How Do I Know What I Think Until I See What I Say?

1. Even though I am not a championship marksman, I am really enjoying Top Shot on Discovery Channel. The funny thing is, when you're dealing with a bunch of people who are experts at handling firearms, you're not going to get a lot of really excitable drama queens -- that's sort of the opposite of the personality who becomes a marksman, you know? -- so the show is just about a lot of really talented people making really hard shots. It's delightful. 2. I've been thinking about the title for The Book a lot lately. Normally, I'm phenomenal at titles, but The Book has been particularly challenging. Agent Ted and I have settled on a couple of titles, all of which were adequate and none of which have been awesome. sigh. It's getting to the point where I'm going to open the manuscript to a random page and pick a word.* 3. I don't like vacuuming, but I like having vacuumed. Vacuuming is like exercise in that way. 4. Live Free or Die Hard is more...

It's June, when I start seeing the graduation signs and notices everywhere (and some parents really go out of their way when it comes to embarrassing their children with graduation announcements), and my thoughts inevitably turn to graduation songs. By "graduation song" I don't mean the songs that are actually played during graduation, which are always some combination of "Pomp and Circumstance" and the school alma mater, which none of the students would have ever heard until the day of graduation rehearsal and have to fake singing during the ceremony. No, a graduation song is the song that will come to symbolize the moment of gradation for the student for the rest of her (or his) life, the song that, every time it comes on the radio (or the ipod, or what have you) will take the graduate back to that moment when she left one moment and moved on to the next one. It's different for everyone, of course, but there are some songs that seem to capture that mo...

I don't have any reviews yet--one of the perks of being unpublished, right?--but this quote from author Roddy Doyle in the Guardian newspaper seems like an accurate summary of what my feelings would be: "An Irish Times review of a reading I gave of one of my children's books, Rover Saves Christmas, in Dublin. The reviewer referred to 'the stench of celebrity vanity'. I've seen him many times since. I've even said hello to him. But I will, eventually, kill him." I'm sure I'll have more to say once I get a bad review. I can hardly wait.

1. This weekend I went to Cedar Point (which is an amusement park, if you don't live in Ohio). It was great fun, but I have learned that eight rollercoasters is my limit. After nine, rollercoasters go from "whee!" to "blurg."* 2. Glee 's season finale is this week. I still watch it, and I still enjoy it, but I'd be lying if I didn't say that my enjoyment is tinged with regret for what might have been. There was so much promise in the show that just hasn't materialized. But that's always the risk when you sign up for a new show, and when it works out (I'm looking at you, Friday Night Lights ), it's like heaven. 3. I've been writing a lot, which means I've been reading a lot of nonfiction (I can't read a lot of fiction when I write, because I get contaminated), and I didn't realize until recently that there re good and bad nonfiction writers. I don't know why I didn't realize that, because, DUH , of cour...

Recently, Moonrat had a post on Editorial Ass about a conversation that she's had (and hear others have) about books. According to Moonrat, at some point in most projects, someone gets tired of the book and says "it is what it is," and sends it on to the next step, even if it's not quite 100%. You know what, it's true. I mean, I haven't seen it happen in the publishing industry--I don't work in the publishing industry--but I do write in my day job, and there's a point in drafting the contract or the brief where the team says "F*** it; print it and let's go." And it's not because the lawyers on the team are lazy or untalented or don't know what they're doing. It's because they're tired . Because they've poured their time, their blood, sweat, and tears into the work, because they want to win. But there's only so much you can give before you have to throw up your hands and take a break. And if you're fa...

I've been doing a lot of YA reading lately, and I've come to the conclusion that the love triangle is a real problem for most writers. So here are Jay's Rules for an Effective Love Triangle: 1. Each love interest must be a viable choice for the protagonist. I know I don't usually talk about specific examples here, but I'm going to now, just for a minute-- Twilight .* Actually, it's not so much Twilight I want to talk about as New Moon , the sequel, because that was where the love triangle went off the rails, in my opinion, and when I stopped reading the series.** New Moon is where the love triangle between Edward and Bella and Jacob really takes off. Jacob's not much of a presence in the first book at all, and we don't find out about his feelings until New Moon . But once Edward leaves, Jacob jumps in and here's where the love triangle both starts and, in my opinion falls apart. Because Jacob is never really a viable alternative for Bella. Su...

1. Happy Memorial Day! 2. Spring may finally have arrived in northeast Ohio. Maybe. Although I wouldn't be surprised if it snowed next week the way this year has been going so far. 3. Turner Field in Atlanta is a beautiful baseball stadium, but it's not in a very nice neighborhood. Also, the taxi drivers in Atlanta never turn on their meters and just quote prices once the cab comes to a stop. Still, the rest of the people there (besides the taxi drivers) are very friendly and helpful. 4. This is the best song in the world: "Booty Man" by Tim Wilson. I have never laughed so hard in my entire life than I did when I first heard this song. "Breakfast booty?" Sir, I don't even want to know. 5. Whenever I come back from vacation, I want another vacation to recover. I think I should be allowed to live a life of leisure, but so far I haven't been able to make that happen? Any ideas?