Genre Favorites Blogfest, September 17, 2012 - Alex J Cavanaugh

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Alex J Cavanaugh has the simplest of blogfests, so very easy to enter, and he even reminds you so you don't forget. It sounds easy to pick your favourite genre of anything, but when it comes down to it, it's jolly hard. I still think of favourite songs I didn't think of for his Favourite Music Blogfest. Anyway, they are always heaps of fun and informative at the same time helping us to get to know more about each other in this great blogging community. Here's the guff:

Genre Favorites Blogfest, September 17, 2012

One blogfest, four favorites!

List your favorite genre of:

Movie

Music

Books

And a guilty pleasure genre from any of the three categories!

My favourite genre - Movie

Drama with a historical and romantic element - a la Gone With the Wind - in case you don't know this one (yeah, highly unlikely) - it is a sizzling love story set against the backdrop of the American Civil War based on one of the biggest selling books of all time by Margaret Mitchell, American author and journalist. So many timeless themes...

**

My favourite genre - Music

Industrial Rock a la U2 - I love their lyrics, their music and their overall political, at times 'save the world' style. What other high school garage band is still going strong after all these years? I've visited their hometown on the outskirts of Dublin, Ireland, and I can see some of where their inspiration came from. Seeing some of their album cover settings was pretty awesome for this die hard fan.

**

My favourite genre - Book

Realistic Fiction a la Jodi Picoult - I love so many book genres, there' s very few I don't read and enjoy, but my favourite will always remain big, fat, print books of realistic contemporary fiction exploring the issues humans are grappling with. Jodi seems to keep one step ahead of the NEXT BIG THING and researches and writes a powerful story every year. I also love how she travels to Australia, so far away for a 'mom', on a regular basis, to visit her large fan base Down Under (and sell the odd book or two).

Jodi and me at Noosa when Change of Heart was released

Guilty Pleasure for any category -  Movie - BLACK SWAN

2010 American psychological thriller and horror film

**

I love thrillers in both Movies and Books, but not usually horror. This was the most amazing movie I'll never forget! The horror was handled lightly until the very end...

** I have no right to use the  images ((slaps hand)) marked with ** so I will be deleting them as soon as this blogfest is over! Do be careful of any stolen images you may have used for this blogfest. Hard to source free images for genres.

• What is your favourite genre of Movie, Music or Book?

Click on the badge at the top to go to more entries...Thanks Captain for the opportunity to wax lyrical about my favourites.

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For any writer - prose or poetry - who'd like to write 400 words or less for the next RomanticFridayChallenge, here is the prompt and this Friday is the day! Hope to see you there...

for more details of this and projected prompts, go to the Challenges Page...

TODAY on RomanticFridayWriters we have an Author Guest Post from much-awarded author Linda Gillard. Pay us a visit to learn more about where characters come from...

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J L Campbell's Distraction Friendship Tour. What are friends for?

Hi folks! I'm sorry this is a little late, but I've been having computer problems, grrr...but I hope better late than never Joy! A thousand apologies to those who've come by and had to be content with Cadbury's Chocolates instead of Joy!

I'm honoured to be hosting another of our published RomanticFridayWriter members, J L Campbell today, as part of her Friendship is Forever blog tour for her latest release, Distraction (which is all about 3 friends...)

I thoroughly enjoyed reading Joy's book and asked her if she'd answer the questions I came up with as I read her book. She was happy to oblige. 

Joy, your novel is well named Distraction as the three girlfriends, Justine, Kyra and Dionne are certainly distracted in many areas of their lives, whether by their men or their children, or even by each other at times. Did you set out to write a novel about the distractions that happen in life, or was it in the writing that the idea of distraction raised its head?

In writing the book, Justine is the first character that came to me along with her problem. Although Justine is self-contained, like everybody else, she needs support. Dionne and Kyra, although they have their problems, provide somewhere for Justine to turn.

