This blog has blogged down - CrimeSpace2024-03-28T18:21:28Zhttps://crimespace.ning.com/forum/topics/this-blog-has-blogged-down?commentId=537324%3AComment%3A357191&feed=yes&xn_auth=noI'll jump in too. I'm current…tag:crimespace.ning.com,2012-10-26:537324:Comment:3591362012-10-26T15:36:39.203ZDavid DeLeehttps://crimespace.ning.com/profile/DavidDeLee
<p>I'll jump in too. I'm currently working on a novella in my Grace deHaviland bounty hunter series. I've completed the outline--basically I wrote the entire story in (a very sloppy) script format--it clocked in at about 19,000 words.</p>
<p>I'm working on the first prose draft now. So far, I'm 7,800 words into it. I'm anticipating the project to end up at around 30-35,000 words. Had a slow week this week, and slow month altogether, but I'm anticipating the family obligation that took me away…</p>
<p>I'll jump in too. I'm currently working on a novella in my Grace deHaviland bounty hunter series. I've completed the outline--basically I wrote the entire story in (a very sloppy) script format--it clocked in at about 19,000 words.</p>
<p>I'm working on the first prose draft now. So far, I'm 7,800 words into it. I'm anticipating the project to end up at around 30-35,000 words. Had a slow week this week, and slow month altogether, but I'm anticipating the family obligation that took me away from writing are done.</p>
<p>Anyone signed up to do NaNoWriMo?</p>
<p></p>
<p>David DeLee</p> until a few years ago, vampir…tag:crimespace.ning.com,2012-10-26:537324:Comment:3590342012-10-26T11:50:41.254ZCaroline Trippehttps://crimespace.ning.com/profile/CarolineTrippe
<p><strong>until a few years ago, vampires couldn't stand direct sunlight</strong></p>
<p></p>
<p>And now they can? Of course sunlight is problematic for all of us---too much and you risk skin cancer, not enough and you don't get sufficient Vitamin D. </p>
<p>But vampires don't need Vitamin D, and they're already dead, so cancer's not an issue either. What bothers me is how they're all supposed to be really sexy! </p>
<p><strong>until a few years ago, vampires couldn't stand direct sunlight</strong></p>
<p></p>
<p>And now they can? Of course sunlight is problematic for all of us---too much and you risk skin cancer, not enough and you don't get sufficient Vitamin D. </p>
<p>But vampires don't need Vitamin D, and they're already dead, so cancer's not an issue either. What bothers me is how they're all supposed to be really sexy! </p> Simple answer: no!
That's w…tag:crimespace.ning.com,2012-10-26:537324:Comment:3591292012-10-26T11:46:30.881ZCaroline Trippehttps://crimespace.ning.com/profile/CarolineTrippe
<p><strong>Simple answer: no! </strong></p>
<p></p>
<p>That's what I thought. :)</p>
<p>Will have to think of another topic.</p>
<p><strong>Simple answer: no! </strong></p>
<p></p>
<p>That's what I thought. :)</p>
<p>Will have to think of another topic.</p> Good point about the vampires…tag:crimespace.ning.com,2012-10-25:537324:Comment:3589012012-10-25T21:14:40.273ZI. J. Parkerhttps://crimespace.ning.com/profile/Ingpark
<p>Good point about the vampires. You would never have believed you could have a vampire romance.</p>
<p>Good point about the vampires. You would never have believed you could have a vampire romance.</p> I agree with IJ on the idea o…tag:crimespace.ning.com,2012-10-25:537324:Comment:3589002012-10-25T19:06:50.495ZDana Kinghttps://crimespace.ning.com/profile/DanaKing
<p>I agree with IJ on the idea of combining cozy and gritty; the two are pretty much mutually exclusive. Once you add a certain amount of grit, the book is no longer a cozy, pretty much by definition.</p>
<p>It's a matter of setting up a believable universe. Drop a cozy heroine and her cat into a realistically gritty story and what the cozy describes as a clever escape--with a few serendipitous circumstances--becomes the old lady in the trunk of a car. This kills the aura of the cozy. letting…</p>
<p>I agree with IJ on the idea of combining cozy and gritty; the two are pretty much mutually exclusive. Once you add a certain amount of grit, the book is no longer a cozy, pretty much by definition.</p>
<p>It's a matter of setting up a believable universe. Drop a cozy heroine and her cat into a realistically gritty story and what the cozy describes as a clever escape--with a few serendipitous circumstances--becomes the old lady in the trunk of a car. This kills the aura of the cozy. letting her get away kills the effect of the grit. Devotees of either form will be dissatisfied.</p>
<p>That being said, up until a few years ago, vampires couldn't stand direct sunlight. There's no telling what someone with the chops could come up with.</p> Simple answer: no! The reade…tag:crimespace.ning.com,2012-10-25:537324:Comment:3592082012-10-25T13:47:05.871ZI. J. Parkerhttps://crimespace.ning.com/profile/Ingpark
<p>Simple answer: no! The readers of cozies will not accept gritty (or cats dying). You might get by with a police procedural set in a small town, provided you go easy on the gore. Cozies are pure escape for those too paranoid about the real world they live in. Other readers get their escape precisely from an excess of violence and gore for that delicious shudder: this happens to someone else, not me.</p>
