A LOW PROFILE: May 2005

Monday, May 30, 2005

WTF Happened To My Action, Woman?

That was the scolding I got from a certain man earlier this month after he read the galley of The Hunter. I had a great explanation but he wouldn't have understood!

I kind of feel sad because the last Harlequin Temptation is out, appropriately titled The Last Temptation, by Leslie Kelly. This used to be one of my favorite H/S lines after Silhouette Intimate Moments. I wanted to either write for Temptation or SIM because the stories in those lines had all the emotions that I, as a reader, wanted: drama, adventure, and spicier but not over-the-board sexiness.

I admire many of the authors who have their roots in category writing, especially in these two lines. They do so much to a story with so few words. Very tough. I've found myself missing a lot of that tight writing in many of today's single title authors...dozens paragraphs and pages of stuff that could have been done succinctly in a few! Don't get me wrong. I can get thoroughly absorbed in a long book, but it's been a while since I've actually have a satisfying WOW at the end.

Because of word limitations, many writers have had to "rush" their endings, choosing certain key scenes to happen "off-stage" in the story. Sometimes I feel cheated. Since I know I'm guilty of doing the same myself because of length constraints, and having gone through a horrible experience of having sixty pages cut out of my book, I've started to pare down on my writing.

I mean, I used to write categorical length, so I do have the experience. I told myself that I know how to do this--be sparing and be good at it. Alex Diamond's and T's story was written years ago, a mere 80,000 word categorical, and I still think it has some of my best writing in it.

As an experiment, I pared down Sleeping (elipses* bleeps*) as much as I could and now, during revisions, I have plenty of room to add on if I wanted to. Last night, I finished the epilogue, a ribbon for the present...not truly needed, but gives the final touch to the trilogy. The reader gets to see all three couples together and see growth. That's a good improvement to being told I have to cut sixty pages! If I had written the length I wanted, this epilogue would have been the first to go.

Today, I'm going to add a last scene, an action oriented sequence that I've deliberately left offstage because of trying to keep the length my publisher wanted. I'm looking forward to it because I love to write about a bunch of SEALs having a good time ;-). When I did Hawk's book (The Hunter), I left out a similar action sequence because I didn't want it to be cut (the fear of the cut!) and my favorite male reader nailed me with a "WTF happened to my SEALs doing what they do best?"

That was a lesson I learned from paring down--choose what to leave offstage carefully! Anyway, to mollify this very particular male reader, I'm going to bring back Hawk, Jazz, Cucumber, Dirk, Mink, Zone, and Joker for one macho power ranger show. Where's Turner? Well, he's still sidelined by injury from the first book.

I guess it's a fitting scene to write on Memorial Day, eh?

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Sunday, May 29, 2005

Spying On A Ninja-Crazed Phenomena

I was writing a scene about a ninja last night--okay, so I was supposed to be revising, but HEY, I CAN'T HELP IT, JED MCNEIL wanted to play ninja (yes, I hear all your ahhhhhhhhhhhh shiiiiiiiiiiiiiit, yesssssssssss, all the way from here, so now you know my similar reaction to the idea)--when I became stuck because I can't remember the name of a certain sword that I know has a certain kind of blade. So I went on the net to google about ninjas.

Most of the time, I just hit the first link, see something familiar and keep clicking until I find the subject I want. This is because I tend to browse if I'm stupid enough to start reading ;-). Browsing is DANGEROUS because it leads to other topics that are totally unrelated to the original quest and before I know it, I'll have spent two hours reading up on the correct way of Japanese bowing instead of writing.

Anyway, the first link I clicked on was this:

The Ultimate Ninja Webpage (sounds great, right?)
http://www.realultimatepower.net/index4.htm

You have to turn off your volume because of the stupid music in the background but I think I spent fifteen minutes laughing myself silly. The best line was:

Q: What do ninjas do when they're not cutting off heads or flipping out?
A: Most of their free time is spent flying, but sometime they stab. (Ask Mark if you don't believe me.)

After going through the tabs on the top of the site (and laughed myself sick), I came to realize that the kid (if he really was one to begin with) have quite a sick sense of humor. But I was wiping tears on my face, so I must be sick myself. Here is one of his pics, that he earnestly titled "I hope it isn't true":
I realize this kind of "fun" isn't for everyone because subtle it isn't, but watching this little boy grow up with his play site is sort of interesting in itself. He was sued for this site, supposedly, and ended up PUBLISHED! The book is called Real Ultimate Power: The Official Ninja Book. You can order this on Amazon!

