Vampires should be sexy, intelligent, and creative .

Keeping up with my vampires has been and will continue to be an educational experiance. While polishing up the first one, I have begun the second ( which was a suggestion by an agent blog). The other suggestion that I follow is to get the story out there first. The original draft of Ceiling does not bear much resemblance to what exists today. I suspect that the final draft will be even a little different from the current one. But I know where I am going and it makes the writing better. No plans for more kids in the second for this duo, this is basically Henri and Arina together without Jean Paul to oversee. There were hints in Ceiling that Henri and Jean Paul had quarreled before Ceiling , and I intend in the second one to bring in some of where Henri was during the time apart. This will develop his character a little more deeply than the baby beef cakes with dimples /good husband and dad mode that was prevalent in Ceiling. There are unresolved issues from Ceiling that will bleed over into the WIP. Where Ceiling was largely about Arina's transition through her Change , the raising of their kids, and their development as a couple as they established a rhythm in their relationship,the society in which they live, the second one deals with perceptions of those outside their immediate world as they help to relocate the Colony from one coast to another. I definately want to do more with Rosie and Joshua who came in late to Ceiling -like  Henri and Ariana , their kids are grown and there is nothing to hold them in New England. From the very beginning, these stories were always intended to be a series.
I just recently started reading one of the Vampire Babylon series, Night Falls. Love the writing , hate the vampires. Its better , I think than the much touted Empire, which I just could not get through .( Lorelei, you are a better woman than I for finishing it- I hated the vamps in it so much that I had to stop.) . I like my vampires evolving, intelligent and not guilty about who they are. I don't believe that Human is necessarily the most desireable existence .
I don't hate everyone else's vamps - I like JR Ward, Christine Feehan and love Chelsea Quinn Yarboro. I am currently getting through the True Blood  dvd series from the library here - and may try some of the books after the fact. I don't find Bill particularly attractive and the camp is annoying.
But , I don't hate it. I loved the Buffy movie - hated the tv series except for Spike and Darla . I liked Julie Bentz well enough to follow her over to Dexter where she was his wife through season four(I think). (I only did that for one other actor and that was baby beef cakes ,Julian McMahon. He started off in Profiler and later went to Charmed. ) Cole Turner can be the " source of all evil "in my apartment anytime. All the demons were better looking than the good guys in that series. Everytime that it was announced that someone would not be back- I kept hoping that it would be Leo. He was a perennial wet blanket.

Advantage of My Chapter Buddy

I did, on a suggestion , take on a chapter buddy over a month ago. She is writing quite an interesting story of her own , which I look forward to each segment. She also made it through two of the three most violent chapters of Ceiling, without a whimper. I had been nervous over showing those chapters to anyone because although justified, they are very dark. Her comments were positive and encouraging as I am walking the fine line between wanting people to like my vamps and what happens when they are attacked. Most of their lives are normal , PTA /business owner lives, but they do have this little tiny physical necessity in the form of the need to drink Human blood. And they will do what they need to do to get it. They are not avenging angels killing the criminal element or solving the problems of homelessness by sticking to those not as readily missed.
Few people are totally good or totally evil. I don't think that the Victorian model of humans or vampires works unless you are doing a historical piece. As I work on tweaking the elements into place on Ceiling, I am starting the preliminary work on book 2 . It was always intended to be a series.
Anyway, I just asked her opinion on a recent section with dealt with time management on the vamps side , resulting in Arina hunting with two other females  instead of her mate and not asking permission or even opinion. Her father in law had predicted that at some point this would be necessary - and it became necessary before he could suggest it. This causes Henri to trip on his ego because he has pretty much been (in theory) in charge since they got together. It also reinforces a theme that while the men are in charge on paper, the women are not powerless. I am looking forward to her reply becaue I spend so much time with these characters and have for over a year, it gets a little bit myopic at times.
I hope that when the time comes to share the second one, that the chapter buddy then is as wise as the one that I have now. We had both had chapter buddies for our current  efforts who dropped out for whatever reason . We seem to be a good fit.
I would recommend a chapter buddy if you write.

Sunday in My House

I did over 5 hours today on Ceiling. I added and subtracted, corrected and clarified.As dark as my vamps can be from time to time, their kids are the light sparks that bind them to any semblance of humanity . (Remember my vamps are genetic and living. ) My Chapter buddy liked the corrections. Added benefit, is that I have a sweet girl kitty warming my feet. Maxie Malone ( for the Glenn Close character )-female- joined me in August . If you have read some of the early chapters of Ceiling, I really did have until July , a calico cat for over 12 years named DaisyBunny. She was everything that Arina said about her.Maxie is grey tabby, siamese and Mau- I have promised her that she can be in the story as well ( but not till book 2) .

Like Arina , I am allergic to trees when they bud and dogwood in particular. When they "die" in the fall - I do another 2 weeks of pure hell.  I am not allergic to too much else.

Color me crazy-Nanoedmo

In addition to committing to the 104 (books) in 2011- I have agreed to commit 50 hours in the month of March to editing my manuscript. Its a challenge to motivate.
http://www.nanoedmo.net/xoops2/index.php

Sorry That I Hurt Your Feelings

Yesterday , I got a crit and as diplomatic and encouraging as I try to be as the critter, I think that I hurt her feelings . I had specifically requested a character and story study not corrections in grammer and punctuation, to be the discussed. I am sure that she thought that she was being helpful. She didn't follow the instructions on what I was seeking. ( I admit my inner Huntress is a school teacher).

