Lately, I’ve begun creating lists to keep track of my activities. That is likely because I’m hot into a huge rewrite (You’d think I would list scenes, characters, settings, ticks, set-ups, clues, and all other minutiae, wouldn’t you? but no…). So, because I am also at a speaking event today, I am going to list seven things 4 things I love. These are current and past things. Sorry, but I couldn’t leave anyone out.

Lists – don’t you love them?

• Pearl’s Peril on Facebook

  — It’s one of those games where you find lost or hidden items. It starts out slowly and then as you get through the level, more and more items are added until the screen is filled with stuff making it harder to find what it is that you are looking for.
  It’s almost like a sort of memory game because you have to memorize where the items are in order to find them once the screen fills up. I always loved the Perils of Pauline old movies so … it’s sort of based on that…loosely. Very loosely.

• Real brick and mortar bookstores (Esp. BN)

  — I hate to admit it but…it’s true. I have been a fan ever since they came to my hometown a lot of years ago. Once they arrived, it changed my life.

  I could once again immerse myself in a dream world of books and everything bookish. Bookstores are my escape. I am learning to resist the urge to buy everything I see (especially those on sale!)Before bookstores came to town, and yes, we have BN, BAM, and the assorted indie bookseller, I found a place to go that was MINE all mine. My hubby and kids didn’t really like going to them, (until my daughter became an English major in college and developed a taste for literature) — so going to the bookstore was always my private island. Now that they have added coffee shops to them? Oh, I am in heaven!

• I love the obvious – yes, yes I do!

  
  Isn’t it terrible when we find obvious things in our manuscripts that need to be yanked out? Me too. That’s why this is in the list. It’s the fact that I put crap in my dialogue that shouldn’t be there. Like tags. Here is a short list of the worst offenders when you write dialogue that should be ripped out.

  answered
  explained
  interrupted
  replied
  responded
  interjected
  insisted
  reiterated
  began

 
…And let me just say, began is my absolute worst offender. I write he began/she began so much I could paper my bathroom with them.

• Doctor Who

…and the tenth Dr. especially… something about the facial expressions he exhibited when he was being deadly serious (which wasn’t often!) just made me believe he really was … the … doctor.  

Well, I have to get up and get ready to go speak to the River City Romance Writers today. They are a local chapter of RWA-Romance Writers of America. I am co-speaking with my good writer buddy, Linda Rettstatt who has a LOT of books. You should check out her site.