Do you write about the close friendship between girlfriends from personal experience? Do you have close buddies with whom you share your most intimate secrets?

The friendship the women share in Distraction would be an ideal scenario for me. Unfortunately, life is not like that. Not a lot of us can keep secrets without eventually spilling them, but I’ve had (and still do) one particular friend that I can talk to frankly without fear of being judged or having my confidence broken.

Do you think friends should counsel each other on life choices? 

When friends and associates have big challenges, I advise them to make a pro/con list and work from there. If the person with the problem is someone who will take advice in the way it’s meant, then I have no problem giving it. However, there are people who tend to be defiant, especially when they know their choices are morally wrong. In such cases, I keep my own counsel. 

I once knew two very close girlfriends of long standing whose friendship was shattered because one of them embarked on an affair with a married man. Justine, Dionne and Kyra seem to be able to value their friendship above their moral judgements. Is that a good thing in your opinion?

I think it’s important for people to recognize that someone else’s choices are their own. Some friends have relationships wherein they can say just about anything to each other without getting into a snit, which is a good thing. I also think it’s wonderful to know that no matter the situation, you have a friend who won’t give up on you, even when you make bad choices. 

Justine seemed conflicted between spending time with her lover Xavier and her daughter Yolanda early in your novel. Do you think this shows a moral weakness? Shouldn’t her daughter naturally come first? Shouldn’t a mother cherish that friendship between Mother and Daughter which these two share when Justine’s lust for Xavier doesn’t interfere?

Definitely, Justine displays moral weakness. It was challenging to create a character who did the right thing most of the time, but had this particular weakness. I figured though, that some readers would be able to identify with Justine’s dilemma. I also thought a lot about whether I wanted to tell this particular story. Critics can be harsh as it pertains to books that include subjects such as adultery and homosexuality.

Ultimately, Justine makes the right choice and I hope readers will see the book more as a story about women surviving their weaknesses rather than one that glorifies immorality.

Xavier and Justin begin their affair, risking both their marriages, at church. Would you say this is common or were you being deliberately provocative?

That’s an interesting one, Denise. I was amazed when a reader at the online writing network where I’m a member told me that many affairs start in church. I’ve asked people about that, but you know how that goes, mostly rumor mongering. From the responses I got, I have concluded that it does happen.

Justine, Kyra and Dionne are very sensitive to each other’s moods. I love this passage where Kyra picks up on Justine’s distress over her breakup with her lover, Xavier. I think it encapsulates the closeness of the three and their care for each other.

Something was wrong with Justine. She’d sensed it earlier, but the time wasn’t right to ask what was going on. Before she forgot again,

Kyra said, “Is why you so quiet, ma’am.”

Justine shook her head. “I’m all right.”

“You look far from all right. You look like somebody in your family

dropped dead or like you lost your best friend.”

A harsh cry escaped Justine, who hunched over the table, tears

wetting her face.

Kyra frowned at Dionne and mouthed, “Is what happen to her?”

Dionne shrugged and spread her hands.

Justine laid her forehead on her arm and continued to sob.

Of the three, Justine was the most even-tempered, self-contained

and composed. The one who held them together in a crisis and handed

out good advice. What had happened to make her fall apart like this?

They allowed her to cry, and when her sobs turned into sniffles, Kyra got

a square of hand towel off the roll and pushed it into Justine’s hand. She

dried her eyes and tugged at the buttons on her shirt, head held down.

“What was that all about?” Dionne asked.

“Xavier and I broke up last night.”

Yes, intimate friendship with girlfriends can be life enhancing.

What was going through your mind when you wrote this passage, Joy?

Many of us have friends that have seen us through some tough time and we look to them, knowing they’ll be there whenever we need their support. It’s an awesome thing to have the security of friends who instinctively know when you’re not yourself, love you as you are and are willing to slap some sense into you when you falter. That’s the essence of Distraction – surviving and triumphing over bad choices, with the help of friends.

