Do You Hear What I Hear?

Today on the Pink Heart Society blog, I have a post about sound or silence when writing. I thought about this as a result of reading Fiona Harper's blog the week before when she talked about finding music that matched her books or even creating sound-tracks for them.

I thought it sounded like a great idea. And it still does -- if you can do it.

I can't. Music interferes with my brain when I'm writing, which surprised me at first because I'm pretty much an auditory learner.

I always learn stuff better if I hear it. I think in terms of sounds -- and when I write it's the voices of my characters I hear, and the background sounds I pick up far more than any sort of visual cues. Even "seeing" Hugh Jackman in my head doesn't work for me if I can't hear the 'voice' that would go with the man. Well, Hugh-in-a-towel works on one level, but not on getting the book written.

Once I have a character's voice, though, things flow. But until I do, nothing happens. It's like moving paper dolls around on a stage. And while I might be able to pick up songs that capture a side of a character, they have done their job if they spark that voice. They can't come with me on the trip. If they do, I get stuck.

But just working from auditory details makes a book, um, one-dimensional. Even though I'm not primarily kinesthetic or visual, I need both to round things out.

The kinesthetic isn't as hard to come by as the visual. I understand emotion. I know those pit-of-the-stomach feelings, the highs and lows of euphoria and despair. I know how they make me feel and I can mine them, even if I don't do it as readily as I do aural memories.

It's usually the visuals that give me trouble. I can tell you how snow sounds at a variety of temperatures. I can tell you how cold it feels. But as far as visuals? Well, it's white. And . . .

Exactly. When I need 'visual' details in my books I tend to have to work much harder to come up with them. A number of years ago I learned to keep notebooks about places I went that I wanted to use as settings. I didn't write down the sounds I hear. I had no trouble remembering them. But I needed a detailed list to remember the visuals.

I take a lot more photos now that I have a digital camera. And I go over them carefully when I'm writing, looking for something that will capture the details and show (I was going to say 'resonate' -- how's that for an auditory attempt at visuals?) the ambience to my readers.

I also learned to put my visually-oriented friends on my speed dial. I have one who is my source for all things visual to do with skiing and winter stuff. I have another who does glitz and glamour visuals for me. They're very tolerant of my questions, though occasionally they will say, "Um, why are you asking me? You were there, too."

Yes, but I didn't 'see' anything -- not the way they did. But I don't think they heard the snow underfoot the way I did or caught the sounds the insects made zapping against the huge spotlights at the outdoor concert.

There are some interesting tests to determine whether you are primarily a visual, kinesthetic or auditory learner. I took a couple on the internet this morning which confirmed my very auditory approach, but offered suggestions on how to compensate in the other areas. If it's a topic that interests you, too, put "tests of learning styles" in Google and check out the variety of resources available.

Let me know what style you prefer!

Happy Birthday to Hugh!

I've surfaced -- albeit briefly -- because there are some things that cannot be left by the wayside, and celebrating the birthday of Hugh Jackman, aka Hugh-in-a-towel, is one of them.

I will regale you with tales of Cannes and Cornwall when I get home, which will, I hope, be tomorrow evening. So look for something the following day.

Right now I am celebrating Hugh's day with Sophie Weston and her splendid cat, Tom, and enjoying the last day of a wonderful two plus weeks in England and France.

Happy birthday to Hugh!

On my way . . .

I'll be heading off across the pond on Thursday. I've been getting bags (well, one) packed and unpacked and the things I'm taking whittled down. I hate heavy luggage and I always pack too much.

Fortunately Greenies don't weight much. So Sid and Flora and Dylan, Kate Walker's cats, are going to get lots of treats. I couldn't go see them without the requisite Greenies.

Ever since the late lamented Bob Redford Walker discovered Greenies, they have been at the top of every packing list I've got.

I haven't done as much on Christo as I'd hoped to do this past week. I'm going to be working on some family history articles, too, and so I spent plenty of time going over the catalogue for the Cornwall Record Office to be sure I used my time there wisely.

There's never enough time -- so I need to make best use of what I get.

Consequently Christo has taken a back seat this week. But I expect him to accompany me on the plane. And now that I've figure out how to shut my wireless off, he can talk his head off and I'll type and type and type.

In case you haven't met my friend, the eeepie, it's a great little computer from Asus that has accompanied me on several jaunts this past spring and summer. It's the 900 version with the slightly larger screen than the original.

But it has the same footprint. And it's sooooo much smaller and easier to take along than a full size laptop. I love it. This is its first trip abroad, though, so I'm eager to see how it likes the trip.

My son's Asus eee pc just came back from Italy and had a marvelous time, so I'm hoping Eeepie will do as well.