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/080652569X/qid=1117365851/sr=8-1/ref=pd_csp_1/103-3339699-7055069?v=glance&s=books&n=507846

And its ranking is in the 2000s! With One Hundred And Fifty reviews. Yeeha. That rivals any review numbers of Laurell K. Hamilton, Linda Howard, and other goddesses. Not bad for a snarky kid, eh? And he's made a business of his obsession, all from a silly little site that generated a lot of hate mail. And all of that hate mail was directed at a ten year old who wrote:

Seppuku With a Frisbee

Just click on the seppuku tab above and see pictures of this kid trying to commit suicide with a frisbee and his take on what seppuku is. I know, I know--totally tasteless, but hey, it can't be worse from the recent Saturday Night Life episode I saw in which the guest was peeing in his pants while he sang.

All I can say is--hey, Robert Hamburger (that's the kid's name), I'm glad I was researching about ninja swords last night. Your site's sweet (his favorite word). I'm thinking of ordering his book, LOL.

Friday, May 27, 2005

Dig Deep Inside

You're writing a scene about killing people. A group of your spy-commandos are having a grand time mowing down hostiles left and right. You've never run a covert team before, so you start researching about team strategy. You've never shot an AK-47 before, so you start reading up on weaponry. You've never shot at anything before, so...what do you do? You've never seen a dead person before, especially from a gunshot wound, so...how do you write this?

Obviously, being a sane person, you aren't going to go out and kill someone and use this book research as your excuse. That's what's so wonderful about being a writer--your imagination can take you everywhere.

I'm very fortunate to have Ranger Buddy to answer many of my questions. He's been to war as a grunt. He knows what it's like to hoist an AK-47 for days, marching in hot jungles. He understands what it takes to pull the trigger. And he still remembers his first kill.

I'm also very "fortunate" that I've experienced certain events that gave me insight about death and destruction in a running crowd. As a kid, I was lost in the marketplace during the very scary time of civil unrest in Malaysia. I still remember the blood and the screams, the feeling that I should make myself really, really small.

During my travels, I've seen different things in other countries. Remember Poland, Walesa, and Solidarinosc? Crowd euphoria. Tension. I remember the teeshirts with Solidarinosc, proudly worn by youths everywhere. I still have that shirt somewhere in my closet! I was in a rally, wearing it, when the authorities came with the hoses. Not a good feeling....

All writers use their experiences to nurture and layer their scenes. You have to dig deep inside to find that nugget that would color your story. The death of your first pet with all its emotional pain can be that nugget; it doesn't have to be anything violent. It's the emotion that I, as a reader, harvest from the stories I read.

That's why I totally dislike any books that fudge around these kind of details. It's lazy writing, in my humble opinion. Most readers, especially romance readers, don't care if the writer isn't a CSI expert, but please do include the emotional value of that scene. It enriches their experience and makes the book great. And that's why I love Linda Howard ;-). Take for example, the little scene in Cry No More, in which she had the hero break the thumb of a woman. A violent, violent act. But later in his POV, La Linda gives his explanation why he chose to do that. And I went WOW. And genuflected ;-).

Can you think of a scene you've read that gave you that kind of emotional ooomph? I love collecting them.

Thursday, May 26, 2005

Spies Shouldn't Sleep Naked

For those who would like an early preview of The Hunter (June 28, 2005), I've posted the first chapter on my website. Go to www.Gennita-Low.com and click on the GEMS page on top. Click on the HUNTER GEM. The chapter is in a WORD document. I just know you're going to enjoy what happened to Hawk!

The beginning of any spy novel is very important to me since it sets the tone, be it sexy or angsty. I wanted to start Hawk out being alone, which he usually likes, but in this case, he isn't enjoying it because of his circumstance.

It's tough to write sexy when there are obviously very sobering things happening in the spy-world. In The Hunter, I continued Dilaver's illegal human-trafficking doings that was hinted at in The Protector. Remember that Jazz is brought up by women and loves and respects them?

