Set It Up: A Rom-Com Where Women Talk About Something Other Than Men (Women & Men in the Movies No. 2)

Posted on September 19, 2018October 19, 2018 by admin

This week I’ll look at how women characters are portrayed and how they interact in 2018 Netflix rom-com Set It Up. (Find out more about the tests mentioned below in Women, Men, and Movies or just read on.) The Story Think Devil Wears Prada crossed with Parent Trap. In Set It Up, two assistants, Harper and Charlie, work long hours for horrendous bosses. When Harper orders a midnight second dinner for her boss but has no cash to pay for it she meets Charlie. Charlie has cash, so he swoo...

The Invitation: Psychological Suspense & Horror In Hollywood Hills (Women & Men in the Movies No. 1)

Posted on September 12, 2018October 19, 2018 by admin

This week I'll look at how women are portrayed and interact with other characters in the 2015 suspense/horror film The Invitation. (Find out more about 3 tests I'll use to guide the conversation in Women, Men, and Movies or just read on.) The Story Will is invited to a formal dinner party at a stunning, isolated Hollywood Hills mansion he used to live in with his ex-wife. On returning to his former home, Will struggles with memories of and guilt over his son’s death. His ex-wife Eden...

Women, Men, and Movies

Posted on September 5, 2018October 19, 2018 by admin

In my twenties I lived with a screenwriter. We were broke, but every week we went to the local second run theater and saw a movie. We also borrowed a movie on VHS tape at our library once a week. (Yes, VHS, it was that long ago.) We talked about what we watched, and I learned a ton about character, plot, and writing. And had fun. Sadly, I've yet to find anyone who likes to take apart a movie the same way. (When I tried it with the next guy I dated he said, "Can't you just enjoy the mov...

On Finding Enough Time

Posted on August 29, 2018 by admin

Because I’m working on a book about happiness, anxiety, and creativity I’ve been thinking a lot about time. As in, a lot of people, including me, feel anxious about not having enough time. By definition, being human and mortal means not having enough time. Most of us can think of more things to do than we could ever engage in during an average lifespan. Yet there are periods in my life when I’ve felt extreme anxiety over not having enough time and others when I’ve felt, in contrast, mor...

Real Bees In An Imaginary Garden

Posted on August 22, 2018 by admin

In front of me a woman and her husband face one another on their porch. They've just reunited after a long separation. The rows of worn floorboards between them and their halting, hesitant way of speaking tell me there's a lot no one is saying. Despite the wife's smiles and efforts to set her husband at ease, this isn't a happy reunion. To my left, barely within my peripheral vision, bees buzz angrily inside a beehive. I hope none of them gets out. The thought, or really more of a feeli...

Release Day: Audiobook Edition of The Worried Man

Posted on August 15, 2018 by admin

Thanks to Blunder Woman Productions and narrator Angela Dawe, The Worried Man, the first book in my new Q.C. Davis suspense/mystery series, released today in audiobook format. More about The Worried Man (Q.C. Davis 1): She loved him, but did she know him? The night before they plan to move in together, Quille finds the body of the man she loves dead in his apartment. Police point to his failed medical career and past alcoholism as evidence of suicide or accidental overdose. His ex-wi...

The Inside Guide To The Awakening Series

Posted on August 8, 2018 by admin

Recovering from a broken foot, oddly, slowed down my writing process a bit. (It's tiring to be in a cast--who knew?) But I did at last finish the Books In Order And Reader's Guide for the Awakening Series. If you're a member of my Reader's Group and have searched the Internet far and wide for my blog posts and interviews, you may have seen some of the material in it. Now all of that is in one easy-to-follow guide. The guide also includes brand new pieces. If you haven't finished rea...

Plot Or Not: Super Simple Story Structure (new Audiobook edition)

Posted on August 1, 2018July 10, 2019 by admin

When I started writing, I struggled with plot. As in my first novel didn't exactly have one, probably why it got nothing but form letter rejections. I'd taken writing classes, but those classes almost exclusively focused on whether a scene worked or not. The advice on plot was basically to string the scenes together. That might work for some writers, but it didn't for me. It's also not the kind of book I like to read. I prefer genre fiction--mainly suspense, thriller, horror, and myster...

Rediscovering The Neighborhood Bookstore

Posted on July 25, 2018 by admin

A few days ago I did something I haven't done in a long time--walked to my neighborhood bookstore, Sandmeyer's. I love the hardwood floors in Sandmeyer's. Some boards creak when you step on them. It also smells like wood, a smell I associate with books and therefore love. There were two reasons I hadn't visited there in forever. Drifting Away From The Bookstore One reason is that I've spent since April 22 recovering from a broken foot. A lot of that time I was in casts (photos of the ...

Fiction And Life

Posted on July 18, 2018July 19, 2018 by admin

My fiction is not autobiographical. Not only have I never experienced a supernatural pregnancy (surprise, right?) as does Tara, the main character in The Awakening Series, I’ve never been pregnant at all. I’ve also never dated a vampire (When Darkness Falls), and unlike Q.C. (Quille) Davis, I don’t investigate crimes and no one I love has been murdered. (I did work in the tower formerly known as Sears, but nothing occult happened there. That I know of.) Yet as I walked today through Pri...