Blow Out!!!!!!

Ever wonder about an authors, often wierd, sense of humor? How many of you ladies have ever changed a tire?

Yesterday, my daughter and I were on the Interstate - three lanes of traffic - 70 miles per hour mind you - in my car - when we had a blow out of a rear tire. We pulled to the shoulder next to one of those lovely concrete constuction barriers. We looked at each other and said "Do you know how to change a tire?" NOPE! But hey, we're intelligent, independant, modern women, we can do this!!!!!! And of course we're thinking some hero will see two women trying to change a flat and come to the rescue.

Out of the car, with vehicles blowing past us making it seem like we're in a wind tunnel. Get all the necessary equipment out of the trunk. The jack is a pretty straight forward tool so jacking up the car and getting the hubcap off wasn't too tough. Cars keep whizzing past, including a couple of cop cars. Next comes the lug nuts!!!! I wonder who came up with the term "Lug Nut"? It has a really masculine ring to it and stimulates all kind of images about the masculine personality. The term was most likely devised because men put the damn things on so tight that only a man has the strength to get the damn things off. (Tip, losen the damn lug nuts before you jack up the car so the tire won't keep turning to hamper your efforts).

Okay, after a lot of pushing and straining, the lug nuts are off. The blown tire is off. On goes that little dounut thingy that passes as a tire. Still no hero in sight. All but one of the lug nuts are back on, losely, we decided to lower the jack so we can tighten them enough so the tire would stay on.

By God, we'd done it!!! We changed a tire - by ourselves. Guess what? Along comes our hero! The first words out of my daughter's mouth was, "Now, you show up?"

Our hero, who was gorgeous by the way, has this sheepish grin and apologizes, "Sorry, I went past so fast I couldn't stop." He'd pulled off the Interstate on the first access road and climbed up a hill to reach us. You have give the guy credit. And of course a killer smile didn't hurt. Anyway, he tightened the infernal nuts, and put the blown tire and the jack back in the trunk. We're ready to get back in the car and, yep, you got it again, a cop finally pulls over, lights flashing.

Big an muscular, this State Trooper looks as if he could have lifted the car without the aid of a jack. "You ladies need assistance?" he asks. "Yeah, about forty-five minutes ago."

So, my daughter and I get back in the car, look at each other, and start laughing hysterically. This sort of thing is sooooo typical of our mother and daughter bonding days. Next on the agenda - get off the Interstate and find a place to get a new tire so we didn't have to drive too far on the donut thingy. We're in Indianapolis, shouldn't be too difficult. Yeah right! Ever try to get a tire changed after 5:00? The first two places we stopped, the chilverous heros working there said, "sorry, we just closed". The last one directed us to a Firestone dealership at the mall, three miles away. But of course we had to hurry because they closed at 6:00. Saturday traffic in Indianapolis is slow at best. Well, we did make it, with a few minutes to spare, Tire changed, and we're back on the road -- still laughing. Anyone want to bet whether or not the experience will one day find itself in one of my stories?

I have to tell you, that because of that damn blow out, my daughter and I both laughed more yesterday than either of us have in a long time. Needless to say, we changed our plans for the rest of the day. By the time we would have arrived at our intended destination, it would have been too late to accomplish what we'd originally set out to do. Instead, we returned to my house, fixed a nice dinner, and spent the remainder of the evening watching a movie.

We're thinking about trying it again today! News at eleven.

“Not Tonight, Honey. I Have A Headache.”

We have all been there. Sometimes you are just not in the mood. Maybe you’ve had a particularly stressful day at work, with the children, real life problems, or are simply not feeling well. As a result, you want nothing more than to relax a bit, then go to bed and sleep ... undisturbed. The thought of making hot passionate love is so far at the back of your mind it would take a blow torch to warm you up.

Fortunately there are some excellent books out there on which I would personally put a "Blow Torch" heat rating.

But, let’s get real. If you’ve had a really, really, bad day and your significant other comes home and says, “Come here baby and give Big Daddy some lovin’,” Big Daddy better duck and run.

