Amie Stuart ~ On the Back Porch

Dudeeeeeeeeeeeee!!!!!!!! Kelley Armstrong is guest-blogging at Southern Fried Chicas today! Yes THAT Kelley Armstrong.

*bows in submission*

I’m SO not worthy!

And that said, I’m taking the day off. It’s my half-day at work today and I’m getting a haircut and taking the kids to the movies because I BELIEVE!

Feel free to check out the blog posts below and weigh in! I’ll be back tomorrow with a wrap-up and some books!

First class is here: Hey Fatty

I’ve written all kinds of heroes and heroines with all kinds of…quirks. I’ve written about cheating spouses, runaways, fat heroines, drunks, abused men, slaves, revolutionaries, cops, fathers, sons, mothers and daughters, mercenaries, whores, control freaks, and *deep breath* cowgirls just to name a few. And I wish I could take full credit for the following pieces of advice but I can’t. I’m sure you’ve heard them before but I think they bear repeating.

1. Don’t be afraid to hurt your characters. Even in real life pain spawns growth. It should be that way in your book.

2. Every character is the hero of their own story—even the villain (I got that from Deb Dixon).

I don’t know how true this is, but someone once told me that in astrology, your sun sign is the face you show the world, but your moon sign is the real you. We all have a face we show the world–that includes your characters. And as your characters go through the story, they have to show more and more of their true self to the reader. Much like peeling away the layers of an onion, your character has to let the reader in. Let the reader see their hurts, their anger, their scars, so that the reader can cheer for them as they move toward their happy ending.

One of my most favorite ever books — ever — is WISHES by Jude Deveraux which was actually mentioned by someone in the SB blog comments. Firstly, this was the first book I ever read with a fat heroine (and I’m fat). Secondly, nothing that the “guardian angel” did automatically solved the heroine’s problem. Jennifer Armintrout left a comment at SB about people not just being overweight but being overweight IN THEIR MIND (forgive me Jennifer, I’m paraphrasing).

That, my friend, is characterization. The heroine in Wishes IS fat IN her mind as well as in body.

And being overweight is a part of her characterization. Characterization spawns motivation, and dare I say, conflict. Let me give you an example. (more…)

Or Does Your Character Need That Flaw?

I know PBW is doing her left-behind and loving it series this week. If you’re a writer, definitely check it out. I will be.

I’ve been thinking and thinking what I could contribute (ok in all honesty I spent the weekend sloughing off AND thinking) and I really wanted to do something on characterization (and it’s sibling…Motivation). Then I hopped on over to Smart Bitches where there’s this whole discussion on overweight heroines, which really got my juices rolling.

I am not a teacher and I tend to work best through anecdotal stories–and I encourage you to share your own as well. Without further ado, I’m going to spend the week talking about Characterization and Motivation because I believe the two are tied together. For today I’m just giving you an intro and trying to get some discussion going, but we’ll talk about flaws and motivation this week as well.

So welcome to Characterization 101

At it’s heart, characterization is everything that makes up your character even if it doesn’t come into play on the pages of your book: The way they look, their job, their first love, their first kiss, their marital status, their bank account, their placement in the sibling hierarchy, their hopes, dreams and fears, how they think, how they perceive themselves and the world around them, and dozens of other nuances that go into breathing life into them and making them a memorable character.

That said, I have to confess that I watch way too much TV….(I know, big surprise right?) but I realized this weekend that one of the reasons I watch is…you guessed it, characterization. And the shows and movies I enjoy the most are the ones with great characters–same holds true for books BTW. Think about that for a minute. Think about the stuff you watch, and why. There’s a pop quiz at the end of this post.

One of my current favorites is SAVING GRACE. SG is a show that revolves around a female Oklahoma City detective who drinks too much, smokes like a chimney, nails anything that moves, and has turned her back on God. In the series opener, she’s drunk and she hits a man with her car, and then begs for help. God sends her a guardian angel who is, if nothing else, memorable as hell (pardon the pun)! That’s Earl. Over there on the right. Does he look like a guardian angel? Heeh!

Let’s get back to Grace…she is de-liciously flawed. And I do mean flawed! All of her vices make her interesting, but more than that, I think it’s the tiny things that keep her from crossing the point of no return that really truly count. Hear me out!

(more…)

I made this this weekend and OMG it’s the bestest chicken EVAH!!!!!First I’ll post the original recipe, then how I really did it.

INGREDIENTS

• 2 tablespoons creamy peanut butter
• 1/2 cup soy sauce
• 1/2 cup lemon or lime juice
• 1 tablespoon brown sugar
• 2 tablespoons curry powder
• 2 cloves garlic, chopped
• 1 teaspoon hot pepper sauce
• 6 skinless, boneless chicken breast halves - cubed

DIRECTIONS

1. In a mixing bowl, combine peanut butter, soy sauce, lime juice, brown sugar, curry powder, garlic and hot pepper sauce. Place the chicken breasts in the marinade and refrigerate. Let the chicken marinate at least 2 hours, overnight is best.
2. Preheat a grill to high heat.
3. Weave the chicken onto skewers, then grill for 5 minutes per side.

(more…)

Caridad Pineiro is guest blogging at SFC today! Stop by and comment for a chance to win a book!

Who would have thought a song called Handlebars…or as my kids call it, the “I can ride a bike with no handlebars” song, would actually be…good. The first time my son told me about the song, I laughed! I was like WTF! Then I heard it. Just wow…..Unfortunately UMG has disabled the embed feature but you can see the vid here on YouTube.

Must have for iPod. Band website here.

Happy Weekend everyone! It’s a Dark Knight weekend here!

All’s quiet on the home front (other than that incident with a pencil yesterday) but work is busy and will only get busier through the rest of the summer. Plus of course I have a new book coming out in uh like six weeks LOL OMG WTF *nailbite*

Rachel Caine (SQUEE!!!!!!!) is guest-blogging at SFC this Wednesday so be sure to stop by. Shes’ one of my fave YA writers–I HART her Morganville Vamps series!  Next week is the lovely Caridad Pinero and then……..Kelly Armstrong *faint* on July 30. *faint again*

I’ve discovered something sad about myself. I cannot resist a challenge–I’m a contest whore. See Deanna Lee did a quick contest for the Cobblestone Writers where all you had to do was ID the movie and scene where a certain something was said–it was from a movie that’s at least 20 years old*. And I won *blush*

BTW Charlene is looking for a new title for her book.  *sigh*Another challenge

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*The Last Starfighter