Anna Alexander

Posted By Anna on March 14, 2010

The end. Those are sweet words to a writer. Earlier this week I was able to type “The End” on the rough draft of my superhero story. Yeah!!!! So, do I immediately dive into re-writes? Noooo.

I have always equated writing to baking and decorating a cake with the rough draft being the cake layer. When you take a cake out of the oven, you don’t immediately start icing it. The filling would slide out and the icing would melt off. You have to let it cool. Same thing with the rough draft. You walk away and just let it be for a while, then come back to it with fresh eyes.

Now the question becomes what do I do while it’s cooling? I write constantly. I write when I drive and during my lunch break. I write when I’m brushing my teeth and putting on my make-up. I am rarely ever not writing. So how do I fill me time for the next week?

Well, of course I will read. I have the entire series of Y the Last Man on my nightstand.

I’ll work on my blog.

I’ll evaluate where my queries are at on my ghost story.

Workout more.

Fold some laundry.

Sleep. Yeah, sleep is a good idea.

That should fill a week nicely. Now if I could only stop thinking of new scenes to add until my self imposed vacation is over.

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Tags: Writing

Posted By Anna on February 26, 2010

As I was watching the Olympics I realized that there was a treasure trove of potential character names from the roster of athletes. Coming up with surnames is a struggle for me. I can spend hours choosing just the right one, and I notice they tend to be more Anglo-Saxon in nature. Perhaps its because they are easier to read and spell. But sometimes you want to add a little ethnic flavor to a character and pouring over books of names gets tedious.

Inspiration struck when I was watching the men’s figure skating competition and French skater Florent Amodio took to the ice. Interesting name, I thought. Exotic, yet easy to pronounce and spell. Then Stephane Lambiel appeared and spun his way into our collective memory. Ah-ha, I have found a new resource!

Can’t you just imagine a viking warlord named after alpine skier Aksel Lund Svindal? Joannie Rochette sounds like a super spy to me. Is Christop Sumann an Austrian businessman or biathlon silver medalist?

Unfortunately, not all names are made for a hero or heroine. Gregor Schlierenzauer might have won a gold medal and two bronzes, but his name doesn’t quite flow across your vision. Not only would  spellchecker go crazy, it would become a blob word that you skip to move on to words you know.  Skipping words can take a reader out of your story which is the last thing a writer wants.

So while Italian speed skater Matteo Anesi may have ended up thirtieth in the 1000 meters, perhaps he will find victory as my latest superhero. A former race car driver who is involved in a fiery crash that ignites his power to control any piece of machinery.

Actually, I like that.

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Posted By Anna on February 15, 2010

I am two-thirds of the way through the rough draft of my superhero novel, and of course, this is when my muse takes a hiatus. The horrible thing is I know what happens next. I’ve seen the scene a hundred times. I just have to put it on the page. But for some reason the words are not coming out.

It’s not a matter of my characters being unwilling. No, they are more than ready to reach happily ever after. It’s a matter of me not being able to write crap. Well, the first draft is crap regardless, but I am focusing too much on making this pass well crafted from the get-go. I need to get it on the page and lay it all out. Then go back and layer, layer, layer. I know this is how I prefer to write. Why can’t I do it?

I’m blaming the rain. I cannot function when I am cold, and I am cold if it is under 60 degrees outside. Needless to say, I am cold often. All I want to do is hibernate under a big down comforter with a steaming mug of hot cocoa and watch The Vampire Diaries all day. Not a good plan. This week I can blame the Olympics. Damn you NBC for doing such a great job on characterizing the weather as the villain during the biathlon. Who knew cross country skiing could be so riveting?

So, how do I whip the muse back into action? Writing in long hand usually helps. I get distracted by the red and green squiggly lines in spellcheck. Hunting and pecking keys are also a rhythm breaker. Long car rides are also helpful. It’s not like you have any place else to go, so it’s an excellent location to compose.

And when all of that fails, you just got to kick its ass. Seriously. Put pen to paper, no matter how painful it is, and eventually the words will come. As Cherry Adair says “I give you permission to write crap.”

Now where’s my whip?

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Posted By Anna on February 14, 2010

Join myself and author Christa Mchugh on the podcast Romantically Speaking, hosted by fellow writer Danielle Monsch. Topics of discussion include Taylor Lautner turning eighteen (happy birthday!), the roles of the cougar and the male virgin characters in romance novels (although not necessarily in the same book), and whether e-books are viable publishers. (yes they are!)

