Friday, November 02, 2007

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.


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

6 comments:

Ceri Hebert said...

You sound like you're doing better than me. I'm not pleased at all and I'm wondering if I should just skip it and go finish the wip I was working on before yesterday.

I know, only the second day. And to make matters worse, I've already bounced from one wip to another. Never a good sign. Thats what I get for not having any prep time.

Argh.

Dru said...

My handwriting says...

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 balanced and grounded. You know how to get along well with others.

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 decent communicator. You eventually get your point across, but sometimes you leave things a bit ambiguous.

Anonymous said...

Someone thoughtful, like Ted. Well, gee... I wonder who she's going to end up with?

Hmm. Someone like Ted? *g*

And my handwriting says the same thing! But the "fairly energetic" bit cracked me up. I'm SOOOO not.

Brandy said...

Mine said:
"You are a laid back person with rather low energy. You aren't lazy... you *are* sensitive and empathetic.

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 balanced and grounded. You know how to get along well with others.

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 decent communicator. You eventually get your point across, but sometimes you leave things a bit ambiguous."
I take aoofense at the low energy thing. I have alot of energy! *G*
Sounds like you made the right decision to turn the book over to someone else. Good Grief! Talk about hitting the reader over the head with the obvious!

Have a good weekend!

Avery Gray said...

That just sounds like lazy writing to me. Does this writer not have a flipping editor? Honestly!

Alice said...

I feel for you, Marianne. I would've banged my head on the keyboard too... I usually try very very hard before I give up on a book.