C. L. Norman

Another year has just about slipped off the calendars into the past and a new one is beginning.

This past year saw me beginning down the road towards embracing my dream of writing. I attended two cons and participated in my first writing workshop. I took over the infant writing group at the store. I’ve begun to collect a pile of rejection letters. I have started a blog and on two social networking sites, Facebook and Twitter. I participated in NaNoWriMo for the first time and while I didn’t finish I finished about 25k words in 17 days and I am proud of that.

My oldest started high school and my youngest 1st grade.  Two more kids began piano lessons and a third started dance. My husband received a promotion and changed companies.

Life is ever changing.

This year I could be making a dozen resolutions but my resolutions never last a month. So instead I am making goals and I am sharing them with y’all to help me keep them.

Writing Goals

• Finish and polish the novel I started during this year’s NaNoWriMo
• Submit enough short stories to various markets that I have five pieces circulating at once
• Attend RadCon and MisCon. Put my hand out and say “Hi” to at least one author at each.
• Research into a third con to attend, and if money permits go
• Keep up with this blog, including more fiction pieces and more regular posts

Non-Writing Goals

• Pay off at least two more credit cards
• Start saving for a family trip to Disney World in 2011
• Finish a cross stitching kit
• Scrapbook more
• Start keeping track of the books I read in my journal
• Have more fun

That’s my list for the new year. What’s on yours?

        

Tonight in my wandering through my subscriptions on Google Reader I ran across Lilith Saintcrow‘s blog about Louisa May Alcott. And it hit me where I needed it.

I’ve been stuck in this rut of wanting to write but not actually doing it. I would like to make a bit of money from it as well. While we are not poor we do have credit card debt that we want gone so that we can afford things for our children. I dream of writing and selling enough to help reduce that debt. (I am enough of a realist to know that paying off the debt with my writing will take quite a while and a ton of elbow grease)

The problem with dreaming is that it doesn’t pay. It also doesn’t get the words down on paper.

Louisa May resolved to not be poor and did something about it. I am a fan of Ms. Alcott. I remember spending recesses at 9 years of age with the March sisters, Jack & Jill, and Rose & her cousins. Jo in particular is one of the reasons I dream of writing. Jo March and Anne Shirley from L. M. Montgomery‘s books.

They were young women who dreamed of writing and then pursued those dreams.  I admired those characters but remain comfortable as I am. That comfort is a trap that keeps me from my dreams.

I hereby resolve to make myself uncomfortable and work harder on the pursuit of writing.  And maybe find myself a poster of Louisa May to hang on the wall near my desk so I can remember and be goaded into action instead of complacency.

        

I have been looking forward to seeing Sherlock Holmes for months and months. Ever since I saw the first trailer with a unshaven Robert Downey Jr swaggering across the screen, I’ve been looking forward to seeing this movie. Today, as a Christmas present, my husband took me to the local theater to see it.

It is my favoritest gift of the day.

I loved the movie. It was fun, fast paced, and engaging. Mr. Downey’s Sherlock wasn’t the upright, moral citizen I’ve seen depicted in so many other versions. He was a roguish Holmes that had me laughing and rooting for him the entire two plus hours. Jude Law’s Dr. Watson while he appeared clean cut also had more character and flaws to him than the usual Watson.

The pace started quick and kept going and yet it didn’t seem rushed. It was like a joyful carnival ride that I didn’t want to end. And the ending of the movie promised more. It was promised in such a way that I want to start counting the days until the next movie is released.

To quote Holmes at the final line of the movie, “The case is reopened.” And the movie is destined to bring Sherlock Holmes back into the limelight.

See the movie, you won’t regret it.

        

I work in the mall in a bookstore. I have worked in the mall in a bookstore on and off since my first job at B. Dalton’s in August 1991.

I think I have seen holiday shoppers in all shapes, sizes, and colors in that time. Some are full of the holiday spirit; polite, patient, and understanding of the over-busy retail clerks and the ever shrinking stock. Others are full of some other spirit; rude, impatient, angry when they don’t find that specific item they were looking for.

I like to think that I don’t know my customer’s private lives. Maybe something awful is happening at home and that is why they are acting so terribly. I smile bigger, take a deep breath, and try even harder to maintain my patience. Other times the rudeness has reached such a level that I become grateful I am not a manager and I can pass the customer off. Or maybe the customer will get so fed up they will stomp out of the store and come back another day when their mood is brighter.

These are the days when we see most of those cranky shoppers. The lines are long, the ‘good’ books have sold, and there are only so many employees to go around. Tempers get short. Frowns and grimaces are on nearly every face. 

I call this time of year the ‘swipe and go’ period. The customers don’t want to hear about the offers for this or that. They don’t want to hear about special programs. They just want to hear their total, swipe their card, and leave. It can be very frustrating for the store clerk and a strain on their smiles.

