Continued from home page

Let me take a moment to discuss the male models; Can we say perfect? These gentlemen have dedicated hundreds of hours pumping iron and doing innumerable sit-ups, pull-ups, chin-ups and, honey, they do look their best! But wait! There's more! Each man has been coached in the art of still more perfection; namely their skin. They are first tanned - evenly. Next, every hair but the eyebrows and head hair (and perhaps pubics, though I did not find out first person - honest! ) are meticulously pruned, Naired or shaved away.

Next comes the body cream; a slight sheen from the make-up (what else can this be?) accentuates the hills and dales of their physiques making them the ideal photo opportunities.

Last, but not least, their manner is polite and accomadating to the last. They danced and smiled for the cameras as well as any Hollywood star. I know a good thing when I see it and got many a close dance in! Thanks, boys!

Flying back to Los Angeles I met a musician that invited me for Japanese lunch. Over a meal of sashimi and assorted sushi, we shared some sake and conversation. Turns out we are booked on the same flight. Alas, the airlines insist you sit in your asigned seat (In case of a firey death, I'm sure) so I must be content to sit next to another amazing individual, this time a fascinating, positive minded actor / director / writer returning from his New York stage play.

I find it odd that one rarely meets really intelligent, talented and worldly people in one's daily life... but get on a train, a boat or plane and - OMG - where have they all been hiding?! If they would have me, these sorts of folks would be my best friends!

RWA Nationals 2008 in SF

30 July - 3 Aug, 2008

COMMENTARY

San Francisco, California : Although the 2008 Romance Writer's of America, though global, started on Thursday 31 July, my RWA courses started on Wednesday because I am primarily a script writer and Wednesday was the Scriptscene members lecture day. (Scripscene is an offshoot of RWA). Wonderful. Fabulous. I enjoyed every minute with Leighanne Haddock, set decorator; James Dalessandro, veteran screenwriter and author; Marilyn R. Atlas, award-winning producer and personal manager among other vivacious and enlightened members.

The book signing was enthusiastically attended by hundreds of RWA members from all over the planet. About 450 authors were organized alphabetically making it easy to find your favourite for a face-to-face conversation, photo and autograph. Nora Robert's, J.R. Ward and the like were drawing the longest lines and crowds, of course. Ahh, stardome.

The Awards Luncheon was tasty,as usual. I was delighted to find 2 paperbacks on my chair. One of them being Jessica Andersen's "Night Keepers" about the 2012 final prophesies. You really should go see her website - quite spectacular! I met her at Romantic Times in Pittsburg earlier this year and was impressed by her energy and personal power. She was also rooming with a friend of mine. The premise of "Night Keepers" involves the Aztec calendar that follows the celestial aligning of the planets as they queue up facing the center of our galaxy every 25,000 years or so. Some think it will be the end for us here on Earth. Others believe the magnetic poles will flip causing some, but not undo, disturbances. Still some think the calendar can only be so big and the last date of 12.21.2012 is trinary coincidence. Still the websiet is cool, complete with a countdown clock!

Anyway, getting back to the luncheon... Connie Brockway is a an enthusiastic and talented performer perfect for just such a venue. She was prepared with writer's 'ditties' and songs to go with them. She sang (and got us to sing along) played piano like a fiend and cracked the right amount of jokes - all pertinent. Very entertaining and inspiring. Besides, she looked great!!

The course: Writing between the Lines" got my attention. Goodie bits about tags, beats, movement and 'M' dashes were intersperses between how male dialogue should be writen shorter than female dialogue because it is more real and how to show what a character is thinking without quotes, underlinings or italics: ie. He watched her fingers slowly exploring the dogs fur. (You know what he's thinking:)

I was fortunate enough to find a seat in the Cherry Adair course on layering. Wow! She was funny, to the point and had what I was looking for; cross-over info craft for script-to-book and back. She had a slightly different technique for keeping scenes organized than I use for scripts. Write your scenes on 3x5 cards so you can lay them on the floor or large table. This allows you to pepper your story with clues: Enter the gold necklace. Remember the gold necklace. Loose the gold necklace. Find the necklace and receive the payoff.