Well, now you have to bear in mind that Hawk's family is mostly men and he has been mocked as "catnip" for women on a few occasions. We also know that he enjoys being the ladies' man. However, now, he is in the world of enslaved women, and he's hating every minute of it. Worse, he can't even attempt to save them. Hawk is not a happy camper when the book starts.

Let's hope the heroine, Amber, changes things! Oh, and there's a reason why you should read the spoiler-chapter if you want to be in the know about the title of this post! ;-)

Wednesday, May 25, 2005

A Balancing Act

There are stranger life forms other than spies and roofing writers! Check out this link:

http://www.rock-on-rock-on.com/gallery-more.html

This man is a rock balancer. The galleries you see on this site (you can keep clicking at the bottom of each page) show his amazing skills as well as demonstrate his philosophy behind his art. Pretty cool!

These rock-art-sculptures are balanced so perfectly even birds can stand on them:

http://www.rock-on-rock-on.com/images/birdgallery/gull-standing.jpg

I'm in awe.

On a personal level, we all strive to balance so many things in our lives, don't we? In writing, especially a spy-romance-suspense, the writer has to balance characterization/growth with plot/suspense. I find most romantic suspense books out of balance: they are either mostly romance or mostly suspense. Do you?

Monday, May 23, 2005

Super Jack Did It Again

I watched UberSpy Super Agent Jack Bauer in the season's finale tonight. Wow, how am I going to top that kind of action ;-)? Remember I talked about a dark hero and his supreme sacrifice? Of course, Jack gave it his all...even his name/life/everything. What a man, eh? ;-) How is he ever going to come back next season and sacrifice more? That poor man.

As for me, uber-roofer, I can only sacrifice coffee for Lent. Last year it was milkshake. Pathetic. :drooping head in shame:

Have any of you ever had that "give everything you've got" moment, pushed yourself to the extreme? Doing something ordinary in an extraordinary way. I have, in my line of work, even though it's meaningless to many people. But I use that as a way to understand my characters...and Jack Bauer ;-). 24 is over-the-top, totally unbelievable at moments, but yet, I can understand Jack Bauer the character and his emotional response to each challenge. It didn't matter that I didn't believe the situation; I believe in Jack! And I think, sometimes, that's what matters most to a reader. Their hero's emotions must be real to them, even though the situation needs a larger dose of suspension of disbelief than usual.

Have you ever sacrificed something personal for the "good"? How did it feel like? I'm always curious to know, since the concept of sacrifice means different things to different people. Have you done to opposite--unwilling to sacrifice? I think that's an easier emotion with which to identify, isn't it? I certainly had done that--and yes, I still think it was a selfish act on my part, even after decades. And yes, these emotions are important to explore in one's writing, because romance-writing is about characters, their experiences, and their emotions. Spies do it all the time--look, study, and understand their enemies through personal experiences. Writers should, with their characters, too.

Sunday, May 22, 2005

Spies and Friendships

When you're a spy, you have to learn to speak in layers. And as a writer, especially about spies and spying, I have to learn to take note of the many things going on under the surface of human relationships. Not that everything has got to have subtext and meaning; there are many shallow people in this world ;-). But when things reappear or certain words/description are repeated, then as a writer, I sit up and notice.

Any good spy will tell you that a repeated phrase in their covert world is often a key to a current situation. That's how reporters and their sources/contacts communicate and that's how the former connect the dots that the latter are supplying.

This is all so murky and hard to pinpoint. As a writer, I can just go ahead and tell the story but what fun is that, especially when I'm building a murky and hard to pinpoint world? My uber-spies don't just do their jobs--they lead very murky lives and sometimes they make murky choices that I have to hint at because...well, you know, readers don't want to know and besides, it's more fun and interesting to hint at those things than to put it as 100 percent true.

For instance, is Marlena, the heroine from Into Danger, an assassin or not? I have had countless readers talk about her in front of me and I've never really acknowledged (or not) that she is, or pretends to be, one. My answer is usually: "You have to be logical about her line of work," and leave it at that.

After all, I'm not as brave as Linda Howard who didn't hide her assassin-heroine behind any excuses in KISS ME WHILE I SLEEP (excellent title, btw, and wish it was mine instead of SLEEPING *ellipses). I thought she carried it off very well, although she turned off many readers who kept insisting that they couldn't like a heroine who killed.

