Tuesday, October 30, 2007

The Best Chick Show You're (Possibly) Not Watching

If you haven't seen Men in Trees yet (ABC, Friday nights at ten), you don't know what you're missing. If you party on Friday night, just tape/TiVo the damned show and enjoy it another night. You can always get the back story and back episodes on ABC's web site.

Anne Heche plays Marin Frist, a relationship coach who flees her cheating fiance back in NYC, ending up in "man-centric" (ABC's term) Elmo, Alaska. The characters are quirkily human and the writing is great (love the dialogue!), so the show is soooo worth watching. (The occasional naked male chest doesn't hurt it any.)

I fell for Men in Trees from the first. (And I don't even like Anne Heche, so the show had one strike against it. But Heche as Marin has won me over.) In fact, now that Ugly Betty has stumbled a bit in its second season (my opinion), Men in Trees is the one show I truly look forward to all week. Well, okay, Boston Legal is the show I most look forward to--I need that weekly Spader fix--but Men in Trees is a close second. It moves me. The voiceover of the Marin Frist character at the end of each show often produces a lump in my throat.

The DH insists that the reasons I like the show (he definitely doesn't) are A, I'm crazy for Alaska, and B, it's "Northern Exposure" done as a chick show. I admit to also loving "NE" when it was on TV. But "MiT" is special. It really, truly is. I suspect it's the writing that keeps me coming back for more.

I'll have to riff on ABC's fabulous new show Dirty Sexy Money another day (Peter Krause!), because, while it is fabulous, it's just not...

Men in Trees.

Barrie

Friday, October 26, 2007

Here's to All Those Who Support Writers

I've been away or otherwise preoccupied with family for the past ten days. Here's part of a post from my old blog, circa July 2006. I've updated it heavily. Hope you enjoy it!

*****

Being a writer is not one of the easier careers to have. Getting published is damned difficult, requiring lots of work, a boatload of patience, persistence, and a fair dollop of luck.

But working with a writer--as well as living with a writer--can also be damned difficult.

So, here's to the editors, the agents, and the administrative staff who work with writers, helping them publish their works, and to the friends and family, who help the writer in more personal ways.

I live with a husband and a grown child. I know I'm not always the easiest person to get along with. I'm certain some of the things I celebrate--or feel sad about--don't make as much sense to them as they do to me. Yet, my family continues to support me, and celebrates with me when I want to celebrate, as do my friends.

I'm here to say, having people who are in your corner makes a huge difference in a writer's life. I know a number of writers whose families aren't supportive, mostly women whose husbands don't support (or who actively belittle) their career. Not having people in your corner is like trying to swim for shore while weighted down with baggage: it can be done if you try hard enough, but it's also possible you'll sink.

I currently work with two epublishers, and I have nothing but praise for them. (For the record, it's Amber Quill Press's Amber Heat and Loose-id.) These folks catch my mistakes and make me look good. And I am thoroughly grateful! (I admit I don't understand writers who get mad at editors who catch mistakes and make corrections.)

These two publishers stand in marked contrast with the publisher who filed for bankruptcy, screwing hundreds of writers they had under contract, me included. I'm grateful I only have one book in play, as opposed to those who have as many as a dozen books in limbo. As the case is in process, I can't really say much more about it. But I can say this:

There's a special rung in Hell for people like the ones who owned the business in question. Not only did they lie and spend money that wasn't theirs, but by going under the way they did, they managed to cast a pall over epublishers in general.

So I'm going to publicly praise Loose-id for their stated intent to purchase all the author contracts, giving all rights back to all authors. They are offering to spend money they don't have to spend, to help authors that may not even write for them. They don't need to buy contracts to pad their list of published books--they have tons of great writers in their stable already. Now, for various reasons, the purchase may not come to pass--but their intent is worthy of much praise.

Thank you, thank you, Loose-id!

And, while I'm at it, thank you, family, friends, and publishers I work with. Together, we create a little bit of magic that entertains and pleases those who read.

I'm asking you to do the following: if you know a writer, contact them today, to let them know you care. If you're the writer, make sure those around you realize how much you appreciate their support.

Barrie

Sunday, October 14, 2007

Gifts for the Senses

The post below originally appeared on an old blog of mine in January, 2006. Because my senses, and sensual things, please me, I decided to repeat it. Great erotic moments engage all five senses, and the brain, too. Enjoy!

********

Gifts for the Senses

One of my closest friends sent me a present. I received it yesterday. She and her husband are spending nearly four months in Santa Monica [note: they have since moved to southern California permanently], so she sent me her favorite California scents--lavender and sage. The lavender is in a sachet bag; the sage is wrapped in a bundle. (Some people burn the "sage sticks" as a way to purify their home. It's a New Age thing, I think.) She also sent me some hand-made soap that contains both scents.

Our sense of smell is our most primitive sense. Some think it's our most powerful because of the way it stirs our old, reptilian brains. I am in that camp.

Certain smells make me smile. They make me feel better, emotionally and physicially. They help me create.

Smells I dislike make me feel bad physically and unhappy mentally and emotionally. All I want to do is escape them.

