Aren’t I fancy with the accent on the passé? Drove me nuts trying to get it to appear. Then I remembered, gotta use the number pad, NOT the keyboard numbers. Yes, when the mind works, it’s a wonderful thing.

Last week, on one of my writing lists, a writer I respect said she feels that blogs are becoming passé, if they aren’t already. That, basically, in this age of social networking (MySpace, Facebook, etc.) and micro-blogging (Twitter, some aspects of Facebook), blogs are no longer the “place to be” (my words, not hers). I’ve been thinking about this. I personally don’t feel that blogs are passé. Yes, I have a MySpace page and I’m on Facebook, but I still feel blogs are a great way for writers to connect with readers and other writers. For one thing, you don’t have to belong to a blogging network in order to read and post on a blog. At least, you don’t have to with WordPress blogs (such as mine). You don’t have to log in. The most you might have to do is enter a bunch of mixed-up letters in a Captcha and provide a valid email address so you aren’t relegated to spam.

Some blogs do require commenters to log in, but it’s not a must across the board, like it is with Facebook and MySpace, etc.

I’m not into MySpace. It was fun in the beginning, but I quickly grew tired of receiving friend requests from people with huge, ungainly layouts that take forever to load (and I’m on cable). I’ll maintain my presence there, but I’m not actively seeking friends on MySpace.

I enjoy Facebook much more than MySpace, and, I admit, I primarily like Facebook because I play FB Scrabble with several writer friends there. Like when I’m eating lunch or printing out pages for a scene I’ve just drafted and need to revise. Or when my mind needs a quick, two-minute break.

Blogs, for me, are easy, because I keep a list of my favorite blogs in my blogroll. A couple times a week, it’s easy to click through and read what my favorite bloggers have been up to. Again, usually, no logging in. If I have to log in to comment on someone’s blog, I’m far less likely to comment.

What about you? Do you prefer blogs or social networking sites like MySpace or micro-blogging sites like Twitter? If you don’t blog, do you feel pressure to blog? (Why?) If you don’t belong to social networking sites, why or why not? Do you feel that you should join? Do you wish the proliferation of social networking sites WOULD JUST STOP so you wouldn’t have to worry about it?

If you weren’t an author, would you have a presence on Facebook or MySpace or Twitter? If you weren’t an author, would you have a blog?

Or is it whipping me?

Lesson Learned: Never announce on a public forum that you WILL have your work in progress finished by such-and-such date. Because unless you’re working to an editor-set deadline and have no choice but to deliver the project by said date, odds are something will happen to trip you up. Trip me up, anyway.

I’m still writing and revising the last few scenes of my mystery romance. No excuses, really, other than Elle Muse kept wanting me to change the villain at the last moment. It didn’t make a whole lot of sense to change the villain, but because she kept hankering about it, of course I had to spend tons of subconscious thought time subconscious-thinking about it. Not to mention the additional conscious thinking time. I don’t know about you, but all that subconscious- and conscious-thinking time impacts on my writing progress. In the end, I went with my original villain. Thanks a lot, Elle Muse!

Then, as a result of the crappy economy, My Liege has begun working four-day weeks, using his amassed holidays to enjoy wonderful long weekends every weekend. Which is great! But when everyone else in the family is having a long weekend, it’s much harder to treat Mondays like work days.

Eldest Son returned home from university two or three weeks ago. He started his summer job on Tuesday, and Youngest Son began his college summer session last week. So, as of this week, with both kids absent from the house during the days, and with the little exception of having M.L. around Monday mornings (he usually golfs in the late mornings, so I can get some work done then), I’m finally back to making decent headway on this book. If I weren’t wise enough to follow my own advice, I might even declare that I WILL finish writing/revising this book by the end of next week. But I’m not that foolish, no. You’ll just have to keep checking in and see.

So, about the American Idol finale last night. Kris Allen won, as my buddy Shelinda predicted. I expected him to win, just like last year I expected David Archuleta to win. But I was still hoping Adam Lambert would win, just like last year I hoped David Cook would win (and he did!). I wished Kris had shown a bit more excitement about winning. Instead, he appeared to be in shock and did that Aw-shucks-it-should-have-been-Adam thing. You won, buddy! Soak it up!

Le sigh.

I really wanted Danny Gokey to make it to the American Idol finals last night. Alas, it was not to be. I went into the episode expecting either Danny or Adam Lambert to get kicked off. As much as I’m not into Kris Allen, I thought he did a good job this week, and the dramatic thing would be for him to make it into the finals ahead of the two expected choices.

The good thing for me is now I know who to root for next week—Adam. If Adam and Danny had both made it through, I would have had to wait until next Tuesday’s performances to make my final determination, and, honestly, I don’t think it would have mattered to me which of them won the whole smackeroo.

Now, I definitely know I want Adam Lambert to win.