If you’ve stuck with us to this point, please feel free to download a complimentary copy of A Baker’s Dozen: Thirteen Steps to Distraction. In this prequel, you’ll meet Dionne, Kyra and Justine a year before Distraction takes place. I hope you’ll enjoy this taste of things Jamaican.

Each person who leaves a comment on this post will be entered to win an e-copy of Distraction. At the end of this Friendship tour, there’ll be a main prize of a Distraction note pad & pen and a $10 Amazon gift card. The second prize is a paperback copy of Distraction. Sign up for that at the Rafflecopter here.

Denise, thanks so much for being a good friend and for hosting me.

Distraction on Amazon

J.L. Campbell on Amazon

J.L. Campbell on Facebook

J.L. Campbell on Goodreads

J.L. Campbell on Twitter

J.L. Campbell is a proud Jamaican and the author of Contraband, Distraction, Dissolution, Don’t Get Mad…Get Even, Giving up the Dream and Hardware (pen name Jayda McTyson). Campbell is always on the lookout for story making material, loves company and can usually be found lollygagging on her blog at http://thecharacterdepot. blogspot.com

It was great hosting Joy today. I hope you enjoyed the interview and download some of Joy's excellent books.

Thanks for coming by today.

What's Your Chocolate? Blogfest - Monday Sept 10

So today is the “What’s Your Chocolate” Blogfest. Well with a name like that, I'm surprised everyone isn't an entrant! 

Simply...Do you love chocolate? Does the very word make you drool with anticipation? Share...

So I'm to post about my favorite chocolate – what it means to me, where and when I indulge, a favorite memory – anything chocolate-related.

Hosted by M. Pax, Laura Eno, Brinda Berry, and Ciara Knight.

Do I love chocolate? Well, rather. I succumb to all that's good about chocolate - how it calms you, how it makes you feel - but not how it makes you feel guilty for eating it. High quality food should be guilt free and shouldn't lead to self hatred should it? I love reading all those spurious articles in magazines which always give me spurious reasons for eating chocolate - so I eat it. 

There must be a reason why chocolates are the gift of choice in the early romance stage of a relationship. When a man continues to ply you with chocolates after the first date, maybe that means he's a keeper, lol! (Well, it's one point in his favour anyway!)

There are different chocolates for different occasions. I'd hate to get sick of them, ahem, as if...

Mother's Day chocolates are usually of the boxed up variety - in Australia, Cadbury Roses is a perennial favourite, or Darrel Lea (which, unfortunately, has just gone to the wall.)  It's an iconic Aussie brand since Cadbury's (which I wrongly thought was Australian) was whisked away by those 'dastardly Americans' as one article says. It went for $19 billion in 2010! There must be money in chocolate! It was originally a UK company which set up a factory in the antipodes early in the 20th Century. You can still visit the Cadbury's factory in Tasmania and gorge yourself silly if you want. My one disappointment  with Cadbury's is that instead of being nice thick chunky portions, a block is now made up of these flat little bits which don't give a full chokky flavour.

My favourite chocolate is hard to say, but if I buy a block of chocolate, I like Cadbury's Roast Almond. I'm not a fan of Lindt chocolates - they have a lot of oil in them apparently, which makes me sickish. 

If I really give it a lot of thought (and I don't usually - I just grab myself a chokkie), I adore Ferrero Rocher, good Italian brand, especially the white chocolate variety covered in coconut (I adore coconut.) I try to only eat them on a special occasion and by golly, if they catch my eye I can think of a special occasion very quickly!

AFTERWORD:

Just read the other day that some company has found that by adding orange juice to the recipe they can replicate the full chocolate flavour with greatly reduced calories, which diet companies have been trying to do for ages. 

I'm sorry I forgot to preschedule this post and how quick did Sept 10 come around!! Now I'm off for a run to counter all that chocolate...

