Cover is done!

Isn't it beautiful? I love it!

Sex and Marriage with Robots by 2050?

Okay, so am I wrong that I find this article (and idea) completely fascinating? The author has all kinds of parallels to how our society has changed in the past to accept relationships that were previously socially unacceptable, and he thinks robots are next.

I don't know. Can you truly love someone who's programmed to love you? Would it be easier or harder than the real thing? I think the love and marriage portion of it, quite frankly, would be more difficult than the sex aspect. Although, again, if you tell your significant other, robotic or otherwise, to please take out the trash, who is more likely to get the chore done? But then again, is a surprise dinner out really a surprise if you have to tell the robot you like surprises and this is your favorite restaurant? Then again, perhaps the technology will have advanced so that the robot learns about you over the years, just as a person would? But will that robot change and develop also? Would he/she have a favorite food, color, piece of music?

And if they become that developed, in terms of humanity, isn't there something wrong with buying or selling them for the purposes of marriage and sex without their consent or agreement? And can you rely on consent from one who has been programmed to serve?

I just think it's fascinating. : )

Homecoming/Birthday Weekend 2007

Me, at my signing table.

Though, I stood next to it most of the time instead of sitting behind it!

Becky taking a rest, Julie and Heidi chatting.

Susan and Maggie (sitting on the floor), hanging out with me at the bookstore, waiting for lunch!

Becky, Stacey and Julie

A close-up photo, just like the one we took at Ed and Deb's wedding...Eight years ago!

Becky, me and Julie...chilling at the union, waiting for the reunion event to start

Ryan and Julie chatting, Beck and Clint in the background to the left,

Heather and Kathy in the background to the right.

Debbie, Me, Becky and Julie at the 10 Year Reunion Event at Buffalo Wild Wings (Saturday)

The Best Weekend!

This weekend....
Friday
5:45 pm: Got to Valpo on Friday in time to hang out with Susan for a bit in her dorm. Met her friend, Tabbi (Hi Tabbi) and then went back to the hotel to meet up with Julie!

7:30: Nostalgic dinner with Julie and Susan at the Subway right across from our old (and Susan's current) dorm. Becky and I celebrated completing our first week of classes there about 14 years ago and one month. : )

8:45: Fireworks!!! And a brief tour of the campus for Julie who hadn't been back in about twelve years. Got to see the really cool book storage system in the library that involves big metal boxes and crane-type things to grab them off shelves. Didn't get to see it in action, but Susan works there now, so I've got an in for the next visit!

9:30: Swimming back at the hotel. Staying up, talking, and drinking with Julie (Susan not of age yet!)

Saturday
8:00 a.m.: Shoe emergency! I packed a black outfit for my signing and forgot the black shirt. Nothing else would go with the pants and the shoes and I had no other shoes except for tennis shoes. So, Julie and I left at 9:15 and stopped by Kohl's for a quick shoe shopping excursion. I got very adorable Skechers slip-ons, but they did cause blisters later in the day.

9:45: Setting up at the bookstore for the signing. Julie helped me get all the books counted and she was as patient as a saint, keeping me company during the whole event. Becky and Clint came by and stayed for quite awhile as did Susan. Heidi, who I haven't seen in a few years, found us as well! It was very cool to see so many people from our class. Everyone is still recognizable as themselves, but we all look soooo much older and more mature. Funny I still feel the same on the inside!

One of my professors stopped by to say hello, too, which was really nice. I wish we would have had a chance to chat more, but things were quite busy. I sold 14 books in just over two hours--pretty darn good!

1:00 p.m.: Lunch at Panera, by Susan's request, with almost everyone. Greg was off with his fraternity brothers preparing for their annual alumni vs. active touch-football game.

2:30: Met up with Greg and Ed, Deb and the kids and Heather and Rob at the football field. Game was already over! Alumni won. : ) Hung out with Becky, Clint, and Julie at the union until it was time for our 10 year reunion event.