She also covered character backstory listings and, while I use this too, many others were madly scribbling away. However it was her character motivation that was pure gold. "Every hero/ine wants what they don't need. They must have motivation for everything they do and it's our job as writers to craft their story around them." It sounds so simple but can be damn hard to pull off.

Sunday, of course there was the Gala event for the RWA Awards and many a gown were blinging through the elegant, dim-lit presentation. This night is the Oscar's for authors. Julia Quinn won in her catagory, which pleased me no end. She was the workshop speaker for my Los Angeles chapter of RWA some months previous (see the May 2008 entry in the archived LARA events) and I enjoyed her candor very much.

Finally, the sweet tables - piled high with fabulous confections of every flavour: pineapply, chocolaty, buttery, creamy. Dreamy!

I was careful not to over-eat 'cuz I had had an eye on the jacuzzi all week and nothing was gonna stop me : )

EPICon 2008

6 - 8 March, 2008

COMMENTARY

Portland, Oregon : A 'Members Only' convention of authors, publishers, cover artists and the like will be held this month in Portland, Oregon to discuss, teach and honor the digital written word. Why? To celebrate the biggest and brightest thing that has happened to literature since the printing press. It's called E-publishing.

This fairly new approach of using the internet to publish novels and poetry brings readers and writer's closer than ever before and EPIC has taken a stand at the front of the line.

The name EPIC, known to mean an extended tale, also stands for Electronic Publishing Internet Connection. The company was started by Florence Moyer and Jane Bierce in 1998 as a spin-off of RWA, the well established Romance Writer's of America. At the time RWA was unwilling to add an e-pub chapter and the two women decided to go it alone. In 2000 the first EPICon symposium was held in Omaha, Nebraska.

Their main goal, in the beginning, was to provide an information exchange for electronically published authors. They advertise themselves as publishers of "all the most popular fiction genres, as well as non-fiction self-help and how-to". It has expanded into issuing awards for outstanding work. Each year, books and cover art are judged by members, all published authors, and the winners are announced at a gala EPPIE award ceremony at the convention.

Internet users are on the increase and e-publishing is coming of age. One can now purchase and read a short story, novella, novel or, oddly enough, an epic - online. The cost to the reader is less than half of a current paperback, however these pioneers do not cross over; paperbacks are not published on line and e-books are not printed on paper.

Highlights this year will include an introduction to E-readers. These are hand-held electronic devices that can upload a book in minutes so one can take it along like any other book. The beauty is that many books can be stored in these little beauties taking the weight out of toting around several paperbacks or finding oneself with nothing new to read on a dark and stormy night in a new town. Just connect to the internet, pay for your choice, upload the entire work and you're back and reading in no time. Two contenders for e-reader business are Sony's Digital Book and the Amazon Kindle.

This video from DiggNation (yeah, I'm a geek) gives a good review of the two products at the 14:15 portion of this video; just slide the loader. If you have difficulty seeing it, this non-video article from Gizmodo comparing the two will inform you fully.

[Argh! This thing works on my computer but it seems, not on everyone elses.] if you're still interested, #128 is posted at DiggNation #128 .

~

Robert gets an EPPIE

12 March 2008

. . .

Robert L. Hecker, a friend of mine, won a 2008 EPPIE award for his novel Murder By Proxy (I've read it - it's great!) published thorugh Hard Shell Word Factory. I heard about his success at the Eppie awards and was so thrilled. I hadn't known anything about his being up for an award prior to the announcement. I think the pleasant shock it gave me should be a feather in his cap.

Kinda funny that even though EPPIE is all about e-published works, I was able to rush out and get a print copy. Truly, I loved every page of it.

Congrats, Robert!

West Hollywood 2007

Book Fair

14 October, 2007

West Hollywood : The Sixth edition of the West hollywood Bookfair will be held at

Each year, book are dragged out by shop keepers, second-hand stores and authors to West Hollywood Park so they can share their wares. Booths of canvas, for protection from the sun, will divide genres as diverse as comics and gay erotica. Workshop speakers will have outdoor seating for hour long talks. Authors, both famous and upcoming, will hold book signings, and summer foods and drink will be available.

This year, being my first, we chummed up with some other LARA members; erotica writers, mostly, though all are romance authors.

