I think my aural memory is very good, but sometimes it isn't.
For instance, I was absolutely certain that I knew the opening lines to The Eagles quintessentially seventies song "Life in the Fast Lane."
Mea culpa. I thought the heroine was terminally vain.
I listened to that song a lot while writing about Insufficient Mating Material's fashionista heroine who was so pampered, she could not even undress without the hero's help, and the slightly brutal Djetth (Jeth).
It wasn't my imaginary theme song for the book, but I felt an affinity.
A couple of days ago, I learned that the heroine was "terminally pretty" (to rhyme with "the hard cold city"). How devastating to know that I have been mistaken for more than two decades!
OK. I will admit it. I loved The Cream song, Strange Brew but I never have been clear what it is about. When I was a giddy youth, I didn't read the transcripts on the backs of LPs.
These songs recapture my happiest memories -- well... I should modify that, but the late sixties, seventies and eighties were fabulous, and that's when I had time to listen to the radio, and when I judged potential boyfriends by their record collections.
Did anyone else do that? Or am I truly weird?
LP-Harmony!!!!
I've also been polling my internet acquaintances about their opinions of Newsletters put out by authors, because I am on a panel speaking about the virtues of Newsletters on behalf of the EPIC organization (for electronically published authors) at the upcoming Romantic Times convention.
More than once as my questionnaires came back to me, I heard that readers love recipes in authors' newsletters. Good grief, people are interested in what I eat, whether I cook it, and what ingredients I use! Who knew?
Music, recipes... now add Linnea Sinclair's barman, Sin.
When you write do you follow the What's In Your Wallet? line of characterization?
Some characterization pundits advise authors to make lists of what is in their heroes' pockets.
(I tried that in Insufficient Mating Material, with good reason. My survival consultant, Les Stroud, aka Survivorman always tells the Science Channel viewer what, apart from his multi-tool, is in his pocket when he is stranded on a deserted island or other hostile-to-life spot.)
How about, What's In Your Drink? (I have paranoid, intergalactic superspy heroes who wonder that, too.)
Let's take world-building to an appropriate level. What do your inter-stellar characters drink for survival, for sustenance, for pleasure, and for a buzz?
Is it basically a gin and tonic with dye in it? Is it green small beer? (That's a fraction deeper than you think). Is it Blue Curacao with vodka? Is water the champagne of the future? Or serum?
Who saw Antz? The Bar Scene? Drinking from the aphids' butts (not that I recommend it, but does it have potential for an alien lifestyle)? There was another bar scene in An Ant's Life. Cartoons can be highly creative.
Well, here's the kicker.
Tonight (Sunday 9 -11 pm Eastern), April Fools' Night, with the moon all but full, Linnea, Susan, Colby and Rowena are going to be appearing in character on the Passionate Internet Voices Radio in order to put the lot together.
We'll be in Linnea's Intergalactic Bar and Grille (a franchise thereof) with Sin the bartender making otherwordly drinks. And we'll be planning a big surprise for Earth.
Best wishes,
Rowena
Saturday, March 31, 2007
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Hmm, those are interesting world-building ideas...
ReplyDelete1) I do have theme songs for major characters, though some have theme art instead. This helps me switch channels so I can work on several stories at once.
2) I was a teenager in the 80's and hated all the music. The 90's were better, but I've never been one to go with trends. My music tastes are all over the place, but I can't seem to shake Wierd Al.
3) Having been abandoned by my father as an infant, I grew up judging all potential boyfriends on their daddy-potential. Everything else paled in signifigance to that criteria. No matter how hot the boy, I wasn't interested.
4) What do my characters drink? Olivia drinks coffee, of course. And lots of it. She's a mommy. After only a couple of hours on the job as Dad to Junior, Edward was strongly tempted to down a rather large tankard of Intari vodka, but he resisted because his own dad was a drunk and he didn't want to be like that. Now, he drinks coffee too. And lots of it. Both star captains are eternally vigilant over what Junior drinks because she's allergic to everything. Last time she had reaction she released swamp-bats into the Mydis' corridors and had a hysterical laughing fit and fainted. With hives, of course.
5) What's in my characters' pockets? Edward and Olivia are always in uniforms without pockets. Junior's pockets always have holes because she's very hard on clothing.
Have fun with your pod-cast! I've never listened to one before, but it sounds ingenious.