And Gokey will be okay. When you see what non-finalists like Jennifer Hudson and Chris Daughtry have done with their careers, well, I think it’s only natural to assume we can expect the same from Danny Gokey. He’s got a multitude of talent, and his voice is very unique.

So…any Danny lovers out there who wished he hadn’t been kicked off? Who will you vote for/root for now that he has been? I don’t vote myself. Being Canadian, I don’t feel it’s my place. But I do “root” for a finalist. This year, that’s Adam Lambert.

Go, Go, Lambie!

American Idol went my way last night. Phew. Was a bit stressed there that Allison Iruheta would get sent home, but in the end Anoop Desai and Lil Rounds got the boot. I must say, watching KC & The Sunshine Band perform made me feel very old! In my day, KC weren’t no grampa.

How is it possible that Disco Week made me feel nostalgic for the Seventies? I didn’t like disco when it was popular. I couldn’t do any of the dance moves. Utterly uncoordinated was I. And let me just say it’s a blessing that most of the Idol contestants updated the arrangements of the songs this week. If all of them had sung the Seventies versions, I would have “Erked” my way through the entire episode.

In case you’re interested (of course you are), Adam Lambert, Danny Gokey and Allison Iruheta were my favorites this week. Even though Danny didn’t change up “September” a lot, his voice was amazing. Although, I have to ask, since when has “September” ever been considered disco? Seventies music, yes, but not disco. Disco didn’t consume the entire decade, after all. As for Adam’s performance, I felt he got a little teary-voiced for my tastes, but I still loved his song. Thought Allison was Da Bomb.

Didn’t get any writing done yesterday. Youngest Son and I had to take a journey to a neighboring town. Piccies tomorrow. Driving home alone (whatever happened to my child?), I believe I was listening to the CBC. YS is always changing my radio stations! What does it say about me that my 18-year-old listens to the CBC while I routinely tune in the Top 40? Erp. At any rate, I caught an interesting interview on Spark about a computer program called BumpTop, designed by Canadians, I believe. Anyone heard of BumpTop? Anyone use it? It’s a program that changes the way you use your PC’s desktop. Apparently makes it act more like a “real” desktop, arranging your documents in piles instead of structured filing systems. If you have a moment, check it out. I plan to, after I finish the WIP.

It’s motoring along—thanks for asking! I’m looking at a week, maybe two, until I type THE END. When I do, there’ll be much fanfare on the blog, believe me. I totally love this book, but it’s time to move on to new projects before my 2009 Goals List starts eating itself from the inside out.

What’s your news?

I talked about Southland yesterday, the new cop show on Thursday nights that’s replaced ER in the NBC line-up. Recently, someone mentioned to me that the problem with shows like Southland and ER is that they don’t show the boring parts, which could lead viewers to believe that cops and emergency room personnel spend their workdays consumed by adrenaline rushes. That these jobs are in fact 90% humdrum and 10% exciting, and those low points should be shown. Not just in the characters’ off-hours, but during their workdays as well.

This got me to thinking about the boring parts in fiction. One of the primary “rules” (okay, okay, guidelines) for writing novels is to leave out the boring parts (or strive to—I guess it’s a matter of perception). Readers’ eyes glaze over the boring parts, and when readers eyes glaze over, books get put down. We don’t want readers to fall asleep reading our books, so we skip writing the boring parts. Instead of “showing” (writing) the character eating, bathing, getting dressed, having a going-nowhere conversation with the grocery store bagger (hi, how are you, weather’s fine, don’t put the eggs on the bottom of my shopping cart. While you’re at it, don’t put my bread on the bottom, either. Are you listening? DON’T. PUT. EGGS. OR. BREAD. IN BOTTOMOFBLEEPINGCART and stackthreecasesofCoke on top. Never-freaking-ever. All right????)

Um, sorry.

You get what I’m saying, though? Unless the conversation furthers the story somehow (like sets the reader up for the possibilty that the bagger might wake up the next morning six feet under with cart wheels all over his face—and no one’s left him a little bell to ring to alert the gravediggers that he’s still alive either, heh heh), it doesn’t belong in the book. It’s boring.

Think of the movies that have put you to sleep. Likely, they’re packed with boring parts, too. The same holds true for TV. Showing the boring parts might be more realistic, but would viewers tune in? I think not.

(Quick quiz, how many people reading this are still awake?)

Anyone watching Castle? I started watching it and liked it. But I don’t usually watch cop shows (okay, Castle’s a writer, but he works with a cop in this series), so the format—opening with the murder, then they solve it—grew a bit tiresome. Although, I must say, I love the characters, Castle and his mom in particular. Kate Beckett, the detective with whom he verbally spars, I’m not as sold on.

