Fickle Fans

"If you stand up and be counted, from time to time you may get yourself knocked down. But remember this: A man flattened by an opponent can get up again. A man flattened by conformity stays down for good." — Thomas J. Watson, Jr.

So I, like a bazillion other people, watched American Idol last night. If you TiVo'd the results and haven't watched it yet -- stop reading NOW.

Because I can't ever wait for the results, I always check Dial Idol on Wednesday morning to see what they have to say, cuz they're always pretty close and it gives me a general idea of what's going to happen on results night. Yesterday, when I checked it, I thought -- uh-oh, Katherine is going home because there's no way Chris "He Is The Next American Idol" Daughtry will leave.

In every poll, on every message board, since the very beginning Chris has been the overwhelming favorite. Not by a little bit, but HUGE. I've watched as his popularity has dropped off a little each week by I would never have guessed he would leave.

The public is fickle and demanding.

And this neatly segues into my post from yesterday and many times before: You just don't know what people want.

Check out M: I3 -- the studio is panicked because it's NOT MAKING ANY MONEY.

The "blockbuster movie" of the year is a bust. They predicted it would be a huge hit, and by all rights it should have been. I wanted to see it way back when. And then Tornado Tom hit.

Who could have predicted that Tom Cruise would turn into such a slimy, yecchy, weird-o that I (and apparently most of the rest of the county) can't even stand to look at him? How can it be that he's gone from Maverick to ... this?

You just don't know what people want.

So... as I'm writing, and wondering if something I've written will sell (this is always in the back of my head) I have to remember the basic truth that the public is a fickle fan and can change its mind on a whim. Today, what I write may be marketable, but when it comes out a year later may bomb.

There is no right story or wrong story. Just good timing that's impossible to predict.

So R.I.P. Chris Daughtry -- even though I didn't enjoy your music, you were fantastic in your niche, and I'm sure we'll be seeing your CD out in the next year or so.

Love Me or Hate Me?

"I don't know the key to success, but the key to failure is to try to please everyone." -- Bill Cosby

I received my contest scores yesterday (no feedback yet, and I gotta tell you, I'm on the edge of my seat). These were the strangest scores I've ever gotten (which is why I can't wait to see the judges comments). Check it out:

Out of a possible score of 100 -

Judge 1: 100
Judge 2: 67
Judge 3: 65

I had a third judge because of the discrepancy of more than 20 points in the first two judges score. And that judge hated me even more than the second!

What's mind-boggling to me about this is that one judge thought my entry was perfect. If I had received say a 91 and a 72, it would have made more sense to me.

Still, what this has done is prove how completely different readers (and writers) personal tastes are. As a writer, I do the best I can with the stuff set in stone (like "no head-hopping"), but the rest is really all about my uniqueness. My voice.

I write kind of humorous stuff. Not rolicking, roll-on-the-floor humor, but I can't ever seem to keep a completely serious face. I suspect that this is part of my appeal -- or lack thereof. Not everybody gets the joke. And for those who don't, my writing slips on a banana peel and falls flat on its face.

I was really bugged at first, but by the end of the day I just shrugged and thought, "That's the business of writing."

Truer words were never spoken than the saying, "You can please some of the people all of the time, and all of the people some of the time, but you can't please all of the people all of the time."

Still, I'm dying to know what was so utterly offensive in my entry to judges two and three. Hope it wasn't Maynard, cuz I love that fuzzy little rat.

Funny!

If you want a laugh, check out this post from the Wet Noodle Posse blog:

How I Got Jennifer Crusie’s New Book .

Ideas, Ideas Everywhere!

There are stories in everything. I 've got some of my best yarns from park benches, lampposts, and newspaper stands. ~ O. Henry

Yesterday I realized that I hadn't submitted anything anywhere in the month of April. I was horrified. And determined to not let that happen again this month (which is already 30% over).

I had very little time to myself yesterday -- we had errands to run that required a long drive and most of the day and it's going to rain much of the rest of the week, so all the outside stuff I wanted to do needed to get done upon my return.