That’s exactly the point I’m at with my current book. Since the first of the year, my day job has been particularly hectic … closing out year end and setting up for 2006 along with attempting to keep up with my normal, daily work load. By the time I got home each evening, I was wiped out, my brain all but fried. Definitely a "Not tonight, honey. I have a headache," situation.

In short, for the past week, my poor hero and heroine have been left hanging ... in the middle of a passionate love scene … in an old fashioned claw foot bath tub no less.

What authors put their characters through is shocking.

I’ve managed to tie up the last of the year end loose ends at work. Things have returned to normal … at least as normal as it gets. This weekend, I intend to complete the love scene and allow my poor hero and heroine to achieve the relief and satisfaction they’ve been working toward for the past week. Otherwise, they’re likely to seek revenge by becoming uncooperative.

So, what about the authors who write those hot and steamy books that as readers you often escape into … books that often help create the mood for romance?

As an author, I find the love scenes the most difficult part of the book to write. Just like in real life where you have to be in a particular frame of mind and mood to do it … I need to be in the mood to write it. For me, those scenes are best written in the evening or night hours. I do my best work if I set the mood … a hot bubble bath to relax me, candles burning, my special romantic mood music playing, and maybe even a glass of wine. It also doesn't hurt to read something with a bit of sizzle.

For other authors out there, how about sharing what influences impact the love scenes you write? What, if anything, make them difficult or impossible to write? What do you do to set the mood?

Right Brain vs Left Brain

In my last post I mentioned the need to switch mental gears from my day job to enable me to focus on my writing. I see myself as a right brain person, while my day job requires primarily left brain applications. Below is a more detailed description of the applications and functions of both the right and left hemispheres of the brain.

Check them out and see if you are primarily a right brain or left brain person. I suspect there are those of you who are so well balanced that you do not lean heavier on one side or the other, or you function with both simultaneously. For me, I freely admit that balance in all aspects of my life is a constant struggle.


Right Brain Traits:

Intuitive: fllows hunches, or feelings, takes leaps of logic.
Nontemporal: having little or no awareness of time.
Random: arranges events and actions haphazardly.
Causal and Informal: deals with information on basis of need or interest at the time.
Concrete: relates to things as they are commonly known or understood.
Holistic: sees whole things all at one, overall patterns. Leading to divergent ideas.
Visual: uses imagery, responds to pictures, colors, shapes.
Nonverbal: responds to tones, music, body language, touch.
Visuo-spatial: uses intuition to estimate, perceives shapes.
Responsive: listens to music.
Originative: interest in ideas and theories imaginatively.
Emotional: suspicious judgment until it feels or seems right.
Learning: through exploration, creative, artistic

Left Brain Traits:

Methodical: organizes information, classifies, categorizes, structures.
Temporal: keeps track of time, thinks in terms of past, present, future.
Sequential: arranges events and actions in consecutive succession.
Linear: thinks in terms of sequence, one thought directly following another. Leads to convergent conclusions.
Factual: deals with details, items, the particulars, features of a thing.
Verbal: used words to name, describe, and define things.
Systematic and Formal: processes information methodically, in a well-planned way.
Learning: through systematic plans.

Reflections

I decided to get a head start on the new year by jumping on the blogger bandwagon. If you can't beat them, join them - right? Not sure I have anything to say on a regular basis that you will be interested in reading but I guess we'll soon find out.

Ever wonder how a writer's mind works? I've always said that a writer's mind is wired a bit differently. We look at life, people, and everyday situations from a different perspective. The two most important words in our vocabulary are; "What if?" Every person we meet has the potential to be a character, every situation a possible scene that adds realism and emotion, every song a title or plot, every location we visit an exciting setting for a book. The possibilities are endless. People often ask me where I get the ideas for my stories and the best response I can offer is; "Where don't I?" The ideas come faster than I can write them, proven by my ever expanding note book of plots, titles, potential characters, and scenes to be used at a later date.

Hopefully you'll find my REFLECTIONS on daily events and news about my work interesting enough to stop by often.