On the getting things cleared up before I leave, I want to tell Avi that her books went out today. Avi, I hope you get them sometime in the next week (not sure how long it takes to get to your part of the world).

I'll check in and write on the blog when I can get wireless. You should hear from me from Kate's house. And then, with luck, from Cannes. After that, we'll see. Not sure where I'll run into wireless in Cornwall -- at least I don't know how likely it is where we're staying.

Behave yourselves while I'm gone. I'll send pix of the cats -- and anything else I think you'd enjoy.

Here's your friend to keep you company while I'm gone.


Oh, you thought I meant Hugh.

Right. Well, just because you asked --

Hugh!

There are exactly 15 minutes left of September 1st where I live.

So I'm not late. Really, I'm not.

Slow, maybe, but not late, to celebrate the 2nd anniversary of The Pink Heart Society blog and, of course, Kate Walker's and my very own Hugh-in-a-towel.

Because Hugh is the 'mascot' or inspiration of whatever you'd like for Pink Heart heroes -- and certainly plenty of mine -- every year we celebrate Hugh Jackman Day at the Pink Heart and on our own blogs today (or what's left of it).

So celebrate with me. And get ready to go see Hugh in Australia when it comes out in November.

Drop by the Pink Heart and check out the comments for other blogs celebrating Hugh's day.

Tell me who would be your inspiration for a hero and you might win a copy of In McGillivray's Bed -- which purely coincidentally has a hero named Hugh.








































Who needs a towel?

Up, Up and Away

Everyone who is going to the Romance Writers of America conference in San Francisco is probably already there. I would be, too, if Sister Camp hadn't intervened.

And frankly, despite loving to see folks at RWA, I'm glad it did. I get to see my sister far less often.

But Friday morning The Prof and I are flying out to SF, then after the conference, to Seattle to see sons and families and do a little R&R on Lake Chelan.

Never fear, Christo and Natalie are coming along. It's a 'working trip.' But I'm going to enjoy the change of scene. I'll be back by the 13th, I hope -- and planes willing.

Meanwhile Gunnar and friends will be holding the fort with their favorite dog-sitter, Keith. They are never really sad to see us leave (well, not much) because Keith is very high on their list of wonderful people. He's on mine, too, since he takes such good care of them.

I'll get in here as I can. No promises except to see you round about the 13th. Maybe earlier. Be good. Don't do anything I wouldn't do. Here's someone to keep you company while I'm gone.

What Makes a Hero?

Inasmuch as Sebastian and I are not seeing eye-to-eye on what makes a hero at the moment, I thought discussing the topic might be a good idea.

I've been accused of having a "McAllister hero." Kate Walker describes them that way -- and I suppose to an extent it is true. They probably do have certain qualities in common, notably the things that I find heroic.

I've been telling Seb what they are. He says he's taking notes.

Since he's nowhere near a pen and pad of paper, I'd like to know how. But I'm not going to fight with him. I hope he's simply absorbing some of what I say -- and what other authors say.

I'll be asking some of my favorites to drop by and talk about what makes a hero in their eyes, what they look for when they 'cast' the main man in their books (besides whether or not he looks good in a towel).

I look on it as given Seb a few lessons. But sadly there's no such thing as hero school. One of the things I think all my heroes have in common is that they just get 'thrown in.' They are probably not innately even 'heroic.' They're accomplished in some area. Maybe they're even more than accomplished. Maybe they're 'the best there is.'

But that's not enough.

And what they think is enough -- or the direction they first choose to go in -- is quite often wrong. It's the path they think they should take. It's the one that's taken them where they've arrived to this point. But to become a hero means they have to take things to a different level, they have to open themselves to danger -- sometimes physical, always emotional. They have to go where they've never been before.

Seb is glaring at me. He says I'm full of it. But I think I'm right. I think he needs a challenge, one that will make him stop and question everything he's assumed about life so far.

Yesterday, when I was chatting with the Romance Banditas and with Anne Gracie, and we were discussing heroes, in response to Anne's asking me what makes a great hero, I said, "Great heroes? Guys with a flaw. A blind spot. Something that they've dealt with on a superficial level and think is behind them and they've got things under control -- and then, whoops, bang, it's back -- and it threatens to undermine the most important things in their life.

"Almost every hero I've fallen in love with has had to make a major readjustment during the story. He has to rethink his fondest views or come to terms all over again with an issue he's figured he has already resolved -- and very often it involves the one woman he discovers he can't live without -- damn it."

And she replied, " I purely LOVE that moment, too, when he has to really dig deep -- and guys hate that so much -- and then make the difficult decision. It's what I meant when I talked about taking emotional risks."

