Recently, some events have come together like planets aligning (or the Confluence of the Three Moons – see Sword & Illusion – 31 May), and these things have gotten me to thinking about the difference between good storytelling and good writing. Which is more important?

I read the Twilight series about four years ago or whenever it was, at the insistence of my daughter who loved them. I didn’t.

I will admit that I read books these days like a writer, critiquing as I go, but also, later I kind of analyze what I’ve read. There are many times I ask myself where the author’s critique partners were when books were in their formative stages. What about all the things I’ve learned in all the conferences I’ve attended?

Why is it that some authors can seemingly break all the rules, or at least the big ones, and yet their books not only get published but are wildly successful?

Bella was not a great heroine. She has no wants, needs or desires of her own other than getting Edward. She wasn’t really complete person, and we never got any sense that she had a life before she stepped onto the first page of the book.

I could go on, as I’ve thought a lot about this, but that’s not the point of this post.

Those books were amazingly successful and they do generate discussion, especially among writers. There are people who love the series and others who cringe whenever they’re mentioned.

Regardless of your feelings about them, the author has to be thrilled. They sold, they have rabid fans of all ages, and they have become a cultural phenomenon. What more could an author dream of?

But most of us struggle to hone our craft, attending workshops, reading technical articles, polishing, critiquing, submitting, polishing more. We work hard every day to have our books be the best they can be, to make them shine, sparkle and sing, and yet we collect rejection after rejection, while books that seemingly never saw a critique or an editor’s red pencil soar to the top of the bestseller charts.

There’s a new series out now that is creating the kind of love it or hate it vibe that the Twilight series had. I haven’t read this “book everyone is talking about” except for the first chapter, and again, the writing isn’t great.

Last night, I went to a meeting of the Vacation Bible School committee at our church, and several of the women there – devout Catholic women – were talking about these books. Not just talking, but RAVING about them. One of them even said, “She’s such a good writer.”

I cringed. An author I admire has been doing a chapter by chapter critique of these books over at Goodreads and her post are hilarious.

Even with the not so good writing, the books are selling.

Why? Why do some of us struggle for years to make our work the best it can be and never succeed while someone can write a book riddled with cliches, inconsistencies and characters no one likes and the books soar?

I can’t figure it out. Do some books touch a nerve in readers that have nothing to do with tight, polished writing? Is it that the story hits the target market at exactly the right time? Is it that some stories are so new/timely/primal that they fill a need in their readers’ soul/unconscious/subconscious/some undefinable thing?

If you have any thoughts on the matter, I’d love to hear them. Also, have you read “The book everyone is talking about”? Did you like it? Why? Why not?

I’m doing NaNoWriMo this year. I’ve done it before, but this year I’m very excited because I took the time to plot out a book beforehand, mostly. I had about 3/4 of it plotted before I started writing on November 2.

(November first is a Holy Day of obligation for the Catholic Church and I don’t write on Holy Days or Sundays – those are days of rest.)

When I’ve done this in other years, I ended up “winning” (having 50,000+ words at the end of the month), but I didn’t end up with a book or even something that could be edited into a book. This year, I really think I can finish this and it will be a “real” book.

Because of my work with Crescent Moon Press, I had to miss a few days of my own writing, but today I’m only about 11,000 words from winning.

About a week or so ago, I read an article in the London Guardian (I think) that someone posted on Facebook. It was about Nora Roberts. I have to assume that if you are here, you know who she is, but for those few who always wander in looking for Doctor Who stuff, I’ll just say she is the Queen of the Romance Novel.

She’s super prolific and her fans are as fanatical as they come. I’ve been to several conferences in New Jersey that she attended back in the 90s, but I rarely stood in line to get her to sign a book because I always figured there were other authors just as worthy without the lines. I have this “Pie in the Sky,” “Pay it Forward” attitude that if I buy your book today, maybe you’ll buy mine when it comes out.

Anyway, I know lots of people love Nora, but I was always prepared to believe she was a prima donna or something. There are lots of reasons for this, which don’t matter now.

