Fifty Shades of...Red

It wasn’t until some recent furtive staff room discussions on the Fifty Shades books that I learned I still, at this advanced age, blush. The joke began that I can turn Fifty Shades of Red. And after my Fifty Shades of Green post last week I found out I am not the only writer out there who gets nervous about the idea of writing erotica, or even just erotic scenes. I received several blog comments and was part of quite a few discussions on the topic of what I now call The Mother Factor.

Writing erotica is one thing. Making it available for the public to read is another. But the thought of having one’s mother read it, well, that is quite another thing altogether. The thought seems to be almost universally cringe-worthy. But you don’t even have to put it to the mother test, some of us don’t have mothers anymore, any person you know well can serve as the ‘mother’ in this scenario: a sister, grown child, co-worker, and most horrifying of all, a boss. For me, having it read by a co-worker or my boss wouldn’t only be embarrassing, it would result in the loss of my day job.

So that brings me to the point made by one commenter. How could I ever promote erotica? I would have to be under such deep cover, with a pen name no one could ever connect to me, that all but the most anonymous promotions would be out of the question. And as we know, no author can have a book published without committing to a lot of promotional activities, many of which are not anonymous.

I admit it. I am a nervous Nellie. My hat is off to the wonderful Cathryn Cade who was kind enough to leave a comment on last week’s post. She does it all with such aplomb. She is confident and comfortable with all her writing, including the erotic bits. And boy, I have to tell you, she does those well! But most impressive of all is the fact that she can talk about writing erotic WITHOUT turning Fifty Shades of Red. Even on the evening news. Wow!

Maybe in my next life I will be able to do that too. But for now I am doomed to turning Fifty Shades of Red.

Fifty Shades of...Green?

Before I turn my attention to the report cards awaiting my marks, I thought I’d spend a little time discussing erotica. I figure, why not?

Regardless of what you think about the Fifty Shades of Grey trilogy, one thing cannot be disputed: the trilogy has lifted the taboo against women reading/admitting to reading/discussing erotica. If my school’s staff room and my circle of friends (ages 25 to 60+) are any indication, women of all ages and from all walks of life have either read one or more of the books, are currently reading one, or are seriously contemplating reading the books. Curious what all the hubbub was about, I downloaded the first one onto my Nook, as well as another unrelated book, also labeled ‘erotica’, for comparison’s sake. I’ve now read the first two Fifty books, and as a mere fledgling writer it isn’t my place to judge their quality, but I will say the writer can really create a steamy scene. I’ve read a little of the other unrelated book as well, and it too is plenty steamy. Okay, I’ll admit it: reading erotica is fun.

And it’s the new hot book genre. I’m sure we will be seeing many more erotica titles showing up on bestseller lists this summer and fall. There are people in my writers’ group who write erotica, and had been long before this new craze started by Fifty. They are way ahead of the game; writers who want in on this game have some catching up to do. Over the past couple of weeks I’ve asked myself if I want in on it. Can I write erotica?

I don’t think so. I can write, in fact I have written, steamy. Plenty steamy. But the level of graphic detail required by erotica is out of my comfort zone. I have a couple of great titles for erotic books, but I don’t think I could ever go beyond that. Those titles will just have to find their way to other stories.

So am I fifty shades of green…with envy… that this author turned what was once a fan fiction story into a global bestseller? Sure I am. But I seriously doubt that I’ll be jumping onto this bandwagon. I might, however, secretly hope that other writers will!

Staying the Course

April and May are always exceptionally busy months for me. A lot goes on at my school and in my classroom during these months. I have many personally important dates on the April and May calendars. Throw in the occasional extra event or obligation, and you have a couple of packed months. Add to all of this a resolve to work out every day after work. Now you have months (or more!) that make all good intentions to write on a regular basis fly right out the window into the pollen laden spring air. How to find the time and energy to write?

I’ve now been writing long enough, (though the time can still be counted in months), to know that all writers have moments of self doubt, and that I am not unique in that way. But recently I hit a new low. I was on the brink of abandoning my still new avocation. For many reasons. And my inability to find the time and energy to write was not an insignificant component of that low. Dear Husband and I sat down, discussed my dilemma, and after some brainstorming may have come up with a plan that has a chance of working. He knows how important this is to me, and we were both willing to think a little outside the box. It’s still in its infancy, so I’ll let you know in a few weeks how it’s working out for me. But, here it is, Tuesday evening, and I’m writing a first draft of a blog post I hope to post this coming weekend. And I worked on one of my projects last night, and hopefully will tonight as well.

It’s too early for me to chicken out of this new adventure. I’ve never been a quitter, and I don’t plan to start now. No, I’m going to do whatever is necessary to stay the course. And I would love to hear from others who have faced this dilemma, and found a workable solution!

Keep writing!

Monica

Life in 140 Characters or Less

Watch out Twittersphere, I’ve joined you! I have no idea what I’m going to share with you, but I’m sure it will be salient, thought-provoking, and terribly witty. And all in 140 characters or less.

I’ve long known this day was coming, but I had been fighting it, kicking and screaming, hanging on for dear life before being thrown into the abyss. One infinitesimal step for social media, one giant leap for Monica. When I told my techie friend Chris that I had joined the masses and that I was sure I would most likely blow up the Twittersphere, since I have no idea what I’m doing, he was very kind and reassured me that that scenario was rather unlikely. This coming from a man who knows very well the damage I can do to anything technology related. So here I am, tweeting and following, and trying to figure out what a damn Timeline is. (With a capital T.)

I hope to see you in Twitter Land! (If you scroll down a bit, you will find my Twitter feed in the right hand column.)