A dilemma here. A "likeable" spy? One who has never killed/assassinated (except in self-defense at the end, but that's okay)? One who has made no murky choices except that she's in that particularly murky career?

So in romantic suspense, the reader gets female spies who:
1) are virgins
2) can't take a life
3) can't have good sex
4) are unable to take out the bad guy if hero is present
5) lets the man make the decision
6) can't run an operation without fouling it up
7) are relegated to lover-roles in an operation
8) can't tell lies worth a damn (she becomes uncomfortable and turns red)
9) refuses to make tough choices
10) who falls for easy traps

Yet what can the author do when she is told her heroine is too harsh or unfeminine or worse, too far-out for the reader to empathize with? Sure, everyone says not to listen to such criticism. But you have to, especially if you're just a mid-list author trying to make it. You cannot not listen.

So everything goes into subtext and unspoken layers, and I'm getting good at it! I think. ;-) The Protector has plenty of unspoken layers--things happening under the surface in a friendship. Some readers get it; some don't. The latter tend to think the first half of the novel slow, which is fine, since it's the first of a trilogy and a set up is necessary. The subtext in The Protector are the events, so that every detail can be pulled together in the end and the next couple of books. Here friendships are real.

The subtext in The Hunter, however, are emotions. Violence is a hard thing to sell in romance. I personally don't like to write it because I don't like to read gory scenes. But Hawk's world is very violent. Any SEAL's is. And it's his anger that moves him through the whole book. I can't allow that to swallow the love story, so I have to put it in subtext--in his physical and emotional hunger; in his treatment of his enemies and his self-anger that he had to view them as friends; and in his own quiet reflections when he's thinking about killing and his inability to protect the things that matter to him. Here, friendships are used and some of them are fake.

The subtext in the last book of the trilogy, Sleeping *ellipses, is my current problem. While I revise, I'm thinking--how am I going to show guilt and forgiveness? How does the writing not end up like one messed-up psychological session? Here, the subtext is loss of friendship and as a romance, a reunion of friends.

So when reading the trilogy, look for repeated phrases. Nyahnyah, that's the only clue you're going to get out of me today ;-). Back to regular revisions....

Saturday, May 21, 2005

Spies And Diapers?

I received several emails these last few weeks that asked the same thing: When is Lena and Stash (Into Danger) going to have a baby?/Will you show Marlena pregnant in a future book please?/Can you write a book with Lena and Stash starting a family? These emails, as far as I know, were from different readers.

=8-O

That's me staring at the puter with a coffee cup frozen midway to my mouth. My first thought was that there were readers out there planning my characters' future! It's incredibly fascinating and flattering, but also somewhat scary. After all, they have made my world theirs and anything I write in the future might affect their world-building.

I can't say I won't ever make Lena pregnant but I don't think it's possible in such a short time. It's been hardly a year in their time since they got together and spies take pregnancies very seriously. I mean, how's Lena going to go kickass and everything if she's all chubby with baby? And is her head even into that kind of responsibility at the moment? I think not. A year ago, she's was running away from even the thought of a committed relationship. Look how hard Stash had to work to get her to admit that she loved him. Can you see her with a McMillan Baby? And would she kowtow and let him name him Steve too? Y'all know about the McMillan Male Baby Rule ;-).

I'm very open to writing another book with Stash and Lena as the protagonists, though. I think that will challenge me since I've never done it before. How does one keep the sexual tension going when the characters are married? I'll have to read J.D. Robb and her In Death series all over again.

I would love to make one of them disappear and the other go look for him/her, but that's not exactly very romancey since they'd be apart for most of the book. But to get Stash into an angsty rage--what a yummy tempting idea! Or Lena showing exactly what she does when she's in assassin mode--OMG. Ah well, that's just me and my world-building and it's not exactly filled with sweet babies and teddy bears.

Roofers and spies aren't very good with babies, I'm afraid.

Friday, May 20, 2005

Spies Look At Things Differently

My favorite thing about good writers that I study over and over is their wonderful talent in twisting the truth. Take Tom Stoppard's play, Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead, for instance. R and G are two minor characters in Shakespeare's Hamlet and Stoppard made them his heroes and told the story of Hamlet through their eyes/POV.

That's a cool twist--but the coolest Stoppard move was to make their POV very tragi-absurd because the two poor characters never quite got what was happening, even till the moment of their deaths. Yet the retelling of the old Hamlet tragedy remained refreshing for me because Stoppard never stopped twisting the story.