The point is that I read that she writes every day, all day, and something clicked in my head. I need to focus more on getting lots of words written every day.

This week, Thanksgiving week, my husband took the week off. He’s doing NaNo, too, and Monday we spent the whole day together. Our son had the week off, too, and he’d spent Sunday night with his grandparents. Steve and I went out to breakfast, then to lunch and sat together on our sofa and wrote all day. (We wrote in the coffee shop, too.)

I wrote over 6,000 words that day!

I think in terms of pages and that’s over 24 pages. A definite record for me.

The next day, Steve went to work because he had to teach a class, but even doing some laundry and cleaning the kitchen and going to the chiropractor, I wrote about 5,000 words – (approx. 20 pages). I proved that I could do this!

So I’m so excited about my new found productivity.

My critique group, The Rowdy Girls, has met a few times to just write. They were here last night and we worked for about four hours, just writing. Okay some talking, laughing and drinking wine, but I did end the day with 5,566 words written.

Heartla met today and we wrote for an hour.

After the meeting I had to run to Walgreens to get a Rx filled for my son. I had to wait, and fortunately there is an outlet near the chairs so I pulled out my computer, plugged her in and wrote.

When the prescription was done, the clerk apologized and asked if I’d just gotten all set up. I said no.

“I’m a writer so I try to get new stuff written whenever I can,” I said.

“I understand,” she said. “I’m a reader.”

I immediately pulled out my card and handed it to her and told her about our Readers’ Luncheon. You never know where you might find a new reader.

I hope she stops by here and says hello if she does. She made me smile today and gave me more motivation to get new words written!

Have a great day everyone, and please say hello if you stop by!

Do you know about Rebecca Black? She is this young girl whose mother paid $4,000 to a vanity video/music producer so Rebecca could record and make a video for this song called “Friday.”

You can’t see the video anymore on YouTube, but it went viral because a lot of people think it’s the worst song ever and it got millions of hits with people going to see if they agreed. The song was even featured on Glee which blew me away.

My family was talking about this and I said, “Oh, yeah, cuz she’s getting rich off this. Crying all the way to the bank.” The single was released and according to Wikipedia sold 40,000 copies.

Then my husband asked a very interesting question. He asked how I would feel if Fabric of Faith (my inspirational romance which was published in 2004 and is still available although I haven’t seen any royalties for four or five years) sold a million copies because people thought it was the worst book ever written?

Well, at first I wanted to say, “Sure, cool, fine.” However, the more I think about it, the more I wonder if it’s not better the way things are now.

I mean, I want a publishing career, not just one bestseller. I want fans who wait breathlessly for my next book. I don’t know if that will ever happen, but if my book was a bestseller because people thought it was so terrible, wouldn’t that ruin my chances to actually sell something else?

I don’t know, but I wouldn’t want to risk it.

I don’t think I would.

But the checks would still cash, right?

Thirteen Favorite Fictional Heroines:

