Well, it was a year ago today that I left my full-time magazine editor job to do freelance work and have more time to devote to my own writing. Alas, still no book sale, but there are things in the works. And today was a good writing day. I wrote an entire chapter, 16 pages, to push me past the 100 page mark on the newest women’s fiction novel. Yippie!

My friend Michelle has been collecting quotes for some time and sent me her file of favorites. I’ll be sharing some of these in the days ahead. Since I’m striving to become a published romance novelist, I think it’s appropriate to start off with a quote from the genre’s biggest star:

“Being a writer doesn’t make you neurotic. Neurotic people become writers.”
- Nora Roberts

I love whoever came up with the idea of all those extras you get on DVDs of movies. Recently, I’ve watched the DVD extras on the mini-series Into the West and the movie House of Flying Daggers. You get to hear interviews with the directors, the costumers, the actors who portray the main characters. For someone who can be a bit … uh … obsessive about movies she likes, it’s fabulous!

For House of Flying Daggers, I learned that the scene near the end of the movie where Leo and Jin are fighting in the snow was totally unexpected — the snow, not the scene. But it fits so well with the scene and the feeling of that part of the movie. Director Zhang Yimou said that it was an early October snowfall, but it ended up feeling like it was destined to be in the movie. It was also interesting to hear him talk about the movie’s theme that two people can truly fall in love at first sight. The movie only covers probably three days, but I believed Jin and Mei were deeply in love by the end.

The extra commentary on Into the West was fascinating since I’m a huge lover of the American West and its rich history. Six different directors worked on the episodes with Stephen Spielberg over the whole shebang. The amount of sets totaled more than 100. A tremendous amount of big-name talent (Josh Brolin, David Carradine, Wes Studi, Skeet Ulrich, Kerri Russell, Irene Bedard, etc.) and hundreds of extras made shooting scenes somewhat like being in charge of an army.

I was most impressed with the directors’ and producers’ determination to get everything historically accurate. The mini-series was about the clash of two cultures — the European-descent settlers of the West and the native peoples, mainly the Lakota, and how one (the settlers) eventually overwhelmed the other (the natives). So much horrid cinema had been produced in the past that made the Plains tribes little more than caricatures. This series showed how there were good and bad people on all sides and that history is not black and white. Unfortunately, history reveals that the white settlers produced more of these bad guys than the native peoples. Native American advisors, people like Charlie White Buffalo, a Lakota language professor in South Dakota, and elders who knew the rich history of their peoples, were on set to make sure the depictions were accurate and sensitive issues were handled appropriately.

Some authors have begun to add these types of extras to their work, either in the books themselves or on their author Web sites. I think it’s a great way to bring in more readers and keep them reading about the authors and their books longer. When I get published, I’d like to do something similar.

Writing update: I revised the old Ch. 1 of my young adult book, making it the new Ch. 2.

I mentioned in my previous post that Clannad had a song on the Last of the Mohicans soundtrack. The entire song can be heard on their Banba album. There’s something about that song and lots of Celtic music that just speaks to me. I don’t know if it’s because I have family roots in Ireland or it’s the beauty and rich history of the music, but every time I hear Celtic music I stop and listen. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve stopped at one of those music sample players in Target or Wal-Mart and punched the button for the Celtic selection. I found Clannad after hearing “I Will Find You” on the Last of the Mohicans soundtrack, but now I have both their Banba and Landmarks CDs.

Probably the first Celtic music purchase I made though was an Enya CD. Enya used to be a part of Clannad. I just love to sit and listen to her beautiful music. I see she has a new CD out — Amarantine.

I honestly can’t remember how I came upon Loreena McKennitt, but I’m glad I did. Her Book of Secrets is great. It even has the poem “The Highwayman” set to music. I can see it as if it were a movie playing on a screen. I’m wondering if I came upon her CD at one of the Scottish Highland Games I’ve attended. I love those too, by the way, particularly the competitions between the pipe and drum bands and the marketplace tents.

I do remember how I came upon Steve McDonald’s “Sons of Somerled”. It was playing in a shop in the tourist town of Gatlinburg, Tennessee when I was there on a vacation visiting the Great Smoky Mountains. The Appalachian Mountains, of which the Smokies are a part, have a deep Scots-Irish heritage, so you can find lots of books, CDs and other items in the area that have a Celtic or Highland feel. Listening to songs like “Sons of Somerled”, “Scotland the Brave” or “Wild Mountain Thyme”, you can almost believe you’re in the Scottish Highlands rather than the Appalachians.