It was lots of fun and I look forward to participating again.

www.daniellemonsch.com

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Tags: Podcast, romance novels, Writing

Posted By Anna on January 28, 2010

As I read one of Lora Leigh’s latest novels, Guilty Pleasure, I have a reoccurring thought. What is up with the mid-twenty year old female virgin?

Let me elaborate. I have read dozens of contemporary novels (many of them by Ms. Leigh) where the heroine is still a virgin at twenty-seven and is involved with a hero who has copulated more times than a frog catches flies in the Louisiana bayou. And for some reason, this is supposed to be okay. I’m not saying that a woman shouldn’t wait to have sex, but it’s 2010. The pill has been around for forty-five, fifty years. The people who preached ‘free love’ are grandparents now, it seems that the virgin heroine is a bit outdated.

Not only that, but why are 99.9% of their heroes experienced and sometimes borderline-gigolo lovers? I know that if I was in a heroine’s spiky stilettos and was confronted with a man with a list of previous lovers longer than my hair, I would have to question his ability to connect with me beyond the bedroom, and for a mintue pause and say, eww, I don’t find that attractive.  Of course that is reality, and in fantasy I would brush aside those concerns and formulate a plan to “save him.” Prove to him that by allowing him to be the first, the bond will be stronger. Because that obviously worked with his first.

In the historical novels it is a given that the hero would be more experienced, that was the way things were. But just once I would love to see a widowed heroine who knew what she wanted in the bedroom and was not afraid to show the hero a few tricks. I know that there must have been a couple somewhere in the 1400’s that had  fantastic sex and it did not involve the heroine’s eyes bulging in shock as she had to look away with a blush after her first glance of a naked man.

But as I rant about the innocent/gigolo storylines I come to my real query. Where are the male virgins? Where is the twenty year old male who waited until the ‘right woman’ came along before indulging his carnal needs? Where is the hero who knew the first time he saw our fair heroine that she was the one for him, and did not attempt to move beyond from what could never be by loosing himself between the thighs of another? The modern heroine is supposed to be a strong, intelligent, independant woman who doesn’t need a man to be complete, where is that hero?

Some would say that there isn’t a market for it, I say it would be as refreshing as a glass of chilled reisling. Some would also say “Well where is your virtuous hero?” And I would respond, oh, but I have one.

Yes, Dex is my sweet, hunky, twenty-something year old male virgin. He sits and pines for Astrid as he gathers the courage to ask the lovely shopkeeper out. Unfortunately for Dex I have nine other heroes who are demanding their stories be written first, and as they are part of two series, he will have to be patient. Yes, these heroes are experience, but so are their women.

But fear not my pure, untouched friend, your day will come, and until then I will muddle through the sea of lily white, highly educated(in all areas but male/female physical relations) maidens who beg for the grungy touch of a well muscled, charming hero who couldn’t wait to lose his cherry.

I hear you, why do I keep reading them? The answer to that is I do not know. It wasn’t mentioned on the back cover blurb, because if it was, I would not have picked it up.

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Tags: romance novels, Writing

Posted By Anna on December 29, 2009

Last weekend my family and I went to experience James Cameron’s latest big-budget adventure Avatar. It was everything that critics and movie-goers talked about. A fairly decent movie with bold, never before been seen flashy effects, and an incredibly predictable storyline.

If you haven’t already heard about the plot, Avatar follows the story of Jake Sully, a paraplegic marine who inherits a job on the planet of Pandora from his recently deceased twin brother. Pandora is rich with a mineral that will solve the Earth’s energy crisis. Jake’s job is to pilot an avatar, a biological robot made from a combination of DNA from the driver and the native people, the Na’vi. The avatar allows the humans to spend extended periods of time in the planet’s toxic environment. With his military background Jake’s scientific mission is quickly changed to a recognizance one, where he is to bring back information on the Na’vi that the humans can use to force them to move from their home, where the richest mineral deposits lie. After Jake is separated from his team, he spends the night defending himself against the dangers of the jungle and is found by Neytiri, the Na’vi princess and she…well, I don’t have to tell you the rest. You already know. Seriously, take ten seconds, relax and you will figure out exactly how the story is played out. I could even hand you a list of characters and you could check off who lives and who dies.

After all of the buzz, it becomes readily obvious that one goes to see Avatar for the bagillion dollar special effects, not the story. My sister was actually grateful for the simple story because she became distracted by the visuals and wasn’t concerned about missing any of the plot. I’m not sure if that’s a good thing or a bad thing. For me to make an informed decision, I saw the film in both standard and 3-D formats. It wasn’t a hardship. I truly enjoyed the movie, and in my honest opinion it’s just as epic-y in 2-D as in 3-D. The only thing you miss out on is floating embers (which were pretty cool) and in-depth chase scenes that made me a little motion sick. If you want to shell out the extra few dollars, then by all means, definitely see it in 3-D.