I have had some very good critters able to constructively without having read the previous chapters . But yesterday,a young woman walked in at Chapter 5 , then critted that I had not built my characters. Hello, yes , I did -its called Chapters 1-4. As one of the themes of the WIP is how Arina changes even after Changed, of course she is not who she was in Chapter 1. Some of the changes are subtle- especially if it deals with her attitude toward Humans. The critter told me that " she did not understand Arina." She also is suffering from that most dread of vampire fiction diseases ,TS (Twilight Syndrome). Unlike Meyer's vamps , mine are hardworking predators who are not adoring of their prey. She asked me why they feed from Humans and sometimes killed them. I told her because it was necessary and often pleasurable. They think that the sole purpose of Humans is to be a "menu item". Other than that, they are very nice people. They view their position in the Human world more as Diane Fosse, Margaret Meade or Jane Goodall. Their need for the information is to prevent starvation. It was not the answer that she wanted. The question grated on my nerves,sort of cousin to someone asking Robert Bloch why Norman Bates did not have many repeat customers. It was such a cute little motel on the edge of town. They are good stewards of the herd, do not overbreed themselves(they have live birth) , responsible in most of their actions, keep the fact of their existence secret. It is not a YA novel.

I really don't understand the we are all special attitude of the young men and women today. I once had a critter who felt badly for a horsefly that Arina's uncle with a dishtowel in Chapter 1. I did not know that horseflies were an endangered species. She did write me back as I graded her crit somewhat helpful- I give a lot of very helpfuls and perfects. I spend time finetooth combing my crits as I rewrite.

The critter wrote me back , unhappy with her grade.  She was only trying to help. I did answer her that I would be more than happy to discuss her questions after she had read Chapters 1-4  as well, I think that would answer most of her questions. I did not change my position on the subject matter but I did soften my tone ( and I had always been respectful and polite ).

After all, she didn't know that I had just spent an hour bailing sewer water (backed up into my bathroom sink) emailed the landlord and did not get a response , my boss self sabotaged and cost our department six markets and I have no idea how I will afford going to MA for a week if there are no commissions to be made and my father is holding on , hoping that I will get there this summer(he has been really ill) . They are selling the house after 41 years ,going to Assisted Living, And I got a note from the landlord at the message center outside my door , that there was an odor coming from the apartment-probably from the backed up sewer water,which had not been there when I left.  She is not responsible for that pressure.

No, my disagreement was with  failure to follow instructions . I am hoping that I didn't scare her away from critting, I think that she is moderately young. I told her that I appreciated anyone taking the time to read my work. And I do appreciate it. But correcting grammer is the easy part. I want to know if you relate to these people at least on a casual basis , not knowing their darker halves. Do you think that the window dressing is firmly in place? Would they look the same as everyone else to you? Instead she quoted me from books on writing. But her comments were out of context not knowing the build up or even the names of the other characters. And I found that offensive.

Busy Busy Sundays

Its a source of amusement to me that the only day off my male vampire gets off is Sunday , which happens to be my only day off as well. Well, its a day off in the sense of not taking the bus and going downtown to the law office for whom I work.  The concept of doing nothing is unknown in my house.

Sunday is the day that I get "other " things done . Since leaving work yesterday afternoon, I have read 200 pages in Breaking Dawn (Meyer) , picked up 2 other books from library (Sat is library day after work)and a Cusco CD ,had 2 unknown guys hit on me and nearly kill themselves running around me to open doors. Both asked my name. (This is the South but I am not looking for a boyfriend . ) One guy said he had never seen anyone so happy - and I am not a size five, not rich, and I am 58 soon to be 59 (April). So go figure.

I watched 4 episodes of Las Vegas(Netflix) - I think I am on season 3. I have finished The Pretender as of last week. I am going to watch a documentary , When the Violence Stops and a movie , The Contender , this afternoon.

My chapter partner and I have exchanged about 8,000 words each this week , which we have read ,critted and returned. I tweeked the next chapter to be ready to send when she is ready.

I visited some blogs this morning and collected a few more.

http://guidetoliteraryagents.com/blog/

http://agencygatekeeper.blogspot.com/2008/04/life-of

http://absolutewrite.com   ( There is an interview with agent Evan Marshall on this site, takes about 23 mins.)

I found out that there is going to be a conference in Nashville in August at Hutton Hotel. (They are having a seminar on serial killers among other things .) http://killernashville.com  I want to go- I like serial killers. Well in theory , the very few that I have met not so much (long story for another day).Its technically for mystery writers but will have publishing /agent seminars as well. And Ceiling does have a serial killer.

I signed up with Suvudu (division of Random House) to get their newsletter. They are having a contest -prize is a professional edit. http://Suvudu.com . I am not copyrighted yet and still have work to do on Ceiling.

And , oh yes, I got a free numerological compatability test in my email which I used my characters , Arina and Henri as the guenea pigs. Turns out that they are extremely compatable - which is nice . I posted those results over to Cafe Copain blog , if you want to take a look.
http://cafecopaim.blogspot.com

I am off to make lunch. No , I am not kidding.

Behind Valentine's Day

If you have read the Cafe Copain blog , which deals with my vampires, you know that the mystery is solved. As I have said from the beginning , that blog is auxillary to my ms. The ultimate solution to the mystery rests in Jean Paul's hands. He cannot kill her, her friend Julie knows where she went.
But the bite of a Lilleric Vampire leaves no marks . So did he bite Caroline? What do you think?

The comment about boundries actually relates not only to proper behavior but Council restrictions on a No Hunt zone. (One does not bring danger down on community by hunting in boundries. ) Jean Paul is a Council member . Anyone who even knows about her is family.