<p>I can't say I understand the attraction of noir and the general hopelessness of…</p>
<p>Simple answer: no! The readers of cozies will not accept gritty (or cats dying). You might get by with a police procedural set in a small town, provided you go easy on the gore. Cozies are pure escape for those too paranoid about the real world they live in. Other readers get their escape precisely from an excess of violence and gore for that delicious shudder: this happens to someone else, not me.</p>
<p>I can't say I understand the attraction of noir and the general hopelessness of walking the mean streets of American cities, eating burgers and drinking to excess.</p> bogged down in the minutiae o…tag:crimespace.ning.com,2012-10-25:537324:Comment:3592072012-10-25T12:36:49.853ZCaroline Trippehttps://crimespace.ning.com/profile/CarolineTrippe
<p><em>bogged down in the minutiae of the craft and ordeals of promotion and don't bring them up on our own.</em></p>
<p>Comes with the territory! As an artist I'd actually prefer to talk with fellow artists about "process," technique & that sort of thing--- what paints & painting mediums do you prefer, what's your favorite drawing paper---the minutiae, 'cause the philosophy can get you into trouble. (Art is this, or not this, or that, or not that, or why are we doing this…</p>
<p><em>bogged down in the minutiae of the craft and ordeals of promotion and don't bring them up on our own.</em></p>
<p>Comes with the territory! As an artist I'd actually prefer to talk with fellow artists about "process," technique & that sort of thing--- what paints & painting mediums do you prefer, what's your favorite drawing paper---the minutiae, 'cause the philosophy can get you into trouble. (Art is this, or not this, or that, or not that, or why are we doing this anyway)?</p>
<p>Because we like the process? If you don't, you should be doing something else! :)</p>
<p>I enjoy this forum because I DON"T have to worry about those things that plague you writers. That leaves my mind "open" to those grand philosophical questions which probably have no firm answers. </p>
<p>Such as....(this is just for fun)....could you have a cozy/gritty murder mystery all in one? Are there any being written now? Where do you draw the line between "cozy" and "gritty?" This probably sounds like one of those class exercises! Maybe it should be a topic on its own---if anyone cares!</p>
<p></p> Oh well, now that I've said t…tag:crimespace.ning.com,2012-10-25:537324:Comment:3591092012-10-25T12:29:02.450ZCaroline Trippehttps://crimespace.ning.com/profile/CarolineTrippe
<p>Oh well, now that I've said that, guess I'll have to think of something. :) Right now I'm drawing a blank....was hoping someone else might start the ball rolling! </p>
<p>Oh well, now that I've said that, guess I'll have to think of something. :) Right now I'm drawing a blank....was hoping someone else might start the ball rolling! </p> Only!
If I did participate,…tag:crimespace.ning.com,2012-10-25:537324:Comment:3591032012-10-25T01:17:11.492ZBenjamin Sobieckhttps://crimespace.ning.com/profile/BenjaminSobieck
<p>Only!</p>
<p></p>
<p>If I did participate, I think I'd take my pile of words and use it as a starting point for something else. I sometimes takes me a couple false starts until I actually latch onto what I'm doing.</p>
<p>Only!</p>
<p></p>
<p>If I did participate, I think I'd take my pile of words and use it as a starting point for something else. I sometimes takes me a couple false starts until I actually latch onto what I'm doing.</p> So it's just animosity toward…tag:crimespace.ning.com,2012-10-24:537324:Comment:3588882012-10-24T16:09:24.329ZJude Hardinhttps://crimespace.ning.com/profile/festus
<p><em>So it's just animosity toward people who are pushing out in one month (or three days) something that takes others a year to do?</em></p>
<p>For some writers who take the craft seriously, I think, it's the whole notion that anyone with the desire to do so can crank out 50,000 words in a month and then call what he or she has produced a "novel." Occasionally something brilliant results (Sara Gruen's <em>Water for Elephants</em>, for example), but I suspect most of NaNoWriMo's participants…</p>
<p><em>So it's just animosity toward people who are pushing out in one month (or three days) something that takes others a year to do?</em></p>
<p>For some writers who take the craft seriously, I think, it's the whole notion that anyone with the desire to do so can crank out 50,000 words in a month and then call what he or she has produced a "novel." Occasionally something brilliant results (Sara Gruen's <em>Water for Elephants</em>, for example), but I suspect most of NaNoWriMo's participants end up with a pile of rubbish. Personally, I don't have a problem with it. Let them have their fun. And for a lot of pros who write full time, 50,000 words in a month isn't that big of a deal anyway. It's only 1667 words a day.</p>