So after seeing the movie, my brother, father and I started to brainstorm on ways the story could be elevated from the predictable to a bit more interesting. Here’s what we came up with.

First off, there is no reason, what-so-ever, for Jake to be in a wheelchair. None. Most of the time he is in a fancy MRI machine (a link) and his leaping, jumping, fighting avatar is on the screen. Even when he is in his own body, nothing was occurring that made his inability to walk a disability. But wait, you say, his incentive to spy on the Na’vi was that in exchange, he would receive the surgery that would return the use of his legs. So what? He wasn’t in the avatar because he couldn’t walk, it was because he can’t breathe in the air. If he was able bodied, he could have been offered something else. The bottom line is, with the way this story was told, it was not necessary. 

If you go to the trouble of having him be in a wheelchair, than we say use the wheelchair. What if all of the links were destroyed and Jake could not connect with his avatar body? Then he would be forced to lead the fight from his chair. Would the Na’vi, a race that places value on the warrior ability and spirit, accept him in his imperfect human form? Would Neytiri, the woman he loves, still want him? How would he cope in not being able to jump from tree to tree and connecting with his dragon-like flying counterpart? What if? What if? WHAT IF?

This is just one change, one, that would have taken the conflict from beyond natives versus big business, to a multi-layered story. When faced with Jake’s much smaller, wheelchair bound, oxygen mask wearing body, the Na’vi would have really had to think hard about following him into battle. You could still keep the same, good prevails over all, ending. Even down to the last frame. But the road there would have been a little more adventurous.

And do you know how long it took us to come up with that little tid-bit? All of two minutes. Two! Would it have made for a better story? Who really knows. But maybe if Cameron’s team took a few minutes away from the flying jelly fish and spent that on the script, they could have taken Avatar from being an okay story with spectacular effects, to a truly extraordinary piece of storytelling.

Supposedly there are two sequels that are being considered. Perhaps they’ll make the effort then, because after all, there are only so many versions of plated armor, multi-rows of sharp teeth, snarling, slobbering jungle beasts that you can watch before you go, “meh- seen that already. What else have you got?”

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Tags: Movies, Writing

Posted By Anna on November 13, 2009

A week into the Celtic new year and a month after ECWC I thought it was fitting to post a progress report on my writing.

Submissions have been sent to agents and editors. Golden Heart entry sent out in the mail today. Critique partnership formed (hello Danielle). And my current work in progress is cooking right along.

I am over three-quarters of the way into the rough draft of the second novella in the Sprawling A Ranch series. This one features Mark, the best friend of Trey from The Cowboy Way. Mark was the one who made me think that there could be more beyond the first book. The one who encouraged all of the other hands to demand their stories. And let me tell you, they are a rowdy bunch.

This book is flying onto the page. In other my other works, I sometimes struggled linking scenes together. Not so with Mark. I fluidly move from chapter to chapter. I can sit back and see the entire scene unfold on a movie screen. Each action a logical sequence of events that I can easily transpose to the page. Sometimes not exactly how I pictured it, but fairly close, and not nearly as quicklyas I’d like. I’ve gone back to thinking that a direct link to my brain may be the way to go.

Is the reason the story is coming to me so easily  because my writing is getting better, or because this is a story that writes itself? Ever since I realized a few months ago that I was a layer, I find myself not worried about getting it right the first time. I am much more lenient on myself about just getting the concept down, knowing that it will work out in later drafts. When I went back to edit the first few chapters, I could better identify what was missing and add the actions and reactions. This process has made writing so enjoyable that I ache to do it every free moment I get.

It is also making me even more anxious to sell the series. It would kill me not to be able to share the other ranch hand’s stories. Even now, Ben is waiting in the wings. Incredibly tall and built like a mountain, he watches me with those intense green eyes, vibrating that dominate nature he can’t contain. Colby is right by his side with a smile of anticipation. You already know what is going to happen with them. They want their stories told and I am dying to write them.

Okay, I can admit it. Even if they are never published, I will still have to write them all. They have become too dear to me to not give them life on the page. How can I not share Jack’s wickedness, Adam’s fearlessness and Rafe’s passion? They will be written. Someday. Now this is where I click my heels three times and send my positive thoughts out into the air.