3:30: Buffalo Wild Wings for free food, cash bar and a class picture! We met up with everyone there, including Ryan and his wife. Julie, Becky and I were all friends with Ryan our freshman year and we hadn't talked with him in years! It was so much fun hanging out and chatting with him and his wife, Kathy.

6:00: Picked up Susan, Tabbi, Maggie and Tim(my) at the dorms and took them to dinner with all of us at Chili's. Um, yeah, party of twelve on homecoming weekend? Ha! It took them a bit, but we got in! I had possibly one too many Cosmos and handed over the car keys to Susan. : ) After dinner, we made a quick trip to Target so the kids could get whatever was too heavy or cumbersome for them to buy and carry back while walking. Target is pretty far for them to walk very easily.

10:00: Back at my old dorm and Susan's current one, we headed to the cafeteria, the only room with air conditioning, for my cake! The VU Guild makes cakes for parents to send to students and my mom paid for an extra one to be sent to my sister's room for my birthday! Chocolate with chocolate icing--so good.

10:45: Down for a quick trip to Greg's fraternity house to see the place for old times' sake. Then, Julie and I, never the big partiers of the bunch, headed back to hang out with Susan and Tim(my) in Susan's dorm before going back to our hotel for some girl talk and more wine coolers. : )

3:00 a.m.: To bed, finally!!!

Sunday
9:30 a.m.: Dragged self out of bed. Cried that it was my last day with my friends at Valpo, even though it was my birthday. : (

10:45: Got packed up and checked out of the hotel. Said bye to Greg, who drove separately. Went with Julie to Target to get bandaids caused by my new shoes (see above) and we hung out and talked at the Barnes and Noble with our coffee/hot chocolate. None of these stores even existed when we went to school there!

12:00 pm: Stopped by Susan's dorm to say goodbye. : ( It was so much fun spending time with her. The cool part is that because of the age gap between us, she knows many of my friends already and has hung out with them over the years repeatedly. She's included as one no different than us, despite the years between us, and I loved having her with us this weekend. She's my sister and my friend, and I count myself incredibly lucky in that! : )

1:00: To Chesterton for Becky's baby shower at the cutest little restaurant with the most awesome french fries I've ever had! I've eaten more calories this weekend than probably in the entire week. Heather, Julie and I entertained ourselves, chatting and being silly while we watched Becky open her gifts. I'm so excited for Becky and Clint about BG (their nickname for the baby to be born in Jan/Feb of 2008) and it was really neat to see all the lovely things they received to welcome their baby.

3:30: This was the hard part. I was tearing up before I left the restaurant, leaving Beck and Clint behind. Then Julie and I left separately in the parking lot...by the time I reached the first ticket booth on the toll road, I was a big sloppy, red-eyed, crying mess. I miss my friends, but more I just miss that life with them. Being together with them just makes me feel more...whole somehow. Like I'm a small part of this big, warm comfortable group, and I miss feeling that connected.

We've all grown up now and moved on, but it doesn't feel all that long ago that we were making group excursions to Burger King to eat together or braving the trip across the highway to get to Walmart for supplies for our rooms or a party. And I just miss all of it...even the crappy tiny little dorm rooms. Okay, well, maybe not that part! : )

Pictures to follow...

Extras/Television Update/Early Birthday presents!

At the Great Lakes Booksellers convention this last weekend, I was lucky enough to score ARCs (Advance Review Copies) on several books I've been wanting, none more than Extras, the fourth book in Scott Westerfeld's Uglies series. It's what I would classify as YA sci-fi, and I've loved all the books. I think it's some spectacular world-building, not to mention some really cool (and creepy) ideas.

In this world, everyone is ranked based on fame. Your life is better the more famous you are. However, everyone is competing for that fame so getting it is a bit tricky. Aya, our heroine, wants nothing more than to be someone. Because in this world, you're no one if you're not famous. And she's not. But what is she willing to do to be famous? How far is she willing to go?