A recent play I saw in New York City has such a fabulous and clever twist. It's WICKED, a Broadway play based on a book (which I plan to read). If you want to see what a good writer can do to a storyline in the most delicious way, check out this play when it comes to your city. I'm not sure whether the book is the same (it looks darker in tone when I read the back blurb).

Wicked tells the Wizard of Oz story from the two witches' POV. The bonus is the backstory, just before Dorothy's momentous drop into their world. I cannot recommend this show enough! I'm now firmly in the wicked witch's corner, by the way! ;-)

So that's what I love to do when I write too--look for that minor character who will give me that magical twist to an old storyline. Maybe you've seen it in Facing Fear's Harden ;-). Or, maybe not. Spies shouldn't tell too much.

Wednesday, May 18, 2005

Spies Don't Rant

I have a rant but no time to argue it, isn't that pathetic? It will have to wait till this weekend.

It has to do with the word bodice-ripper in connection to all books romance. Why is it being used? Most of the time, the word doesn't even fit the books that are out there any more. Experienced romance readers know what bodice rippers are, but most reporters and romance book critics, who freely admit not to read "the stuff," don't even know its actual meaning.

I have a newspaper article out this week and although it was uber-positive and is generating tons of great publicity, the first intro into my work was suspense bodice ripper. My first reaction...grrrrrrroan. WTF is a suspense bodice ripper? Is that a new genre? ;-/ I did write a nice email the reporter who wrote the article and she'd said she didn't even know that the term came from old historical romances that had the hero forcing himself on the heroine while she mostly gasped out "no, no, no..." through many of the scenes. The reporter went "ewwwww...," just as I knew she would, because she had been wonderful during the interview. She hadn't meant to describe my books that way, she said.

Ah well. I'll just have to settle with rant, rant, rant, until I get some time to think and write about this very real problem romance writers face. I have no solution, really, other than to make it a rule in future interviews to educate the interviewer what that term means. But then, of course, I could come off as terribly insecure, LOL, which I'm not.

I liked reading bodice-rippers during its heydey. Heck, I'll admit to still loving Rosemary Roger's Sweet Savage Love (or many parts of it). If I remember correctly, in the sequel, Ginny the heroine, through her horrific experiences, became a knife-expert and managed to...ah...exact certain horizontal revenge on Steve the hero with quite kickass knife-moves. She turned uber! So even bodice-rippers can turn into something else.

So my new answer to people accusing me of writing bodice rippers?

"Where ya been, dudes? That's so twentieth century."

Tuesday, May 17, 2005

Spies Need Downtime Too

After ten days in St. Louis (RT Convention) and New York City (business), and now just back from the Colorado Romance Writers Convention, I'm ready to just sit my butt on the roof and not move for a few months! I'm not complaining about the fun--meeting with fellow authors and exchanging ideas, meeting with readers and getting to know them, and just seeing new things...I always feel so charged up and ready to start writing after doing that.

But, I wonder, would uber-spies need any downtime at all? I mean, all that spying stuff's got to have some reward, right? ;-) Or, would they, like me, need time to catch up with laundry, bills, and all the other day-to-day stuff? I'm soooo behind when it comes to that--there is still a half-fallen tree in my yard, waiting for me to do something about it.

As I was leaving for the airport from work, I realized that I'd forgotten to bring a leather jacket. Colorado weather being so unpredictable, I really needed it, so I drove home. Just as I reached the driveway, the clutch in my Mitsubitshi went all the way down and never came back up. I was stuck. So I had to leave my car on the lawn while I was away. Another thing to deal with now that I'm back.

Of course, the bright side to that incident was that it happened AFTER I made the decision to drive home to retrieve my jacket, so maybe my guardian angel-spy was looking out for me. Imagine my disgust if I were stuck in the middle of traffic heading to the airport that day. And yeah, I'd have missed my plane.

As it was, everything else went smoothly--no delays in trips, great speakers at the convention, a couple of wonderful workshops that I attended, and all in all, a good four days away networking and enjoying Colorado.

But I can see that my personal clutch is falling apart at home--I need to find some personal downtime to take care of my vehicle (you know--body, mind, soul, spirit...) or I'll pay the consequences. So no more trips till July, when I'm heading to Charleston to be a speaker in a workshop (gulp)! I'm going to finish my revisions this week, and then concentrate on my Self for a whole...week ;-).

