Book Endings

Don't cheat when it comes to endings.

Don't write that wild adventure only to have it turn out to all have been a dream. Readers will be disappointed, even angry, and editors will disapprove.

Do make your ending believable. Yes, the ending can certainly be a surprise, but it has to make sense within the context of the story.

Don't make the ending too easy. If problem could have been solved anywhere throughout the story by the main character clearing up a misunderstanding, the ending is weak. (TV sitcoms rely on the easily-cleared-up misunderstanding way too often! But that's television comedy.)

Do have the main character be the one who is most affected and who is the one who solves the problem. He/she can have some help, but no magical outside force or overeager parents saving the day, please.

Stop when the story ends. Yes, readers may wish for more, because they've been involved with characters throughout the book and are reluctant to say goodbye to them. But once there's been a resolution to the problem, that's it. It doesn't really hurt to leave the readers wanting more, as long as the story has reached a conclusion.

Little Miss Fluffy-Bottom

Otherwise known as Colette (the cat).

We adopted Colette, our gray kitty with white chin and paws, when she was about 9 months old. She was very timid and quiet, and someone had shaved her tail. Her fur was said to be medium-length.

Well, once she made herself at home at our house, Colette was no long shy, retiring and quiet. She became one of the most playful, meowiest cats we've ever had. Oh, and that medium-length fur? Let's just say that is now long. Very long.

Fortunately, Colette loves to manage her fur and can spend what seems like hours grooming it. Occasionally I have to brush her, but that's in the summer when she's been outside gathering all sorts of plant-and-tree debris in her lovely locks.

Colette's fastidiousness extends to her toilet habits. Though she is an indoor-outdoor kitty, she will come into the house to use the litter box. I guess, like many humans, she prefers her own bathroom.

Unlike previous cats who have resided here, Colette is not a fighter. Oh, she will chase another cat out of the yard--if that cat is smaller and easily intimated. With some cats her own size she simply stares at them from afar, occasionally hissing or growing from that safe distance. If another cat seems at all threatening to her, she is up on the shelf outside the kitchen window in almost an instant. We've never had to take her to the vet to treat a wound inflicted by another cat.

From inside the house she will get excited about seeing birds on the deck. But outside she takes that watch-from-afar stance. Maybe the fact that some of the crows out there are as big, if not bigger, than she is has something to do with that. In any case, the birds are safe from her.

Colette takes forever to settle in when she wants to sleep on my lap. She meows and head-butts until I pick her up and place her so that her head is in the crook of my arm. Then there's some more (demanding) meowing until I scratch her head and chin and she finally falls asleep, stretched across me until it seems as if she is at least 3 feet long!

Needless to say, with Colette there is rarely the dull moment. :)

Treat Your Writing as a Career

Even if you have a full-time job.

You might not have a lot of time to write, especially if you have a job, be it full time or part time. Or if you're an at-home Mom. Or for any number of reasons, your writing time may be limited.

But even if you can write only an hour a day, or even only an hour a week, treat the time as you would the time you put in at any other job. Don't skip it on a whim. Don't tell yourself you'll put in twice as much time next week to make up for not writing this week.

Sure, there will be sick days and even vacation days. But only when you are *really* sick should you skip your writing time. And schedule vacation days from writing as you would from any other job.

Mark your writing time on the calendar or smartphone or however you keep track of anything important. Because your writing time is important--or at least it should be, if you really want writing to be your career.

The Romance Reviews Anniversary Party!

Non-deep Thoughts

- I went to San Francisco. I found someone's heart. Now what?...

- Protons have mass? I didn't even know they were Catholic.

- All I ask is a chance to prove that money can't make me happy.

- If the world were a logical place, men would ride horses sidesaddle.

- What is a "free" gift? Aren't all gifts free?

- They told me I was gullible ... And I believed them.

- Teach a child to be polite and courteous in the home and, when he grows up, he'll never be able to merge his car onto a freeway.

- Two can live as cheaply as one, for half as long.

- Is there another word for synonym?

- Where do forest rangers go to "get away from it all"?

- The speed of time is one second per second.

- Is it possible to be totally partial?

- What's another word for thesaurus?

- Is Marx's tomb a communist plot?

- If swimming is so good for your figure, how do you explain whales?

- Show me a man with both feet firmly on the ground, and I'll show you a man who can't get his pants off.

-It's not an optical illusion. It just looks like one.

- Is it my imagination, or do buffalo wings taste like chicken?

- Experience is the thing you have left when everything else is gone.

- What if there were no hypothetical questions?

- One nice thing about egotists: They don't talk about other people.

- When the only tool you own is a hammer, every problem begins to look like a nail.

- A flashlight is a case for holding dead batteries.

- What was the greatest thing before sliced bread?

- My weight is perfect for my height -- which varies.

- I used to be indecisive. Now I'm not sure.

- The cost of living hasn't affected its popularity.

- How can there be self-help "groups"?

- I planted some bird seed. A bird came up. Now I don't know what to feed it.

Writing the Perfect Book

It's not going to be perfect. So what do you do?

You just keep writing.

Just grind it out. The next day re-read what you wrote. It may sound better than you thought it would. If not, you'll probably have some idea on how to make it better. But don't worry about it being perfect. For one thing, you can rewrite and polish later. For another, nothing is perfect, so don't expect to write the perfect book.

What you can do is write the best book that you can write. It will be your idea. Your voice. Your story.

That wonderful book that you had in your mind before you ever sat down and actually started writing is never going to be perfect.

But don't give up. Just keep writing.

Merry Christmas or Happy Holidays?

Why not both? I've heard and read a lot of discussion about people not saying Merry Christmas any more. Well, I still hear Merry Christmas, quite often, in fact. But I do also hear Happy Holidays too.

I celebrate Christmas. So I say Merry Christmas--to those I know who also celebrate Christmas. Otherwise, I say Happy Holidays. I feel that's inclusive. There are several holidays in December, and of course there is New's Day in January. So Happy Holidays can cover a lot of ground, especially if you are saying it to someone early in the month who you probably won't see again for another month or so.

Store clerks are probably instructed to say Happy Holidays, because they don't usually know what holidays their customers might celebrate. And, of course, the customers might not know what, if any, holidays the store workers celebrate. So again, Happy Holidays covers it all.

Since already I'm seeing ads for Christmas on TV and in newspapers and magazines, and Christmas music will be taking over some of the radio stations either just before or just after Thanksgiving, depending on the station, I think there's plenty of Christmas in the air.

And of course decorations will be showing up in stores, churches, homes and in many businesses. The businesses may have more generic decorations, such as snow scenes, since, again, not everyone working at or coming into the business will necessarily be celebrating Christmas. But there will be Santas and Christmas villages and angels and Nativity scenes in many places.

So, it's early, but let me wish you Merry Christmas or Happy Holidays--whichever works for you!