Click on the Chocolate Badge for more delicious entries...

• What's your favourite chocolate?

#RomanticFridayWriters - Challenge No 44 - I Should Have Kissed You!

My Insecure Writers Support Group post is the previous post.

It's time for RomanticFridayWriters again! Today our prompt is I Should Have Kissed You. We have upped the word count to 600 for this Featured Writer challenge. Good luck to all who enter this weekend. Go to the RomanticFridayWriters website to learn more, or if you'd like to post your flash fiction or poetry. You have until Sunday AEST to enter via the linky.

I Should Have Kissed You

‘Tonight you’re mine. It’ll be like old times,’ Inya said as he drew Sally into his arms. He wrapped his arms beneath her and scooped her off her feet.

‘I should have kissed you like this six months ago. Maybe you wouldn’t have taken so long to come back.’

‘Why didn’t you?’

‘I was afraid.’

‘Afraid?’

‘Yes. I thought I might scare you off if I got too intense. I knew you were leaving.’

‘Keep on kissing me like this and I’ll never leave.’

'That's the plan.' Inya lay Sally onto the soft sand. ‘I’m sorry it’s a bit damp.’

Sally giggled. ‘I need cooling off.’

‘Don’t want that.’

 Sally stroked his back. ‘I’m not going to stop you. I could stay here with you all night.’

☁☁☁

She’d known it would happen. The promise was in his eyes as he fed her the magical picnic lunch. Every strawberry he’d placed on her lips was a delight. Every sip of the luscious champagne had gone straight to her head, until she was ready to make love with him right there under the palm tree in broad daylight.

But night had come. The moon was playing hide and seek with the clouds. The palm trees whispered.

‘Inya, these last six months were torture.’

‘Torture!’ Sally felt his grimace. ‘I couldn’t believe you’d come back to me.’ He kissed her face, her neck, her shoulders.

Only the lapping lagoon was witness to their loving.

☁☁☁

Afterwards, they lay on their backs clutching hands, watching the stars glimmer in the black night.

‘So lovely to see the stars again,’ Sally murmured. ‘The skyscrapers got in the way in New York. I’d lean out of my apartment window, but it was no use. Wrong sky. Wrong constellations.’

‘One day I’m going to name a star for you, Sally. It’ll be the brightest new discovery. How would you like that?’

Now isn’t that amazing! applauded the voices in Sally’s head. ‘You’re my star, Inya. You’re the only constellation I want.’

Inya lifted her hand to his lips and kissed each finger. ‘So how are you going to manage your corporation from a Pacific Island?’ he asked, ‘And a pretty backward one at that?’

‘All sorted. Janine in my office as exec. She’ll do the day-to-day and I’ll be in contact all the time. You have the internet here, you know.’

‘It sounds simple, but somehow I know it’ll be a lot more complicated. I’m sure you’re going to have to go back to New York. A lot.’

‘Hmm. You’ll come with me then?’

‘I don’t know Sally. I’m just an islander. Left school at sixteen. What could I do in New York?’ He reached for her and flipped her over until she was lying on top of him. His arms were strong around her. She felt a powerful sense of comfort and security. Oh my, I’m home! One day soon she’d marry him, make him a wonderful wife and maybe down the track a mother. She could already see their gorgeous children running wild on the island, learning skills a city kid could only dream of.

She took his face into her hands. ‘Well, you could show the guys there a trick or two, like in the second Crocodile Dundee movie.’

‘The what?’ He looked into her eyes. ‘Is this the beginning of the re-education program?’

Sally tensed. Why couldn’t this be easier?She dropped her head on his shoulder and kissed him as the hot tears flowed. Any moment now he'd grab his surfboard and be gone for the rest of the night.

 ©DeniseCovey2012

☁☁☁☁☁☁☁☁☁☁☁☁☁☁☁☁☁☁☁☁☁☁☁☁☁☁☁☁☁☁☁☁☁☁☁☁☁☁☁

WORD COUNT: 596

Full Critique Acceptable

Want to read more RomanticFridayWriters stories on the theme? Go here...