They will be sold, they will be sold, they will be sold…

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Posted By Anna on October 16, 2009

It has taken me almost a week to post about my conference experience because I am still recuperating. I had about five hours total sleep the entire weekend, and I actually received requests for my work! I have been working feverishly the last few days on going back over my WIPs with post- conference eyes. They have now been submitted into webspace with a hope and a prayer that they are accepted.

So, did I meet any of my goals?

I did not sell a novel, but I did get a request to submit pages.  

You will never meet a more supportive group of people anywhere. I threw myself into volunteering and everyone worked so hard to make me feel welcome. There were so many surprising and memorable moments. Including receiving my boa for reaching PRO status, and running into an old friend from high school I haven’t seen in x-amount of years. Kirin, that reminds me, I have a tax question for you. The stack of autograph books I collected is fantastic. My first taste of Johnny Walker Blue . Goodie bags. Need I say more? There was so much learning that I am still processing it all.

I am considered an embryo in the writing world. When I look back at my writing over the last eight months, there is a world of difference, and that is all because of the great women (and the Bobs) with the GSRWA. There are too many days until next year. I can’t wait. So look for me then, but without the purple boa. Feathers stuck in your lipgloss is not very comfortable.

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Posted By Anna on October 1, 2009

Next Friday I am attending my first ever writer’s conference,and I am starting to get the jitters. This is my first real opportunity to mingle with not only other authors, but agents and editors from some of the best companies in the business. To say that I am intimidated would be a severe understatement.

As I write this I am putting the polishing touches on both my paranormal and my cowboy stories. My goal was to have both ready to go by conference time and the fact I completed it is tremendous. I know that I can meet a deadline, even if it is one of my own choosing, without pulling my hair out, or staying up all hours to do so. With this goal achieved, I am making new ones about my expectations for this conference.

• Sell novel to agent and/or publisher. (Lofty goal I know, but I will shoot for the moon)
• Make at least five new friends.
• Introduce myself to at least fifteen people I have never met.
• Stay awake for every class and all post class events.
• No matter what, know in my heart that my writing is good. Even if I feel like crap after a class, my writing is still good.

My aunt will be attending with me. She has been dabbling as a writer for years, but only kept it at that. When I launched myself into this art form, she said I inspired her to pick up her pencil and give it another go. This conference is an even bigger leap for her to take than me. She has always supported me in everything I’ve done, and I’m glad that I can return that love back. We can both be there together to encourage and commiserate, just like family should.

So, Aiden and Trey, I hope you’re ready to smile pretty and flex those abs, and let’s go get mama a new pair of shoes. Choos preferrably.

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Posted By Anna on September 13, 2009

 During the month of September, I am taking an online class offered through WriterU by Mary Buckham on creating and maintaining sexual tension . The object of the course is to understand the different levels of intimacy and use them to turn up or down the tension to enhance your novel. This knowledge can be used not only used by romance novelists, but any writer in practically any genre. Already, I can tell my writing has made a huge leap toward the good.

One of the assignments this week was to watch a movie, television show, or people watch, and note the levels of awareness people displayed based on body language, expression and tone of voice. How fortuitous that this coincided with wine and cheese night with my girlfriends.

Everyone was aware of the class I am taking, so when we started watching movies, we would call out the various steps of intimacy being displayed. One of the movies we watched was Yes Man with Jim Carrey. Not really a movie you would think would work for this type of project, and actually it wasn’t. However, there was a scene where the hero, Carl, is asked by the elderly lady next door to help hang some shelves. During the scene she is looking him in the eye (level 2), and invading his personal space (level 5). Since I knew that Carl was compelled to say yes to everything, when I saw her touch his hair (level 8), I was already curling into a ball and chanting “please don’t go there, please don’t go there.” When the inevitable happened, my friend asked, “How did you know that was going to happen?” I saw the signs, that’s why.

Now, one of my friends has found herself in a situation where her current object of desire is sending mixed signals. Saying let’s be friends, but sending and allowing more intimate signals. So we pulled out the list and checked to see if she had noticed any of the subtle, nonverbal clues that this other person may have been telegraphing. The next time she went out with them “just as friends,” she was going to be more aware of their gestures and reactions, which led to this discussion:

You are now aware of possible clues that can alert you to when someone may be into you. What if they also know those signs and can manipulate them for their own gain? Or what if they don’t know what they are doing and become defensive when you call them on it? (Yes, we also watched He Is Just Not That Into You) Would you manipulate someone by sending out signals that they would subconsciously respond to?

It is so confusing. Trying to apply these nuances to everyday life could lead to happily ever after, or a horrendous train wreck.

I guess that is what makes life so exciting.

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