Month: March 2009

Morning my NASty friends! So once again, I found myself on Twitter asking for blog topics. Paperback writer’s blogging hate mail, Kait Nolan’s blogging about burning books and Dear Author’s blogging about the Ritas not having an erotic romance uh whatever thingy.

Sadly, I’ve never received hate mail.

I’ve never considered burning a book either.

As an author and a human being, I think hate mail is horrid. Not that I’ve never wanted to SEND hate mail, but I’m a big believer in Karma, so obviously burning books is a big no-no….though I did finally break down a few months ago and burn some rejection letters.

And then….there’s Dear Author blogging about the Ritas/GH not having an erotic romance whatcha-ma-dohickey.

Frankly, I can’t be arsed to care. I don’t know why I SHOULD care. In the interest of full disclosure, my membership lapsed in January or February and I chose to not renew. I just don’t see what benefit I get out of it. I couldn’t afford to go to RWA last year, I can’t afford to go this year–I can’t afford RT either. And in these tough economic times, I can do a lot with 105.00 or whatever the dues are. That’s my water bill for 3 months, my phone bill for three months, my cell phone bill or my cable bill. That’s almost a week’s worth of food at my house.

So I’ll say it loud and proud…I can’t be arsed to give a fuck that RWA won’t give erotic romance it’s own category. I know a lot of small press authors were also upset over not being allowed to enter the RITA. Unfortunately, because I couldn’t be arsed to care/pay attention (NOT that I don’t care about small press authors!!!), I’m not sure what all the fuss was about. And really, if you’re that upset, speak with your hard earned dollars and let your membership lapse! I mean, really….REALLY think about it.  What the hell has RWA done for you lately? What do they do every year to earn your membership fees? Seriously, in the grand sceme of things, what does it matter? You’re getting paid…what does it matter?

There are some things in this world I belive we should be arsed to give a fuck about…..whether you get to enter the RITA or even have your own category…(for me) are not it.

What say you?

So every town/city/state has it’s famous landmarks. Or places that might get a big X next to it for a tourist attraction.

Well, I’m in the Seattle area and we have a ton of them. Our most famous is obviously the Space Needle. Then there’s Pike Place Market. And of course the natural ones like Mt. St. Helens and Mt. Rainer. Snoqualmie Falls. Etc. I’ve been to them all. I love showing out of town visitors around and am a self proclaimed tourist guide.

But there’s one landmark in Seattle I had never visited. And it’s a pretty cool, funky one. Off the beaten path. It’s the Fremont troll under the Aurora bridge in Seattle.  I first realized we even had a troll when I saw it in the movie The 10 Things I Hate About You (great movie! It’s where I got my crush for Heath Ledger!). It was built in 1990 I guess, so that’s almost 20 years I could have checked it out and didn’t. Bad me.

After Twittering Sunday morning away (it’s my new habit, add me under Shelli Stevens) I got into a discussion with some twitterfolk discussing the troll. And I realized…it was time to go see the troll under the bridge. So that evening I set out to see it! And here are the pics!

So what landmarks are in your area? And any ones that are unconventional off the beaten road? More on the fun side? Kind of like our troll here!

I saw this on CNN. It’s great!!

Inspired by Transformers, this short Visual Effects piece shows us what really goes on inside our home computers … that’s right, they’re robots, and they wanna beat the f#!@ out of each other.

How excited am I to be guest blogging at Naughty and Spice? (In case you need an answer, it’s “very.”) Thank you, thank you, thank you for giving me a chance to introduce myself and my debut novel, FALLING IN LOVE.

The official write-up for FALLING IN LOVE from Kensington Books is: Lambert Falls, North Carolina, is a small Southern town where the past and present effortlessly mingle. Here, the pace is sweet and tranquil—but life can still offer up its share of surprises…

After years in the military, Chris Montgomery is looking for somewhere to relax and recharge, and Lambert Falls, with its tree-lined streets and picturesque town square, seems ideal. Chris expected that a stranger in town would attract suspicion and gossip. He didn’t expect to meet someone like Angie Kane, with her warm, open smile and self-contained air that are instantly intriguing.

Angie has built a satisfying life for herself, one she’s not willing to uproot for someone who’s just passing through. But Chris is quietly persistent—not to mention handsome and charming. Against her own better judgment, Angie finds herself falling deeper than she ever intended—until one phone call forces her to choose between the town she’s always loved, and a man she can’t imagine living without…

It sounds like a lovely beach read, doesn’t it?

However, the write-up in my heart is more along the lines of: I’m going to write the story of the woman who isn’t a size 2, doesn’t want to be a size 2, enjoys her ice cream and her cheeseburgers and still gets the gorgeous guy.   Even though she’s sometimes tired, sometimes grumpy, and doesn’t always say the right thing, she’s worthy of the good life she’s built, the friends she has and yes, the handsome Green Beret, who is the talk of the town. ‘Cause I’m wicked tired of heroines who are more caricatures than characters.  Seriously.

I wanted Angie to be more than that.  She’s got real strengths, weaknesses and insecurities.  She’s open, loving, and loyal.  Mostly, she’s just living her life, day by day, the way we all do.  She’s me, my friends, my readers.

And it’s not just Angie.  It’s important to me that all my characters be multidimensional and have depth.  Too often, characters are boiled down to archetypes.  She’s innocent and wide-eyed OR strong but jaded OR focused and driven.  He’s emotionally unavailable OR a roguish bad boy OR a billionaire playboy.  All of these make great places to start.  The truth, though, is that none of us are so one dimensional.    I’m a perfect example of this ~ I write sweet, gentle romances but sweet and gentle are hardly the top adjectives anyone who knows me would use to describe me.  As a friend puts it, “I love the idea of Pauline writing the stories she writes while typing away with her black nail polish.”  Because aren’t we all, really, the sum of our innocent, jaded, and driven parts?

These are the characters I hope to write.  The ones that, even if we don’t completely understand or relate to, we can recognize. They are characters we can root for as they grow, find their strengths, and release their insecurities.  Of course, if you’re just looking for a lovely beach read, that works, too.

What about you?  Are you looking for a heroine you can relate to or one who totally takes you out of your reality and lets you be someone completely different for a day?  (Obviously, the hero should sweep us off our feet. ☺ )  Leave a comment for a chance to win a Champagne Life on a Beer Budget basket and a signed copy of FALLING IN LOVE.
~ Pauline

Pauline Trent offers tips on living a champagne life on a beer budget, makes announcements, and welcomes emails from readers at www.paulinetrent.com. She can also be found on Facebook, and in front of her computer, drinking lots and lots of coffee.