Thanks for the invite, Kathryn! Love the story about your four leaf clover hunt. I'll have to put it in practice...

you have a killer website and a wonderful ning space here - thank you for inviting me to be your friend. Also, I do book reviews for Armchair Interviews - not sure when you will be sending out ARCs for reviews but please see if maybe we can get a copy to do a review on (I'd love to read it and do a review for you but I'll be fair to the reviewers - if it's on the list, I'm doing first dibs - this sounds like a cool series - I like doing reviews for the freebie books - E :)

Smokie loves a good game of chase-the-laser-pointer thingee, too!

If both Smokie and Indigo have no idea each has a clone, it's best we don't tell them. Indigo believes she rules all cats ... or rules everyone, especially the dog. :-) And she wouldn't want to compete for best looking cat in a Trivial Pursuit box. She thinks she's won that award.

Omigosh, Indigo! Smokie had no idea there could be TWO such glorious beasts in the world, lol! Welcome!

Smokie, meet Indigo. Indigo, Smokie. (Maybe they're related!)

Leann

His name's Smokie. He's going to have his literary debut (under a different name and gender, much to his dismay) in a story that's coming out next fall.

I couldn't resist the cat. Of course, I love the furry things. I live with one. Thanks for being my friend.

Hi M.G.,
Yes, you're right about everything being important. I think that's why I loved the Sixth Sense (although I've been disappointed by Shayamalan's other films). By the same token, as writers, everything we put in our stories must contribute to the plot, suspense, or other important aspect of the story. It's so hard to do, though! What's really frustrating to me is when I hear a writer (in a critique group, usually), say "I don't know, this is just what he was doing. It didn't have any real purpose or meaning." Those words should cue the DELETE gun!

Hi, Kathryn. I loved The Sixth Sense. It took me by surprise. When I watched Signs, I reminded myself that everything is important to Shayamalan (sp?), so tried to pick out what would be important. I was so proud of myself to know that those glasses of water laying around on every flat surface would play a pivotal part.

Yeah, yeah - I'm easily fascinated.

Oops, looks like I deleted my previous response. I was saying, Angie, that I also loved Misery because it really dramatizes the writer's challenge, which is to push a story beyond cliches, and turn it into something believable and strong.

Hi Kathryn - welcome to Crimespace! A Stephen King kick, huh? Personally, I love his characterizations (though is use of "armed" as a verb to show wiping sweat from the forehead annoys the crap out of me). Still, enjoy THE SHINING. It really is a great book.

I've gone all the way back to The Shining and am re-reading it. Just finished Misery. I keep hearing King's works referred to as great examples of such-and-such in terms of writing. I haven't read all of his books and am realizing now what a mistake that was.