A burned-out spy is not a happy spy. A burned-out writer can make Muse very, very frustrated. I'll recharge by sitting in my tub and read two GREAT books that I've been looking forward to: the latest by Kylie Brant and La Anne Stuart. Ah...La Stuart is back with a shivering uber-baddest-boy spy in Black Ice. The title alone has been licking my chops. I wish my next book has such a cool title. Unfortunately, I have to deal with...sigh...I can't even say it in my own Blog without groaning, so let's not tonight.

Saturday, May 14, 2005

Chinese Saying: Fall Down Seven, Stand Up Eight

Today, at the Colorado Romance Writers, Lynda Sandoval gave an inspiring last speech with a few nuggets of wisdom that all spies and authors should think about:

1) There's a zoo that owns an elephant who has quite a few health problems. Everyday, she has to take some medication in a form of a five foot depository. Ahem. Five men are needed for this particular task, two of whom had to wear gloves to perform it.

Lesson: There are at least two people facing more shit than you.

2) In the old days, before animal rights cases, to break a stubborn steed, cowboys tie a donkey to it. Then they just let the steed go, with the poor donkey hanging on for dear life as the steed bucks and rears and rampages. In the end, though, after the dust has cleared, the donkey will always be the one taking the lead, with the steed quietly following, no longer wild.

Lesson: Tie your ass to your manuscript even when it's being obstinate.

These are two excellent examples of perspective and perseverance. Now I'll have to incorporate that elephant tale in one of my books ;-).

Wednesday, May 11, 2005

A Procrastinating Spy

I'm still locked down trying to finish my revisions for The Hunter, so I haven't had time to upload photos from the 2005 Romantic Times Convention yet. Lots of great pictures of authors and yes, male models ;-).

I was one of the judges and had a lot of fun picking out the winners of each phase.The best part of RT for me is meeting the readers and booksellers. They took the time to attend the conference and the booksigning and I love to listen to their comments about my stories. It's also an opportunity for me to thank the people who've bought my books and share my world with me.And of course, let's not forget the parties ;-).

I'm still recovering from all the balls and games, LOL*. Some people recharge their batteries by exercising. I do that by being with good friends and having fun.

RT05 Roaring 20s party

Believe me, the roofer girl in me doesn't get to dress up often!

Also, meeting with fellow authors in a relaxed atmosphere, I was able to brainstorm some great story ideas. In the works--a Kill Bill Vol. One kind of kick-ass heroine collaboration with another author. I'm really excited about this project and have already been given the green light to get a proposal ready. Of course, this is just a seedling--lots and lots of work ahead and nothing signed yet. But excitement is good for the writing soul!

Lastly, I've something to celebrate tonight. My publicist has sent me a small quote from RT that will be part of the review for The Hunter next month. Can I toot my horn a little bit, please?

“Few authors can hit the ground running and immediately prove they are genre forces to be reckoned with; Gennita Low is one of those special few. Her hard edged, gritty and romantic thrillers are genuine thrill rides!”- Jill M. Smith, Romantic Times BOOKclub
Magazine

Hoooyah! It feels so good when someone gets "it." Now I've to go back to revisions and packing for the next convention. Oh, didn't I tell you? I'm going out of state for some great workshops and a meeting with a cool SEAL dude. And oh, the guy you see in the pic above promised me a cooked duck since Christmas. An appetizer, he promised. How can an uber-roofer refuse that?

SCROLL DOWN TO POST BELOW FOR PART TWO/PICS

Surrounded By Uber-Authors/Procrastinating Spy Part2

You will have to bear with my odd one pic-posts. I still haven't figured out how to use the Blogger Bot to put multiple photos in one post. Can't even cut and paste the HTML! Very, very frustrating, even to a procrastinating author ;-).

Anyway, can you spot LKH, the brilliant La Sherrilyn Kenyon, Robin Owens? I'm grinning my head off being surrounded by so many talented writers!

Sitting beside Laurell K. Hamilton at the Aussie party!

In Disguise/Procrastinating Spy Pt2

RT05 mobster and moll

Tuesday, May 10, 2005

For The GLOW Spies Out There

I thought I would provide spoilers in my post today to see how many spoiler-hos will post questions and demand more ;-). Here are a few things in THE HUNTER (June 28, 2005 street date) that might be of interest to uberspoiler-hos:

1) The story is about betrayal and anger.

