Dare Me

I should be packing right now, because I've got to leave for the airport at like too-early o'clock in the morning, but I'm watching YouTube videos of 80s videos instead.

Song of the hour: Dare Me by The Pointer Sisters. It's a live concert version, not the music video version. But nonetheless, it's still a frisky fun song. The group has an official website too. Well, who doesn't these days...

One line from the song that belongs in a top ten pickup line roster: if there's any truth behind your intention, this night's gonna end up on fire.

Anyway, if you haven't stepped on a college or high school campus lately, everything 80s and 90s is the 2000s. The asymmetical wedge cuts of Salt-n-Pepa days... longer hair on guys... the Anita Baker "Rapture" cut on women... texturizers and s-curl lites... mixtures of bright colors and prints... tight jeans... gold jewelry (the thicker the better). Even the music videos are getting back to the storytelling, singer lip-syncing style.

Making it easier for us writer types who may flashback to the 80s in fiction to access those times quicker... with all the visual cues around us in today's fashion and pop culture.

Gotta get to packing... Atlanta awaits. Come on, dare me (you know the song is kinda catchy, ya dig!)
fs

Ummmm... Imagine

Imagine walking into a work meeting like this... just because...

It's been one of them days, like Monica used to sing about. And you just want to watch their jaws drop! Well actually, been one of them weeks, which is why the blog has been neglected.

Things have been the same in my world. Been writing a bit on the new novel, which is not coming as fast as I'd like it to (or my agent or editor, lol). What gets the pressure on a bit is when I get an email or phone call from a reader or friend who's like "when's your next book coming?" If only I could churn them out as fast as people read.

Anyway, heading to Atlanta at the end of the week for a conference. Something related to higher education, so it'll take me out of book life for about five days. Will get to catch up with some academics from my past and talk college shop.

Will be taking Seen It All, Done The Rest with me on the plane. Figure, I'll be in Atlanta. Why not read a novel set in the city while I'm there?

Off to a meeting in South L.A. Just checking in a bit. Hope you're making it through the week. I'm sure you're doing just fine!

Learned something new today... make everyday a weekend day... why wait until the weekend to make today a fun day or night with friends or family? Imagine...
fs

The Greatest Ex (or Almost Ex) Ever

Out of sight, out of town, out of internet access, out of minutes... and everything is cool. Right?

Then you run into him. Or he comes back to town. Or he texts out of the blue. And it puts you halfway to crazy again. Just the sight triggers a whole new storyline (in your head at minimum) you hadn't expected.

So why is The Greatest Ex Ever on Janet's new CD so friggin hot to me? So is the song Discipline, too, but that's another blog entry ;-)
fs

Love My Soaps Lately

Always loved my daytime dramas. I'm a CBS person.

Lately, the antics between "crazy" Aunt Pam and Donna "Ho"gan have been quite funny on Bold and The Beautiful.

A couple fun clips from YouTube: Donna and Pam meet for the first time; Donna and Pam do coffee (you gotta see what Aunt Pam eats at the very end of this scene... it's so darn funny and worth the watch!)

My friends and I are split down the middle on who/why we like on the show... you're either a Stephanie/Taylor person or a Brooke person. I'm with Steph/Taylor. (Step speaks the gospel to Brooke in this scene.)

This week Young and The Restless turns 35! I've been watching for probably 25 of those years... yeah, I know. The past year sucked, but now that the Bell family is back writing the show, it's back on track. Let's hope they bring Ashley and Drucilla back soon.

I get all my soap info from a couple cool sites. Daytime Confidential. Serial Drama.

And while I'm not an ABC soap person, the folks at Daytime Confidential are raving that One Life to Live is the best on television right now. My granny used to watch it and I'd watch with her way back in the day... I remember some twins, good Pat and bad Maggie, and a kidnapping and a basement... Oh well, long distance memories. Mary J. Blige makes an occasional appearance. Snoop Dogg will be on the show soon.

Such a guilty pleasure. But one thing I've always felt... writers and actors for daytime work the hardest. Where else do you have to churn out and/or memorize hundreds of pages a day? That's some fast work that requires lots of creativity.

Oh well... Happy Sunday!
fs

Writing Excuses... For Your Ear

First, every Friday is a good Friday, but how will you make this one such?

So anyway, I could come up with a million writing excuses for why... I procrastinate, I stare at a blank screen, I (you fill in the blank) when it comes to writing. I'm sure you've got your own.

But some more flava for your ear. The podcast Writing Excuses. Subscribe via iTunes or just listen from the website. Each podcast episode is a focused show on a specific writing topic. I've listened to the show on brainstorming, one on beginnings, and another on editing down your good stuff.

What I like most about this podcast is that each episode is around 15 minutes. So it's quick, informative, and the right amount of procrastination time you need before getting back to the writing.

Have a great one!

Seen It All...

Pearl Cleage is a writer whose work never disappoints.

This Michigan (and I think Detroit) native centers her novels in Atlanta neighborhoods that you and I know a thing or two about.

So it's only fitting to share her new novel release, out this week. Seen It All and Done The Rest. A middle-age actress leaves Europe amid controversy and returns to family and friend drama in Atlanta.

Mine should be coming in the mail today or tomorrow. In time for a relaxing weekend with a book... and yeah, some writing too. Though it's hard to read and do my own writing at the same time.
fs

Some Brand New Flavor For Your Ear

OK, so maybe I'm just late (as I often am).

But found a new podcast that features urban and contemporary writers and authors, Authors in Your Pocket. Been listening at night lately, mostly before I go to bed.

Oh, and one other listening pleasure. Love me some Dwele music. Gotta celebrate the Detroit talent, ya know?

But last week while roadtripping through Northern California, I was lucky enough to get a rental car with satellite radio. And on Suite 62, heard the new Dwele song, I'm Cheatin. It's my new favorite song, and it's not what you think... the cheating part. If you don't have satellite radio, you can hear the song on Dwele's MySpace.

Anyway, that's some brand new flavor for your ear. Hope it's a good day for you!
fs

Childhood Guilty Pleasure

Aah, St. Patrick's Day. Remembering my childhood friend Gretchen O'Neal. Remembering how she got me addicted to these:


Yes, the infamous Flowers In The Attic... and subsequent books by V.C. Andrews... Petals on the Wind, If There Be Thorns, My Sweet Audrina.

More on the entire V.C. Andrews series of books here.

Almost seems like a right of passage... that in 7th grade, many of us starting reading the steamy, soap opera-ish sagas of family secrets, lust, incest, and some mean, mean grandmothers. lol. These books didn't have a lot of sex in them, but it was implied. But oh, were there secrets and scandal. Better than most of the soaps we watched when we rushed home on a half-day of school.

I remember hearing a while back that the author, V.C. Andrews, had died... but the books kept coming. It's a mystery to me. Were the books already written or outlined? Were they continued by family members? Ghost writers who knew her original vision?

I have no clue... but all I know is that these books were childhood guilty pleasures that my friend Gretchen O'Neal turned me on to. Did you read them? Sneak read them? Sneak read other books while a kid?

Enjoy the day!
fs