1. Scarlett O’Hara – The Queen. She had it all: style, attitude and ambition. Yes, she loses points for holding on to her infatuation with Ashley Wilkes too long and losing Rhett, her real love. Gone With the Wind
2. Ashley Wilkes Stockingdale -The heroine of Kristen Billerbeck’s wonderful Christian chick lit novels. She is hip and loves Jesus. What more could you want in a heroine? What a Girl Wants: A Novel
3. Princess Daisy – I don’t know if all girls dreamed of being a princess when they were young, but I know I did and I love this book about an American woman who really is a princess and her struggles. I’ve read it over and over again.
4. Mia Thermopolis – Going along with the theme of the above entry, Mia finds out she’s a princess when she’s a teenager. I love this series of books, which are different from the movies (especially the second one) and I love Meg Cabot as a writer. The Princess Diaries
5. Heather Wells – another heroine created by Meg Cabot. She is an ex-pop star who leaves music when she isn’t allowed to record what she wants and after discovering her pop star boyfriend in a compromising position with another female teen sensation. She ends up working in a college dormitory (something I did for two years) and defending herself against charges that she’s “gotten fat.” Size 12 Is Not Fat: A Heather Wells Mystery
6. Kate Connor – heroine of Julie Kenner’s Demon Hunting Soccer Mom series. I mean, for a die-hard Buffy/Joss Whedon fan, how could you not love her just from reading the name of the series. Kate is dealing with a teenager, a preschooler, a husband who doesn’t know about her past and demons flying through her front window the day of a dinner party. Between helping her husband’s political career, dealing with her son’s spoiled playmates, and driving her daughter to the mall, how does she find time to thwart a demon plot to end the world? Carpe Demon: Adventures of a Demon-Hunting Soccer Mom
7. Wlhelmina Hunnewell Winthrop Ikehorn Orsini (Billy) – heroine of Scruples, another book I’ve read more than once. Yes, it’s not great literature, but it’s a fun book to read if you like stories about the rich, Hollywood, and how women triumph over adversity.
8. Sabrina Longworth – heroine of Deceptions, the story of adult identical twins who live very different lives. One is wealthy and owns an antique shop in London. The other is a suburban wife of a college professor who may or may not be sleeping with a student. On an annual trip together, they decide to switch places. Things, of course, get out of hand and it becomes interesting. I read this book back in college. I was home on a weekend or for a holiday, and while the rest of the family watched, probably, a football game on TV, I couldn’t put this book down. I remember my father talking to me and marveling how it must be a good book if I hadn’t stopped reading it all day. I’ve read it once since and actually read it out loud to my husband when we were first married.
9. Marge Simpson – yes, her husband is a buffoon and her kids are either headed for prison or the white house, but her house is immaculate and her husband loves her so deeply that even when women throw themselves at him (for whatever reason), he thinks about their first kiss and goes back to her. And she loves him unconditionally. Despite all the criticism of this show, I love it because in the end, the family loves each other and sticks together. The Simpsons: A Complete Guide to Our Favorite Family
10. River Tam – She lives in her own world and appears crazy, but she is really, underneath, very perceptive and frankly, dangerous. What’s not to like? Serenity (Widescreen Edition)
11. Dexter’s Mom – She’s another one with an immaculate home, a loving, if weird, family and deep down, she has super powers. Dexter’s Laboratory – Greatest Adventures
12. Peggy Hill – Come on. She speaks “fluent” Spanish, in fact she is a substitute Spanish teacher (three time winner of the substitute teacher of the year award, thank you!) and worries about the Y2K bug bothering her Kaypro computer. She gets taken in by scams and thinks pretending to be a nun so she can get a teaching job is a great idea! Through this all, she believes she is a highly intelligent woman. My kind of gal! King of the Hill – The Complete First Season
13. Jennifer Marlow – WKRP’s receptionist and most highly paid employee. She wears fabulous clothes and dates rich men. There was time in my life when I wanted to be this woman. WKRP in Cincinnati – The Complete First Season

After my post of yesterday about the science fiction and fantasy books to read after Harry Potter is finished, I went with my family to the mall and picked up one of the books. While the Girl and I were at the bookstore, we ran into another book lover browsing the science fiction and fantasy section. Her husband was standing in front of the rack I was looking at. He asked if he was in my way and I said, “No because if I pick up any of these I’ll want them, so you’re fine.”

This led to a conversation with his wife and eventually she asked if we know who writes the The Dresden Files books.Well, it turns out this is the series the Girl is in the midst of and loving them, so we were able to help

When we met Hubby and the Boy for lunch we told them about this and we talked about the pile of books I have at home waiting to be read. I finally decided that I better read all the oldest books before I buy any more.

So this list is thirteen of the oldest books I haven’t read yet. I am not including the Wizard of Oz books I’ve collected or the Anne of Green Gables my mother gave my daughter that we haven’t gotten through yet.

1. Moonlight and Memories (Onyx) by Patricia Rice. This one is autographed and dated 1994. I was living in Illinois then, a member of Prairie Hearts, the Champaign-Urbana chapter of RWA and the Girl was five. I’m actually reading this now.

