Lynn Raye Harris

Well I’m pretty much just wore out. Tomorrow night is a birthday party for a friend and I am SO looking forward to getting out of my cave, putting on my new leopard print boots, and whooping it up with a bunch of the gals. I cannot WAIT.

I didn’t realize, when I accepted the invitation, that I’d be in deadline mode. Oh I should’ve, considering how I practically had the date stamped on my forehead, but it just slipped my mind. And you know what, I’m glad I accepted, because I have about 5k maximum to wrap this book up — and over a week until it’s due. I hope to finish it today, but who knows. Or maybe tomorrow morning. And then I’ll be partying guilt free.

Until I have to reread and make revisions on Sunday, LOL. Yeah, I could take the whole weekend off and still safely get the book in on time. But did I mention I’m an overachiever? A perfectionist?

So, got any great weekend plans? (I think Hubby is doing a SuperBowl thing — but I am NOT involved in that. Going to Starbucks to write if necessary….)

In between marathon sessions at the keyboard, I noticed that Michael Jackson is once again being sued. Director John Landis is suing the former King of Pop over profits from the Thriller video.

Remember the Thriller video? See, if you’re younger than, oh, 35, you may not remember that Michael Jackson was once a super-cool, even GOOD-LOOKING guy who made what is still considered one of the most amazing videos of all time (if not THE most amazing).

Twenty-five years ago, “Thriller” debuted on MTV. It was fourteen minutes long, it was directed by John Landis (a renowned movie director), and it features zombies, a voice-over by Vincent Price, and a kick-butt song by the then undisputed King of Pop.

Jacko was not wacko back then. He was damn cool, and he did something no one else had done to that point. He made a mini-movie out of a video and people tuned in by the millions. I was in high school, and my whole family tuned into MTV that night (though my dad often griped at me about my MTV viewing habits — yeah, they used to actually SHOW videos around the clock, go figure, and I could watch for hours and hours…but I digress). We were, like most people, stunned at the production.

So fast forward all these years. The guy is a major joke now. He’s creepy. He had too much plastic surgery, too much bleaching, too MUCH. He’s just a sick and frightening joke now, and the allegations about the kids don’t help. He reminds me of Thomas Mann’s protagonist in Death in Venice, a man desperate to look youthful because he’s in “love” with a boy. Ick, right?

What’s Jacko got to do with anything? Well, it makes me think of characters. Because no one stays the same, do they? We all change over time. Our background and experiences color us, as they should our characters. Hopefully, we aren’t as wacky as this. He had the world at his feet, the adoration of millions, and now he’s a joke. Seriously, who wouldn’t be wacked out by that? But did it need to turn out this way? If he hadn’t gone all nutty at the surgeon’s, would we even be talking about this? I don’t know, but every time I see him in the news, I remember what he used to look like, how awesome he used to be. Sad.

If you’ve been living in a cave, here’s the link to Thriller. (You Tube doesn’t allow embedding of this video.)

Finally, take a look at this performance from 1983. Michael Jackson sang Billie Jean at the Motown 25 celebrations. I remember watching this on television too; it was the first time many of us ever saw the moonwalk, and everyone went nuts. (This performance, btw, is credited with making the moonwalk an international sensation practically overnight.) The glove was new as well. THIS was MJ at his height, the consummate performer. Remember, this was 1983 — every bit of this was innovative at that time.

Are we doomed to get ridiculous as we age, do you think? (Man, I hope not.) Wasn’t he just adorable in the Motown video? That’s a man with star quality. What the hell happened, right?

I’ll often get ideas about blog topics, then by the time I sit down to write one, I’ve forgotten all the interesting things I wanted to write about. Just yesterday, as I was working to finish this book, something struck me as a good blog topic (and it was unrelated to writing). By the time I got around to starting a new post, I’d forgotten it.

But something that has been on my mind with this book is that ever-evolving mysterious thing known as Process. When I was unpublished, I wrote when I pleased. I tried to do it everyday. But I didn’t always. And I wrote and rewrote books two or three times. Spent 3 years on the book that ended up being my GH finalist last year. Gah, that’s too long!

But now that I’m writing for an editor, I’ve realized a couple of things.

1) Procrastination and perfectionism are not my friends.
2) I have always known I can write fast when I put my mind to it — but I can in fact produce a whole book in a matter of weeks if I respect my process.
3) My process, which is probably still evolving, goes like this:

a. Write one chapter.
b. Rewrite chapter.
c. Write second chapter.
d. Rewrite first and second chapter.
e. Write third chapter.
f. Rewrite first, second, and third chapter.
g. Write fourth chapter.
h. Cry about how bad the whole thing is.
i. Revise four chapters.
j. Write chapters 5 and 6.
k. Tweak first several chapters along with 5 & 6.
l. Stall on chapter 7.
m. Finally write chapter 7.
n. Tweak all chapters.
o. Write rest of book in varying degrees of speed — sometimes slow and easy, other times breakneck.
p. Reread all the above. Add, subtract, or revise as needed.
q. Send to editor.

It takes me twice as long to write the first half as it does the second. It’s been that way through two contracted books now, so I can only hope I will evolve further and not need so much gnashing of teeth on the setup. But that setup is so crucial that it just twists me into knots and takes me forever to get it worked out.

