Sunday, December 13, 2009

Head-Hopping and a Cold Weather Walk

Antisthenes says that in a certain faraway land the cold is so intense that words freeze as soon as they are uttered, and after some time then thaw and become audible, so that words spoken in winter go unheard until the next summer. ~Plutarch, Moralia

I didn't get very many responses from people to my questions about guest blogs / author interviews yesterday. Darn it. I'm still asking, so feel free to comment today!

Maybe I'll do monthly themes and solicit guest blogs in that theme? This wouldn't work if I hit up bigger named authors (and yes, I did get a few folks suggested to me). OTOH, if I had, say "cowboy month" and I hit up... oh... Linda Lael Miller, that would work.

I'd better decide soon... January is right around the corner!

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HA... proof that "head-hopping" is confusing, even to the untrained eye.

Last night, DD and I were sitting side-by-side and she was reading. All of a sudden she growled, slammed down her book and looked at me. "Mom, first the story is told from this person, then that person, then another one. I can't figure out who is telling the story. It's CONFUSING."

I clarified. "You mean that it starts out from the point of view of one character and then shifts unexpectedly into another's?"

"YES." She slams the book again. "I hate it. I'm inside one person's head, I even get their THOUGHTS, and then I'm not anymore and I can't keep track. I don't want to read this book anymore."

"This book" happened to be the first in a series -- and my DD is a series freak. If it had held her attention, she would have gobbled up every last one. This author lost a rabid fan by breaking the "No POV switches" rule ... and my DD isn't an author. I've never talked about head-hopping to her. The simple fact is, it confused her... her biggest quibble was being in deep POV with one character and then getting tossed out.

I bring this up because I started reading a short story this a.m. -- and was in deep, deep POV with the heroine, and then WHAMMO! it changed to the hero, mid-scene. I really, really hate that. Changing at chapter breaks is fine and dandy, or even scene breaks, but this was at a pivotal point in the story (the heroine realizes that her new teaching partner is an old flame) and dumped me right out of the story. So, I shut down the document and deleted it off my computer. And the author, who is quite a prolific eBook author, lost me as a reader/buyer (I'm looking for more books to buy for my Nook!).

BTW -- anyone have any suggestions for some good, newer, books?

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Yesterday I took a walk for the first time in several days. Between the snow storm on Wednesday, and then the gale force winds on Thurs, Fri and half of Saturday it was downright inhospitable. The dog was going nuts, my joints were starting to ache... so yesterday afternoon, when I noticed the wind had died down (never mind it was 20 degrees outside!), I bundled up and took both my kids (DD and Dd) for a nice walk.

I did decide that I need flannel lined jeans, though. My legs were the only part of me that was cold. OH, and my eyeballs. I swear, they felt like they'd frozen solid.

Next year, I'm spending the winter in California. I have a friend who lives in Monterey. It's lovely there in the winter. Yeah.... sounds like a plan.

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5 comments:

Ceri Hebert said...

In answer to one of your questions from yesterday, I'd love an interview with Barbara Delinsky. She's become one of my favorite authors.

We're heading out into the cold right now to do breakfast at Parkers Maple Barn. Brrr.... California sounds pretty good right now too.

MomJane said...

Of course I don't live in Monterey, but who would have thought that I would be putting on long underwear before I put on my pants just to go to church. I am also wearing my lined boots and wool sox. Oh yeah, did I mention that I live in California? Not in the snowy mountains either.

We broke records three days in a row for cold mornings. One day it was 16 and then it warmed up to a wopping 17 and 18. Whee. I think I lost my orange tree. It still has oranges on it that aren't quite ripe. Sob.

Dru said...

I like the idea of a monthly theme.

Brandy said...

A monthly theme sounds quite interesting. Sorry to hear of DD's disappointment with the beginning of the series. I hope she finds something she enjoys soon.
Has she tried the Percy Jackson series by RIck Riordan? My Daughter LOVED it.
I hope you stay warm today!

Tori Lennox said...

I avoid the whole head-hopping issue by writing in first person. *g* Well, except my 1920s murder mystery. But that's mostly written in the heroine's POV. And when I switch POV it's when the scene changes.