My Brilliant Plan

I've noticed something simple but vital about the authors I love, as well as authors who are popular, and I've devised a brilliant plan to give my writing career the best chance at getting noticed by anyone other than my parents.

Step 1: Put out a lot of books.
Step 2: Don't suck.

Let's start by discussing step two.  I have plenty of suck stacked away in my old stories bin, but a writer will start to suck less the more he or she writes.  I like to think that I've crossed the line from "sucks" to "doesn't suck" by now.  However, just because I think I don't suck doesn't mean everyone will.  The line is different for each person, but I believe everyone can agree on the following criteria:

• A plot that readers can follow.
• Above-average grammatical awareness.

This criteria is, of course, the lowest common denominator for not sucking.

Now to step one, which I feel is just as important.  Due to the decreasing amount of suck on each writing project, later projects in a writer's repertoire tend to be better, and it becomes that much more likely for readers to stumble across your work.  I've found this to be true for myself as a reader -- I'll love something from later in a writer's career and then go back and read their earlier work.

In conclusion, I believe public awareness of a writer depends both on their quality and quantity.  At least, that's my theory.  It seems practical, don't you think?

Coronets and Steel

Sherwood Smith is the author of two books on my top five favorite books list, right by Pride and Prejudice.

I got Coronets and Steel for Christmas and, though it's good, it's not in my top twenty by any means.  I'd probably rank it higher had we gotten to the action sooner.  In both Crown Duel and Trouble with Kings (which tie for first or second place in my top five, depending on how I'm feeling about Jane Austen that day), Smith starts in media res -- in the middle of the action.  The crisis is upon our heroines and they must react, so everything happens quickly and we get to the good stuff almost immediately.

In C&S, the first half of the book felt like setup and included a bevy of historical, musical, and literary references.  I like references, myself, but the sheer volume and diversity in C&S felt overwhelming.  Smith, with her masters degree in history, pulled out all the stops and clearly had fun thinking up references, but I personally could have used a few stops put back in.  In her usual fantasy worlds, for example, references are explained more thoroughly to readers so that everyone can follow along, but the references here (being real-world references) were often left on their own without elaboration.  Thus: overwhelming.

The second half of the book picked up in action and pace and carried both off to a rather inconclusive end.  Luckily, there's a sequel for those of us who want to continue the story -- and I'm fairly certain the historical references will stay toned down as in the last half of C&S and, with any luck, the pace will remain energetic.

My conclusion is that I probably won't pick up and reread C&S again for fun like I have my two favorites, but I'm going to find and read the sequel.  The story was getting pretty good and I'd like to see how it ends.

The Musical Snob & Other Epiphanies

I had a dream last night that reminded me of choir, and I recalled something just now while brushing my cat:

Freshman year of high school, we did fundraisers so that we could hire the New Orleans Philharmonic to accompany us on Handel's "Messiah."  From what I understood, hiring the Philharmonic was a yearly tradition started at some point by our teacher, a woman who once took a class from that very school to a choral contest in Italy -- where she fell so ill that she couldn't do much more than move a single finger to direct.  Yet her choir followed every slight twitch of that digit.

So, my Freshman year, we prepared to sing with the Philharmonic.  I don't know if we did well or not.  I tried my best.

The thing I remembered just now, though, is that one of the girls (and my mind tells me I heard it, though I'm certain I just heard the story afterward) overheard a member of the Philharmonic complaining to another member about having to perform with high school kids.

Pet Treatment Refusals, Controversy

I go to a vet that I like just fine.  They're friendly, they love animals, and they're affordable.  They always coo and gush over the animals that come in.  It's really bolstering.

The controversy is that my vet won't treat animals if the owner can't pay for the treatments.

This hasn't happened to me because I have money put aside for emergencies.

But people it has happened to are pretty furious about it.

My question is this -- ethically, is it the vet or the owner who is more to blame?

On the one hand, the vet sometimes allows pets to suffer because of financial considerations. The argument is that the vet treats living beings as less important than money.

On the other, the owner has an animal he or she either can't afford medical treatment for or won't budget for medical expenses.  The argument is that the owner is irresponsible.

The real victim.  But who victimizes him?  (Image by bjearwicke)

Faith

Several months ago, I realized my faith was weak.  I didn't know what to do.  How can I be saved if I can't even prove God exists to myself?

My brother, as usual, made it all better:

The question is not "is my faith strong?" but "is Jesus strong?"... never "is my faith sufficient?" but "is Jesus faithful?" It is not our faith that saves us... not its strength or its surety... but the death and resurrection of Jesus.

It's not my faith that saves me. It's Jesus's faithfulness.

Prejudice

I've always been told that you can't please everyone.  But I prefer to think of it like this:

There is always someone in the world willing to hate you for a very stupid reason.

Race, nationality, sex, religion -- any of these will automatically put you on someone's hate list.  We cannot avoid it.  We will never be loved by everyone, or even accepted, but what we can do is love ourselves and surround ourselves with loving, positive people.

Appreciate the good things you have, and don't dwell on the people you can't please.  They're not worth it.  The good in your life deserves your attention so much more.

<3

Vanity

I tried on a pretty dress at Old Navy today.  It was long and white and summery with light brown flowers.  Half of the flowers glittered faintly gold.

I took a Medium and Large to the changing room and tried the Medium first.  It fit!  I've only been able to fit into a Medium once, back when I trekked all across Europe in college.  My indifferent strength training must have easily counteracted all that holiday food!

Sweet!

Puppies and Kittens

When Sims 3 comes out with their pets expansion later this year, I'm going to waste several days, perhaps even weeks, of my life making kittens and puppies.  And ponies, because it looks like they'll have horsies too!

But real life is different.  Last year, just before the hard winter set in, I noticed that the cute black cat in my neighborhood had birthed a litter of adorable kittens under our front porch.  I looked up the number for our local shelter, but the kittens had been moved by their mother the very next day.

I'm Awkward

So our landlord said he'd be by around 11am with a real estate agent to measure the house we live in. To give you an idea of the layout, we live in one half of the house and have three floors, while our neighbor has most of the first floor. When we go in or out, we have two deadbolts to lock -- our door and the house's front door, both on the first floor.

Avalon High

I love Meg Cabot's Avalon High.  Just watched the Disney movie adaptation of the book and for the most part enjoyed it, but they . . . um . . . changed a few things.  And made those things not make sense anymore.

Severe spoilers after the break.