Two weeks ago, the DVR glitched and the episode didn’t record. I realized I didn’t miss it. Last week, the episode recorded, but I grew bored watching it and deleted halfway through. Then I discovered that Lee Lofland, a member of one of my writing lists and author of Police Procedure and Investigation (great reference book), is reviewing Castle each week on his blog, The Graveyard Shift. Okay, now I have a great reason to start watching again.

I’ve been meaning to plug Lee’s blog for some time now. If you write mysteries or romance mysteries or romantic suspense, check it out.

Lee watches Castle each week, then corrects the procedure mistakes in his blog. Here’s the entry for last night’s episode, and here’s the link for the Archived reviews of the previous episodes. (The review for last night’s episode is at the top of the Archive listing, last week’s is next, and then you’ll have to hit the Older Entries link to get reviews to earlier episodes).

If you read the reviews, you’ll quickly realize that Lee spots tons of errors in the writing of this show. An excellent resource and opportunity for learning.

Okay, how about Southland? Anyone watching that? I’ve watched the first two episodes and am intrigued enough to keep checking in. Yes, the episodes follow a pattern so far, just like Castle does. In the case of Southland, the first two episodes opened with a scene from the ending, then started from the beginning and worked their way back to the ending. I don’t mind this technique, but if done every time, again, it will grow tiresome for me. I have no idea if Southland portrays the police accurately or not. Wish that I could find a review of Southland each week on Lee’s blog (hint, hint, Lee). (P.S. If you’re already doing the reviews, let me know where to find them; my time is short these days).

Anyone remember Annie from Men in Trees? She’s in Southland. Totally different character. She’s great to watch.

American Idol, that is. Do you watch it? What did you think of this week’s show?

If you’ve watched American Idol before, but haven’t been watching this year, they have a new thingie this season called The Judges’ Save. There’s ONE opportunity in the entire season for the judges to decide to save a singer America has voted out.

This week, the judges used The Judges’ Save on Matt Giraud. I was glad they did. There was only one week remaining to use the Save, and Matt is a talented singer. The only thing that bothers me now is what if next week talents like Adam Lambert and Danny Gokey get voted into the bottom 2? Erk. Next week 2 singers will get ousted to make up for no one being turfed this week. Remember when Chris Daughtry was in the bottom 2? The Judges’ Save didn’t exist, and he was booted off. Erk. Yes, it could happen again.

I do think Matt’s deserving, though. My fav this season is Adam Lambert, with Danny Gokey running a close second, sometimes running a tie. I went into the season with Danny as my fav, because of his back story (his wife died shortly before he auditioned). I can’t remember seeing anything about Adam until his first performance post-auditions. He blew me away, and he’s been blowing me away ever since. Shades of Freddie Mercury, anyone?

I also love Alison Iraheta. Her voice reminds me of the Canadian band, Heart (which I had the privilege to hear perform when I was far too young to appreciate it).

After Alison, I’m a Matt fan.

Kris Allen…I just don’t know about this guy. I can’t deny he’s a talented singer, but his performances don’t grab me. Is anyone out there a Kris Allen Must Win! type of fan? Because, despite how the judges seem to love him, I’m not getting it.

Anoop Desai and Lil Rounds…I really thought Lil would go this week. She came out super strong in the beginning rounds, but seems to have floundered ever since. And Anoop—another great voice, especially the last couple of weeks, but I can’t see him lasting longer than Adam, Danny, Alison or Matt. We shall see.

The thing about Anoop and also Matt is that the judges have already saved them each once. Both were members of the Wild Card trio. The public had already voted them off the show, but the judges brought them back to make up the Final 12. So, when the public voted Matt off the show a second time, should the judges have used the Save to keep him? Aren’t they ignoring the public by bringing him back twice?

I think they made the right choice, but it will definitely be interesting to see what happens next week.

Oh, in case you’ve been living under an Internet rock and haven’t see the clip of Susan Boyle from Britain’s Got Talent yet, wander on over to YouTube and take a boo. The look on Simon Cowell’s face is priceless.

In case you missed the Amazon brouhaha over the long weekend, you can read about it here. The Twitter nation got involved, and Dear Author also raised a commotion. A little entity called The New York Times chimed in, too.

Penny’s books were affected, although they’re appearing again now, sales ranking intact. (Hint, the first link leads to Penny’s first book, the second link to the second). If you’d like to increase Penny’s sales ranking in protest against the “glitch,” be my guest! (Hint, purchasing the volumes increases the rankings).

Frankly, the entire episode ranked. However, for many book buyers (like those who live in the boonies), Amazon and entities like it are the only option. Yeah, there’s Barnes and Noble…if you’re American. In Canada, we have Chapters and Amazon.ca. I order from Chapters when I can, but they don’t have as big a selection as Amazon.ca. Chapters doesn’t carry Penny’s books. Neither Chapters nor Amazon.ca carries my books. If you want the paperbacks, Amazon State-side is the only game in town.

What do you think about the brouhaha? Did you buy the “glitch”?