• .::Random thought::. I wonder what is the origin of gnome stories...
• .:SPECIAL of the DAY:. Peaches, the superdog! A pretty little thing who enjoys running around the back yard at dusk, jumping and trying to eat the lightening bugs. heehee, what a weirdo!!

Hola!  Happy first day of Summer! Thus far I have celebrated this joyous day by roasting myself alive while cutting the front and back yards in the noon-hour.  DELIGHTFUL EXPERIENCE (truly!), especially since the mind-numbing action of mowing pseudo-straight lines allows one time to think.  I've kidded around before saying that I'm going to take my 'prestigious masters degree' and write romance novels.  Well, the more I've thought about it, the more I wanna do it.  And let's face it: there is simply no better genre than Romance.

It's been awhile since I've composed much else than long academic essays, so I've gotten myself a journal (yep, real paper; cool!) and I've started prepping myself for writing stories.  The first thing I did was make a list of what I like in the stories I read.

I like stories with...
→HUMOR; dialog and action that makes you laugh out loud
→COLORFUL, WITTY PROSE; vivid scenes that you can clearly visualize in your mind
→PASSION; romance, love, and all that sexy stuff
→SASSY HEROINES
→STUDLY HEROS; Marines, cowboys, sex gods
→FUN ANIMAL SIDEKICKS; they're so charming!
→SUPERNATURAL ELEMENTS and VAMPIRES
→ACTION, SUSPENSE, CONFLICT, ect...

Coming up with such a list helps me to determine how and what I will write.  It also kinda helps me determine what to write about.  Good think I like sexy, Marine heros cuz I have a wealth of information about the Marine Corps at my disposal.  Hunky Marine boyfriends are super cool in that way.  I was brainstorming with said hunk last night, grilling him about Marine Embassy guards and Marine Recon peeps (what the hell, why not put my International Relations degree to some use and cause an international incident in my novel?).  I was trying to figure out how to plausibly get to a scenario in which my heroine ends up stranded with my studly Marine hero in a suspensful situation, and where steamy romance and passion could take place.  A little later I started tossing out some more 'creative' ideas than American embassy extractions and whatnot.  David, with a smile and a kiss, oh-so-sweetly told me I was nuts when I finally stumbled across an idea that really excited me and got my mind humming.  ...hee-hee, y'all will probably think I'm a little wacky, too...

My story will consist of the following four elements:
1. A sexy former Marine, who owns a shop of some sort in some coastal area in North or South America.
2. A sassy heroine who is beginning to question her sanity and finds herself in a position where she needs the skills of the sexy former Marine.
3. A smart sidekick dog.
4. A magical, talking garden gnome that convinces the heroine to help in in some manner.

This is barebones and still in development.  But it's a start, nonetheless.  The first thing I think I'm gonna do is look into the history of gnomes (like where stories of them first arose, what legends are there about them; I'll be looking for a fun historical connection to spice up the story).

Thanks for the birthday well-wishes!  Take care, y'all!!

2 Hello.

Posted by Michael Thomas:

That is so awesome, I think you should really work on this, I see it!!!

Maybe the marine should sell a variety of stuff, and the gnome is at first a cool garden statue, but becomes a helpful aid on the journey, which only she can talk to...

Wednesday, June 22nd 2005 @ 11:43 AM (1259 days, 9h, 17min ago)

Posted by Johnson: