Sunday, June 22, 2008

The Post With No Title

Love looks not with the eyes, but with the mind,
And therefore is winged Cupid painted blind.
~William Shakespeare, Mid-Summer Night's Dream, 1595


Because I can't think of anything to title it, clever or otherwise...

Yesterday, I asked about falling in love with your heroes. Most folks said they did, every time. But Jen raised an interesting point when she said about her current project: My protag isn't like me and her love is for HER. He's great for her, and he'd irritate me, although there are aspects of both that I love.

That gave me pause, and made me think... after all, think of all the people you know who are madly in love with their spouses, but you couldn't begin to imagine also being in love with those men. We can't love everyone, right?

Which then leads me to wonder...when I write, are my heroines a reflection of me? Is that why I love all my heroes? Have I not taken chances with them? Have I not tried to stretch my wings and write what I don't know?

On the surface, my heroines are all different -- tall, short, red-hair, blonde, brunette, prissy, tomboys... but inside? Are they different? Do they like what I like? Think how I think? Feel what I feel?

Color me puzzled... and thinking.
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What I'm reading: Still reading "Animal, Vegetable, Miracle" by Barbara Kingsolver. But non-fiction doesn't get to sit by itself on my nightstand. So I started Falling For You by Julie Ortolon, a book I won at Trish's blog. It's awfully cute! So far, so good...

What I'm writing: I worked on "The Hammer" -- a book I'm specifically gearing for HQ American. I read through what I've edited on "Playing House", but now...I'm stuck. I made a big plot change, and it's got me stymied. Do I take the cowards way out and change it back? Or do I struggle through?? Hmmm...

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My cat has been sneezing for three days. No discharge, her eyes are clear, her nose isn't running... just these cute little sneezes. I'm on the fence: do I or don't I take her to the vet? **sigh**

And me? I have conjunctivitis in my left eye. I kept trying to pretend I didn't... but yesterday it got to be pretty uncomfortable, and this morning, my eye is swollen and goopy. Oh. Joy. Still, being the cheapskate I am, I'm waiting until tomorrow to go to my regular doctor instead of using Urgent Care today because it's FAR more expensive, even with insurance. Hey, I've stuck it out this long...

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We lost another pillar yesterday -- this one was half-grown, and I'm not in the least bit certain why he died. OTOH, we have one pupa, one getting ready to pupate, and three that are big enough to take the long walk to butterfly-dom at any point. There are also SEVEN of the dill pillars that are close enough in size to make me nervous, so they'll get their own homes today.

Monarchs should be here in a few weeks. The milkweed is almost ready to bloom -- it smells so good when it does, and the flowers are just lovely. I can't wait!

Have a great Sunday.

10 comments:

Allie Boniface said...

Ah, interesting question about the H/H complex - my most recent WIP, One Night in Napa, has a heroine (finally!) who is nothing like me, and the hero is a guy I would never put up with. That's the first time, though, that I stretched myself...which I didn't realize until I'd done it.

Dru said...

Those are interesting questions and I would love to hear the answers by other writers.

I think if you stretch yourself as a writer, you could learn more about yourself and can make for an interesting story.

Sorry about your eye.

Have a good and pleasant Sunday.

anno said...

A very interesting question! Interesting responses, too.

Have you tried warm compresses for your eye? Hope you are feeling better soon!

Anonymous said...

I think I could fall for all my heroes, but there are one or two I might be sorely tempted to smack upside the head at least once or twice. Or more. *g*

Jane said...

Very interesting. I don't think I fall in love with heroes but I admit to getting a vicarious thrill from watching the two!

MJFredrick said...

My heroes don't always start out as someone I could fall in love with but they always show elements I find admirable.

I read Falling For You about a million years aggo, I think. It might have been her first book? One of her first, anyway.

Jen said...

I don't know if I stretched myself or not with this char, because she's my favorite character so far, but I think what happened is when I was character molding at the beginning, she had some aspects of me, and then I wanted to push away from her, so she wouldn't be (boring) like me... and voila - she's pretty different, and therefore, her love interest is a great guy, but not my type. The point about spouses is a good one. I love my friends. I love the relationships many have with their spouses and I really like their spouses as people. Would I want to be married to those husbands? Nope! And vice versa on their end, I'm sure, lol. (We got the power back on)

Brandy said...

Sorry to hear about another pillar. As for the cat sneezing, cats can have allergies. And be allergic to the same things people are, like pollen and dust, etc.
Sorry to hear about your eye.
It's interesting to hear y'all discuss your hero's and heroine's. *G*

Have a nice day!

Anonymous said...

Sorry about the eye. Conjunctivitis is NO FUN.

My mother's cat has allergies. Interestingly, he's allergic to cat dander. It's the funniest thing.

Milkweed: is that a thistle?

Trish Milburn said...

Hey, glad you're enjoying the book you won. :)