Hello There, Harry Connick, Jr.

 Over on YA Highway they're asking: "So, if you got to choose a celebrity narrator for the audio book of your WIP or your favorite novel, who would it be and why?"


My WIP would need to be voiced by a girl, and my goodness, that choice is tough. 


I have a bias, and it's always been this way: I prefer the sound of men's voices. I HAVE NO IDEA WHY. In music, I listen to very few female artists; I always gravitate toward male singers. I feel guilty about it. Like I'm not giving women a fair shot. But a preference is a preference, I guess. *Still feels guilty*


Anywhozlebees, though I loved loved loved The Hunger Games to the point of obsession and absolute depression, my favorite novel of the past year or two was The Passage by Justin Cronin. It's epic, and amazing, and all good things. TWP is listening to it now in audiobook format, and it's read by Scott Brick.


People of the internet: you need to know Scott Brick. He's AMAZING. Perhaps not a celebrity, though? 


So my choice for reader is Harry Connick, Jr. THAT VOICE. Deep, husky, with that slight Louisiana drawl? Forget it. Game over.


                

HC, Jr! So suave!

Screenplays Are Not Written In English*

"Hi, my name is Jenna and I have a hard time elaborating."


  
                                       (via Matt-Richards / flickr)


I read through the first three (very short) chapters of my WIP yesterday, and while I like how it's flowing, I think that readers will have a hard time connecting with my main character. My screenwriting background is to blame.


To be a good screenwriter, you need to be brief. With comedy you can get loose. Play around with it a bit (thought not much.) With action / thriller / horror? Even less wiggle room. A scene might look something like this:


EXT. COFFEE SHOP - DAY

A cold wind sends autumn leaves skittering across the pavement.
STAN (20, All-American) exits, holding a steaming to-go cup. He holds the door for JULIE (20, bookish, adorable) who juggles her own cup and a backpack.
JULIE
Thanks again for the coffee. I can’t believe I forgot my wallet.
STAN
I’ve always been a sucker for a damsel in distress.
She blushes. Doesn’t see the man racing toward her.
ARNOLD (20’s, bulky jock) slams into her. She falls to the ground. Hot coffee scalding her neck and chest.
Stan snags Arnold’s arm. Spins him around.
STAN
What the hell, man?
Arnold looks behind him. Panicked. He’s running from someone. Or something.
He shoves Stan. Wrenches free.
Julie picks herself up. Dusts herself off with scraped palms, leaving small spots of blood on her tee shirt.
She gingerly touches the burns on her neck.
STAN (CONT’D)
Apologize to the lady.
Arnold stares at her. Fear in his eyes.
ARNOLD
You’ve been marked.
He unconsciously scratches his neck. He’s got the same angry red mark as Julie.
His eyes flick behind her. Terrified. He runs.
Stan turns to Julie.
STAN
What the hell was that?
Julie’s lip trembles.
JULIE
Let’s go. Now.


See how the eye kinda skims down? That's what you're looking for. The more white space on the page, the better.


Writing that way is so ingrained that I tend to race through the scenes in my novel. I don't let them breathe, or really let my character describe what's going on. This is going to lead to my WIP ending up at 45,000 words, and my breathing into a paper bag.


Elaborate. I'm gonna print that word out and staple it to my bedroom wall.


*I read that somewhere, and it stuck with me. It's absolutely true.

Let's Get Spooky

Over on YA Highway, they're asking: 


What books were you obsessed with as a kid?


I was a morbid kid. Quite frankly, I'm a morbid adult. I write horror / thriller scripts. Love scary books. Adore scary movies (the suspenseful, smart kind; not the gory, ridiculous kind.) So it should surprise no one that this was my favorite book when I was a kid:


                         


To say I read this book 20 times would be a gross understatement. It wasn't simply a ghost story. It also dealt with feelings of abandonment, loneliness, and the upheaval that comes when parents gets remarried and the children on each respective side have to learn to get along with one another. So, not exactly light topics.


I think that's why I loved it, though. I felt like Mary Downing Hahn wrote in a way that made things easy to grasp, while not talking down to me like I was, well, a kid. Plus, it was spooky as heck, and who doesn't love to be scared?

Gadgets & Gizmos Aplenty

It's only a slight exaggeration to say that I've seen The Little Mermaid 500 times. Aaaaand now I'm going to have that song in my head for the rest of the day.


The gadget I'm referring to is Scrivener. After a bit of blog-surfing, it seemed like that was the go-to program for authors trying to wrangle their book ideas into some sort of coherent document. You can also use it for scripts! I checked it out, and needless to say I'm a bit obsessed with it.


I get overwhelmed easily and my brain likes to shut down as opposed to sorting through various ideas, so I'm pretty sure this gadget might save my life, hyperbolically speaking. Unfortunately, I have a PC thing going on right now and Scrivener is first and foremost a Mac program. It's still in the beta testing phase for Windows. I downloaded the beta, though, bugs and all, because I'm a big fan of instant gratification.


Maybe this is the excuse I need to splurge on a Mac? Don't tempt me, people.