2) There will be two surprise guest stars in this show.

3) A popular couple spotted.

4) A normal everyday gadget is a very important clue.

5) Hawk spots a tattoo.

6) Another couple won't make it.

7) You have to know your Yeats.

8) Missing people.

9) Reunion will make you go Yessssssss!

10) Nothing about a GEM operative.

Now let's see how can piece together this information and create cooool deductions!

Monday, May 09, 2005

Spoiler Hos Make Uber-Spies

I ventured into TV Spoiler Land these past two weeks because I wanted to keep up with my favorite TV shows while I was playing author at conventions and in NYC. I've found a new specy and they scare me.

Spoiler Hos.

Specifically, Amazing Race Spoiler Hos.

If our great nation would just recruit these people into our spy agencies, there would be no clue left uninvestigated, no stone left unturned, no suspicious activities left uninvestigated. And some of the analyses of said items are very, very meticulous and scarily thorough.

And all over what? The final episode of The Amazing Race that's coming on in less than 24 hours. Who is the winner of the final three.

I went there out of curiosity and now I can't look away. This is a place called Survivor Sucks, or something like that, and there is a board that is just for spoilers for TAR. There are, at last count tonight, 192 pages, at least the last 35 that I know of, are devoted to trying to figure out:

1) What the last three couples were doing
2) Where the final leg was
3) Who the winner was

I'm not talking about someone posting a "Hey, got a friend who slept with the tv producer's sister and she told me so-and-so won." There were a few posts like that but the main body is serious business. These spoiler-hos would do Jack Bauer proud!

These people have people/witnesses who had taken photos of the racing couples at various locations, doing the race stuff, running at airports, etc., and they analyze these photos as if they were in a crime lab. They look at the POSITIONS of the sun and shadow, to see which couple might be first; they google ALL the airport times to find and compare schedules and THEN they mark that with couple arrivals at the airport to see WHICH flight they took out of that terminal; they zoom in on clothes to see whether they are still wet to ascertain how long it took the couple to drive from the task to the airport. I sat there, simply amazed, clicking on page after page of this.

Somehow, this is a sign from God to me to be more meticulous about my writing. I'm sure of it ;-). I mean, there are people out there who will track every single tidbit I dole out and make a big picture, and Lord help me if I don't get the dots numbered right. And I'm going to be in soooooo much trouble with the Spoiler Hos whose specialty is timeline.

On this site, this special group takes the time printed on the photos, uses it in reference to the few dozen time plane arrivals/departures on that particular day on Travelocity, Obitz, Cheaptickets--you name it, the group googled it--then it maps out possible connection flights that could explain why one racing couple seems to be so far behind than the other, which leads to a final long drawn out investigation of how one couple could have possibly left a crucial clue somewhere because look, look, look at that picture with that time frame...do you see that they are carrying bags instead of their bagpacks...and so that means....

Whoa.

I feel very small and stupid. My mind just doesn't work that way. I look at the pictures and I see sunlight and shadow. Stupid me. Jack Bauer and Spoiler Hos can tell the time of day the picture was taken! It is revealing the secret of the fastest couple...and all I see is some figure jumping into a big lake in bright sunlight.

I see people running in the airport. Sure it's one of the couples--I can recognize that part of the picture. Stupid me. Jack Bauer and Spoiler Hos would pull out every airport picture in their files and could tell that was taken in either Puerto Rico or Jamaica. And don't you know they are either one hour ahead or behind? Don't you know that's an important clue???! And you see, this girl snapped the photo while she was waiting for the 12 o'clock flight, which meant that all those other flights before them weren't the right flight...which meant that this couple is couple #3.

I didn't see that. I'm not a good uber-spy/spoiler ho. Wahhhhhh. But there are people out there who take care of these things and there are people like me who are crazy enough to click on page after page admiring their tenacity. Unfortunately, they aren't saving the world...they are just desperately trying to find out who the winners of The Amazing Race are, which, to me, is amazing to watch.

I had better get back to writing...there are spoiler hos out there piecing my little schemes faster than I can say "I know who won The Amazing Race!" And I didn't spend hours analyzing the information. Nyah, nyah.

