Stuff

Hi all! Cie here.

Time is flying by. Just a few more days until the book is out. We haven't received our copies yet, but I'm jumping up and down with impatience to get them. We've decided not to actually post the cover of the next book until people have actually had the chance to get the first one. I can understand the logic, but argh! I want them out! I want the next one finished and sold. I want, I want, I WANT......

I feel like a little kid throwing a tantrum. It's funny. Before I got caught up in the actual process of getting published I had no CLUE how long everything takes. Patience has never been my best thing, but I'm learning. SLOWLY. Be patient with me. :D

The other day I stopped by one of the sites that has sample chapters and read it. Because of all that's been going on, it's been quite a while since I just sat down and read one of the completed mss. As I looked at it I had one of those "board across the head" moments (not literally, but you know what I mean). "This is actually a *book*. I mean, it's *readable*. I'D buy it. Whoa."

I know that probably sounds stupid. To understand you'd have to know that I've spent my whole life with all these stories running through my head. I've always wanted to write fiction, tell my stories, and *hopefully* have people like them. Make people *think* about things -- like how even though somebody may have a completely different viewpoint than yours, to them it is a perfectly valid viewpoint. They have reasons behind it, facts and experience that support it. It's all a matter of perspective. One of my friends who is also a writer, Tami Cowden, told me once that "The villian is the hero of his own story." That's why I am not likely to ever "draw moral conclusions" as one of the reviewers said she wanted us to. I mean, who am I to say? I know what I believe. I have very strong opinions about right and wrong; about religion. (Not so much about politics... it gives me a headache.) But just because I believe it doesn't mean it's right for everybody else. It's right for me, and that has to be enough. Of course a former friend once told me "You're so open minded your brains are going to fall out!" She meant it as an insult, and was really incensed when I took it as a compliment. :p

I want our characters to feel real, as though they're somebody you might run into at the mall or a bar. Weird and quirky maybe, but real. I mean, I can actually "hear" Linda going "EEEW" over the goose poop on her Jimmy Choo shoes in my mind. I can "see" Liselle doing the limbo in her motorized wheelchair. They only exist in our minds and on paper, but they still feel valid to me. And they have things to say. Not always things I agree with either. I don't want the books to be a forum to "preach to the masses." The masses are doing just fine without it -- or, well, as well as they ever do.

That's one of the good things about the partnership. Cathy and I come from different backgrounds and have very diverse opinions on things and we don't always agree. So we can cover all the bases, or at least most of them.

Another thing we really try for is diversity. Our villains are bad guys because they personally are a rotten individual, not because of their cultural background, ancestry or religious beliefs. Our "good guys" and "bad guys" come in all shapes, sizes, colors, genders and belief systems and backgrounds. On the other hand, its quite likely that we (and some of the characters too) won't necessarily be "politically correct." Because a lot of people just aren't. I mean, I try not to be an ass, but I'm frequently not PC.

OK, looking at this post I should probably say now that all of this is MY opinion. I can't speak for Cathy here. But that's ok, because she doesn't hesitate to speak for herself. :)

On a completely different tack, I've been posting on various boards and have met some truly remarkable people. Make me feel downright boring they do. But I find I'm not as worried about that as I used to be. I've lived long enough to my mind to deserve and have EARNED boring. Got a whole bunch of my "not boring" stuff out of the way.

My mom (or my sister, I don't remember which) told me once that "If anybody actually wrote your biography, nobody'd buy it. They'd put it in fiction." Which is, more or less, true. For one thing, as Diane put it. "Things happen to people. THINGS happen to you." I'm still hoping for the big lottery win. I mean, I've been hit by lightning, and they say the odds are not that dissimilar...

So, anyway, I'm ready for peace and quiet personally and lots of action and excitement in and about the books. I'll just have to see if it works out that way... and be patient.