Okay, today's coffee is Starbuck's Dark Cherry Mocha (nonfat milk of course).  I have to say it's not bad, but I'm a caramel fan.  Anyway, I sat watching the Monday morning crowd and a vision impaired man walked by.  He ordered his coffee and found a seat (more graceful than me, I must add).  It got me thinking about being blind after the PRK procedure on my eyes.  For one week, I was laid up in bed, in the dark, listening to audio books.

I'm not a fan of audio books.  I like to hold the book and hear my own idea of what each person sounds like.  However, I have to admit, I did enjoy listening to Inkheart by Cornelia Funke and read by Lynn Redgrave.  Lynn Redgrave's read was so entertaining and fun I didn't mind being stuck in bed all day and night listening to how wonderful she brought the characters to life.

So as I burrowed into the covers, waiting for my eyes to heal, I thought about dialogue in my novel.  Imagine how Lynn Redgrave would have brought the voices to life in front of a recording mic.  I've seen actors do it before on specials that show how they record voices.  They act out the characters actions and emotions as they read the dialogue.  We too should act out our characters as we write.  Of course, I don't think it would be wise to do that right here in Starbuck's.  It should be done in privacy where you won't feel self conscious or be hauled off to the mental hospital.

I've always read my story out loud as I typed to make sure it sounded good, but now I throw emotion behind it and act out what my characters are doing to get it right.  I'm lucky to be by myself all day without an audience.  Anyway, go into a room alone and get to know your characters better.  It might surprise you how wonderful you've created one, or you may find one character is flat.  It's better to find out now, then to have an agent say your pages didn't pull them in enough.

That's it.  Slurp!

Well, I've kind of ignored posting for awhile for good reasons.  Life.  Since it's not the morning, I'm not drinking coffee but a Gallo Cabernet.  Yummy.  Totally fruity, I must say.  So you might wonder if I'm celebrating, and I am.  I'm celebrating that my husband has poker tonight, and I can watch Project Runway in peace.  I'm celebrating how beautiful, warm, and blue today was.  And I'm celebrating the fact that I can move on to a new chapter, literary and figuratively, that is.

Finally, I can put my current WIP to bed and not rock and coddle the darn thing anymore.  I've completed the first chapter in the new WIP, and I decided to take a break before beginning the next chapter.  Which brings me to wonder if other writers have difficulty knowing when it's time to tuck their little darlings into bed and turn off the light.  That's a hard thing for me to do.  I can obsess and fret over one sentence forever.  Then there are days where everything just feels right, and I log many miles on the keyboard until I have blisters on my fingertips.  I wish my brain could keep up with my hands.

When the words aren't coming to me, I pack up the laptop and head for somewhere else.  During the winter, it's usually a bookstore (coffee shop a must) and when it's a day like today it is my neighborhood park.  The Albuquerque mountains are my backyard.  And today they looked amazing under the bright blue sky.  

I never realized how many dogs live in my neighborhood until today.  They were out in packs.  I swear.  Every single one had to say "hi" to me today.  I couldn't get any work done from my perch on a park bench.  So I came home and sat on my balcony instead.  Anyway, I  hope the warm spell lasts.  I'm totally ready for spring, and I think my new novel is too!  That's it.  Slurp!