Have you ever explored which smells affect you? I tend to like flower/herbal/woodsy smells. I am wild for lavender and pine/evergreen, in particular. Sage isn't far behind. Lemon and rosemary (I have a candle with this combination) seem to help me create. But it all makes me smile and feel good.

If you've never taken the time to explore different smells, I urge you to do so. You might find a scent that makes you feel better when you're down, or that helps you create. Even if you don't consider yourself creative.

If discussions of how our senses interest you, discover Diane Ackerman's A Natural History of the Senses, a well-written and fascinating book.

As for me, I'm off to sniff my lavender again.

Barrie

Friday, October 12, 2007

My Favorite Writing Books

Apropos of absolutely nothing (except to help other writers), here are the writing-related books that I will always have on my shelf. They are in no particular order.

Fiction Writer's Brainstormer by James V. Smith, Jr. A book chock-full of exercises that will help you brainstorm/get you "unstuck" in a story.

Characters and Viewpoint by Orson Scott Card. Perhaps my favorite book on characterization.

How to Write Science Fiction and Fantasy by Orson Scott Card. I don't write SF/F, but Card has fantastic tips for world-building. Every story must build a world, or there is no setting, so the book is valuable regardless of the genre you write.

Bryson's Dictionary of Troublesome Words: A Writer's Guide to Getting the Words Right by Bill Bryson. Bryson is one of my favorite authors--he's funny as hell--but I mention this book because it's a great resource when it comes to distinctions among similar words, such as imply/infer and practical/practicable. If this sort of thing matters to you (and, if you're a writer, it should!), it's a must-read.

A good paperback thesaurus--I use Roget's 21st Century Thesaurus. You don't use a thesaurus to find synonyms just because you want to pepper your writing with "different" words you think will make you look smart or erudite! You do use a thesaurus when you can't think of exactly the right word, so you look up synonyms. The older and more forgetful I become, the more valuable this book is to me.

Writing a Romance Novel for Dummies by Leslie Wainger. Ms. Wainger is a huge muckety-muck at Harlequin/Silhouette, and knows her stuff--she's spent her entire career as an editor of romance. If you need help constructing your first romance novel, or just need a refresher, this book will do it. My favorite "how to write romance" book.

Well, these should get you started.

Barrie

Thursday, October 04, 2007

Woo-Hoo! Cowboys Rule!

It's a day to celebrate and crow a little!

The results are posted, and LICKED is the #2 best seller at Amber Quill Press two months in a row! (Doggone it, Caitlyn Willows keeps edging me out, LOL.) I don't know what LICKED's position is in the quarterly results yet, but will post them if they're anything to get excited about. I'm hoping they are!

LICKED also received four angels from Donna at Fallen Angel Reviews. She said, "Ms. Abalard gives the readers a spanking story that has more substance than just the heat between these two characters. She shows how these two also share in the love and caring that they have for the horses... With her eleven years of writing spanking stories she's shown she knows what the readers want and just how to deliver them." Thank you, Donna!

My October contest will be run at Author Island. Win an autographed CD of LICKED plus a ginormous bag of lollipops to keep you licking while you read the story. Simply scroll down to find the LICKED contest about two-thirds of the way down, and answer the question posed there.

Let's not forget about my September release: PLAY HARD is available. Don't miss this tale of two wounded people who discover that winning love requires them to play hard.

Finally, a reminder that I added a second poll a couple of days ago. I'd like to know the hot activities you prefer to read about--vote for as many as you like. And, like the first poll on my blog, if you send me an email telling me that you voted (you don't have to tell me how you voted), I'll draw one person's name to select the ebook of their choice from the seven I have available. Send your email to barriea [at] gmail [dot] com. And don't forget to vote in the first poll, if you haven't yet! Scroll down on this blog to see the contests in the right column.

A writer shouldn't rest on her laurels, so I'm off to write some more.

Barrie

Tuesday, October 02, 2007

Forget the Lusty Month of May--How About October?

I don't know about you, but for me, October rivals May as the time I'm feeling the, uh, lustiest. Must be the crisp air that makes me feel frisky. So, writing sex scenes at the moment is a natural for me. And I'm writing a lot of them!

And, speaking of sex, I'm excited to announce that Amber Quill Press is compiling six of my stories into a paperback anthology--yep, they'll be together in one paperback book! Release date is mid-December, so remember to ask Santa for a copy of "Sex-Pack," um, I mean, "Six-Pack." Remember, naughty gals need love, too.

More on sex: did you know that New York City has a Museum of Sex? I want to go--it sounds so cool. NYC's about two hours from me, so I could make a day of it, and probably will. After I go, I'll report back what it was like.

The folks over at Slate Magazine must also be feeling frisky--their "sex issue" is now available. Tons of interesting material, including a slide show on the history of the vibrator that is a must-see. I'm not kidding!

Finally, I'm adding another poll. I'd like to know the hot activities you prefer to read about--vote for as many as you like! And, like the first poll on my blog, if you send me an email telling me that you voted (you don't have to tell me how you voted), I'll draw one person's name to select the ebook of their choice from the seven I have available. Send your email to barriea [at] gmail [dot] com. And don't forget to vote in the first poll, if you haven't yet!

Have a super-sexy October!

Barrie