Brisbane Writer's Festival Greeter! Her enthusiasm for books is obvious as she crafted her hat herself. I've just been to a session on Romance writing by best-selling Regency author Anna Campbell, who told us that of all the types of justice in the world, romance writing has emotional justice. True...

#Insecure Writers Support Group - 10 Quick Tips to get that book written.

First Wednesday of the month already! Time for the IWSG again! Thanks Alex J Cavanaugh for starting this group. 

Fellow emerging writers, here's some advice I picked up from Elizabeth Sims in the Writer's Digest recently. It encouraged me, so I will pass it on. Of course, I've put my own spin on it...

10 QUICK TIPS TO GET THAT BOOK WRITTEN:

1. PAINT A TWO-STROKE SCENE

- Make one stroke visual - SHOW something.

- Make the second stroke evoke one of the other four SENSES: a sound, smell, taste, feel...

You want examples?

The rooftop was studded with chimneys. A cold wind whipped in from the harbour.

She got pregnant that same muggy night. The cracked vinyl of the Buick's back seat left claw marks on her shoulders, and she remembered the dark smell of the plowed field next to the open road.

Your turn....

2. NAIL A CHARACTER IN TWO MOVES

- Give each character a distinctive physical trait. Some memorable traits include:

* Huge hands

* A graceful gait

* A painful stoop

* Fiery red hair

* Thick bi-focals

Your turn...have fun...

- Give each character a distinctive psychological trait.

* Extremely competitive

* Annoyingly calm in all situations

* Willing to be a martyr

* Insecure about not having a university degree

* Secretive about his/her wealth

Your turn...let your imagination run riot...

Alternate showing the two traits you choose the first few times we meet the characters. Doing so will create a mental anchor for your readers.

3. FICTIONALIZE A REAL PERSON BEYOND RECOGNITION IN TWO STEPS

I first heard this advice at a Writing Course. It makes characterisation easier and more real, I was told.

- Change the person's sex.

- Make the fictional character much more physically attractive than the real person is. Then let loose and make the character as despicable as you wish.

4. PLUG A PLOT GAP WITH ONE OR TWO TRICKS

- Ignore the gap completely and hope no one notices. Even successful authors do this all the time. In Raymond Chandler's The Big Sleep, he admitted even he didn't know who killed the chauffeur. 

- Acknowledge the hole then instantly keep going. Successful fiction is studded with sentences like...

* I don't know why I'm telling you this, but...

* She didn't know how she did it, but she managed to scale that vertical steel wall and run to the car.

Have some fun with this. Will save you time and energy plugging up gaps...

5. SHIFT A MOOD WITH TWO QUICK STROKES

Mood is really about emotion, both in characters and readers. 

Check out Muriel Spark's sentence from The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie:

The evening paper rattle-snaked its way through the letter box and there was suddenly a six-o'clock feeling in the house.

- So how do you shift the mood in two steps?

Using quick writing tips mean more time for this...
Photo taken using Instagram

* First, present ONE detail. Spark used the evening paper coming in. You could use a little event like that, too, or you could use something that is physically felt by a character.

* Then, simply announce the mood change, as Spark did. The word suddenly is your friend here. 

More examples...

^ I heard the first bird sing from the morning darkness, and suddenly I felt that everything would be all right.

^ As soon as he reached the embankment, the hairs on his arms stood up. Even before looking down, he realized, Yes, death is here.

To be continued...

And I must share that today is the first day of the Brisbane Writer's Festival. Always good to celebrate books, authors and readers. The school groups were out in force...

• We like our posts relatively short for IWSG, so I will continue the final 5 tips next IWSG post. Have creative fun with these tips. I hope they help you in your WIP.

Go here to read more IWSG entries...