Christmas Eve this all changes. For some strange reason, even though time has nearly run out, shoppers on this day relax. They smile. They joke. They listen to the offers and promotions. They feel the spirit of the holidays and it becomes a pleasure to work with them. This is the time when suggesting a new author becomes easy. Convincing the shopper to go home with something different than they originally came in for is an opportunity to share more of my favorites. Not only the best selling ones.

I like working on Christmas Eve, at least the early shift. I see the spark of Santa in every face that passes through the checkout line and it puts me in the mood for the evening when Santa-in-full arrives. 

So if you are one of the shoppers heading out today, take time to smile at the clerk helping you out. Bring Santa out a day early.

        

Our friends come over and admire our tree. They ‘ooh’ and ‘ahh’ and tell us how cute the ornaments are that our kids made, how funny the three wise mice are, and then they exclaim “Cool!” as they catch sight of the Millenium Falcon swooping down from a branch high up in the tree.

That’s right. We have a geek’s tree.

On our tree we have Luke Skywalker, R2-D2, C3-PO, an  AT-AT and the Millenium Falcon. We have the Shuttlecraft Galileo with Spock on board wishing everyone happy holidays and ‘live long and prosper’. Indiana Jones cracks his whip on another branch. And not to ignore the fantasy side of our geekiness, we have a dragon wrapped around a castle and a wizard hunched over a crystal ball.

On Christmas day, our geeky side is revealed even further when the wrapping paper comes off. Gaming books, collectible card game boosters, minis and figurines, dice, and movies all reveal that side of our natures. That side that is more at home at a gaming table than a dinner table set with crystal.

What about your tree? What kind of ornaments do you display on yours?

        

If I had a passport and transport to these places and could take my family with me, I’d pack  my bags tonight. These are five fantastical locations I’d like to visit for the holidays. They hold warmth and family and togetherness.

1. Faldor’s Farm in Sendaria: In David Eddings‘ Pawn of Prophecy Garion and his Aunt Pol sit down for a feast at Erastide with all the workers and families on the farm. This place is always ‘home’ for Garion throughout the series and the warmth felt during this scene is one of my favorites. That and the many purposes this scene serves. It shows the relationship between Garion and Aunt Pol and Durnik. It introduces the villain. The fly lands in the ointment here. Hints of Garion’s identity are introduced here. I wouldn’t mind a place at their table this season.
2. The Forest Moon of Endor: Who could resist the furry teddy bears? I know I can’t. These guys really know how to throw a party. Bonfires, storytelling, and good food and music. A holiday party to thoroughly enjoy, these Ewoks would throw. Count me in.
3. Allanmere: Anne Logston‘s Shadow books are set in this city. Elves and humans live side by side and Shadow has friends all over the city. The city is a cultural hub with exotic people and rulers. Friendly folks and diverse shops abound. A holiday here would be a treat.
4. The Cheysuli Camp in Homana: In Jennifer Roberson’s Cheysuli books, the native people live in nomadic camps that have a real sense of community. Their customs and powers would be very neat to observe. If allowed in to their community, the loyalty and cooperation they have with each other would be great to be a part of, even if only for a few days.
5. Adam’s House: This place exists not far from my current location in a parallel universe discovered by Patricia Briggs in her Mercy Thompson books. I’d like to find the ticket to that dimension so that I could spin by Adam’s house, if I could find a way to get him to accept me around his pack. They also know how to have a party and they are very tolerant of differences. Being a part of the pack for a day or two, watching Mercy and Adam dance around each other, and seeing magic in my home town would be a totally awesome way to spend the holidays.

How ’bout you? Where would you go for the holidays if you had a genie to grant you a wish that would send you there?

        

I picked up a copy of the January issue of The Writer magazine and thumbed through it during my break at work. An entry on page 20, in the middle of the Lee Child interview, caught my eye. In this entry Mr. Child talks about starting with an unlikable character, it could be your best character ever.

I thought about that for a moment before I realized how true that is. At least for me. The two characters I remember best and that ‘speak’ to me the loudest started with a flaw.

Mouse–yes, she will make another appearance soon– started with insatiable curiousity. I knew that I wanted her to be curious because I was new to gaming and I wanted an excuse for all the trouble she was going to get into. Then I shaded the curiousity with cowardice. She’s non-confrontational and prefers to avoid or run away from fights. She lives and breathes in the world inside my mind.

John St. George began with sarcasm and middle age. This led to bad knees and a fatalistic view of his job, dragonslaying. John is the protaginist in a short story that I wrote last spring and he has been sitting in a corner in my mind patiently waiting for another story of his own. And making snarky comments about other projects I’ve been working on since.

The other characters I’ve made have started with generalities and good traits. Bravery, nimble fingers, a need to protect the innocent. These characters all feel like cardboard, dry and flat.

Next character I write up, I am going to take Lee Child’s advice and work backwards. I will start with an unlikable trait and move out from there.

        

I finished up the third book in the Dante Valentine series last night and I wanted to share my opinion with you.

First off I’ve gotta say that I make a terrible book reviewer as I don’t like saying much bad about a book. I admire every author who has gone through the process that ends with their novel on my shelf. That said, here it goes.