I liked the reflection back on our culture and our obsession with fame, not to mention our obsession with people who are famous for being famous (Paris Hilton, as one example). It's always interesting to see ourselves in something else, just a little removed.

Because I got quite a few books for free this weekend, watch here for additional info and reviews. It's my little way of trying to pay it forward. The publishers were kind enough to give me the books, the least I can do is tell people about them if I like them!

_____________________

Second random thing...

First casualty of the fall season at my house? Journeyman. Watched the first episode last week, but couldn't summon enough interest to even hit the record button this week.

First season pass awarded? Aliens in America. Traditional midwestern family (the actress who plays the mom does a kickass Wisconsin/Minnesota accent) signs up for an exchange student to help their nerdy son have a friend at school. But instead of getting a young, confident European blonde guy, they end up with Raja, a sweet boy from Pakistan. I can't even describe how funny it is and yet it has really sweet moments, and somehow manages to balance both deftly. It's on Monday nights at 7:30 p.m.

_______________________

And finally, with my birthday coming up this weekend, among other things (you all are coming to see me at the Valpo Book Center on Saturday right? ), Stacy G. and I met for lunch. And she has such a knack for finding cool gifts. This year, I got a mug with one of those older photos (from the fifites or sixties) with a woman all done up, her hair pulled back and big smile on her face and it says "'High Maintenance' doesn't begin to cover it." And I also got two AWESOME t-shirts form her. The first is red and it says in big white letters across the front, "Please remain calm." And then under that in smaller letters, it says, "It's no use both of us being hysterical at the same time." I laughed so loud and hard at this when I opened it, I think I scared the hell out of people at the restaurant.

Second shirt is black and in old timey letters, it says, "Lead me not into temptation..." And beneath that it says, "especially bookstores."

How freaking perfect is that? I'm planning to wear them this weekend and will try to take pictures!

Thanks, Stacy G.!

Snostorm

Don't know what my problem is, but I've really been missing my baby quite a lot lately. I think about her everyday, of course, but for some reason, the last couple of days have been a little harder.

I dreamed about her last night, that somebody found her somewhere and brought her back to us. Her leg, the one we had to amputate because of the cancer, had somehow grown back, though not completely. Her fur had that weird ripply coarseness that it did after it was shaved off her for her surgery. I woke up this morning still vividly remembering the feel of it under my fingers, like I'd just touched her.

It'll be four months tomorrow. God, this still sucks. I also just recently realized that I lost a lot of my pictures of her because I had them on this computer and not anywhere else. I do have prints of them--thank goodness--but that's it.

I just still miss her. I thought it was getting easier, but not so much. : (

TV Smorgasboard!

Not sure I spelled that right and yes, I'm too lazy at the moment to look it up. But can we get a celebratory, "Yea!" for the start of the fall television season?

True, this means that I'll spend more time in front of the so-called idiot box instead of behind the computer...but I can't help it. For a self-proclaimed sci-fi geek, this year has so many delights to offer. I don't know what to watch first.

Chuck, which I've seen, is silly and cute. Completely unbelievable and totally camp, but fun.

Of course, Heroes is returning and from the first episode it looks like the second season is going to be pretty good too.

Journeyman...eh. I'm withholding judgment.

But tomorrow is Reaper, which looks to hold great potential. And I can't wait to see the new Bionic Woman. Though, I've been hearing less than stellar reviews, but here's hoping they get it sorted out. I don't remember the original, except in a vague way. But it's a cool concept, if done well. And Katee Sackhoff (Starbuck from BSG) can kick ass like no other, though she happens to be the villain (villainess?) in this particular outing instead.

And woo and hoo, Stargate Atlantis returns this Friday. Don't know how I feel about Carter moving to this show. I feel like they've just gotten the chemistry sorted and while I like the character (and the actress), I don't want it to be off-balance again.

