Posts tagged with: charactersThe Right Way to Hit The EndPosted at Jan 29, 2013 7:30 am in characters, Last Resort, series, Shannyn Schroeder, The Mob Doctor, TV Most people know that I watch a lot of TV. Having a DVR has only increased the number of shows I consume because I never watch commercials anymore. One of the downsides to watching more TV, though, is that I’m not as discriminating when it comes to what I’ll watch. If something sounds vaguely interesting, I’ll give it a try (assuming it’s not up against other things already being recorded in that time slot). I’ve found many, many new and wonderful shows because of this, but sometimes it’s frustrating because a show gets canceled and there’s nothing worse than being left without knowing how things wrap up or what the motivation behind things are. I don’t feel quite the same about books in a series. I love reading series, but for the most part, each book is a stand alone. Whatever problem or issue the protagonists face in that book is resolved at the end. I enjoy reading series for the same reason I love TV. I like the comfort associated with characters and a world I love. But since each book can stand alone, I don’t think it would bother me if a writer suddenly stopped a series. For example, if J.D. Robb stopped the In Death series, sure I’d miss Dallas and Roarke, but I know that they have their HEA. When Charlaine Harris finishes up the Sookie Stackhouse series, it’s fine because we’ve accepted that Sookie will always be involved with Supes. We don’t care if she chooses Bill or Eric or whatever guy jumps in. She’s more or less accepted her life and we have too. But many TV shows start with a premise that unravels as the season goes on, and if the show gets cut, I feel disappointed. Two shows that I started watching for the 2012-2013 season both got cancellation notices early in the fall, however, they were allowed to finish out the season. Both of them left me feeling very satisfied.
The second show was Last Resort. I first blogged about Last Resort here. When I heard about this one being canceled, I actually stopped watching it. It continued to record each week, but I was hesitant to tune in, afraid that the whole conspiracy would be left unexplained. The premise, if you’re unaware, is that a Navy submarine was given orders to bomb Pakistan. The commanding officer not only questioned the order, but then refused to do it. The crew was labeled traitors and a stand off began. The whole time I watched it, I knew there were bigger things going on. This was not a simple case of one guy going crazy. Last week, I tuned in to catch up. My husband and I did a marathon to watch all the episodes. I have to say that I was really happy with this one too. There were no easy answers and there were still a few lingering questions (Why would the president want to start a war?), but the ending tied everything up in a way that made sense for all of the characters involved.  from imdb.com I wish all shows that face cancellation would learn from these two. What series (TV or book) are you most bummed about ending? Were you satisfied with the last installment? Friday Favorites – New Books, New AuthorsPosted at Nov 2, 2012 8:05 am in All He Ever Needed, books, characters, Jessica Scott, romance, Shannon Stacey, Shannyn Schroeder, Until There Was You Even though I’ve been swamped playing catch up, I always find time to read. Reading is almost always the last thing I do each day. I love being able to forget the to-do things on my list and being lost in the loves of characters. I sometimes talk about books here on my blog, but since I’m not a book reviewer, I only talk about books I really like. I also don’t offer in-depth criticism. There are plenty of people who do that much better than I, so I’m just going to talk about why I like these books. First up, Until There Was You by Jessica Scott. This is Jessica’s second book and I hadn’t read her first. I read lots of great things about the book and I follow Here’s the blurb: A by-the-book captain with a West Point background, Captain Evan Loehr refuses to mix business with pleasure—except for an unguarded instance years ago when he succumbed to the deep sensuality of redheaded beauty Claire Montoya. From that moment on, though, Evan has been at odds with her, through two deployments to Iraq and back again. But when he is asked to train a team prepping for combat alongside Claire, battle-worn Evan is in for the fight of his life. Strong, gutsy, and loyal, Captain Claire Montoya has worked hard to earn the rank on her chest. In Evan, Claire sees a rigid officer who puts the rules before everything else—including his people. When the mission forces them together, Claire soon discovers that there is more to Evan than meets the eye. He’s more than the rank on his chest; he’s a man with dark secrets and deep longings. For all their differences, Evan and Claire share two crucial passions: their country and each other. Bottom line, it’s a great book. Jessica creates real, believable characters that will yank at your heart. It is hard for me to read about soldiers planning to deploy. It does affect them, but it didn’t take away from my enjoyment of the story. It definitely added a new layer, which made me like the characters even more. Although I really enjoyed the book, I had some issues, none of which had to do with the story or Jessica’s writing (her writing is fabulous). Part of my problem is that this is a category length novel, and I almost always feel they are too short. I want more of the characters. That leads into my second issue: I’m not sure I buy the HEA for Evan and Claire. Both of these people are damaged and they fit together perfectly, and I believe the happy for now. If the book was longer, I would probably believe the HEA. This is a contemporary romance but it’s not light and fluffy; it’s leans more toward angst.