I like Dante. She is a very interesting character with a lot of flaws and interesting powers. She kicks butt and takes names and isn’t afraid to cry alone in her room when things are bad. Japhrimel, her love interest, is also kinda neat. Very mysterious and not human and as we never spend any time in his head we have no idea what is going on with him. Or almost no idea.

The setting is neat. Hover cars, plasguns, magic users, and demons all mix into a gritty world that’s a little too scary to physically visit but peaking through the window that Lilith Saintcrow has provided is exciting and gripping. I will continue to peak through and finish out the series.

Two things I had trouble with, one relatively minor and the other a bit bigger.

It is mentioned several times how the magic users are so rare in this world and yet shopkeepers, people on the street, and most other folks Dante has run into all had the characteristic tatoo on their cheeks that indicates their status as a magic user. I had to make excuse that with the idea that maybe Dante just doesn’t notice humans as much as she isn’t one. It works but it is one of those little things that niggle away at me when I am reading.

The other thing is the situation Dante gets into in this book with her demon lover, Japhrimel. She is put in the situation of being the battered woman. I am not familiar personally with this position but I believe this was very well done. The shock and depression that Dante spirals into was very moving. It was also realistic from what I have heard. Including forgiving Japh and going back with him. But Dante is a hero! I thought Japhrimel would have to work harder to attain forgiveness and a place with Dante again. It seemed all so very easy for the two getting back together. I would have liked to see that process take longer. Just my opinion.

All in all, the book is good and I recommend it to any fan of urban fantasy. Have you read this book? What did you think?

        

I like Urban Fantasy because most of the protagonists in the stories are rogues. Or at least roguely.  Urban Fantasy takes magic and puts it in worlds not too different from our own. Urban Fantasy is fun and usually a fairly easy read.

The protagonists in Urban Fantasy rarely follow the rules, rarely lack for a snarky comment, and rarely have that quality that keeps them out of trouble.  Most every one of them loves their weapons. Whether it be a gun or a sword or a knife, they take care of it and keep it close by. Most of the time the love comes from the necessity to defend themselves from the denizens of darkness at a moments notice.

They also tend to have a colorful past. Orphans or abused children growing up on the streets, these characters have story hooks written all over their backgrounds. Enough hooks to keep their authors busy for years to come. This is great if you are a fan of the character, not as great if you like the author but not the series. I tend to adore the spunky character so this is a good thing in my eyes.

Their love lives. I could stop right there. Every one by now knows that urban fantasy is a hair away from paranormal romance and vise versa. Love lives will be complicated and involved. I love it. And I am frustrated with it. I like romance in my books, I even like the occasional romance novel. These complicated love lives make the books go from ok to great. I get frustrated when I think a couple should be together and book after book comes out where they dance around each other, meaningful glances exchanged, but no one acts on it. It is sorta like a TV series that keeps finding excuses not to put the main characters together. Frustrating.

A fair amount of urban fantasy takes our common, every day, hum-drum world and twists it. Just a little, just a nudge, and then magic happens. In Lousiana there are vampires, elves, and weres living side by side with bar patrons. In my home town of the Tri-Cities there is a wolf pack down the street and a vampire nest in the hills, and down near where my dad lives is a community of fae. Magic is happening all around us in these books. And it is fun.

Other urban fantasy push today’s world into the future or make tomatoes deadly to humans or cause magic and technology to alternately work but never at the same time. And then the monsters come out to play. How cool is that?

Most all urban fantasy that I have read or perused in the process of putting it on the shelf at work has a single POV character. A lot of spunky females and a few snarky males are telling their stories on these pages. Sometimes it is in third person but most of them seem to be in first. Either way the story is usually an easy read. Lots of action, quips, and mystery drive the reader through the pages which is my favorite type of book.

 A fair amount of epic fantasy (which I love too) spends a lot of time jumping from character to character, all around the map of their world, slowly bringing together disparate threads into one single rope. I admire the authors who can do this but it requires extra work on my part to keep every thing straight in my head. The urban fantasy is easier to read when my schedule is busy or my mind is feeling overworked.

These are the reasons why I like Urban Fantasy, what are yours?

        

I love December. The holidays are almost here. Snow is far more likely to fall in my corner of the world, even more likely in January. I wake up and rush to the window to check the ground and then the clouds to see if those wonderful white flakes have fallen or might be falling soon. Usually my Christmas shopping is almost done–this year I am horribly behind. Christmas decoration are everywhere. And my birthday is just around the corner.

I feel like a kid at this time of year. Very excited about the season and anxious to see what might happen. Plans are being made to see family or at least talk to them if travel arrangements aren’t in the cards. Everything sparkles–not the way Edward does, more like white twinkling lights. Everything is magical.

Magical. That is how this time of year always feels to me. Like maybe there really are unicorns in the woods, fairies and elves in the gardens, and wizards and witches living among us.

Sounds like Halloween, right?

Not for me. Halloween has never had that sense of magic in it for me. Sure it’s fun and a great way to mark the season. But it lacks magic.

What part of the year feels magical to you?