Huh...who would have thought?

Plotting is fun!

Not just brainstorming and writing it down, but actually sharing ideas with like-minded peeps who genuinely want you to put your best foot forward. No ulterior motives. No expectations. No spaz outs when an idea is rejected.

No strings attached.

Huh. I love it.

I've never considered myself a plotter. I fantasized about my characters leading the way, getting themselves into their own predicaments and saving themselves with just the slightest polishing touch of penmanship from me - author intrusion is a bad thing, no? In fact, despite several successful novelists steering me towards the "plot" vs "freeflow" method, I'd resisted its charm.

Perhaps because it never had any (charm that is) - until recently.

I think it's about the peeps. And wow, am I surrounded by some excellent ones. Not only have my writerly friends allowed me to spread my plotting wings, but they've jumped on for the full ride - filling my brain with endless, fabulous possibilities.

I'm having a blast.

And there's stationary. Lots and lots of stationary. Pens and highlighters, index cards, journals filled with research notes, pencils and erasers and paperclips...oh my!

I'm resisting the urge to plunge into the actual narrative just yet. The ideas are flowing and there's a few minor logistical details to iron out, but the scenes are (almost) writing themselves and the research to support and flush them out is falling into place.

Is this what I've been missing? Will plotting divert the evil writer's block at the 100 page mark? Or will this roadmap steer my muse off course?

Too early to tell - but it's been one heck of a fun ride so far.

PS - Hey Rockstar, recognize the road in this image? Just a few months away, my friend...

The Book In My Bag Today: Deeper than the Dead, Tami Hoag

Ouch

I'm cursing Meaghan right now. It's probable I'll continue cursing her for the rest of the day and for the better part of tomorrow.

I read her blog, because in addition to a long list of talents, Meaghan can write. She has an uncanny way of laying things on the line - about babies, nutrition, striving for personal achievement, giving back to the community...about life.

She also has an incredible physique - yes, even after giving birth to freaking adorable twins. So, when the former Crush girl (ahem, cheerleader for the Edmonton Rush lacrosse team) posted a blog about Body Rock, I couldn't help but follow the link. (You just did, too, didn't you?)

And now I'm hurting.

Bad.

I've worked out with my own personal She-Ra before. Tara the Terrific helped me shed many unwanted pounds before my friend and I set off on our 1,000 kilometer bike trek. She made me work hard, to the point where I frequently threw up. Even that did not prepare me for THIS.

The name kind of says it all, doesn't it?

Thanks Meaghan.

PS - In case there's any confusion, those are NOT my abs.

The Book In My Bag Today: Deeper than the Dead, Tami Hoag

Superbowl aMUSEment

I love underdogs.

Almost as much as I love football. Being a Canadian and all, I'm partial to the CFL (Go Ti-Cats!) but the Superbowl has always been a big part of my growing up. My Mom - a Redskins AND a Bears fan - used to say she could tell which team was going to win based on how fired up they came out of the shoot.

I always placed my bet on the underdog - except if the Dolphins were playing. Marino and I had an "understanding."

Admittedly, I didn't think the New Orleans Saints were going to win the Superbowl last night. They were clearly the underdogs, and after the first quarter, the Colts appeared to have a firm grasp on the trophy.

But in the end, it comes down to who wants it more. The Saints were hungrier. They weren't afraid to take risks (what a way to start off the second half of the game), and as the clock wound down, Drew Brees stepped up to the plate and led his team to victory.

Fiction is often all about the underdog. We're taught to create sympathetic characters and to allow, in most cases, good to triumph over evil, and to create a "happily ever after." After beating the obstacles, the protagonist will almost always get the girl, the trophy, the promotion...the "end."

With Brees' performance last night (woot for the underdog), I'm excited to sign him up for this week's muse duty. When it mattered, he led his team to a climactic, entertaining and perfect conclusion. I have little doubt he'll lead some of my works in progress to their own happily ever after.

The Book In My Bag Today: Deeper than the Dead, Tami Hoag

Book 11 - Heart Sick

I have an unhealthy obsession with Gretchen Lowell.

She's a serial killer, and a few nights ago, she led a class for me and a couple of my friends on how to follow in her footsteps. Kind of like Serial Killing 101.

As vivid as that dream was, my obsession is quite real. Which is testament to the powerful writing of Chelsea Cain. Heart Sick is not polished in the traditional sense. The author flips from past to present tense, often slips out of point of view, and leaves some loose ends. But maybe that's part of her brilliance.

Cain's style is raw and gritty and somehow real. So real, in fact, I have deep sympathy for Archie Sheridan - Heart Sick's tortured cop - and am thinking about dying my hair pink. It seems to work for the book's unassuming heroine, Susan.

To say Heart Sick "affected" me would be a gross understatement.

When we meet Archie Sheridan, he is already tortured. He is the "last victim" of serial killer Gretchen Lowell, a beautiful and manipulative woman whose list of victims is 200 innocent long. Instead of killing Archie, she kidnaps and tortures him - and at one point carves a heart into his torso, a permanent imprint of her power over him. And then, after killing Archie, she brings him back to life and turns herself in.

That's where this story begins - with Gretchen in jail, Archie popping pills to survive, and a new serial killer on the loose. Added to the mix is Susan, a quirky journalist tasked with profiling the tortured cop. She comes to him with pink hair and a lot of baggage - and to say much more would spoil it for you.

By far, the most compelling - and ingenious - parts of this book are the conversations between Gretchen and Archie, both while he flashes back to captivity, or during his weekly Sunday visits to her prison cell in Hannibal / Clarice style. Heart Sick isn't as well done as Silence of the Lambs, of course, but what book ever could be? Still, Gretchen is a formidable antagonist - beautiful, intelligent, perfectly poised, ruthless...and somehow, I'm in love with her.

