You could watch this all day, OR you could buy my book.
One has more nudity than the other.
Peace, people.
Just Because
Tag: writing
What’s in a Name?
Finding the right name for a character can be almost as daunting as finding the right name for a new baby. Maybe more difficult. With both my children I had names picked out almost from the moment I learned I was expecting, and never had a change of heart the entire nine months of pregnancy. But I only had to come up with one first name and a middle name. The surname was a piece of cake. When writing a novel, one must come up with first and last names for multiple characters. That can be a challenge.
For Mayhem at the Happy Valley Motor Inn and Resort there were at least a dozen folks who needed names. My main character’s name, Paula Jean Arnett, came to me before I even began writing the book, but the others weren’t so easy, and most I changed multiple times before typing The End.
I’d given one male character what I thought was an innocuous name and then about halfway through writing the book I realized there was someone from my high school days with that name and I really didn’t like him at all. Thanks to “Find and Replace” my character soon had a much less offensive moniker.
The only problem with Find and Replace is that one must be certain that the name being replaced isn’t part of a larger word. I changed a character’s name from Carrie to Stacy in the romance I’m working on and then realized that any place I’d had something carried it was now being stacyd, as in Barton stacyd a six pack of beer to the car.
And why, one might ask, did I need to change a perfectly good name like Carrie? Because in Mayhem I’d named a major character Cassie and when working on the romance I kept calling Carrie “Cassie.“ Thanks to one of my beta readers (Ann) for catching that.
If you write fiction how do you come up with characters’ names? I tried using name generators, but the results never sounded right. There are so many possibilities out there, so why is it so difficult?
Peace, people.
Who, Me?
Today, I feel like Steve Martin’s character in The Jerk when he discovers his name in the phone book:
Why is that? Because my friend, Michele, who I met through the Meetup app, asked if I’d be interested in having Mayhem at the Happy Valley Motor Inn and Resort discussed at the group’s monthly book club meeting via Zoom in April.
Of course I said yes.
As my character, Zeke Fitzgerald, would say, “Well, don’t that beat all?”
Peace, people.
Let’s Talk About Sex, Baby
I’m not going to lie, I’m a big fan of sex. In point of fact, I owe my whole life to a sexual encounter, as do we all. So why is it so difficult to write about?
My first novel, Mayhem at the Happy Valley Motor Inn and Express, didn’t have even a drop of sex in it. Some vague innuendo, yes, but no heart pounding, tantalizing love making. My second work in progress, The Cowboy and the Executive, though, is a different matter.
And while Cowboy isn’t inundated with sex scenes, it does have its moments. Last night, after rereading and tweaking one such scene for the 90th time in an effort to make it feel as hot and natural as I want it to be, I threw my hands in the air and told Studly that if my characters were riding bikes in a race instead of having a proper go at one another in the bedroom, I could easily describe their emotions and physical reactions—the act of pushing down on the pedals, the freedom of feeling the wind in their hair, the way the seat chafed their bottoms as they pushed through physical exhaustion to complete the race, the exultation at finishing first, or the despair of taking a spill.
After listening to my rant, Studly winked and said, “Maybe you just need to do more hands-on research.”
Personally I think he’s just angling for a special mention in the acknowledgements.
Peace, people!
A Chris Stapleton Kind of Day
When I write I need background noise. When I edit I need silence. But I’m stuck on a problem in editing and trying to do some rewriting. So, which do I choose—music or silence?
I flipped a coin, with heads designated for music and tails for silence. It only took three tries for me to get the results I wanted, so music it is.
Now Chris Stapleton’s seductive voice is emanating from my Amazon Echo and instead of writing or editing, I’ve been dancing around the kitchen. I really should write, but not while a waltz is playing. That’d be a sin.
Peace, people!
Cross-eyed
I’ve looked at and reread the romance I’m writing a billion times. Well, not a billion, but enough times that I’m practically cross-eyed. I’d sent it off to my friend, Rachel Carrera so she could give it a once over and then design the cover and get it ready for publishing, but then I got cold feet, and asked her to delete the file. I wanted other eyes on it before we took that step.
Now, I’m conflicted. At the suggestion of several beta readers I’ve made some necessary changes (like taking out any mention of stairs in a ranch-style home) and making sure my characters’ names stay the same throughout the book (near the middle of the book one character took on the name of a character in my first novel). But some other suggested changes are tough to undertake, partly because I’m fond of the story as is, even though it’s not perfect.
Writing is fun. Editing is hard. I’m ready for a glass of wine.
Peace, people.
The Other Leslie Noyes
The Noyes surname isn’t exactly a common one, at least not in the Texas panhandle where I was raised. And my given name, Leslie, has never once been featured in the top ten baby names for infant girls. Trust me, I checked. So, when I came across a Leslie Noyes on Facebook, my first thought was, “Is that me?”