But we'll see. I'm just happy to have new shows to watch!

I'm back, baby!

My computer crashed last weekend. As in, it couldn't have hit bottom any harder than if I dropped it off a cliff. All new hard drive required. *sigh* It's taken me most of this week to get it fixed and get it back up and running again.

Fortunately, most of my stuff was backed up, but now I've got to figure out how to get some things back on here. Like, iTunes. *groan*

Okay, so other news...

--I'm working on Zara III, at least trying to get an idea of how and where things start and how they progress. I've never been much an outliner, but I did a rough one for EOB and found that it helped. So, I'm trying to do the same thing here. We'll see. I may end up taking the leap and writing that draft without any solid idea of how we're going to get to the end. I did that with EOB and ended up with something awful for a first draft. It was only after I worked through an outline of what needed to happen and when that I was able to get something workable.

--Look for my debut author ad in RT Bookreviews Magazine's December issue. I'll get it and scan it in here, if I can. : )

--On a purely personal level, I'm very proud to announce that I've lost fifteen pounds since May!

Okay, that's probably all for now. More to come and hopefully sooner rather than later if I can keep my computer all in one piece!

Eyewitness Testimony is unreliable...especially from yours truly.

I'm a terrible eye witness. You have to understand this realization wounds me more than it probably should. I always get angry at the television when people on various crime shows can't remember stuff about the crime or the criminal in question. "Duh," I cry at the screen, "his shirt was green! How did you miss that?" And then you've got the requisite cop or lawyer pointing out how unreliable eye witness testimony is.

And so I've discovered, damn, I'm worse than the stupid people on television (at least they're following a script) and I shudder at the idea of someone being convicted or set free based on what someone else "saw."

Here's the story:
I went to the grocery store the other day to pick up a few essentials, and when I came out with my cart, I heard some yelling on the other end of the parking lot. I looked over, sooo very nosy I am, and saw this guy yelling at a woman. He appeared to be waving his fist in the air and saying something threatening ("Do you want me to lay you down, bitch?" I believe is what I heard him saying) and the woman was backing off with her hands up in the air. I watched for another second, not quite believing what I was seeing, and then I saw her approach him again. And...I just wasn't sure what I was seeing. Were they joking around? I hesitated, and then decided maybe I should call it in. Problem? No cell phone. I left in the charger at home.

So, I left and went straight home (two minutes tops) and called the police. The very nice officer on the other end of the line explained that cars were already in route (which meant, yea, I'd done the right thing by calling, albeit belatedly). Then he asked me some very basic questions about what the man looked like and what he was wearing.

And...I was stuck. I remembered hair color and I thought I remembered shirt color but what I said was evidently different from what other callers had said. Oddly enough, I remembered more what the poor woman was wearing than the scary, threatening dude.

Ugh. I couldn't believe it! My chance to be an eyewitness (not that I wanted to be or that I wanted anything harmful to happen but more to prove that people are smarter than what they depict on crime shows), and I was completely pathetic at it! And you'd think I'd be better with details or more observant, except, hell, I think I make stuff up too often to be relied on for an accurate retelling of just about anything! : ) There are very good reasons why I never attempted journalism.

Woo Hoo!!!

Eye of the Beholder, the second book in the Zara Mitchell series, is officially with the publisher as of about 10:00 pm tonight!!!! Celebrate with me! : )

Hope to have a cover to share soon as well as more excerpts!

Down Home Zombie Blues

Just a short little fan squee here....I was lucky enough to read a copy of Linnea's upcoming book, Down Home Zombie Blues, and oh, my gosh, I loved it!