When you choose books, do you prefer angst or light? Are you like me and need to find a balance? Arrow – Another Tortured HeroPosted at Oct 18, 2012 12:30 pm in Arrow, characters, DVR, heroes, Shannyn Schroeder  from imbd.com I said on Tuesday that I’d be scarce for the next couple of weeks because I’m on deadline, but I had a really, really productive day yesterday. I got my page proofs for More Than This in the mail back to Kensington and I got through the first 100 pages of revisions for book 2. Surprisingly, I still like the story. Anyway, by the time 9 o’clock rolled around last night, I was pretty spent so I went to my DVR. I had the first 2 episodes of Arrow recorded because I’m a sucker for a good superhero story, but also because my son said he wanted to watch. I was going to wait to watch it with him, I really was, but then my Twitter pal Kiersten Krum had live-Tweeted some of it and I had to watch. I was amazed at how quickly the story sucked me in. The backstory is woven in neatly as flashbacks so you don’t get overwhelmed, but you have enough to understand what’s going on. Basically, Oliver Queen was on a boat with his dad and they crashed. Oliver was the sole survivor, who lived on an island for 5 years before being rescued. Now he’s back, and using the information his father gave him, he’s cleaning up his city, and righting his father’s wrongs. Oliver comes from a rich family, and before the crash, he was a spoiled, irresponsible socialite. His money gives him the means to go after the bad guys and his old reputation helps keep him a seemingly unproductive member of society. What draws me in most, as usual, is the characterization. I loved the first episode so much that I went straight into the second one. I loved watching Oliver try to balance who he was with who he is without giving anything away. He struggles with making up for his past and wanting to be someone new but he can’t afford to let anyone see because he is literally surrounded by enemies. It seems like every relationship is twisted, making Oliver the ultimate in wounded heroes. There are a lot of fun, light moments too, as you can imagine with someone who’s been away from civilization for 5 years. Sly comments — Oliver asks, “What’s Twilight?” and his best friend answers, “You’re better off not knowing.” I laughed quite a few times in the 2 episodes. Plus, Oliver is so damn sexy. He moves like a gymnast while fighting the bad guys. His body is all muscles and scars.  see? HOT! I can’t wait to watch more of Oliver as Arrow. He’s complex and intriguing and so very yummy to watch. Did you watch Arrow? What did you think? Friday Favorites – 8/3Posted at Aug 3, 2012 3:18 pm in characters, conferences, Erica O'Rourke, Jenny Hansen, Jenny Lawson, life balance, Natalie Hartford, Natalie Markey, Nathan Fillion, Robert Smedley, romance, RWA, Sarah Wendell, Shannyn Schroeder, Smart Bitches Trashy Books, Tameri Etherton, The Bloggess, Tiffany White, writing, writing advice I’m too lazy to come up with a real title for my blog post today. I’m trying to get ready for Shorty’s slumber party this weekend. So while I type away, my girls are downstairs cleaning. Yeah, you read that right, they’re cleaning. Voluntarily even. I’m also in the middle of copy edits for MORE THAN THIS. 50 more pages to go. Then one more quick read-through before I send it back to my editor. As exciting as it is to get copy edits, it’s pulled me away from my other writing, which is frustrating. If only I could squeak a few more hours out of the day…. Writing: As I’ve mentioned, RWA Nationals were last week, so I have a few round-up posts for those of us who couldn’t attend. Sarah Wendell of Smart Bitches talks about Stephanie Laurens’ key note address and makes some great points. She also includes great lines she overheard during the conference. Natalie Markey talks about hanging on to the enthusiasm after returning from the conference. And Tameri Etherton talks about coming down from the RWA high. Robert Smedley over on Fuel for Your Writing writes about How Batman Can Teach You to Be a Better Writer. His points are well thought out and really, how can you go wrong with Batman? My friend and YA author, Erica O’Rourke is participating in a YA scavenger hunt. Lots of cool stuff. Lifestyle stuff: Natalie Hartford has an excellent post on the difference between men and women. She nails it. It’s so perfect that I might have to send my husband over to read the post Jenny Hansen writes about finding balance in your life. This is something that I really suck at. And now that I’m actually writing under deadline, I fear it’ll get worse. Just for Fun: USA Today had a fun article about strong female characters in this summer’s movies. (Although Katniss was really springtime0 Tiffany White is holding the second annual Tambernies. Stop by and vote for your favorite TV shows. And finally, this is absolutely freaking hilarious. If you’ve never read The Bloggess, you need to. She will make you smile on any given day. Today, she has a post on The End of Nathan Fillion. I love Nathan Fillion, so I had to read it. The post itself is a wrap-up of a previous ongoing joke. You NEED to click on the previous posts to understand this. BE WARNED– you will lose lots of time, but it’s worth the laugh. If you could have any celebrity pose with twine, who would it be? (this question only makes sense if you read The Bloggess post)
