So, this week’s three blogs I’d like to recommend:

1. One Word, One Rung, One Day: Travis Erwin is a writer (and blogger) with a unique perspective and a wacky sense of humor.

2. Sarakastic. This one is cheating a little because I’ve been reading her for a while, but she’s not yet included on my ‘Places to Go’ sidebar, so judging by laziness standards, she’s new. A very snarky perspective.

3. Little Black Dress Books Author Phillipa Ashley. A very jaunty British blog. Honestly? I just like reading all those curious-sounding expressions.

Got this meme from Liz’s blog, and although I wasn’t tagged, I thought it would be good for me to do it.

Make a list of five strengths that you possess as a writer/artist. It’s not really bragging, it’s an honest assessment (forced upon you by this darn meme). Please resist the urge to enumerate your weaknesses, or even mention them in contrast to each strong point you list. Tag four other writers or artists whom you’d like to see share their strengths. (Please consider yourself tagged if you’re interested. I don’t want to put anyone on the spot).

1. Voice. I’ve been told before that my writing voice is very strong, that it comes through even in my synopses, and that it’s very unique.

2. Humor. I try. I think I’m at least somewhat successful in weaving humorous situations and witty repartee into my writing.

3. Resilience. I’m willing to shift, adjust, tweak, and revise ad nauseum–I’m not the type to give up on a story. I’m also willing to try virtually any writing technique at least once.

4. Yummy heroes. I’ve been told. I definitely try.

My in-laws are having one of my husband’s childhood friends over for dinner tonight, and we were invited to come too. Then it was discovered that the friend’s parents would be in town, so that warranted another call to our house…just an FYI. Then it was discovered that the mother of the friend is celebrating her 60th birthday. So another call came through to tell us that my in-laws would be using the dinner as sort of a birthday party. I asked if I could bring dessert.

And not only to be polite. My mother-in-law doesn’t really do dessert. She’ll admit that herself. She doesn’t really get this I don’t think, but the problem is that she’s all over the substitute. She never follows the recipe exactly, and sweets, particularly baked goods, are hard to tweak without prior experimentation. She believes olive oil and vegetable oil are interchangable in a cookie/cake recipe–they’re not. She uses wheat flour in cookies, which is perfectly fine if you’re going for a nutritious cookie, but I’m not–never am. When I was first dating my husband (in high school), we were hanging out at his house and decided to make chocolate chip cookies. So I read the package and got out the ingredients, including the 16 cup canister of sugar. Mixed everything up and just happened to lick the spoon. HORRIDLY DISGUSTING! That huge canister? Salt. The sugar was in a miniscule box tucked way back in the pantry. So as you can see, sweets are not a priority. But I digress…

I’d thought, when I volunteered, that I’d be bringing cake or cupcakes from a mix with homemade frosting–something simple. But instead, I was thanked for the offer and faxed a suggestion dessert: White Chocolate Cheesecake with Raspberry Sauce. Uh-huh. So here I am thinking it’s going to take me a whole morning to prepare this, and even then I won’t be sure how it’ll turn out, when my husband suggests that I just buy a cheesecake. At first that sounds like a cop-out–I mean, I did volunteer to make a dessert. But then I get to thinking…I’ll just buy a nice looking cheesecake, top it with the white chocolate glaze, and mix up the raspberry sauce on the side. So that’s the plan. The naked cheesecake is in the fridge, and this morning I’m making the sauces.

My husband, who doesn’t like cheesecake or raspberries, is getting a single, pre-packaged slice of key lime pie from the frozen food section, courtesy of his mother. I’ll let you know if I get any compliments or if the whole thing blows up in my face.

And…
Some Publishers Weekly news from last week’s fabulous interviewee…
Mystery/Crime
Tasha Alexander’s TEARS OF PEARL, taking continuing heroine Lady Emily to Ottoman Constantinople where her visit is interrupted by the slaying of one of the sultan’s harem girls, plunging her investigation into an alien world of luxury and deadly intrigue, to Andrew Martin and Charles Spicer at Minotaur, in a pre-empt, for two books, by Anne Hawkins at John Hawkins & Associates (world).

Last week while weeding, I was listening to a recording of Eloisa James speaking at the RWA National Conference this past July. When she announced the title of her talk: ‘The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Historical’, I had my doubts. I don’t know anything about The Hitchhiker’s Guide, and I’m not really much of a fan of space-related fantasy. But I was surprised. First of all, she’s an awesome speaker. I’m sure she gets plenty of practice as a professor, but still. She sounded very with-it and approachable.

The basic meat of her talk was that to write a historical (or any book that is not of this time and place), you not only need to have done your research, immersing yourself in the history, social mores, clothing, food, etc. of the era, you need to find what makes you indispensible to a reader of that period. You need to discover what it is you provide to the reader that they don’t get elsewhere–that thing that keeps them coming back. To do that, you need to bring something of yourself and of contemporary life to your work. For Ms. James, in part, that means a detailed knowledge of the life and times of Shakespeare (among other things)–and having read some of her novels, there are definite hints of that specialized knowledge.

In writing Unladylike Pursuits, I think I brought a healthy dose of sarcasm and a love of the historical: I wanted to write a book like the ones I’d been reading for years and years. For my next book, it’s more than that. This one has a lot of little pieces of me, characters based loosely on people I know or have known, a very familiar setting–a city I lived in myself, and a heroine with mostly male friends, to name a few. This all sounds very much like writing what you know. And it is. But to write a historical, ‘what you know’ comes from research; it’s what’s available to everyone. So to put a fresh spin on your story, find inspiration in your own life, current events, or even pop culture, and then overlay that idea or theme onto your research to create a truly unique approach.

I thought her talk was wonderful, but I think I’m not explaining it well here. If you have a chance, I’d recommend you give it a listen. Otherwise, just try to find your unique perspective on life and overlay it on the world you’re creating. Now you know why I don’t give talks.