Getting Rosie
I’ve been obsessed with this Liz Danger stuff, probably because I’m at the point in my real book where I want to club it over the head and make it go away, but I can’t let go of it until it’s done. I’d almost rather clean the house than work on it. Almost. Instead my head keeps going to designing faux covers for the books written by a character I may never write a novel for (four books down the line, five if you count the one I’m slogging through now). But it’s all been an excellent exercise is building character, both Liz Danger and Rosie the writer.
I already knew the basic things about Rosie and the VERY rough outline of her plot, and I knew she’d have a website. So I asked Mollie for a cheap website building program to use just for brainstorming and she said, “You already have one. It comes with your Mac.” And there it was: iWeb. The lovely thing about programs like this is that they give you templates, in the case of iWeb, twenty-six templates. It’s like collage: you go through and say, “No, that’s not Rosie, that’s not Rosie,” and end up with the one that fits. In Rosie’s case, the comic book template leaped out and said, “Hi, Rosie would love me.” Building her home page and her bio page really gave me her public persona; it’s the shield she puts up for the world. And of course it fits Liz Danger, too.
The big surprise has been how figuring out the titles and covers and now the blurb copy for those books gives me more of Rosie. The Liz books are tongue-in-cheek, over the top, first person mysteries about a woman who, in the beginning books, does a Modesty Blaise and sleeps with a different guy in each story as she solves crime! But as I skipped around in the series figuring out plots based on the titles, I realized that Liz was going to need best friends and love interests and other commonalities that keep people coming back for a series. Knowing readers, they’d attach to the first guy Liz slept with, and Rosie would hate that and try to keep switching Liz’s guys and finally give in, but only when the readers started asking for a second love interest they liked. Then she’d alternate those guys in a couple of books along with new men. The books with the new men wouldn’t be as popular and she’d finally give in. Rosie also gives Liz a best friend, Jill, who’s in trouble in the first one because Jill’s problem gives Liz a reason to investigate a murder. I didn’t know how our middle-class Liz was going to mix with blue bloods, so I gave her a rich former college roommate named Molly Blue who called on Liz when she had trust fund trouble. And then I started doing the blurbs and realized that I will inevitably do turning points for these stories because they’re starting to grow in my head.
The best thing about them is that Rosie writes them, not me, so any writing inhibitions I’d have are gone. Rosie has no writing inhibitions. She and Liz just swing for the fences. So while I’ll be footling around with these things for years, literally, they’ve really already accomplished what I needed: They’ve given me Liz and through her Rosie. And when I go to write Rosie’s story, I’ll know who she is because I know what she writes and how she writes it and why she writes it.
So it looks like I’ve just been playing around–okay, I have been playing around–but it’s the fastest I’ve ever gotten a character.
Here’s a rough draft of the first of the blurbs:
I haven’t had so much fun writing since we started Dogs and Goddesses. And now I must go finish Dogs and Goddesses.
Or clean the house.
Molly Blue…no relation.
How bad is it that I, too, did not know about iWeb? I mean, I kind of knew it was there in the abstract…but now I must go play with it. Much better then cleaning the house.
But you have to finish D&G, because we want to read it. And Liz and Rosie…we want to read those, too. I’ll come and clean your house if that will help.
Or you can come here and help me house train our new rescue puppy. Or help me name him. http://www.prairieanimalrescue.org and in the search function on the right put in Brown Sugar. He’s bigger now than he was when those first pictures were taken.
I love how you procrastinate. It may seem like a break, but you’re still turning out good copy. Okay, schlocky copy, but an excellent rendition of it. And as for Liz’s guys, she reminds me of Janet Evanovich’s characters, since it seems like every guy is in love with Stephanie (although she supposedly is not a bit noteworthy in appearance).
Most of these guys are not in love with Liz. Liz is more of a good time girl, much like Rosie. Even Vince the cop and Nick the mayor are ambivalent about her until the books get into the teens. Liz is not a cuddly person.
Yes, I said the mayor. Heh heh heh.
I know, these aren’t even real characters, but as I said, I’m obsessed.
Office Wench, he’s DARLING. And now he’s in a great home, too. Much better story than Liz Danger.
it makes me so happy that eventually you’re gonna come out with more books of just your doing (ya, ya collaborations are fun but there is something more special about your single-author titles).
could you possibly post all the references to the color murder mysteries? like the lavender green song - never heard of it and interested to google now (you have the coolest jennictionary of random stuff - i.e. walking ware from fast women, btw whats up with slow men?).
also, the 2009 release is it of Dogs & Goddesses? And is it fall/summer/etc. release?
i ramble. it’s part of the charm. pardon.