Summer Must-Watch — The NewsroomPosted at Jul 12, 2012 11:48 am in Aaron Sorkin, characters, DVR, Shannyn Schroeder, The Newsroom, TV
I’m going to start off by saying that I’ve never been much of a news watcher. In fact, I pretty much avoided watching the news altogether. The news is depressing. Plus, when you’re watching the local 10 o’clock news, so many times you wonder how something can qualify as news (Katie and Tom, anyone?) Anyway, that all changed a few years ago when I started looking for a work-from-home job. I was hired by an education company as a writer, and the position evolved into an editorial one. My current job is to read the news, choose headlines and assign them to my writers. My writers then create on-line assignments for students based on the article I’ve sent. My job requires that I read the news everyday Sunday through Thursday. I have to look at how different sources handle the same material and choose the one I think will work best for students. When commercials for summer TV shows started airing, I saw something for The Newsroom, but I hadn’t given it much thought. As I said, I have to read the news most days, did I really want to watch how the news was broadcast? But then I started hearing the buzz about Newsroom and the fact that Aaron Sorkin, who did The West Wing, was behind it. I decided to set my DVR and check it out. I’ve watched the first 3 episodes and let me tell you, I knew after the first one that this would be a must-see show. The premier opened with a cable news anchor lashing out and telling an audience why America isn’t the best country in the world (low test scores, starving kids, unemployment, lack of health care, etc). He didn’t say anything we don’t know, but it was some pretty refreshing honesty. It’s the trademark lack of real honesty that keeps me from all things politics. Anyway, Will, the anchor, takes a break and when he returns, he finds that most of his staff is leaving his show and his boss has hired Will’s ex-girlfriend to be the executive producer. So, immediately we have some personal drama of the romance kind, and Mac (the ex) wants to push the show to be real and honest. The first episode they covered the BP oil spill (it takes place in spring 2010). This drew me in because I remember covering that for my day job and its interesting to see how they made it unfold. The second episode covered Arizona’s immigration law, which I’ve been covering for the day job from then straight through until now. Besides my own personal connection to the headlines they choose (and I’m sure there will be so much more), the show itself offers some great characters and they’re all smart. You heard that right, even the pretty young girl who was promoted from nobody to assistant producer simply because she didn’t quit is smart. They’re not perfect and they fuck up, but it is a cast of characters who are truly intelligent. What’s not to love there? And finally, of course, since this is Aaron Sorkin, the dialogue is phenomenal. If you’re a fan of The West Wing, you’ll be a fan of The Newsroom as well. When looking for clips for the show, I’ve come across a lot of criticism of it. Many have said that it’s a disappointment and Sorkin has flopped. Maybe it’s because I didn’t really expect it to be true-to-life. It is HBO after all. I think most days in the newsroom are probably pretty boring, so they’ve livened it up. Sure, part of why the characters seem so smart is that Sorkin knows how the stories will play out. He’s using news from 2 years ago. Part of my hesitation to watch in the first place was that I thought it would be boring. Who wants to watch a bunch of people staring at a computer screen and scribbling notes for the anchor? That would be about as exciting as watching stock trades on the floor of the Mercantile Exchange.
Instead, we get this (not really safe for work):
I prefer the made up version. Have you tried The Newsroom? What do you think? StuckPosted at Jul 5, 2012 3:08 pm in characters, collage, discovery, persistence, playlist, romance, Shannyn Schroeder, writing  image from http://napkindad.com/blog/2012/05/31/procrastination-positive-journey-to-blog-world-6/ It’s summer time and as I’ve said before, the kids are home most of the time, which makes writing harder. My writing has always slowed down over the summer, but right now, I’ve been feeling a little stuck on my WIP. It always happens at about the halfway point for me in any book. The mucky middle. Then my brain opens to new characters and ideas and I’m tempted to go off and write about them. But I won’t let myself. The new characters and ideas are the reason I don’t consider this writer’s block. To me, writer’s block is when there are no words. I have words, I just don’t really know what I need to move the story. Where I usually get about a thousand words an hour, right now, I’m lucky if I get half that.
