Into the Fire

My husband is the lightest sleeper and freaked me out this morning as he heard rustling in our bedroom. With all the weird dreams I've been having of late, my heart was pounding at 4 AM this morning, wondering if we were going to die. Of course, our window was open and the curtains were blowing into something causing the noise. But it still interrupted my sleep and the day went with it...

So, I wrote very little. Though, I did go to the gym. The two may have negated itself; or in my mind at least. Alas, my page/word count is rather pathetic today.

I will, however, note that I read "Into the Fire" by Suzanne Brockmann and read what happens to Izzy. Actually, I read this like 4 days ago, and I was on the fence as to whether or not I wanted to address it. Basically, I was totally disappointed, primarily because there is no strong romantic resolution for him at the end. I hope she brings out his storyline in the next book with a happier ending than the one in "Into the Fire." However, Brockmann did a great job of setting Decker up for his own storyline in the sequel and flushing out the Dan Gillman character. Overall, the book was good, I just had preconceived notions of what should happen to Izzy, and the storyline is so far from it, I felt a little sad for him. Weird, huh?

Page/Word Count:
74 pages
38,861 words

Mademoiselle by Coco Chanel

For my birthday present from my hubs, I received Mademoiselle by Coco Chanel. I love it. It's my favorite scent. We also went to an old haunt of ours on the upper west side of NYC; a complete hole in the wall Mexican place which is just out of this world. I'm stuffed but smelling pretty, so I can't complain.

Obviously due to the continued birthday celebration - which will be a week long as my hubs's birthday is this week too - I did not have the chance to write. However, we dropped by the B&N around 80th street and I read a bit of Suzanne Brockmann's "Into the Fire" to get a glimpse at Izzy's story. I was afraid to buy it, however, as I was afraid I might not like how a character I had hyped in my head would turn out. Though, the main story line involving Vinh Murphy sounds fantastic.

I also bought Victoria Alexander's "The Marriage Lesson". Can't wait to read it. Victoria Alexander is good - solid.

What Would MHC Do?

All right, all right, I get what Mary Higgins Clark was talking about all those weeks ago. I keep referencing her, but she did give some sound advice. Not to me, but the world at large.

In my mind, I'm obsessed with two tertiary Suzanne Brockmann characters and I can't get them out of my head. Of course, this is totally messing up with the characterization of my main hero in my novel in many ways and I feel his "chi" diminishing as my mind wanders. I guess this is why one should never cheat!

As it was my birthday yesterday, I'm spending this afternoon with my sister and then the evening with my best friend. No writing at all! I'm going to clear my head and begin anew tomorrow. No more thinking of other men when I should be focusing on my own. :)

Sequels

Earlier this year, I started reading Suzanne Brockmann's Troubleshooter Series. It's a fairly long series, 14 - 16 books total is my guess, and I've broken my rule about reading the books in order as there are just so many and I started reading midway through anyway. To Brockmann's credit, she does an excellent job in writing books with one strong, focal romantic plot line with a strong subplot and side characters that propel new books in the series. She does this better than any other writer I know. Which begs my question, what about those characters that she doesn't create a book for?

I know people who are non-romance readers would wonder why it would matter. If you read one isn't it the same as reading another? Yes, there is a similarity in plots - boy meets girl, boy fights for girl, boy gets girl. (You can reverse the boy/girl roles or even make it same sex as Brockmann did for one of her novels.) But as I've written earlier, it's all about the characters. If you're drawn to the characters, it sometimes doesn't matter that the plot line is sometimes a little off. Of course, a solid plot helps, but it isn't the be all, end all. At least, that's what I think.

My original question was spurred by my rereading of "Into the Storm" yesterday. I liked two characters: Izzy Zanella and Lt. Lew Koehl. I know Izzy's story is told in a sequel (I can't remember which one at the moment and I'm slightly afraid to read it as I have my own ideas of what the sequel should/would be) but I don't think Lt. Lew Koehl will ever get his own story as I believe Brockmann has moved onto a new series. (I could be wrong, I hope!) For various reasons, I know another writer cannot just pick up and write a sequel to a series that is not her own. But sometimes, I wish all the logistical reasons were inconsequential and that it was possible...

What I'm working on at the moment is volume 1 of a 4 volume series. The series idea is not new, but new at the same time. Current too. No vampires, though!