Monica

Confessions of a Fangurl

It had been happening so slowly, so stealthily, that I had failed to notice it until I was fully in the throes of the obsession. I had become a fangurl, with a u, yes. The object of my obsession? The brilliant YA author Maggie Stiefvater. And while I LOVE and adore her Wolves of Mercy Falls trilogy, I believe I fell into obsession after numerous readings of her entertaining and educational and insightful blog. Ms. Stiefvater (I dare not call her Maggie!) is not only a very talented writer, one who obviously has the soul of a poet, but she also is a musician, composer, and award-winning artist. (What’s the matter Ms. S., no time to find a cure for cancer? Cole St. Clair would have!!) Though I’m older than she is, I want to grow up to be Maggie Stiefvater!

Yes, it came on slowly. Interestingly, I was fortunate enough to see her and hear her speak at last October’s Wordstock before I knew who she was! Had I known what I know now, I hate to think how I might have humiliated myself. A few months later I started working on a YA supernatural, and was concerned about the format I was using, going back and forth between the two main characters’ points of view. But lo and behold, I started to read SHIVER and what was Ms. S. doing, but that very thing! That was encouraging, especially by the time I’d finished SHIVER and fallen in love with it. If it worked for Ms. S., it might, possibly, maybe, work for me, the lowly fledgling writer.

But then there was the blog. Oh my, the blog. I love her blog. She is so amusing. So intelligent. So knowledgeable. So willing to share her knowledge with her readers. Coming late to this party, I’m still working my way through past posts, but each and every one is a jewel. Her posts on the craft of writing are inspiring and extremely helpful. My iPad always has tabs open to one or more of her writing posts.

And Ms. Stiefvater posts frequently. Excellent posts. And she writes excellent books. Lots of them, thankfully…I have a lot more reading ahead of me. And she plays musical instruments, plural, and composes music. And draws. And is married with a family. When do you sleep Maggie?

If you haven’t yet had the pleasure of knowing Maggie Stiefvater’s work, check her out here.

P.S. I just went back to my blog post archive, and noticed that I first mentioned Maggie Stiefvater in my January 29^th post. How fun to read that! I was so obviously in that early, new blush of growing obsession. How quaint. Sigh.

C'est Paris!

Paris est magnifique!

A delightful week, sunny and warm, spent soaking up all Paris has to offer, and finding writing inspiration around every corner. What more could I ask for?

While we saw all the regular tourist sights, and a few lesser known as well, the highlight of the week was a walking tour of a small section of the 6^th arrondissement, (left bank) with the author of a book we read prior to our trip. (The Most Beautiful Walk in the World: A Pedestrian in Paris is a memoir of the author’s years in Paris.) Originally from Australia, John Baxter is a friendly and engaging tour guide and storyteller, and we saw everything from the courtyard where Gigi was filmed to where Hemingway lived with his second wife, to the flat where the guillotine was invented, and the gutter that carried all the sheeps’ blood from the inventor’s trials and errors during the inventing process. The tour was followed by a wonderful afternoon spent sipping wine and eating fromage in his terrace apartment with its view of Notre Dame and Sacre Coeur, talking about writing and cinema, and all things French. (He has a backlist of 40 books, many of which are biographies of people like Woody Allen, Robert De Niro, Steven Spielberg, George Lucas etc.) Our other tour mate was a fascinating man from Australia, Lebanese by birth, who in his spare time is a playwright. So our afternoon turned into a wonderful ‘salon’ experience. Quite appropriate as Sylvia Beach used to live in the building, and Hemingway and Fitzgerald were often there to visit her! I kept having to pinch myself!

Of course the literary part of my trip wasn’t going to be complete without a café crème at Hemingway’s old haunt, Les Deux Magots, on Boulevard St. Germain. He would write all morning in the café, all the while nursing ONE café crème.

In A Moveable Feast, Hemingway writes about spending hours looking at a Cezanne painting and gathering inspiration from it. Enjoying all the magnificent artwork in the many museums in Paris, it was hard NOT to be inspired. In fact, two sculptures in particular have become sources of inspiration for one of the YA books I’m writing. And of course, inspiration could be found in the very charming city itself!

A perfect trip. A beautiful city that begs for another visit. Someday. 

Hook 'Em

[T minus six days until Paris!]

One year ago this week I decided to begin a long put off writing career. I had a story in mind, one that would require a lot of preliminary research, but the bug had bitten, and there was no turning back. Of course the actual writing did not begin until my summer vacation, but the plotting and planning were in full swing.

So what I have learned during the past year? This morning I asked myself: if I had to pick the one most important lesson I’ve learned out of all the many daunting aspects of this craft, what would it be? The answer came to me quickly. Write a compelling and hook filled beginning. Hook the reader. Make them want to keep reading. And it is easier said than done.

For most of my reading years, I have happily read books which required a degree of patience from the reader. I knew that effort had to be put forth at the beginning of the book where everything was set up, before I could reap the joys of the more interesting middle and end. But today’s reader requires a faster start, and that has been a challenge for me. If they aren’t interested right from the start, they won’t stick with the book.

This is more important now than ever before. Last weekend I had the opportunity to hear the delightful literary agent April Eberhardt speak on the topic of today’s publishing trends. With the rising popularity of the e-book, writers must catch the reader’s interest faster than ever. A prospective e-book buyer can download a free sample of the book and decide within the first 1,000 words whether or not they want to continue reading and pay for that pleasure. There is no time to leisurely set up the story; the writer must plunge in quickly.

Speaking of books with great hook filled beginnings, I am finally reading Suzanne Collins’ The Hunger Games. Probably the last person on the face of the earth to read it, but better late to the party than never. Wow, talk about a book that grabs you by the throat and doesn’t let go! There’s a writer who really knows how to hook ‘em!

Next time I’m sure I’ll be full of stories of Paris! Till then…

Monica