Barbara Neville's Blog - Posts Tagged "men-s-adventure"
Navigating the maze
For the new writer, there is no end of advice. Get lots of reviews. Reviews don't matter. Read a lot. Use Facebook ads. Show, don't tell. Or show , don't tell is bad advice. Write, write write. Listen to the plethora of online seminars.MOst of which don't tell you quite enough, but have a fabulous $10,000 product that they will sell you for $600 bucks. Hey, they may be fabulous and well worth the money, I don't know.
Okay, reviews: I used to read reviews before I went a movie To a rock concert. I missed out on seeing Elvis, because I read a bad review in the newspaper. Then, he died.
I've watched countless movies I loved or hated based on reviews that told me the opposite. Well reviewed books? No surprise, same thing. There are huge selling authors who tell, don't show. Not my thing. I just started listening to a New York Times bestselling author's latest book. It tells and tells and tells, I am a third of the way in. Will someone please speak? I usually like her books, have read most of them. But not my first choice. Could be yours. We are all individuals. I like dialogue, I greatly prefer first person. I like to be shown. One of my favorite movies, which I've watched over and over because good movies are hard to find, is Armageddon, which I like for the witty repartee between the actors. Firefly is the classic. I like action, too, but the snarky dialogue is what grabs me.
Spenser and Hawk (or Z), Elvis Cole and Joe Pike, Stone Barrington and Dino, Stephanie Plum and Lula, Longmire and Vic. I especially love Vic's smart mouth. The buddy thing; Danny Glover and Mel Gibson in the Lethal Weapon movies.
The list isn't long enough, I want more. I like the smartass, the plot is less important. As Ace Atkins said recently (and I paraphrase); if you're reading Spenser for the plot, you're missing the whole point. Sure, that may be the opposite of what you like. Sly Stone said it best, "Different Strokes for Different Folks." I want to be drawn in, be a part of the conversation, be in on the action. Be the protagonist or be in love with him, either way. Be the most badass cowboy in the saloon. But, hey, maybe that's just me.
Okay, reviews: I used to read reviews before I went a movie To a rock concert. I missed out on seeing Elvis, because I read a bad review in the newspaper. Then, he died.
I've watched countless movies I loved or hated based on reviews that told me the opposite. Well reviewed books? No surprise, same thing. There are huge selling authors who tell, don't show. Not my thing. I just started listening to a New York Times bestselling author's latest book. It tells and tells and tells, I am a third of the way in. Will someone please speak? I usually like her books, have read most of them. But not my first choice. Could be yours. We are all individuals. I like dialogue, I greatly prefer first person. I like to be shown. One of my favorite movies, which I've watched over and over because good movies are hard to find, is Armageddon, which I like for the witty repartee between the actors. Firefly is the classic. I like action, too, but the snarky dialogue is what grabs me.
Spenser and Hawk (or Z), Elvis Cole and Joe Pike, Stone Barrington and Dino, Stephanie Plum and Lula, Longmire and Vic. I especially love Vic's smart mouth. The buddy thing; Danny Glover and Mel Gibson in the Lethal Weapon movies.
The list isn't long enough, I want more. I like the smartass, the plot is less important. As Ace Atkins said recently (and I paraphrase); if you're reading Spenser for the plot, you're missing the whole point. Sure, that may be the opposite of what you like. Sly Stone said it best, "Different Strokes for Different Folks." I want to be drawn in, be a part of the conversation, be in on the action. Be the protagonist or be in love with him, either way. Be the most badass cowboy in the saloon. But, hey, maybe that's just me.
Rain in Arizona
It's raining outside, after a hundred plus degree afternoon. It isn't supposed to rain. June is southern Arizona's driest month. San Juan's Day (June 24th) is the average return of the annual monsoon, a hundred miles south of here in Hermosillo, Sonora. Ours usually hits us in the park on the 4th of July. With the hundred degrees morning and early afternoon and the rain, mostly light now, I've gotten a lot done indoors on the keyboard. I've updated the new book. Cowboy Dictionary is the name. It's in preorder on Amazon. It is a compilation of the cowboy vernacular terms my characters use and plus Hawaiian pidgin, and some Spanish. Plus character descriptions. It's set up to accompany the series as word has it that some found it entertaining in and of itself. A short book, very short at ten or eleven pages. And I added another three thousand pages to book ten. The rain is reminding me to add atmosphere. Which is what I started doing this morning, then I got sidetracked by plot. Such is life. I follow the muse more than the outline. Don't really have an outline yet at 24,500 word in. And, I recommend you follow your muse. It's fun. And don't forget to read, it opens new worlds