Don’t know when D&G is scheduled yet.
Lavender’s Dead, Killer, Killer/Lavender’s Blue Dilly Dilly (song)
Rest in Pink/Rest in Peace
Shrieking Violet/Shrinking Violet
Peaches and Scream/Peaches and Cream
Blue Blood/Blue Blood
Silver Scream/Silver Streak (movie)
Yellow Brick Roadkill/Yellow Brick Road
One in Vermillion/One in a Million
Blood Curdling Green/Blood-curdling Scream
Blue Suede Shoots/Blue Suede Shoes (song)
Six Foot Umber/Six Foot Under
Blush with Death/Brush with Death
Gold Dead Fingers/Goldfinger (book)
Tan Little Corpses/Ten Little Indians (book)
Bet on Black/ no allusion
“Always bet on black.” Wesley Snipes, Passenger 57.
You Go, Jenny!
That sweaty maniac, Sven, is glaring at me again.
Guess I’m going to burn a house down right after dinner.
Wow - you guys have been busy!
But it’s not fair to tease Jenny. How long do we have to wait for Liz and Rosie?
OK, am I the only one bugged that Bet in Black isn’t a takeoff on something? Any chance it could be “Back in Black?”
Or, any chance that you’ll come an clean my house? I’m doing it, but not very well this week. I think I may be moving back into book mode.
Some time, I’d like to know more about the “inhibitions” of writing. Your work doesn’t seem inhibited. It seems perfectly balanced and complete. This is writer stuff, Nez Perce?
“Bet on Black”….That “Little Black Dress”???
What’s a little dust here and there….or a plate or two on the counter?
Much better for all to have you writing for us to read.
It has to be Bet On Black. I did think of Back in Black, but I thought that might be too obscure. Oh, well, it’s from Back in Black.
Inhibitions of writing: You police yourself, thinking, “No, that’s going to far for what you write,” which is my case is marginally realistic fiction. Liz Danger is obviously not marginally realistic, so I can do anything I want without anybody saying, “Oh, that would never happen.”
Except I’m not going to write the Liz Danger stuff, if I write this I’d be writing the marginally realistic Rosie story.
But if I were going to write Liz Danger, I’d let my buried Pratchett come out to play. Well, not that far, but close.
But I’m not going to.
In other news, I have my parts of the first two acts of D&G edited. I’m feeling quite chuffed with myself. Act Three coming right up. Then we all have to do Act Four together and it’s done.
Which means I go back to AKMG tomorrow. VERY excited about that. Life is good.
LOL. Sounds like a great, fun way to write. I’ll have to try it. Thanks for the enterntainment.
Someone was starving that gorgeous puppy? That’s beyond dreadful. Way beyond. Office Wench, you’re a hero.
Not me. The real heroes are are the people who foster the animals and run the rescues. The ones who take in that just one more dog or cat from a kill shelter even though they don’t really have room. I think everyone who gets an animal from a rescue or a shelter or reports someone who is abusing their animals deserves a pat on the back. There’s an elderly man in my town who lives on social assistance and old age pension and he has a well cared for dachshund cross and feeds a bunch of stray cats. He’s a hero.
Me? I’m lucky, I got a great dog.
The sad thing is that so many people create their own pet problems by not teaching, training and disciplining their animals when they are little. And in the end its the dog or cat or horse or pot bellied pig or rabbit or tortoise that pays the price. Makes me mad.
Amen, Office Wench!
And Jenny, why bury your Inner Pratchett? That seems a shame. Are you afraid that the occasional Pune, or Play on Words, would distract from the rest of your story? Or are you not happy writing omniscient?
Ooooh, this is great. I’m betting the past few days of letting your creative inner child come out and play and just run wild with the whole Liz Danger stuff was invigorating. Your return to writing the current ms. will be even better for the break.
I thought Silver Scream was from Silver Screen. Ah well…
I wish you were going to write both the Liz and Rosie books.
Ooooh, Silver Screen is better.
Because then I don’t have to write a blurb for a train book. Thanks you, cbpen.
You should farm out the Liz Books, like they do for Nancy Drew. Okay, that is too much lightning. Going dark for now.
Thanks again for the entertaining read…this may help my cravings…I have reread your books many times to get the benefit of your wit.