The heat was intense so it was grand to find a stash of water under the table. Food was available, but at some distance and at a fairly hefty price. I was also so thankful for the sumsuous cushions that someone brought to embellish the tone of the tent. If I were to do this again, I would wear sandles (heels in grass is dangerous and tiresome), bring fruit (no peaches or bananas), remember to bring my camera and to slather myself and friends with sunscreen. The friends are important - not only can it be boring without them but the tent needs to be manned at all times and there is often a reason to take off across the park in search of something imortant (bathrooms, a signing of your favourite screenwriter that will only last 1/2 hour or a dissertation you might want to catch. You scratch your friends back and they may massage yours:) Oh, yeah and things to tie up hair - not only is it hot, but there is no breeze that far into town. Planning a swim / BBQ party for afters might be good fun, too. Maybe I will attend next year!

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LARA Speakers: Sylvia Day & Helen Kay Dimon

8 June, 2008

. . .

Like every other LARA meeting, we had a fabulous presentation. Two prolific author's spoke casually about the ups and downs of producing multiple works a year rather than the prefered 1 single title a year. Sylvia Day remarks that one should figure out what one wants and what one should be prepared to sacrifice to get it. Scary. I already have given up time with my family... I know - I'll sacrifice 10 pounds of weight around the middle!

It seems to me that an author capable of producing 17 novels in two years (like someone they were using as an example) has no human contact, has money for home delivery, and is likely on lots of dangerous drugs OR is desperate to 'save the farm' & / or get the stories out that have been brewing for a life time before it's over. Oh yeah, and they don't blog!

None of these scenarios temp me that severly. I've thought that I would like my tales to be 'out there' before I go (and there are a lot of them) but not at the expense of life. That seems counter productive. An outline and character list of backstories should allow a creative director to make my dreams come true.

So what am I willing to really sacrifice? I guess for now, not much more than I already have. But times change, attitudes change and experience changes you.

So if you'll excuse me I'v got to get back to the grindstone.

LARA Annual Workshop with Julia Quinn

14 May, 2008

. . .

Studio City : The morning began with a delightful breakfast catered and served by the hotel as though we were dignitaries. With pots of coffee left to quicken our minds, Julia Quinn, multi published romance author commenced with her "Dialogue - It's More that You Think" lecture. Though most of the members attending were also published, we had spirited conversation on the subject of dialogue and its execution.

The occasional break mingled our people with those from New York. An actor's workshop hosted by Los Angeles casting agents made for some very interested banter, there.

The six years I have lived in LA I have never been to Studio City until now. It is a charming town of exciting shops and restaurants nestled in the elegant, green hills of the region. Lunch with a fellow LARAian was the cherry on top.

Burbank Public Library : A panel discussion hosted by LARA (Los Angeles Romance Authors (chapter #25 of the RWA - Romance Writer's of America) will be held at the Buena Vista Public Library - a branch of Burbank Public Library at 2:00pm.

The overall purpose of the event for us is to answer questions and spur insiration for anyone interested in becoming either a writer, getting published or even becoming a member of any groups we represent. The reason he library board sponsored us is to provide encouragment to the local community to read and to write, in the name of education and personal improvement.

Secondary intentions of the seakers, of course, is to promote their work.

is a member of a panel of romance authors helping attendees to discover the resources and support networks available to get their writing from idea to finished manuscript.

Covey Award Judge

Los Angeles : Niki Chanel's true namesake has been asked to become a cover art judge for the Covey Awards. The Covey Awards is the brainchild of David Boultbee, himself an author. Check out his book, The Gender Divide. David is among the first to realize that cover art can make or break an author's career, so let's find out who these artists are and give 'em a prize. Here! Here! He is also one of the first to allow the artists to judge themselves. Having two POV's (point of views) gives a better picture of the ever changing look of the day - or visual promotion material needed by writers. Cars, homes, clothing and of course, advertising all are subject to the winds of time and politics - the ever changing commercial fashion. Romance novels are no different. They used to depict bare breasted men locked in a muscular embrace with a swooning wench of the 17th century. Nowadays, one is more likely to find the woman standing over the man - holding a whip!