I love the combination of Celtic and rock, and my favorite band in this area is Seven Nations. I’ve seen them in concert at the Glasgow Highland Games in Kentucky, and you just can’t beat great music and guys dancing around on stage in kilts with bagpipes. I LOVE bagpipes. Oh, I just checked their Web site and they’re coming back to the Glasgow Highland Games this year! Guess who’s going.

So, any other Celtic music lovers out there?

A friend asked me this week why I like movie soundtracks so much, and I’ve come to the conclusion that it’s because they evoke the deep emotions and the “feel” of the movies. I’ve been a movie lover my entire life, and when I see one with a great soundtrack, I add it to my collection. These soundtracks have everything from upbeat, danceable songs to haunting instrumental pieces. My newest addition, courtesy of a Christmas gift card from Barnes & Noble, is the soundtrack to Brokeback Mountain. It was nominated for a Golden Globe, but it lost out to Memoirs of a Geisha. Personally, I think the Brokeback Mountain one is better. My favorite tracks are “I Don’t Want to Say Goodbye” by Teddy Thompson (beautiful voice!) and the instrumental piece “The Wings”, which is what was playing on the trailers.

Another favorite I’ve added in the past year is to House of Flying Daggers, a Chinese film that is stunningly beautiful in its own right. This is one where I can really see the scenes in the movie based on the various tracks, especially “The Echo Game” and “The Peonyhouse” Listening to it makes me want to watch the movie again.

An older favorite, one I’ve played a gazillion times, is to Last of the Mohicans, one of my all-time favorite movies. When Clannad (one of my favorite Celtic bands) sings “I Will Find You”, I envision Nathaniel jumping down the waterfall then running through the forest to save Cora.

Continuing with the American history theme, last summer I also made my way to Best Buy to get the soundtrack to Into the West, the DreamWorks miniseries about the settling of the American West that played last summer on TNT. I believe Best Buy was the only place you could buy this soundtrack, and I loved the miniseries so much that I wanted the soundtrack. It’s another I’ve played over and over. I LOVE “World on Fire” by Sarah McLachlan and Robbie Robertson. “One World, One Nation” by Native American band Brule and “Angel Doves” by Mindy Smith are also great tracks.

Gladiator actually had two soundtracks come out, and yep, I have them both. The songs bring back scenes from the movie — the battle near the beginning, the fights in the Coliseum, the creepy emperor played so well by Joaquin Phoenix.

I know she gets made fun of sometimes, but I still love “My Heart Will Go On” by Celine Dion on the Titanic soundtrack. James Horner, who produced this soundtrack (along with others I own, like Troy, Braveheart and Glory), did a good job of conveying the excitement of the maiden voyage, the love between Jack and Rose, and then the sadness of the sinking through the music.

It’s no surprise that the soundtrack to The Phantom of the Opera is fantastic because, after all, the entire story is wrapped in music. I love the “Overture” with the deep organ music, “The Music of the Night”, “Masquerade” and “The Point of No Return”.

And just so you don’t think I’m stuck totally in the past, here’s a tribute to the Dirty Dancing soundtrack. This is one of the few movies I’ve seen in the movie theater twice and countless times on TV. I played the cassette tape so much that the names of the songs wore off and the tape started sounding funny. So I had to replace it with a CD. My three favorite tracks are “(I’ve Had) The Time of My Life” by Bill Medley and Jennifer Warnes, “She’s Like the Wind” by Patrick Swayze, and “Hungry Eyes” by Eric Carmen.

So, how about you? Do you like movie soundtracks? If so, why? And what are your favorites?

Writing update: I had two big freelance editing projects this week, so I had to take a few days to do those (and thus the absence from blogging). But it’s back to work today, doing some work on my young adult first chapter so I can send it to my critique group, then on to new writing on the women’s fiction.

I realized that Sunday was the one-year anniversary of the ol’ blog here. I’ve really enjoyed blogging for the past year, and what a difference a year makes. Last January, I only made 5 posts. So far this month — 18. I’m quite the chatty chick now, aren’t I?

I’ve been editing copy on two freelance projects all day, so I’m kind of brain-drained. So I went to Quizilla to find one of those nifty quizzes to put up tonight. Kind of cool that I found one with a Celtic theme since I love Celtic stuff — music, jewelry, clothing, etc. I’d love to visit Ireland someday, as soon as they create those teleporters like they have on Star Trek.

