I just finished writing Year of the Dog ! It had a massive plot hole that I had to fix which turned out to be more work than I expected. Here’s a snippet: “Hey, Auntie Nell.” He wrapped his arms around her, bussing her on the cheek and breathing in pikake flowers and shortbread cookies. And suddenly he was nine years old again, and her solid presence had made his chaotic world stable once more. “What are you doing here?” He usually took her to dinner on Wednesday nights, but today was Tuesday. The edges of her smile faltered a little before brightening right back up again. “What, I can’t visit my nephew?” She angled around him to enter his home. “Is this your new house? Looks lovely.” Which was a blatant lie, because the fixer-upper was barely livable, much less acceptable to a neat-freak like his aunt. She also left four matching pink and purple floral suitcases on the stoop behind her. Only then did Ashwin notice the cab driver standing slightly to the side of the walkway. “Can ...
Captain's Log, Stardate 04.14.2009
So my husband, Captain Caffeine, had lunch with a few friends a few days ago. And they asked about my writing, and if I’d been on Oprah yet.
(Yeah, right)
They then discussed NYT bestselling books, and why can’t Camy write a NYT bestseller.
(Sure, let me just open a vein over a blank page and it’ll come right out.)
So Captain Caffeine came home with ideas for my new NYT bestselling novel.
First it starts with vampires, because Twilight is so hot.
But not just any vampires. This one’s an Amish vampire.
And he’s not just an Amish vampire, he’s a cop in disguise, infiltrating the Amish community to protect a witness.
(Hmm, that storyline sounds familiar ...)
But wait! There’s more!
To add more conflict and stick with my brand of Asian fiction, we introduce the Tibetan monk! Who joins the Amish community to get away from the pressures of monkhood.
But in reality, he’s protecting the Chinese princess on the run, trying to escape from her father’s Hong Kong triad, pursued by assassins.
And since the triad assassins have guns, the Tibetan monk teaches the Amish community kung fu to protect themselves.
Bullets versus kung fu! Who will prevail????
Possible titles were discussed, and since this is turning out to be an action novel, all the title ideas had the Steven Seagal trademark of two or three one-syllable (or two-syllable) words:
Deadly Hoe
Nowhere to Plough
Amish Justice
Black Soil
What do you think?
So my husband, Captain Caffeine, had lunch with a few friends a few days ago. And they asked about my writing, and if I’d been on Oprah yet.
(Yeah, right)
They then discussed NYT bestselling books, and why can’t Camy write a NYT bestseller.
(Sure, let me just open a vein over a blank page and it’ll come right out.)
So Captain Caffeine came home with ideas for my new NYT bestselling novel.
First it starts with vampires, because Twilight is so hot.
But not just any vampires. This one’s an Amish vampire.
And he’s not just an Amish vampire, he’s a cop in disguise, infiltrating the Amish community to protect a witness.
(Hmm, that storyline sounds familiar ...)
But wait! There’s more!
To add more conflict and stick with my brand of Asian fiction, we introduce the Tibetan monk! Who joins the Amish community to get away from the pressures of monkhood.
But in reality, he’s protecting the Chinese princess on the run, trying to escape from her father’s Hong Kong triad, pursued by assassins.
And since the triad assassins have guns, the Tibetan monk teaches the Amish community kung fu to protect themselves.
Bullets versus kung fu! Who will prevail????
Possible titles were discussed, and since this is turning out to be an action novel, all the title ideas had the Steven Seagal trademark of two or three one-syllable (or two-syllable) words:
Deadly Hoe
Nowhere to Plough
Amish Justice
Black Soil
What do you think?
Comments
Oh, woo hoo, that's funny. That sounds almost like my husband. He came up with this great idea for me a few years back that I nixed quickly, something about Martin Luther.
But my favorite all-time story, a quote by him when he realized just how good of a writer I am. "Honey, you need to do this for a living."
ME: "Do what?"
DH: "Make stupid people sound smart on paper."
I sense an unfulfilled calling here.
On a side note, my e-mail is still defunct, so to answer your question: the eagle has landed.
I vote for a cameo of characters from your Sushi books...
I think the second title there has a nice ring to it...
You guys are cracking me up! It's amazing what ideas flow out of too much caffeine and not enough sleep.
Camy
My vote is for "Nowhere To Plough"!
I like Deadly Hoe as the title.
I think El Capitan needs to write his own book. He'll soon see what a piece of cake it is!
Jeanette
Shelley
http://www.shelleyadina.com