And now, back to the mad dash…. What’s your process like?

That would be me at the moment. No, not crazy enough to take on a million cats (Hubby would kill me), but crazy from brain overload. Not much happening in the Harris household except eating, sleeping, and writing. Laundry & grocery shopping managed to occur over the weekend, but I had help. If I was right up against my deadline, even that wouldn’t get done.

So, nothing intelligible from me today. I’m closing in on the end of the book. Saw it all very clearly while torturing myself with a 2 mile jog on the treadmill. Now, if only it works out that way in truth. Because if I have to think of something else, I may really go crazy.

Feeling crazy lately?

Today is your last chance to bid for some great things up for auction, including a critique from me! I give good critique, I swear.

Click here to see my donation or here for general info. The auction ends at midnight eastern time!

I love this song, love the video, and love the movie. But you can’t buy the song, darn it. iTunes doesn’t sell it, and you can’t get the soundtrack anymore. But isn’t it fabulous? *sigh* Sting is the man. (And so is Hugh! Wowsa!)

Once more, don’t forget the auction to help a homeless teen! Click here for what I’ve contributed. Click here for general information. Happy bidding, and happy Friday! Now if only I can dream of Hugh Jackman in that outfit tonight…..

Is it Thursday already? I’ve been a bit, um, mired in the writing lately. The good news is that the mountain is being scaled. The bad is that I haven’t reached the top yet. *sigh*

So, not a lot of coherent thoughts today. Just working like a dawg and trying to get to the magical end of the book. There comes a point in every book for me where I think I just can’t pull it off, can’t manage to make the whole thing into a coherent tale, and that I’m just writing a series of unconnected scenes that I make up as I go along. That’s where I am now.

But it usually works out, so I can only hope for the same result this time around. What are you working on?

Don’t forget about the auction to help a homeless teen and her mother! You can bid on a one chapter + synopsis critique from me. Or many other cool things! Click here. Information about the auction in general is here.

My academic minor is history (naturally, English is my major!) so I tend to get a little caught up in the historicity of events. And there is no doubt, no matter where you land on the political scale, that yesterday was an amazingly historical event. I watched far more of it than I should considering how my deadline is approaching at light speed (I like science, but that’s not my specialty so don’t analyze that analogy).

What struck me: the crowds. I attended Clinton’s first inauguration because I was living in DC at the time and wanted to see it. Um, it was so darn cold I went home again before the parade and watched that from the warmth of my living room. I remember walking over half the Mall that day — and the crowd wasn’t *anything* like the one yesterday. I also don’t remember jumbotrons anywhere. There were loudspeakers, and we could hear everything, but no television screens that I remember (I could be wrong).

But you know what I remember most about that day? Maya Angelou. Yep, the English major in me remembers her poem above all else. Of course!

I also remember buying a button that had Clinton on it and a little saxophone hanging from it. I’m sure I still have it somewhere.

I did not attend the second Clinton inauguration (by the time Bush was inaugurated, I no longer lived in DC). And while I understood why all those people would want to be in DC for Obama’s, I highly doubt I’d ever attend another one. Too cold! I see more in my house than I do in the audience. And I get to stay warm while I do so.

Historically, what a day. I love being witness to history. My father-in-law drove a Greyhound bus to Martin Luther King Jr’s “I have a dream” speech. He brought a group from Buffalo. But he said he didn’t hear the speech. I think that’s a shame. Still, to have been there on that day — wow. Can you imagine?

What’s the coolest historical event you’ve attended? I can’t think of a specific event, but I did once stand on the front row during a speech Reagan gave at the Vietnam Memorial. I have pictures of him and Nancy. It was cool, but OMG, it was 21 years ago…..

Don’t forget about the auction to help a homeless teen and her mother! You can bid on a one chapter + synopsis critique from me. Or many other cool things! Click here.

See the post below. The auction is live today!! You can bid on some terrific things, including a critique by moi.

Hey, everyone! I’m participating in this auction which begins on Monday. You can check out the site here. The links for the items up for bid aren’t finished yet, so don’t panic if you can’t see what’s there. Just keep checking back to see what will be sold.

I’m offering a critique of a first chapter and synopsis (synopsis no longer than 5 pages), so if you’d like me to have a look at your work and give you suggestions, go bid for me. The proceeds go to help a homeless girl and her mother. Here’s the quick story:

Katy is a sixteen year old avid reader and aspiring author and illustrator who has won local awards for her artwork. Just before Christmas, Katy and her mother became homeless. They were evicted from their apartment and have been living in hotel rooms (when they’ve been lucky) or their car (when they’ve not been so lucky) since then. Katy has been blogging about life on the streets, and you can read all about how this incredibly sweet mother and daughter ended up in this situation here: http://destinationanywherebuthere.blogspot.com/ As Katy states on her blog, “Homelessness has many faces. And sometimes it happens to have a computer.” Both Katy and her mother seem to have very positive outlooks, but it’s clear they’re in some real trouble.

That’s where this auction comes in. All proceeds will go toward helping Katy and her mother get back on their feet. This is a pair that are actively looking for ways to improve their situation, and just need a little push to help them get there. So, please bid generously and know that you’re doing a wonderful thing to help two wonderful people.