I also read Call Me Irresistible by Susan Elizabeth Phillips. SEP is such a fabulous author and hilarious to boot when you meet her in person. Although I loved the book, I felt a little cheated because while it’s written in 3rd person, we only get the heroine’s POV (and other characters’ POV) until the very end of the book where we get the hero’s POV. I would’ve liked to have had Ted’s POV throughout, but I think that if SEP did that, it might’ve felt a little like the conflict was “A big misunderstanding,” which it wasn’t, but it might’ve had that feel. Still well worth the time. I read Shannon Stacey’s new novella, Slow Summer Kisses. I’m not much of a novella reader, but I love Shannon’s contemporaries and this delivered. I can’t The upside of letting my writing slide for a little while is that I can let my mind wander a bit. I started thinking about what I’d like to write next and started thinking about who those characters are. But the big bonus for me this time is that I went back to thinking about a book I finished last year and never went back to revise because I got sidetracked with writing and revising other things. I didn’t do the revision on that book because I know it’s full of holes and I’m not sure what to do with them, but the bigger problem is that my hero is cardboard. I never took the time to get to know him and figure him out. I’ve written like that before, but usually, by the time I get to the halfway mark, I know my characters. I’ve learned that giving myself time to discover my characters makes writing much easier. Part of discovery is creating collages and developing a playlist. These are things that intimidated me before, but once I tried it, I was amazed. I keep it simple, but it’s like unlocking a box of your characters’ secrets. Anyway, my lull in writing has allowed my brain to reopen to the possibilities for Zac and Macy. I’ve got the beginnings of how to fix that messed up manuscript. I don’t think I’ll actually do any real rewriting yet because I’m always afraid I’ll end up with a pile of incomplete manuscripts. I feel the need to plow through to at least get that first draft done. But now I have direction, and it feels good. How do you procrastinate when things aren’t going the way you want? Magic MikePosted at Jul 3, 2012 8:00 am in characters, Magic Mike, movie review, movies, plot, romance, Shannyn Schroeder
Twitter was all abuzz last Friday when this movie opened. To tell the truth, the only reason I knew about the movie was because of Twitter. Over the last few months, many people posted links to trailers. If they hadn’t, I wouldn’t have had a clue because I don’t often get to see grown-up movies that might have shown the trailer for this. The more trailers and promotion I saw, the more interested I became in seeing the movie. I never thought it would be some great film that would stick with me for a lifetime. It just looked like a whole hell of a lot of fun. I mean, really, half-naked men dancing? Who needs plot and dialogue? Anyway, I figured this would be a movie that I would have to wait until DVD to see, but as luck would have it, my husband got tickets to an arena football game and promised to take the girls and my son spent the night at a friend’s house. Go figure. I was able to make plans with my best friend to see the movie. We went to a 5 o’clock show, which was a good plan because the 7:30 show had a line of women waiting to get in. The movie was pretty much what I expected it to be. It tried hard to have a plot. It really did. This could’ve been a kickass contemporary romance if a little more effort was put in. Basically, Mike is a stripper (among other things) who is trying to get enough money together to start a furniture business. He starts to fall in love with a friend’s sster, who won’t take him seriously because he’s a stripper. Things get a little crazy with a drug sub-plot that doesn’t really go anywhere, but that wasn’t the worst of it. The acting by the women in this movie was ridiculous. Mike has a fuck-buddy Joanna and I dreaded every scene with her because not only was the character not realistic or believable, but she was unlikeable. Brooke, the sister, is only marginally better. I liked the movie. The dancing is great and watching Channing Tatum in a tool belt or fatigues is worth the price of admission. And the supporting male staff was plenty hot too This movie has been talked about everywhere, mostly, I think, because it’s geared toward women. Women are not supposed to be interested in such things (as my son so aptly pointed out – “you’re my mom!”). But we obviously are — look at the sale of romance novels. Lucky for me, as I prepared to write this post, The Romance Man posted a review of his own. Talk about a great guy — he went with his wife to see this movie. If you want to get a man’s take on Magic Mike click over. His review is way funnier than mine Have you seen Magic Mike? What did you think? Dallas – ReduxPosted at Jun 21, 2012 11:37 am in characters, Dallas, Shannyn Schroeder, TV When I first heard that TNT was bringing Dallas back, I was a bit leery. Dallas