Sunday, May 08, 2005

Spies and Plans

It's the quiet lull between contracts and projects, so what do writers and spies do? I still have my revisions to do, so there is work...there is always work, once a book is coming along--rewrites, revisions, copy-edits, galleys, so many things that are part of publishing a novel.

But the mind is always hungry for the unknown, you know? At the edge of consciousness, like that crack of light between a closed door and its frame, is that knowledge of another room out there...another story waiting. If I open the door and step out, I'm free and, yet, captured again. Sometimes I have an inkling what I'll find when I reach for that door handle, but always, there are surprises revealed--new characters and new twists. This is good. An uber-spy should always be on her toes.

Revision--revisiting the original "vision" of your story. To rewrite parts of a story. Sometimes it's a difficult tast, especially to a writer who is more storyteller than storywriter. And there is a difference between the two. Whereas storytellers spend less time on craft and more on chasing the characters in our heads, storywriters recreate their visions with words, chasing perfection of scene and pacing. Both are two entirely different styles, and to me, the storywriter finds it easier to revise because of their love for reworking a plotline.

For example, I can lengthen an entire conversation, add extra scenes to layer the emotions or enrich the story, but if I doubt I would be able to do a good job if I have to rewrite a secondary character into something different from the original. What if I was told T is too hard-edged and I need to rewrite an entire scene in which I let someone else do the killing, and not her? Because of course, there are readers out there who would not like their heroines to kill.

That's the dilemma of writer and uber spies. A kickass heroine should be accepted as what they are, especially if she's an operative. Please, she can't be a virgin. And she can't be squeamish about weapons and blood. Lastly, yes, she's trained to kill and a writer should be allowed to show this. Someone picking up a female spy-romance can't have it both ways--a kickass heroine who is innocent about the world in which she operates. There is no such thing.

So back to re-vision. How much does a writer compromise?

A spy always have Plan B. But it's never as good as Plan A, if you ask me.

Saturday, May 07, 2005

If A Spy Disappears in NYC, Would Anyone Notice?

Missed me? A missing writer...more important than a missing spy, yes??? But we both take with us all our secretive worlds ;-).

I spent the last ten days doing amazing things that roofers don't usually do--masquerade parties; making contacts; trading secrets; scaling buildings; living in luxury suites; eating strange food in NYC; negotiating secret stuff; and of course, shopping. You would think I was a spy or something ;-). But no, no, I was just being the good author at the Romantic Times Convention at St. Louis and then at New York City where I met with my Agent for top secret stuff, heh.

I had a great time at the RT convention this year. It was a full schedule of meetings and parties for me. The best was meeting the Australian contingent, a group of twelve Australian booksellers who had worked really hard to fly over here to meet their favorite authors. They had a suite party and they invited me! I was there with Sherrilyn Kenyon, Laurell K. Hamilton, Robin Owens, just to name a few, wonderful writers that I really enjoy reading. The Australians had the best accent and they spoke really, really fast, just like this, with a little lilt at the end of their sentences, and they loved to dance and talk and drink, and kept me in stitches, especially with their retelling of their favorite scenes from Into Danger. (Let me just say that the Australian version of Stash vs Marlena in the hotel room is even raunchier than Gennita Low's, LOL)

Behind the scenes, of course, little-spy-Low was listening in to industry secrets and great spoilers too...shhh....

1) I know quite a bit about the next Anita Blake book, nyah, nyah. It sounds really good too, with other Masters of the City involved. A few past dangling plot threads will be tied up (here, Miss Hamilton, have another glass of wine, grin*)

2) There are plans for an anthology featuring Low, Lee and Liu. LOL. You girls figure that out.

And then off I went to NYC. Wow. How I love that city! There is soooo much to do and not enough $$$ and time. Saw three shows, ate huge dinners, went to an expensive restaurant, ate on the streets, went on a trishaw ride, escaped a crazed horse (don't ask), schmoozed with very TOP SECRET personnel (don't ask), met with art dealers in SOHO, got chased up 19 flights of stairs (don't ask...and yes, my body is still questioning the wisdom of this adventure), research on the coolest tiniest camera for my next spying technique...I wish I could tell you all the baaaaad things I did but then, I will have to kill you ;-).

So I'm home now, and back on the rooftop. Now THAT's normal.