My Recent Comments

I admit that your post made my head hurt a little. I'm going to go back and read more carefully...but first...you said:

I know exactly where I want the characters to be in the emotional arc in that particular scene

How do you know that? From your outline? Or some other way? I think Kay mentioned once that she takes notes on her synopsis about the emotional content of the scenes. Do you do something like that?

Thanks for answering. Sorry for demanding more. 

Writer Ellen

At least it's Friday.

I'm tempted to stop there.

Actually, we're in a pretty good place at the Hartman Haus. (That's me, pretending to know German. It *looks* German spelled that way, doesn't it?) My hockey player is pretty much consumed by his sport but he loves it. He has two practices and two games every week. His school runs an after school skating program and he begged to join. That means he's on the ice 5 days out of 7. Shiver!

German has been so far, so good. I learned how to say subway--U-ban. Isn't that cool? My son continues to impress me with his dedication to learning this language so I continue to offer my support. This consists of making flash cards and stumbling through conversations about my age (!!), my hometown, and the girl's name. Oh, and how I get to school...der U-ban, of course!

Jodie--I forgive you for not loving Supernatural.  It's not an easy show to love.

I'm wondering if Jeannie or any of the other "out of order" writers on this board would help me out. When you write your scenes out of order, how do you know where the characters are in the emotional arc? When they have their internalizations, how do you know what they're thinking? Do you layer those in after you've pieced the book together?

Have a great day,

Writer Ellen 

I waited all day, but I see now it must be true.

Contemplating the awesomeness that is Dean Winchester has stunned all the Super posters into silence.

I'm sad that this happened. Maybe we should have discussed Sammy instead. He's good-looking, but not unbearably so. 

Writer Ellen

P.S. Kay--that voice is all Dean's. Jensen Ackles (the actor who plays Dean) has a different voice. Acting is fascinating.  And so is Dean Winchester.

Haven't I always said that Kay has enormous insight when it comes to character and overall hotness?

If I haven't, I'm saying it now.

Ellen 

I'm sitting in my living room listening to my son practice his cello and chatting with him about his day. I love quiet moments like this--they make me feel that I've got the very best life.

I joined Shutterfly this week and got 75 free prints. I had such fun sorting through the photos we took at my brother-in-law's wedding. The kids looked so nice that day and they're way more photogenic than I am. 

Gosh, I'm so cheerful I'm straying into Hollyworld.

My sis is out of town this week so we won't get to have our TV date. My folks are coming to visit, though, which is nice. We haven't seen them in about a month. 

Have to run. I'm busy at work this week!

Cheers,

Writer Ellen

She's a scientist.

She says she's not the evil kind, but I dunno if I believe that.

Writer Ellen

LOVE SNIPPETS. WANT MORE.   What a lovely way to spend a few minutes, catching up with all of you and your wonderful characters.

Kim--if you have the new version of Word, it automatically includes a lot of junk when you cut and paste from a doc to an online format. Can you see the coding if you open the post and click the disable rich-text button underneath? 

Here's my snippet. It's from Plan B: Boyfriend. Sarah is having a really bad day/night and she's a bit tipsy. Charlie asked her to dance, but she knows he only did it to be nice. She's wrestling with not imposing on him vs. really wanting to dance...

He wasn't a knight in shining armor,  but this gift he had for doing the right thing at the right time was so appealing--she'd felt out of step her whole life. Maybe for this night, she'd lean on him. Be with someone who was in step, maybe be in step herself.

Plus, honestly? Charlie was tall and his eyes were kind, and earlier when they'd first come in, his hair had been damp and she'd wanted, for one tiny second, to comb her fingers through it. And he'd just asked her if she wanted to dance. She loved to dance.

"Dance," she said. "Yes, please."

Holly--I loved the multiple sticks. Too funny. 

I love how the snippets showcase a little something different...fire, angst, heat, mystery, romance, etc. Cool that so much can be accomplished in a short space. 

Writer Ellen

I remember when I was little and we had extended daylight savings. I was in first grade and we were standing out on our country road with flashlights in the morning waiting for the school bus. Was the country experimenting with energy issues or something? I was too little to know the why...

When I was in high school, I refused to change my watch or clock. Such a rebel, right? I worked the opening shift at McDonald's most weekends which meant I had to be there at either 5:30 or 6:00 on Saturday and Sunday. One weekend, I got mixed up and went an hour early. I ended up sitting in a doughnut shop, reading my book and drinking hot chocolate. It's a really nice memory of stolen time.

Writer Ellen

P.S. I'm giving books away in my eHQ blog today.  

P.P.S. Kay--the quote is hysterical! Also the September Supers had the Browse thing but then it hasn't been back. I'm bummed about that, too. 

We had our Halloween party, complete with full-on decorations outside because the weather decided to cooperate at the last second. After rain and wind all day, right around 4:00 the day turned into perfect Halloween weather. We tricked up the front of the house and enjoyed ourselves all night with our friends and neighbors! The extra hour came in handy this morning and, for once the hockey schedule cooperated with a 10:00 game at home!

My husband made a delicious turkey, my friend brought homemade chutney, I made a hot artichoke dip, and we had tons of candy and chips, etc. A surprising amount of beer was gone at the end of the night.  A good time for all, I think!

The best part is...my house is exceptionally clean! I'm pressing hard on the last stages of a book so this is a delightful gift. Normally, this is when my house starts to fall into the "do not let anybody in the front door" category of mess. 

Marcie--thanks for noticing Plan B: Boyfriend! I'm excited about this one. I had a ton of fun writing it. Victoria has always been peeved that my favorite book is the only one she didn't edit. I think old Charlie McNulty might be changing my mind.  

If anyone happens to pick up Plan B, be sure you read the dedication! 

I hope everyone has a good week. I'm going to be busy, but with good stuff, so that's okay!

Take care,

Writer Ellen

P.S. My son is reading The Outsiders for school. It's one of my all-time favorite books and he's loving it, too. I'm always so excited to share a good one with him. 

P.P.S. I noticed Plan B: Boyfriend is in the Naughty or Nice? sale. You can buy $20 worth of books for $15. Charlie is in the "Nice" column, but I'm not sure he belongs there. I wonder if he sweet talked someone at eHQ into keeping his image respectable. 

Checking in quickly from Crazyville. I don't know how things get so complicated at our house, but they do! I miss summer.

All this Christmas talk is making me laugh. We're having a Halloween party and I'm not ready for that yet! My older son wants to be a hippie and my younger son is being a rapper. They both look hilarious. The hippie needs some pants, but other than that, I think they're set. The nice thing about being a rapper is he can wear jeans, a t-shirt, and a leather jacket he already owns. Well, I did have to buy new jeans because apparently rappers need a special style, but at least he'll wear them again. The hippie outfit? I hope he has the good sense not to wear it again.

Marcie and Ellen Too--sorry about your brushes with the law and mother nature! I'm glad things weren't as bad as they could have been, but wish it hadn't happened in the first place!

Hope you're all reading and writing good stuff!

Writer Ellen