This, of course, is no big shock since I love her stuff (Finders Keepers, I'm looking at you most especially!), but I particularly enjoyed this one because it was right up my "earth-based science fiction" alley. I'm not going to give away plot details here as the book is not up for sale until November, but the basic premise is a female (alien) zombie hunter comes to Earth, searching for missing technology and a fellow tracker who has disappeared. She discovers that zombies (which are not, in fact, zombies as we traditionally think of them but machines that have taken on a life of their own, of sorts) are on Earth and threatening the planet. Because the zombies were her people's creation, Jorie feels responsible for hunting them down. Of course, her exploits take her straight into the path of a human policeman, Theo.

I don't want to say much more for fear of giving away pieces of the story that you will delight in discovering for yourselves. However, my favorite parts involved Jorie's observations about human culture and her understanding of certain cultural imperatives (such as stopping for red lights). Linnea excels at something (lots of things, actually *grin*) that I have trouble with as a writer--removing her human and earthly perspective from her characters. How do you think like an alien without making it so alien like as to be be completely foreign to readers who need to understand and relate what you're saying?

When I was contemplating writing a short story (kind of a prequel for TSS) in Asha's perspective, I had the worst time thinking like an alien. Particularly one with no context for the world around her. Asha kept thinking about beating people up--of course--but I would hear about it human terms. Bones breaking like fragile chalk, for example. Well, does a recently awakened alien on earth know about chalk? Maybe, given the downloads they probably received in preparation for missions, but it probably wouldn't be her first choice of wording. And she had no memory of her homeworld so...*throws hands up in the air*

But Linnea is very good at this, and the story is a blast (ha, pun intended!) from beginning to end. As I told her, Theo is my new favorite among her heroes. So mark it down on your calendars, November 27, 2007, Down Home Zombie Blues.

More pictures from ARCHON...BSG Panel

My thanks to Jim Yelton for these photos of our BSG Panel...

Me in the middle there, for once listening quietly instead of yammering away. : )

The panel--from L to R: Mike Brotheron, Doug Ferguson, Jim Yelton, Stacey Klemstein, Jack Snyder

Not pictured here is Heather Urbanski, who was on the earlier BSG panel, and kept me company as the only other female. She's written this really cool book about science fiction and what it means in the larger scheme of things. And I loved listening to what she had to say--it was just like being back in a discussion in one of my college English classes. Awesome!

Lessons learned from ARCHON 31

Just a bit of silliness in the form of a numbered list...

1. SF cons are the place to get your geek on. (Hmm, that sounds vaguely dirty. Not intended that way, but oh, well). I loved it. You can talk Trek or BSG with just about anyone and they all know exactly what you're talking about and can contribute to the conversation in a meaningful way instead ofgetting that vague, glazed over look or fleeing in panic. Science fiction has been a part of my life for as long as I can remember, and it was so cool to be around a whole bunch of others who are just like me in that respect. Two of my favorite non-writing panels were the two BSG panels I got to participate in. So much fun I could hardly stand it! I got to explain what a "sitrep" was.

2. When driving a PT Cruiser, you must refer to it as "the PT Cruiser" or just "the cruiser." There is no car or rental car in the sentence at all. As in, "I left my sunglasses in the cruiser." Sounds way cooler. : )

3. On a related note, when obtaining a rental car for a long journey, always confirm the existence of cruise control before leaving the rental car place! Five hours is a very long time to hold your foot at a 45 degree angle.

4. There is no substitute for drinking cheap wine coolers (purchased at the Moto Mart around the corner) while hanging out with good friends and enjoying the hell out of each other's company and an episode of Star Trek, the original series. (And my memory was right--the tombstone does say "James R. Kirk." Haven't seen that episode in probably twenty years ormore, but darn if that little production goof didn't stick in my brain. Don't ask me which episode, I can't remember the name but it's got to be one of the first or second ones as Spock is not even in his blue shirt yet. It's the one where the crew member's eyes turn silver and the doctor--not McCoy but a very pretty blonde woman--falls for him.)