Take care and happy editing.
wait wait … MODESTY BLAISE??? Someone else who READ Modesty Blaise? lol
You really have to get that pseudonym up and running and write the Liz Danger books - what about in the form of graphic novels???
Lovely but…I yearn for a finished book.
carol_d on March 3rd, 2008 at 9:11 am
wait wait … MODESTY BLAISE??? Someone else who READ Modesty Blaise? lol
Don’t worry, you’re not alone! I’ve been a huge fan since I was about twelve. And she’s not nearly as slutty as Jenny makes her sound…not by James Bond standards, anyway
Right. There were Modesty Blaise books out here in Germany and I don’t remember her as a slut.
Modesty Blaise’s sexual history was very clearly set out in the books, and makes complete sense. This is probably not the place to enter into it in detail, but it is certainly not a case of casual promiscuity.
I, too, am a huge fan. Really great books.
Incidentally, as far as I know, Peter O’Donnell is still alive (born 1920). Has anyone read his historical romances under the pseudonym Madeleine Brent? I have not come across them.
I thought the Rosie book would have excerpts of the Liz book as she works on it - and they would intertwine just so …
Chuffed. That word makes me happy. But then, so does “bollocks.”
Moving on.
I suppose Black Betty doesn’t really work (if you’re going for the whole casino thing)?Or how about Blackjack? Black Sheep? Black Magic?
Must. Stop.
Ha! Would the Lavender Havisham’s last name be lifted from Great Expectations?
AgTigress - you can find Madeleine Brent on Amazon.co.uk. I haven’t read any yet, but let me know what you think if you get one.
Back In Black, for the AC/DC album. The prodigal daughter returns to town for her parents’ funeral. Much loud music ensues.
Black eye. Black-eyed peas. Black out. Black ball. Black list. Paint it Black. Black and blue. Black coffee. Black Monday. Black Friday. Black Cat. Black Cat, White Knuckles. Black Pepper. Blackened Redfish (yes, the eighties called and they want their cuisine back.) Black-eyed Susan. Perry Mason had The Case of the Black-eyed Blonde. Black Lace. Black mood.
Black Coffee, White Out. Oy.
I am so very sorry.
Madeleine Brent is a MAN? Holy Toledo! I’ve read several of them (Stranger at Wildings, Stormswift, Tregaron’s Daughter and at least one other that may be Golden Urchin). I enjoyed them - good story-telling and very interesting situations. It never occurred to me, but the fact that the author is a man might explain some of the feel of the books. They’re definitely on the Gothic/ Suspense side, with quite a lot of adventure.
On the whole, I think the men get less sympathetic treatment than the female characters…
Diane (TT) you beat me to the punch with your comment. I too read and enjoyed all the Madeleine Brent novels I could find “back in the day”. I never would have guessed that the author was a man although the book’s protagonist damsels-in-distress did have a less “woe-is-me” feel than most of the heroines depicted in historicals back then. Anybody remember Barbara Cartwright? Yuck!
Modesty Blaise, and Peter O’Donnell, in whatsoever form he is writing - rocks. Even though I prefer the Modesty novels - simply because of the characterization of Modesty and Willie.
Love the set up of things, Jenny, but please finish D&G - wanna read it SO bad!
How come Molly gets to be rich and Jill is probably in jail ?
Black widow, Black Hole of Calcutta, Black Hole, In the Black (Liz’s agency finally turns a profit, which is good, because with her new accountant, there is Hell to Pay.) Black Tower, Black Watch, Black Roots (The autopsy revealed the dead blonde was keeping a secret.) Black Hand Society, Black Lung, Little Black Distress, Black Velvet Underground, Treading Blackwater, Black Ops, Black Snake, Black Dirt, Black Gold, Fade to Black.
Barbara Cartwright? The voice of Homer Simpson?
Honor Blackman. Heh heh.
No, no, Jill is INNOCENT. She was just standing there, making sure everybody got fed. Hmmm, maybe she’s a wedding planner, the one who organizes everything. But no, she’s a recurring character.
In an imaginary book.
Yep, swiped Havisham from Dickens. Because I liked the name Lavender Havisham.
I am trying to fix Shar’s love scenes in D&G right now. Third act. Really, you want me to work on these.
And the last book has to have “Bet” in the title, not black. And be short. It’s her fifteenth book and the title has to be short and begin with “Bet.” Yes, there’s a reason.
Bet Me.
Bette Noir.
That’ll do. For me.
Bet on Jack Black?
How weird we Argh People are. Now Bet on Black is perfectly fine, AND there is a reason the title must be like that, and yet we’re trying to change it.