But even amongst the business, ideas popped into my head without even trying. I got a doozy of a short story idea while I rested for about fifteen minutes. I thought my brain was tired and shutting down, so imagine my surprise when the bones of a short story outline flashed before my (closed) eyes!

Where do you get your ideas?

What a crazy question. I've decided that this can only come from someone who doesn't write, or isn't meant to be a writer. Everything I see or think has potential.

A building was recently built on a road near my house. It's a huge warehouse-like building with a satellite dish and a bunch of other official looking stuff on the roof. There is no sign out front to designate what type of business it is, so my mother (from whom I inherited my writing gene) and I have decided that it's the CIA. There's a story in there.

Once I was at the park watching my daughter play and a large, colorfully dressed woman with a ball cap sat on the bench one over from me. I looked away, looked back and she was gone -- replaced by a slim man in a ball cap. I never saw her at the park again that day. Did she morph into that man? There's a story in that.

Normal people would think, "Huh." and go on with their lives. I think, "Cool." And write a story in my head.

Where do you get your ideas?

Look around you. They're everywhere.

Short Stories

"The difference between reality and fiction? Fiction has to make sense." -- Tom Clancy

I try to write and submit (somewhere) at least two or three short stories every month. Sometimes they're really short -- so I send them to somewhere like Flashshot (100 words or less). I have two stories being published with them this month.

Sometimes they're a little longer, but still flash fiction so off they go to somewhere like A Flashers Dozen or Flash Me.

I still throw stuff at Womans World now and then, ever hopeful. I have one story with them right now and should hear back from them by the end of this month (or so). Fingers (and various other body parts) are crossed.

The thing I find, though, is that writing a short story -- a good short story -- is harder than writing a novel. To flesh out your characters and have a beginning, middle and end in so few words is tough. And, to be honest, I don't read very many short stories that I enjoy because the author hasn't done this.

Still, writing the shorts and sending them out gives me a sense of doing something constructive. Of taking baby steps to reach my goal of being "A WRITER". Of actually starting, editing, finishing and submitting something on a regular basis. My focus is the longer stuff, but I still enjoy the shorts.

What about you? Do you write short stories for submission now and then? Or is it all about the novel for you?

A Mind of Her Own

"Writing is not a profession, occupation or job; it is not a way of life: it is a comprehensive response to life." -Gregory McDonald

I worked on my latest WIP yesterday. Used it for a prompt in my writing group. Named the main characters (this was HARD -- at first all of my names began with the same letter, and I was so sold on them that changing any of them was hard). I also discovered that this is a mystery. I had no idea until the lady living in my heroine's parents home told her.

Does this happen to you? Do your characters spring stuff on you unexpectedly?

Originally, this was simply going to be a secret baby mystery. Yup. One of those. Since half the latest releases (and most of the last thirty years releases) from Harlequin were something like "The Prince's Virgin Bride and her Secret Baby", I thought -- what the heck. Just for fun. I was going to save this book for NaNoWriMo this year. Still might.

Anyway, when my heroine came home yesterday, she found out her mom was murdered and everyone thinks her dad did it -- but he's disappeared, so they don't know for certain.

I've never written a mystery before. Wonder if I'm up for this...

Written In the Stars

"Most of the important things in the world have been accomplished by people who have kept on trying when there seemed to be no help at all." - Dale Carnegie

From Astrology for Writers, Editors and Filmmakers:

Capricorn: If your work life isn't busy, something is really wrong. Mercury in your House of Daily Work brings lots and lots of offers for new projects, re-writes, new collaborators. Take names and numbers and promise an answer as soon as you can clear your desk of previous committments. $$$ isn't a problem for you now.

Hmmm... could be an interesting month for me then, huh?

"...lots and lots of offers for new projects, re-writes, new collaborators."

So, who wants to come over and play? Let me know, and we'll do lunch. Gotta admit to not being thrilled about that "re-writes" thing.

"$$$ isn't a problem for you now."

*laughs* Clearly the stars haven't looked in my back account lately.

I think I prefer my Humorscope:

Capricorn: A creature from the 7th dimension will become attached to your leg, and will be impossible to remove. Eventually, you'll simply get used to it.

This has already happened. I call her "my daughter".