5. Brushing your teeth is part of foreplay, evidently. But recycling, while important, is not.
(Links to YouTube, keep volume low but this is a MUST SEE). : )

6. Leave plenty of room in your suitcase for new t-shirts. I LOVE t-shirts, particularly those with funny sayings. Among my favorite purchases this time around? A "Legolas is my house elf" shirt. : ) Perhaps I will wear it and post a picture for you all. Mmmm, Legolas...

7. Don't be afraid. I was very worried that people would not like me or my writing because I blend science fiction with romance. But there were plenty of other genre-crossing authors there (among them, Rachel Caine, Linnea Sinclair, Laurell K. Hamilton, Isabo Kelly, and more!), and not a single person--writer or not--scoffed at my choices. At least not to my face and that, quite frankly, was all I was worried about!

8. You can always learn something new. My very favorite session was the one Linnea and I did together on plot. Not just because it was fun to get up there and talk about these things, but because she and I do things so very differently, I learned some new ways of thinking that will help me in my journey. My new mantra is, "Don't panic! You've just fallen off the conflict line, that's all."

9. Rooming with a buddy is a lot more fun than rooming alone! Isabo Kelly and I had so much fun...just not very much sleep. : ) At least, I had fun.She had to put up with my tendency to spread my possessions over every available flat surface. Next year if we do this, we're going to get room(s) next to Linnea. It'll be just like college. : ) Only with more drinking...

10. I can't wait until next year!

Photos from Archon 31/NASFIC

Me on "The Other SF/F" panel with Rae Morgan (on the right)

Me, with my mouth open (big surprise!) on the "Other SF/F" panel

My favorite picture...Leeloo (The Fifth Element) and me!

Thank you, Linnea, for the photos. I will add more when I have a chance to swipe from her site. : ) Yours truly walked off, leaving her camera at home! Also, I'm also working on a short summary of the con and a lessons learned blog. But it will be a couple of days...unconsciousness is calling! I am so tired...

Update from St. Louis

Just hanging out here with Isabo, taking a bit of rest before we head out for the final night of Archon. It has been sooo much fun! I was very nervous before coming here because I wasn't sure how my books and writing would viewed. Some people don't like romance in their science fiction, just as some people don't like science fiction in their romance. You know, the whole peanut butter in my chocolate thing.

But everyone has been so amazingly warm and welcoming. And you guys, I saw Richard Hatch yesterday! The Richard Hatch, the original Apollo from the original BSG and Tom Zarek from the new version. Seriously. I walked by close enough to pinch him...not that I would have. : ) He looks exactly like he does on television.

Other than that, I've been attending panels, talking to people, learning new things and, of course, chatting and drinking! Hopefully, I will have pictures to share next week. I forgot my camera, believe it or not, and Linnea has been kind enough to take pictures of me so I have some to share. : )

The costumes here are spectacular, by the way. I've seen an entire Stargate team, Leeloo (from The 5th Element), Wesley from the Princess Bride, multiple Harry Potter types, and a couple of superheros I couldn't identify, not because their costumes weren't accurate but because my superhero knowledge is a bit lacking.

Must go now to get ready for dinner. More to come soon...
: )

Meet me in St. Louis...

Tomorrow I'm heading out on a road trip with Isabo Kelly. We're heading down to St. Louis to meet Linnea for Archon 31. This is my first sci-fi con as a published author! I'm excited and nervous. But I'm looking forward to the trip tomorrow and to seeing my friends. : )

I'm on a bunch of panels, including some about BSG--on which I will be only a fan because my sci-fi stuff is NOTHING like BSG. But that's okay. It'll be fun. : ) I'm also on several writing panels. Should be interesting!

Will try to post from the con, but we'll see what internet access and time allows.

Writing by the seat of your pants sometimes leaves you naked! : )

I've been working on my handout for the plot workshop Linnea and I are giving together next week at Archon, and it's fascinating to me how differently we approach writing. Of course, in writing up how I usually work, I can see why I routinely get stuck at various points in a book.

