As You Know, George...

Storytelling reveals meaning without committing the error of defining it. ~Hannah Arendt

I'm writing this before I do NaNo, so no more words to report yet. I'll get back to you later today.

And, I completely spaced "Booking It Through Thursday". Bad me. But NaNo put everything else clean out of my brain.

Anyway...

I was reading a book I picked up to review this month for LASR. It's a Thanksgiving romance and I wanted a couple of those for that week, if possible. Fact is, I'm not going to be able to read and review this book. I can't get past the first chapter. I tried, I really, really tried. I thought about the fact this is a multi-published author with a bit name publisher... I must be missing something. But, GAH.

In just the first few pages, I had these things happen (names and occupations have been changed, and wording paraphrased to protect the guilty innocent party):

** The hero calls the heroine by a nickname that he's done forever, and she blushes -- fine, I suppose, except the author TELLS us this: "Jolene blushed when Ted called her by her high school nickname."

**The heroine is already clearly in love with the hero and doesn't realize it and that annoyed me. The author slapped me, hard, across the face with some serious foreshadowing: Jolene wanted to get married and she knew just what she wanted in a man: someone tall, like Ted. Someone caring, like Ted. Someone thoughtful, like Ted. Well, gee... I wonder who she's going to end up with?

**At one point, she's talking to her parents. The dialogue tags were "As you know, George" moments for me: "Jolene, we love you," said her father, looking like the kind and gentle yet firm, respected, long-term veterinarian that he was. and "Yes, we do, honey," agreed her sweet, caring and empathetic, born-to-be-a-nurse mother. PLEASE... we're supposed to be in the heroine's POV. Would she really think like this?

**bangs head on keyboard**

I kept going, and found more things like this. Had it only happened once or twice, I could have overlooked it, but the author was so heavy handed with EVERYTHING I finally closed the book and gave up. I'll be passing it on to someone else who might not be as annoyed by this type of thing.

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In my NaNo novel, my hero has already saved a baby bird, broken a pencil and been embarrassed by the fact he oogled the cat lady's behind. Next up? A mean game of air hockey.

Fun for all!

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What Your Handwriting Says About You

You are a fairly energetic person. You know how do pace yourself, and you deal well with stress. You are somewhat outgoing, but you're not a natural extrovert. You think first before you act. You tend to be independent, rational, and logical. You are extravagant, over the top, and indulgent. You set trends and influence people. You need a bit of space in your life, but you're not a recluse. You expect people to give you a small amount of privacy, and you respect their privacy as well. You are somewhat traditional, but you are also open to change. You listen to your head and your heart. You are a good communicator. You work hard to get your ideas across effectively.

What Does Your Handwriting Say About You?

Hmmm.... I set trends? Ha. But the rest? M-a-y-b-e.