The terrific Presents author Annie West then chimed in with, "That point about the hero needing to deal with something he thought he'd already finished with is so right. And isn't it lovely when that blind spot is something to do with the heroine? That's when it all comes together for me. She makes him face up to the truth he's been avoiding."

I made Seb read this all over last night. He said he thought he was doing just fine, thank you very much. He didn't see any reason to change. He had what he wanted, didn't he?

And I just looked at him and said, "Is it what you really want?"


He says it is, but I hope over the next couple of months to change his mind.

Let's give Seb something to think about. If you're a writer, what's your definition of a great hero? What sort of guys do you write? And if you're a reader, what characteristics make a hero appealing to you?

Do you like him to change? To develop? Or do you want him to be 'the perfect man' in the beginning -- the Prince Charming who rescues Cinderella and takes her to a happily ever after in his castle?

Contrary to what some people think, there are no right and wrong answers to this question. They are simply responses to different 'romantic fantasies,' to the notion of what constitutes a romantic hero.

What do you think makes a great hero?

Besides a looking good in a towel, of course.

Happy Birthday, Hugh!

Lucy Gordon was the first person to call my attention to Hugh Jackman.

We were working on the Silhouette Desire, Blood Brothers, that we wrote together back in 1999 -- she doing the story of the English lord Randall Stanton while I wrote about his Montana-bred cousin, rancher Gabe McBride -- and I was trying to get a picture of Gabe in my mind.

She said, "Hugh Jackman."

I said, "Who?"

She said, "He's an Australian actor playing Curly in Oklahoma in London now."

I said, "Yeah, right." And didn't think any more about it. Somehow I couldn't imagine an Aussie making a believable Curly -- except maybe in London he could.

But she was talking to a writer whose Dad was born in Oklahoma, whose grandfather was born in Oklahoma, whose great-grandmother was born in Oklahoma.

Off the top of my head I couldn't imagine that I could manage the suspension of disbelief.

I was wrong. I saw the DVD of Oklahoma and believed. But even before that I saw Hugh in Paperback Hero (thanks to Kate Walker's son who was working in a video store at the time and got me my own used copy). I was sold.

After I watched him as Jack the truck driving romance writer, I figured he could do anything. I've been pretty much right. I've now seen him be lots of different characters. I've had him in my head for countless heroes.

And since the New Zealand and Australian Romance Writers Conferences in 2004, Kate Walker and I have a running theme of Hugh-in-a-towel that allows us to use one photo to capture thousands of words we might have to say if we didn't have that picture.

I must say, I quite like that bit of shorthand.

It's Hugh's birthday today.

So happy birthday, Hugh. And thank you for all the inspiration -- not just in a towel but in so many other respects as well.

And Lucy, I'll never doubt you again.

The Legend in a Towel

While Eamon is quickly becoming legend of sorts here, the first LEGEND I've been part of is the story of Kate Walker's and my talks at the RW New Zealand (they say RWNZed) and RWAustralia (they said RWA and pay no attention to the one across the sea) which were punctuated by the appearance of a certain man in a certain towel whenever we needed to make a point.

It's amazing how often we needed to make a point.

Hugh-in-a-towel's appearance at our talks became noteworthy. I'm fairly sure that if the Christchurch journalist who interviewed Kate and me had known about H-I-A-T, he would have been scandalized and even more dismayed than he already was. He thought we were "condescending" to write for "stupid women" and should be ashamed of ourselves for taking advantage of them.

I'm not quite sure how we were taking advantage or why these women were "stupid" (anyone who finds Hugh-in-a-towel appealing and believes in a happy ending is not stupid at all in my book!). And I am quite sure I've never ever condescended to anyone in my romance novels because I love writing them and love writing about relationships and I would write them even if no one published them or paid me (but you don't need to tell Harlequin that).

But I'm sure he would have Disapproved. Too bad.

I doubt Hugh would disapprove. And his being there -- albeit two-dimensionally -- made the talks more fun. Not to mention memorable -- as they are continuing to be a point of reference three years later.

Actually the talks aren't, but Hugh definitely is. And RNA (that's UK for RWUK. Well, not really, but there are similarities) have invited me to speak next year on the Myers-Briggs Temperament Indicator. That's what I talked about (theoretically) Down Under, so maybe they are hoping for an appearance of Hugh-in-a-towel as well.

Anyway, the point of this is to say that the Powers That Be at the Pink Heart asked me to write about the Legend of Hugh-in-a-towel -- how it began and what it all means -- and so I have. And it's up on the Pink Heart blog tomorrow (which is already today in Australia and UK so it's already up there, which is why I'm writing about it here now).

So if you have not yet had your fill of the Hugh-in-a-towel Legend, please drop by. Find out why a picture is worth a 1000 words -- and what those thousand words are.