I rely on intuition to write. I don't plot or plan anything out ahead of time...well, not much, anyway. I just listen and watch, much the way Stephen King describes in On Writing. I don't do it that way because that's how he does it but because that's the way it works for me. It's like catching only bits and pieces of a movie and trying to puzzle out what must have happened in between this part and the last little portion you saw.

It works for me because I enjoy finding out what's going on just like a reader. However, I frequently find myself in situations where I don't know what happens to make that next leap. Over the years, I've learned it's usually because I'm missing something. Some major fact I didn't know, some tension-elevating feature that I bypassed accidentally. For example, in The Silver Spoon, it was that if you challenge the leader of this particular group of aliens and you win...you're the new leader. Boom. When that clicked into place, it was HUGE. Changed everything and pulled the story tight again.

And for whatever reason, I find this stumbling block always occurs right near a threshold, or change in the character/situation. I follow Christopher Vogler's idea of the Writer's Journey when I need help and I always find myself referring to that book at the exact same places in every single book--as I'm transitioning into Act II and then again into Act III.

With my current WIP, that's exactly where I'm floundering again. I know some things, but just not the full picture. And it's very frustrating when I want to move forward. I know the hero in my story has some big dangerous mission in the offing or he has some special destiny or both, but I have no idea what it is. Not yet. And though technically I don't need to know at this exact moment--nobody's talking about it or anything--his role/mission is significant in how it causes at least one major character (and possibly more) behaves toward my heroine. Arrgh.
It will work out--I have faith and it always does. But whew, talk about grumpiness and frustration until we get there.

Anyone else out there write this way? If so, what do you do to get past it? I know L would tell me that I've fallen off the conflict line and she's absolutely right. But how to get back on and get us on the right track again...that's the tricky part.

Yea! Thursday Night!

My new favorite show, Burn Notice, is on tonight. First, can I say how much I love cable's recent trend of creating new shows for the summer? A couple of summers ago, I got hooked on The Closer and Psych. Last year, it was Saved, which hasn't returned and I don't know if it will, actually. Which is too bad because...hello, deeply flawed characters everywhere. Loved it. I've kind of fallen off of The Closer--it was more interesting when Brenda's love life was all messed up, in my opinion--and Psych is not as good as it was last season (though still better than the first season, I think). Burn Notice, though, sets my little television-watching heart all apitter-patter.

First, the premise, a spy, though more of a freelance spy than one associated with the CIA or other organization, gets cut loose from his job. No one will take his calls, no one will acknowledge his existence. He has been disavowed, to use M:I language. They, whoever they are, have also frozen his assets, destroyed his credit history and put him on every watch list known to man. But they don't want him dead, at least not yet. He doesn't know why any of this is happening, and, of course, he can't get anyone to tell him. And he finds out at the worst time possible--when he's trying to convince some major bad guy to take an official payout to leave some oil rigs alone. The guy finally gives up his account numbers for the payout and when Michael, the main character, goes to call it in, they tell him he's been burned. No other information available, no help to get him out of a very sticky situation. He has to rely on his own cleverness, which is part of my attraction to the show. He can't really trust or rely on anyone else--even those people who are helping him (his mother, ex-girlfriend and an ex-associate with the FBI who is obligated to inform on Michael's every move) have their own agendas that may or may not work against him.

In writing, it's always best if a character finds him or herself a corner with no way out. That's when things start to get interesting. I love it. Also, Michael's mother, a role played magnificentlyby Sharon Gless (Was she Cagney or Lacey? I can't remember), is amazing. Equal parts manipulative and caring--and impossible to tell which is which until it's too late. Bruce Campell (of Evil Dead fame) plays the ex-associate and does so with great relish. He's fantastic.

The individual episodes focus on odd, private investigator-type jobs he's taking in order to make ends meet while he's searching for who put the burn notice out on him and why. He's so clearly reluctant to get involved onthese cases because they are, in a way, child's play to someone who does the kind of work he does, or did. And yet, he's obligated by the need for money and his sense of morality, oddly enough. In reference to the skills need to catch a particular criminal, I think there's a quote from the show that goes something like this, "Spies are just criminals with a government paycheck."