Now I have a “She’s Got Bette Davis Eyes” earworm.
“Her hair is Harlowe gold,her lips sweet surprise
Her hands are never cold, she’s got Bette Davis eyes”
Actually, I think that song works very well with the book covers.
And, I’m not really sure why this came up under “be on black” , but here is a good video by Guiness
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DQ5s6PLB44U&feature=related
The term bête noire (IPA: /ˌbeɪtˈnwɑr/ or [bɛt nwaʀ]; French for black beast) refers to someone or something unwanted or even hated, a pet peeve or strong annoyance.
In this case, bette is pronounced “bet” not “betty.” I loved Bette Davis. Talk about swing for the fences!
I think “Bet Me” triggered Bette (Betty) for me. That, then reading your suggestion.
And, I forgot to ask Jenny, is there another Nick in this book? (Not that I don’t like the other Nicks — I really do actually…)
Now Bet on Black is perfectly fine, AND there is a reason the title must be like that, and yet we’re trying to change it.
I’m not trying to change it. I just can’t stop. First earworm, now titleworm. Titleworm pulpyis coloris.
Bet Noir is good.
Bet on Cadet
Better than Butter
That does it. I’m shutting down the computer.
http://www.powells.com/cgi-bin/biblio?inkey=17-0887390064-0
I too am procrastinating - my house is clean - but your procrastination seems to have been a lot more fun!
Black Bet? Like Black Death.
The Black Body Bag
I’m sorry if this has already been mentioned; don’t have time to read all the comments yet. BUT, I read a book (I think it was called Wild Angel or something like that) and it was not bad. But what was fascinating was the author’s afternote — apparently s/he was writing the book while pretending to be someone else, who was also a writer pretending to be someone else. There were at least three gender switches involved, and it was quite complicated. The book wasn’t that complicated, on first read anyway. But it was interesting to see the TORTURE this writer put itself through — and I think s/he said it was quite a freeing experiment.
You have the Betty Davis earworm and that gave me the parody earworm: she’s got ‘Lizabeth Taylor thighs….
Yikes!! I’ve got to go find another song somewhere….
Oh, I thought it was a take off on “Silver Screen” too.
It’s hard to top Bet on Black, but now my head will keep toying with variations all day long. I have to admit I do like Bet Noir as being a cool play on words. And I can almost see the cover in my head too. A comic book version of a Mickey Spillane bookcover.
you could just always use “bet your life” expression and insert a color like “bet your beige life”.
Or there is always the old cliche of “I’ll bet a dollar to a doughnut” (1. To be very sure of something; To guess with a great amount of certainty.) So it could be, “I’ll bet a deceased to a brown doughnut”.
And since I’m seriously avoiding work, here are a couple others:
All poppy red bets are off (could be an opium/drug mystery)
Betting the cornflower blue farm
Bet you were bored to blood red fears
ya ya, they’re too long, but nether can they all be gems.
Ooooh, Bet Noir.
Who said that first? LtL? I love it. I’m changing it to that.
I am desperately trying to finish D&G so I can get to AKMG before Bob comes on Tuesday to work on HWSW and WR.
It’s like alphabet soup. Except not good for me.
I believe it was Ltl, although she also suggested Bet Me, which is both clever and catchy, but, um, I do believe that title has been used before
Although … that would be an awfully clever inside joke.
Oooh! Jenny pulling a Hitchcock in her own books! Brilliant!
Just for the record, I just put in Bang, Bang, Black Sheep because I wanted one of them to be about yarn. So Magdiego scores again!
LtL said it. I just removed the extra letters from her Bette Noir or Bête Noire to make it Bet Noir.
Good luck with D&G, AKMG and Bob! All of this productivity is bound to be good for us someday, even if not in this calendar year. The blogs help to tide us over.
You know, if you’re going to allow French colors (jaune, rouge, blanche and, of course, cerise, if you want to be self-referential), it opens up whole new realms of punning, but I will not go there because I am mentally non-functional.
Let’s hope it improves, because I’m pretty sure I’ll have to function eventually, or do a better job of faking it! So to speak.
Oooh … the mention of Faking It demands a new title:
Rouge’s Gallery
You ought to farm out the Liz Danger books to the Aargh People–not just the titles, but blurbs, quotations, and maybe even whole books.
Did anyone notice that the author of YOU PLAY THE BLACK AND THE RED COMES UP is the same guy who wrote the LASSIE books and THE FLYING YORKSHIREMAN? Talk about your change of pace….