Heart Sick is peppered with gruesome descriptions of death and torture, enough to make even my BF Karen grin. Except it wasn't the "gore" that disturbed me, or even the predictability of the plot, but rather Cain's ability to get under my skin. In the final scenes between Gretchen and Archie, my skin scrawled with disgust, but also awe. Few books have left me with such a lasting impression.

Cain keeps Gretchen's back story close to her chest, ensuring I'll buy the next book in this series, Sweetheart. The tag line for it is: Gretchen escapes. Nuff said. Yep, I'm "running" to the book store tonight to buy it.

Right after I place my order on Cain's website for my "I'd kill for a cup of coffee" mug and a blood red "Run Gretchen" t-shirt.

The Book In My Bag Today: Deeper Than The Dead, Tami Hoag

Spoken word artist left me speechless

Throughout my career, I've had the honor of interviewing a wide range of interesting and compelling people. But every once in a while, I stumble across someone who leaves me speechless.

Such was the case with Canadian spoken word poet Moe Clark. Though she lives in Montreal, Moe made a trip to Edmonton this past weekend to offer inspiration to 40 young writers at WordsWorth 2010. The kids, all talented writers in their own right, had spent an entire day learning tricks of the trade from authors Margaret Macpherson and Katherine Holubisky. But from the moment Moe breezed through the door, they were swept up in her whirlwind of beauty, inspiration and mesmerizing talent.

They weren't the only ones.

Until this weekend, I was a spoken word virgin. The technology alone - have you ever seen a looping pedal? - amazed me, but more than that was the energy Moe brought to the stage. With a smile that electrified the room, Moe explained the tools of her trade, her rise to recording artist status, the source of her inspiration, and perhaps most importantly, what it really means to be an artist.

Doing what she loves means a considerable amount to Moe. She's toured the globe with her beautiful voice and ethereal beauty, and recently released her first album. This CD has now replaced Adam Lambert in my vehicle. This year, a book of her poems will be published and I have no question I'll be one of the first in line to snag it. Her voice - both written and oral - has given me another reason to reflect on the beauty of literacy.

I could, I suspect, go on at nauseam, about her talent but without actually witnessing her energy, I can't possibly string together the words to convey how her performance, no, her very presence left me utterly speechless.

The Book In My Bag Today: Heart Sick, Chelsea Cain

Book 10 - Smash Cut

Those familiar with the film industry will know that a smash cut is a technique in film and other visual media where one scene abruptly cuts to another without transition, usually meant to startle the audience. (Thanks Wikipedia)

It's also the title of another amazing book by Sandra Brown.

I love Sandra - I've read just about everything she's written, including the straight romances that launched her career. Even then she demonstrated she was a cut above the rest. While many of her peers succumbed to "safe" and formulaic romance genre style, Sandra created characters that were edgier and sexier, and the plots far from run of the mill.

With Smash Cut, the latest bestselling title in a long list of romantic suspense greats, Sandra has once again cemented in my mind why I can't get enough of her stories. She never lets me down.

Creighton Wheeler, the novel's antagonist, is remarkable. Seemingly with the world at his fingertips, this rich boy has a dark side and his actions and dialogue are straight...well, straight from a movie. I loved trying to identify from which movie Creighton quoted as his mastermind "horror" plot played out in the book. The technique, meant to demonstrate a particular character trait, could have been overdone, but Sandra is a master storyteller and Smash Cut is peppered with just the right amount of well-placed film references.

As usual with Sandra's writing, the protagonist, is a strong-willed, determined and beautiful woman. In the first scene, Julie watches a man she loves gunned down by a masked robber, and then is subsequently terrorized, accused of murder, and almost killed. But she's far from a wallflower. She boldly enlists the "help" of Derek, and their chemistry is as graphic as a beautifully directed motion picture. By the end of the book, I wanted to invite them over for dinner.

Smash Cut had me at hello (grin) and took me on a roller coaster journey ending in not one, but two, beautiful twists. And like always, I am saddened my Sandra Brown adventure has come to a close.

Smash Cut not only provided a great read, the book also reinforced why Sandra Brown remains my idol.

The Book In My Bag Today: Heart Sick, Chelsea Cain

Bending it like Beckham

Many women I know have long ago gotten off the David Beckham bandwagon. In a recent Internet poll of the Top 10 sexiest sports stars, Becks has slid almost to the bottom of the "hot" scale.

I spent a good portion of my Monday morning looking through his competition. Meh. Becks is still number one as far as I'm concerned, though some recent pictures of Cristiano Ronaldo could have swayed me if I hadn't stumbled across David in his tightie whities.

Ahem. Distractions all around. Just like last week. And the week before that. And pretty much all of January.

So, I celebrate the beginning of a new month (woot, February!) with a new muse avatar, who is almost guaranteed to get me back on track. After all, he isn't just another pretty face.

David's pure athleticism requires the kind of focus and discipline any professional might admire. And his dedication to training is something I should really aspire to achieve. When he isn't playing, he's practicing - nobody ever became a better athlete by being told how good they are...um, or something like that.

But perhaps the second - uh - biggest reason I've chosen Beckham for this week's muse avatar is credit to his competitive nature. It's a dog-eat-dog world out there, folks. I'm all about playing fair, but when the gauntlet of challenge is thrown down (and after my critique partners pick me off off the floor), I know when it's time to pull up my sports socks and bend it like Beckham.

Okay David, let's play ball.

The Book In My Bag Today: Smash Cut, Sandra Brown