been told" that I can create a feeling -- put you there with the characters. Mood... So we are are warm and fuzzy and feeling the mood. Yawn.

Story ideas pop into my head like daisies. They really do. I've heard other authors talk about a lack of ideas. That's not my problem, but I can't seem to get beyond the initial story line. I imagine all my characters are in position, sitting around the bonfire that I have so painstakingly created and then suddenly all eyes are one me.

"What do you want us to do? Roast wienies and sing songs?"

No that won't work. How about somebody stand up and strike another with a baseball bat. Yikes -- not my style. WHERE'S THE CONFLICT?

I'm in a pickle. We live our lives every day with little conflicts arising. Makes me realize how insignificant our daily strife really is. We should always ask ourselves -- when it seems the world will come to an end when the person in line ahead of us takes the last cupcake -- would this make for an interesting plot conflict? If the answer is no, we should let it go. In life and in writing.

Later - Gem