The writing is pretty snappy. And I'm a sucker for a good voiceover. Can't help it. It's the closest thing in television to first person (which is what I almost always write). Some of his opening lines are good, too, in my opinion. This is a paraphrase, but close to the opening lines of the pilot:
"Covert operations involve a lot of waiting around. You want to know what it's like being a spy? It's like sitting around in your doctor's reception area, 24/7. You sip some coffee, flip through a magazine...and occasionally someone tries to kill you."

Awesome. Follows the writing rule of three, catching you off-guard with the third item in a list.

Or, how about this one, (Thanks to The Watcher Column in the Trib for catching and transcribing this--read her whole article here.):
"Spend a few years as a covert operative, and a sunny beach just looks like a vulnerable tactical position with no decent cover.....I've never found a good way to hide a gun in a bathing suit."

Of course, you're not getting the perfect, dry tone of Jeffrey Donovan by reading it here, so check it out tonight. USA, 9:00, central time. : )

Meez for Zara?

Was having a little fun with Meez. Check this out--does this look like Zara at the diner?
http://images.meez.com/user16/08/06/0806_10019112123.gif

Tempt me...

So, as you've probably guessed, I spend a lot of time in bookstores. It occurred to me recently that there several kinds of books that seem vaguely tempting but I can't get over one obstacle about them that turns me off from buying them. But these books seem to be popular, or else I just notice them more because of my issue with them, so I'm wondering if I'm missing something.

This has nothing to do with the quality of the books--I've never read one, so the writing could be fantastic for all I know. It's just my own personal hang up. So, here's my challenge, if you've read one or more of the books in these categories and highly recommend said books, please let me know which ones to try. I'm up for the experiment!

Here are the "forbidden" categories:

-Books that use Jane Austen's characters (or children of her characters) in adventures taking place before or after the novels she created them for. I'm sorry but I just don't believe that anyone can write like Jane Austen, except for, you know, her. But I'd LOVE to read a book that proves me wrong as I love almost all of J.A.'s novels.

-Books that use Jane Austen as a fictional character--typically, but not always, as a sleuth. Eesh, this one bothers me just because it makes the assumption that you can know someone well enough to write a book with that person as the main character and have it be believable. Not that there's anyone alive who could contradict it, of course. I just don't understand this, though.

-Books, usually mysteries, that revolve around some so-called feminine art. You know which ones I'm talking about, right? They have punny titles that involve cross-stitching or baking or knitting or whatever. I'm always eager to find a new amateur sleuth series, and most of them seem to have this angle built into them. It makes sense. Knitters want to read about knitting or will find it interesting to learn how someone was killed with a particular kind of knitting implement. But is there one out there that doesn't require special knowledge of said hobby to enjoy the book?

-Inspirational romance novels. These, especially with the new covers, catch me by surprise. I'll pick it up based on the cover and start reading the blurb. It'll catch my attention--main character is forced to see her old boyfriend at the high school reunion, now an FBI agent in pursuit of a serial killer, and will things be the same, and will she survive a confrontation with the killer himself?--and then the line about "her faith in God will be tested" is always thrown in there. Here's the thing, I think just about everything bad or scary that happens tests your faith, including being confronted by an ex-boyfriend you still have feelings for and a serial killer. In different ways, of course. But I don't necessarily need it to be shouted at me in this way. But, then again, I've never read the book, so I don't know. Maybe it would seem more organic, more natural, when reading the book instead of reading the back cover blurb.

So, please send me recommendations, suggestions, tell me I'm full of it for not reading these sooner. I'm curious to know what I'm missing, if anything.

Also, feel free to share books in categories you won't read. Maybe someone will make a suggestion that will open up a whole new "okay" category for you.

: )