was a show from my childhood. I remember watching it, especially with my Grandma (how she loved her soaps). The drama and backstabbing kept us tuning in each week. I wasn’t sure how TNT would manage to bring it back and still capture may attention. Now that I’ve watched the first 3 episodes (2 aired for the premier last week), I can say that it looks like TNT got it right. Obviously, we’re only 3 episodes in and there’s plenty of room to screw it up, but I like it. First, the thing I just might like best in this show, is that for a change, the older female actresses look way better than the men. I think it’s unfair that men seem to look better with age (Sean Connery, George Clooney). But I remember Sue Ellen from the original Dallas, and she looks a billion times better than JR. Read more… How Do You Know When It’s Love?Posted at Jun 19, 2012 3:34 pm in characters, falling in love, how do you know it's love, romance, Shannyn Schroeder, Van Halen, writing As both a romance writer and reader, the thing I enjoy most about the genre is watching two people fall in love. Sometimes it’s funny and sometimes it makes you cry, and we always know that the couple will make it through to be happy (at least for now, if not forever). Knowing that happiness is coming doesn’t ruin the story, because it’s the journey that keeps us coming back for more. As readers, most of the time, we recognize the signs of someone falling in love before they do. Maybe it’s because we’re on the outside looking in and we can be objective. The lust is easy and characters usually accept lust and physical attraction. For whatever reason, they have a much harder time recognizing love. Sometimes, they can admit having feelings, caring for, or loving someone, but not being in love. My question is, how do we know? How do we distinguish between caring and liking and loving and being “in love”? My immediate response might be “I know it when I see/feel it,” but that’s a cop out. Remember the Love is… comics? Like this —-> I could get a daily dose of explanation of how to recognize love. Often it is in the little things, and I get that, but if you’re in a new relationship, how do you know if it’s real? How do you look past the shiny new excitement and know? I’ve been married for a long time, and I’ve said before that even when my husband and I were just friends, we both knew that there was something more there that we chose to ignore because we weren’t ready. I can’t remember how I processed those feelings or if I really even paid attention to them. So I’m turning it over to you. How do you know when you’ve fallen in love? Friday Favorites 6/15Posted at Jun 15, 2012 3:39 pm in Amy Andrews, books, characters, Dana Kaye, Emma Burcart, Friday favorites, Kat Latham, Myndi Shafer, Pink Chocolate Break, publishing, romance, Shannyn Schroeder, The Naked Hero, Tiffany White, TV, writing Sorry for the lack of a good title for today’s post. My brain just isn’t into titles right now. Here are your links for great reading this week: Book stuff:  image from www.playerblock.com Over at The Naked Hero, Amy Andrews touches on a hot button issue. Is it ever okay for a hero to cheat? Is it a redeemable action? For a long time, I would’ve said no, it’s completely unacceptable. And really for a romance hero, I think it should be unacceptable. BUT… this is something that happens in real life and real life couples sometimes do get past it. That makes me think that depending on the circumstances and how it’s handled in the book, it might be possible. My gut still says, though, that books are escapism and I don’t want too much reality there. Dana Kaye, publicist, has a great flow chart of how a book is born. You can probably spent 10 minutes just following different paths. Kat Latham posted a test to see how fast you read. I came in at 376 words a minute, which means I could read War and Peace in about 26 hours (not that I’d want to). I’m faster than 50% of people. I guess being an English major finally paid off. Although not directly related to books, since I write romance and think about relationships for my characters, I’m adding a post by Emma Burcart here. Emma talks about choosing safe guys. You know the ones — you know exactly what to expect from them. They exist for a good time, no commitment, no permanence. Emma writes from her own experience in relationships, but for me, this is great fodder for character development. In fact, in the book I’m revising right now, the heroine always chooses guys who aren’t serious because serious scares her. Fun Stuff: Myndi Shafer has a fabulous list of things she is pretty sure she knows. I personally love #4. It’s a common belief in my house.
One thing that I’m pretty sure I know is that a good book can often erase a bad day. Over on Pink Chocolate Break this week, we have some quotes about love. And finally, Tiffany White has a post about great summer TV. She manages to cover more shows than I did in my post because she talks about shows I haven’t watched. What is one thing that you’re pretty sure you know?
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