But since I go by Leslie Hall Noyes on Facebook, I realized it must be some other awesome person with my name. And I was right! The other Leslie Noyes is incredibly awesome.
For many months we kind of danced around each other on Facebook, trading niceties and observations. I was so relieved to discover that the other Leslie Noyes and I shared progressive political views. After becoming better acquainted we also discovered we shared a birth year and a convergence of important dates. My anniversary and her birthday fall on the same day. So cool.
Like me, the other Leslie Noyes is also a writer. Her book, Willing, isn’t due to be released until March 22, 2021, but because we share a name and have become friends through Facebook, I was fortunate enough to receive an ARC—Advanced Reader Copy. I’m not going to lie; that made me feel extra special.
Another thing I’m not going to lie about is just how good Willing is. For four days I was held spellbound by this book, and when I reached the end, I felt bereft. How was I supposed to go on now that the book’s heroine, Lizbeth Silver, was no longer in my life?
Lizbeth has had her heart broken, not once, but twice. Understandably, she isn’t eager to go through the anguish of allowing heartache into her life again, so being an intelligent, sensible woman, Lizbeth crafts a list of rules for future relationships in which mind-blowing sex is key, while emotional entanglements are not. Just how well do her rules hold up in the real world? You’ll need to read Willing to find out.
Willing is sexy (I’m talking sizzling) and sophisticated. The dialogue is witty, and the other Leslie Noyes is so adept at describing people and places that I felt as if I knew every character personally and had visited each setting while on a wonderful vacation to Vermont and points beyond.
As I read I kept thinking of Willing as a coming of age story, but not one with teenaged protagonists. Who says only young people can experience the revelations of life and love?
I’ll post about Willing again when the book is published in March. But keep it on your radar. It’s fun, sexy, sophisticated, and did I mention sexy? There are several chapters I need to reread, for research purposes, you know. Be sure to check out Leslie’s author page at LeslieNoyesAuthor.com.
Peace, people!
Restless for Romance
For many years I worked on writing a novel. I started at least ten years ago when, out of nowhere, this crazy title, Mayhem at the Happy Valley Motor Inn and Resort, popped into my head as I sat drinking a glass of wine in front of our home in Illinois. My initial thought was, “cool.” My second thought was, “I think I need more wine.”
And so it went for several years. The title would nag at me, but I had no idea what was supposed to happen in the book. Was it a romance? A mystery? What kind of mayhem might ensue? Perpetrated by whom? I’d sit down at my computer to write, manage a couple of sentences, and then go back for more wine. Still, that title wouldn’t leave me alone.
Then the main character’s name came to me. Something awful had happened in Paula Jean Arnett’s life and she was left with doubts about her husband and their marriage. With this revelation I was able to begin my story, and before too long I’d written 20,000 words. Cool, right?
Wrong. My characters stalled out at a dinner party. They wouldn’t shut up and I was petrified by the thought of throwing away a large chunk of the words I’d written. So I put the story aside and let it flit around the corners of my mind.
It kept flitting around, occasionally getting me to pull out my computer in an attempt to move the story along. I finally deleted the whole dinner party scene after realizing I could store it in another file for future use. Thank goodness for computers and word processing software.
After Studly Doright and I moved to Havana, Florida, I had a burst of new interest in finishing Mayhem, but still couldn’t quite make the commitment to go all in. I began writing this blog and gained some confidence in my own skills. I found a generous audience in my readers and found similar stories to mine. There are many would-be authors out there.
Then in the spring of 2020, just before COVID-19 shut stuff down, I took an Ollie course on writing at Florida State. While we didn’t get to complete the course, the instructor gave me a figurative kick in the pants, and within a few months Mayhem was truly out of my head and onto the published page.
Between the time I completed Mayhem and the time it was ready to be published I became restless. I wondered if I could write another book—something short and sweet and fun. Lo and behold, I did.
As I type this, my romance, The Cowboy and the Executive, is in the hands of Rachel Carrera, the lovely woman who guided me through editing and publishing Mayhem and designed the cover. I can’t wait to see what she comes up with for Cowboy.
Yeehaw and peace, people!
I Spy…Mayhem!
One of my favorite Tallahassee bookstores, aptly named “My Favorite Books,” stocks both new and used books with a special section featuring local authors. Imagine my delight to find my first novel, Mayhem at the Happy Valley Motor Inn and Resort displayed on the store’s shelves! It was quite a rush.
Here’s hoping these copies go to good homes where they’ll be nice and warm on these cold winter nights.
Peace, people!
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Peace, people!
Praying for Eyebrowz 