Alpha, Bravo, Cheesecake, Donut...that's a Code 1C with rainbow sprinkles on top...

So, after 5 weeks of trying to learning ambulance codes and not getting them quite right, I said to myself "Self, what the fuck are you doing here? It’s time to move on to something else, girlie." I took my advice because I know what I’m talking about when it comes to me. I’ve had a long association with myself and while it has often been a trying one, on the whole I believe I’m sensible. And codes? They're like algebra to me and getting them 90% right is not good enough when you’re dealing with people’s lives.

So, I approached the powers that be and said, this is not working. They were nice about it in a surprised kinda way because most people don’t admit they don’t get it completely. But then, I’m not most people. If I don’t know, I say. I’m brave enough to speak my mind, cut my losses and walk away. And, can I say that walking away was like the last scene in The Nun Story. It's one of my all time fave movies. Have you seen it? No? Well, Audrey Hepburn packs  in the nunnery because it’s not for her – me neither – all those grand silences, rules and obedience would do my head in. I'm not good with rules. Anyway Audrey gets all her nun gear stripped from her and then she has to sign a bunch of documents and gets counselled etc. It was exactly like that but for the nun gear. As I signed for the eighth and final time, I said to the form person "This is like The Nun Story." She didn’t get it and that’s okay and pretty much life really. Sometimes we just don’t get things. 

Good thing is I have the story in mind to write, characters and the job experience for the next story. See? No experience is ever wasted.   

Mary Sue-ish my arse...

Mary Sue-ish.. Have you heard this term before? I'd heard it mentioned in an ambiguous way but wasn't that familiar with what it exactly meant. When my editor said she was afraid my character might be too Mary Sue-ish, I decided to do some researching. In a nutshell, the character is too perfect to be believable and the reader won't be able to relate. Okay, got that.

One of the suggestions, she made was to drop the XS size. Got that too. Although in defense of all the XS's out there, all it means is that you've got a small frame and won't have to worry about sag as you age:) Its one of those things you bemoan while you're young but appreciate as you get older:)
Besides losing the XS shirts, I also gave her size nine shoes and a total lack of understanding when it comes to chemistry. A bit of a blonde? Not at all, she's smart, just doesn't get chemistry. Is this enough to take away any Mary Sue-ish stigma...we'll see.

http://sandracox.blogspot.com/2011/11/mary-sue-ish.html

I find this interesting. Why can't we have a 'too good to be true,' petite, nice female character in a book? Why do we have to make her flawed or dumb her down or add some weight or make her feet too big? And tell me - would an editor want to make the 'perfect' male character with the good looks, flat abs, lean body and Mensa like intelligence less than all that? I think not. Women are hard on women and we have to bloody stop it. Who cares about shape or weight? I want a good read. I'm not pissed off if the heroine's arse is smaller than mine and her boobs are perky.

The bottom line to me is, no one can tell a writer how their character should be.

Characters…

-Who said I was in love?
-I did.
-Well...It's a sin and a shame,but I've got to admit it, I am.
- Who is he?
- What does that matter?
-It's not unnatural that I have some curiosity.
-He's absolutely nothing. A character straight from Characterville.

From How to Marry a Millionaire

A burn notice is an official statement issued by one intelligence agency to other agencies. It states that an individual or a group is unreliable for one or more reasons or purposes.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Burn_notice

I don’t watch too much television mainly due to there being not much of any interest on that appeals to me and I don’t have the time. But then who does? But I do like TV shows with quirky characters. You know the ones I mean – the flawed, crazy people who are genuinely funny and identifiable because they are so ordinary and average and they stuff up things just like normal people should, Oh sure, they get what they want in the end but it’s their crazy journey that always appeals to me. I love Burn Notice. Have you watched it? I am hooked. I think the characters are wonderfully quirky and I think if I could write characters with even a tenth of that quirkiness I would be happy.

Writers – what is with them huh? They never seem to be happy with their characters but I think that’s a good thing. I think it shows that they are thinking about their readers, the mood of the general reading audience and they are striving to be better with each book. I believe writers who think that they are ‘all that’ and ‘expert’ probably aren’t – no one is. Sure confidence is good but knowing when to pull your head in and shut up and learn from experience is better. I actually have a hard time believing I am a writer - an author - I don’t see it as a title that fits me. But then, I’m not into titles. What do I call myself if not a writer/author? I’m me – it's worked so far.

I think it’s really hard to build a character on paper and then sell other people on it. There is so much to think about – looks, manner and how they react to the other characters. Are they secondary characters? Are they going to overwhelm the heroine and hero? Do you have to pull them back? Or are they people that just wander on and off and make you smile or wonder if they will be in the next book? While I like quirky characters I don’t deliberately set out to make them quirky. I try and write the characteristics of people I know and then expand on them. Sometimes you get it right – sometimes you don’t - frustration thy name is writer or me…whichever.

I was recently speaking to a writer who told me all her characters were very funny. Hmmm, I think that’s a big call to make. Why? Who judges what is funny? What she or I think is funny others won’t. I cannot imagine deliberately trying to write humour in a book. How hard would that be? You would have to be incredibly certain of your comedic talents. Think of all the stand up comics that bomb on stage. I love comedians like

Billy Connelly and Dylan Moran. Their humour to me is quirky and unforced. That’s a real talent. But how do you force humour into a book and make it look natural? Is it experience? Talent? Sheer confidence? And what happens if people don’t see it as funny? Do you learn a lesson and move on and just write without worrying about humour or do you think some people have no sense of humour?

Then there’s sex – what a minefield that is. How many ways can a character have sex in an erotic romance? The answer? Lots. It’s all about imagination. So you have to think about the possibility of trying to be amusing, the gymnastics of toe curling sex and what adventure you set these characters on. Do they have any special skills or do they bumble along? Do they have to thwart evil and can you even write evil convincingly? And while all that is happening you have to deal with your own, real life.

Yep, it’s hard building a person. Why do we do it? Hmmm…but I will let you in on a little secret. I personally believe people who write books are insane. Tell no one…or maybe the next 5 people you see…up to you.

Back to TV, just saw the best the best thing on The Bold and The Beautiful. You're probably all way ahead in episodes but I walked in from after work to discover Katie Logan had been shot by her brother and is on artificial life support. The characters were all crying because of the 'there was no hope' bit – but wait - there is one - if they could do a heart transplant to save her life. Of course you know where the heart will come from. Also interestingly enough, Brooke's ex-husband- Nick -brother to Ridge(also an ex-husband) and now fiancé is apparently in love with Brooke’s sister even though Brooke's daughter is Nick's ex-wife and she still loves him even though Brooke herself is still trying to decide between Nick and Ridge because Nick's son is her maternal child even though she did not give birth to it because Taylor - Ridge's ex-wife and also Nick’s ex-wife gave birth to the child. I like watching Bold as my life is so seems so beautifully uncomplicated in comparison.

"You were born an original. Don't die a copy." --unknown

www.amarindajones.com
Go ahead: Live with abandon. Be outrageous at any age. What are you saving your best self for?