You are the Elder Tree.
You will rise from rags to riches and devote you

life to the service of others.

Which Celtic Tree are you?
brought to you by Quizilla

I’m tired tonight, so here’s a funny my sister sent me.

Did You Ever Wonder?

Why do they report power outages on TV?

I’ve been too busy to blog the past couple of days with a freelance editing project and my good pal Stephanie Feagan being in town to speak at my local RWA chapter meeting. Stef did a great program on Taxes and the Writer, just in time for tax season. She’s a wonderful speaker on this topic because she’s both a writer and a CPA. And if you’ve not checked out her wonderfully funny Pink Pearl series from Silhouette Bombshell, get thee to one of the online bookstores and order Show Her the Money and She’s On the Money. You won’t be sorry! I’m reading She’s On the Money now and laughing myself silly.

Work is progressing on my new women’s fiction novel targeted toward NEXT. I plan to add quite a few more pages tomorrow after having to set it aside over the weekend.

To close out the week, here’s your Make-You-Smile Picture of the Day. I know, a shocker — more puppies!

Recently, I’ve been watching reruns of Little House on the Prairie on TV Land. This was my favorite show when I was growing up, and the stories still hold up. That’s not always the case for programs we liked as children. I remember liking Land of the Lost when I was a kid, but I saw a rerun years later and just sat there wondering how I could have ever liked such a bad show. And I always watched The Dukes of Hazzard in first-run, but now when I see reruns they just seem a million times cheesier.

So, are there any shows that you enjoyed as a child that when watched years later either did or didn’t hold up?

Today’s writing progress: 12 pages on the new women’s fiction. Yay! Watch that progress bar go.

And today’s Make-You-Smile Picture of the Day…isn’t this the cutest? It’s like he’s saying, “Hey, Ma, let me tell you a secret.”

Time to address the tag Mary sent my way.

What were you doing 10 years ago?

Working at an insurance company (bleh!) and writing.

What were you doing one year ago?

Getting ready to quit my job at the magazine and writing.

Five snacks you enjoy

Oatmeal chocolate chip cookies
Doritos
Pringles
My sister-in-law’s cheese ball with crackers
Chcolate-covered strawberries

Five songs to which you know all the lyrics

Living on a Prayer by Bon Jovi
It’s My Life by Bon Jovi
Making Love Out of Nothing at All by Air Supply
Total Eclipse of the Heart by Bonnie Tyler
can’t think of another and as a rule I can only remember the words if I’m singing along

Five things you would do if you were a millionaire

Buy my sister and my parents new houses
Get a beach house in Florida.
Travel a lot
Make donations to projects in the nationa parks
Buy two new hybrid vehicles for me and the hubby

Five bad habits

Chewing my lips
Eating stuff I shouldn’t
Spending too much time online
Sleeping in too late on the weekends
I’m sure there’s something else, but I can’t think of it right now.

Five things you like doing

Reading
Writing
Watching movies
Road trips
Hiking

Five things you would never buy or wear again

Bathing suit
Leg warmers
Pointy high heels
Halter top
Spandex

Five favorite toys

Computer
MP3 player
DVD player
Digital camera
Car (for those road trips)

Five people I’m tagging

Y
Meankitty
Colleen
Stef
Kendra

***

Today’s writing progress: 10 pages! Woohoo, I get to change the progress bar.

And today’s Make-You-Smile picture of the day…more cute little doggies. What are these, corgis?

Well, we have our first snow of the season on the ground. It’s not much, and it’s not on the streets, but the yard is white. It fell after dark or I would post a picture. It’s likely to be gone by lunch tomorrow. Still, it’s enough to make a gal want to sit inside and write.

It didn’t take a snowfall to get me in front of the computer today though. I pulled out the laptop and sat at the dining room table for a change of locale and wrote nine new pages on my young adult revisions. This is a new chapter one to address some issues the editor had when I talked to him. It felt good to write new material. While I await some critiques from my critique partners, I’ll skip over to working on my women’s fiction tomorrow and hopefully be able to move the progress bar on this blog page over a little by tomorrow night.

I still need to blog about another of those tags Mary sent my way, but I’ll save that until tomorrow. Until then, here’s your make-you-smile picture of the day, courtesy of my 9-year-old niece who now has her very own e-mail address.

Aww, puppies…