2. The Last Viking by Sandra Hill.

3. Passion by Bobbi Smith

4. The Fire in Autumn by Delia Parr

5. That Camden Summer by LaVyrle Spencer
6. November of the Heart by LaVyrle Spencer

7. Flame (Lovegram Historical Romance) by Evelyn Rogers

8. Coast Road: A Novel by Barbara Delinsky

9. Heaven by Bobbi Smith

10. Deeper Than the Night (Paranormal Romance) by Amanda Ashley

11. Portrait of Dreams by Victoria Malvey

12. Once A Rogue (Zebra Books) by Megan Gray

13. Prince Of Magic by Anne Stuart.

I don’t guarantee that these are the oldest books in my collection. These are just the first 13 I pulled off the shelf that have a copyright year of 1999 or earlier. I’ll let you know as I finish them and what I think of them.

I know this family is.

In 1996, when it was just Hubby, the Girl and me, we moved to Germany. Due to distance and other factors, including our inability to speak German, we found ourselves, every Sunday, riding an hour and a half by bus and train to get to the English-speaking Catholic Church in Berlin.

After awhile we needed something to help us pass the time, and I started reading books out loud. I read a lot of the Goosebumps Books, something the Girl was into for awhile. Then, after a trip to the States, we got several books by John Bellairs, a favorite author of my husband when he was a kid.

When we got back to the States, Harry Potter was just released but we didn’t really know anything about him until about 2001when the Girl’s fifth grade teacher read Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone (Book 1) to her class. We’d heard some of the hype by then because several of the books were out. The Girl had read the first one, but I wanted to read it and Hubby suggested that I read it to the family.

For the first book I did voices and we were all kind of in shock when the movie came out because I did Hagrid pretty close to Robbie Coltrane’s take on him. After the first book or two, which we read pretty much right together, I stopped doing voices. It was hard to remember how I’d done each character, and the family forgave me. I still try to do Snape’s voice because he’s just great. (I love Alan Rickman!)

Now that our family includes the Boy, reading the books takes a lot longer. Everyone on the planet knew about the end of Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince (Book 6) before we’d gotten halfway through it. I suggested that we all just read it to ourselves. I was dying to keep reading and I had a lot more time to read than anyone else, but that idea was vehemently vetoed!

Now, I know that when Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows (Book 7) comes out, it’ll take months for us to get through it, but when that’s finished, then what??????

Well, as it turns out, SF Signal asked that very question and came up with a great answer. They have a list of suggested books to read after you’ve finished the Harry Potter saga.

Looking over the lists, I’ve read several of these and Hubby has read more, but I think I’m going to make it “goal” of sorts to try to read as many of the fantasy titles as I can. I would like read some of the science fiction ones, too, as it’s been years since I read The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy and I’ve always want to read Dune (Dune Chronicles, Book 1).

I read The Lord of the Rings when I was in the Army, to impress some guy who considered the books the thing he’d built his life around, but I don’t really remember much. Now that I’m older and have seen all the movies and understand more of the significance of the story, I want to go back and read them again.

What books do you have that you’ve always wanted to read? What would you suggest for someone finishing up Harry Potter’s story and looking for more in the same magical vein? Tell me and maybe I’ll add it to my list.

Years ago, I heard someone discussing the necessity of having Public Television, funded by the government and “viewers like you” with the advent of cable and the hundreds of channels available. There was a time when PBS was the only place you could find cultural programming, educational programs and cooking shows, but with cable television it’s possible to find a channel devoted to almost any topic you can imagine. In our house, there are at least two channels devoted to only preschool programs, all day, and several more with cartoons and other kid-type programs. We have a cooking channel, and several that show art films, independent films, and other kinds of “cultural” programming, including a channel devoted to only gay and lesbian programming!!

Today, I heard a similar discussion about libraries. Do we need to have huge main libraries in every city with smaller branches around the area? Do we need to have the government fund things like DVD rentals, large paperback collections and every magazine published? With the Internet and places like Amazon, huge bookstores and independent and used bookstores, do libraries serve the same purpose they did in the past?

What do you think? Do you still use the library? If so, why? If not, why not?