Tuesday, October 5, 2010

Dark Diversions

So I was supposed to host Cassandra Jade today. Unlike some of the externally scheduled guests, or people who I might GUESS would be unreliable, Cassandra is publishing and on her tour, and... has disappeared. My reminder was timely, and there has been no post AT ALL on her blog in more than two weeks. So I'm WORRIED. Remember this conversation last week about 'if something happened, who would know?' That is where my dark mind has gone.

So if anybody knows Cassandra is FINE, please tell me so I can stop worrying...


And in the meantime, we will continue the D Theme.


Dual Dream Disciplines

Dreams play an important role for me in my idea generation. I'm not sure there will be any dream generated ACTION that makes it all the way into any of my books but the SET UP? Dreams are my best source for the really unique pieces of the stories I write. The ones that do it sometimes startle me awake they are so completely vivid. Mr. Tart is also known as Mr. Crabbypants, so I don't have a notebook by my bed, but I've got a whole STACK of them in the bathroom, so I usually head in there to get the basics in writing so I don't lose them.


Dream ALSO want to appear in my stories. I hear this is unpopular with the publishing industry, and that is understandable. It is a tempting technique and I can see it being OVER used, used BADLY, or used too obviously. But MAN, I love a well done dream sequence. So it is tempting to WRITE them, is it not? Maybe it's just me...


Diversions, Dalliances and Delusions

Usually this is where I turn to Cross-dressing Death Eaters, so why not. I haven't figured out how to bring an animated picture in here, but I have an avatar at HPANA that is currently playing my FAVORITE thing!!!

Top Post here

“I'm a death eater and I'm okay
I spy all night and I teach all day...”


DOGGIE!

Since yesterday I posted Cali, today I thought I'd share Joel... (is he the cutest little guy ever, or what?)





*huggles Joel*

29 comments:

Private said...

Oh my god! He's gorgeous! I don't think I could ever be in a bad mood around this guy:)

Ted Cross said...

I was thinking the same thing this week, since I hadn't put up a new blog post in a while. What if something happened to me? No one would know. It made me wonder if anywould would truly care, and being realistic about it, I don't think they would. Everyone is so busy following so many blogs, that having one drop out most likely wouldn't affect people much unless it was someone like Nathan.

Jessica Bell said...

Ack! You gotta have a least one cool dream sequence in your ms. Especially if they're stress related. They can do so much for characterisation! :o)

Old Kitty said...

Oh I do hope you hear from Cassandra Jade! It is very worrying isn't it?? I hope it's nothing to worry about though - but it'll be good to know what's going on!! Good luck!! I just realised - does she have a facebook page/twitter? Or an email address? Please get in touch Cassandra Jade!!!!!!

Dreams. I never remember my dreams long enough to write them down!!! They stay vivid for like 5 seconds after I awake and pffft!! Gone!! LOL!! Oh but I do love how you have your bathroom retreat to write yours all down!! LOL!!! That's just brilliant!

And Joel. Awwwwww!!! Oh what a cutie!!!! Awwwwww!!! I better go now before I melt into one big awwwww goo! LOL! Take care
x

Anonymous said...

I'm usually against dreams-as-climax-or-big-realization-moment, but then I read the Flannery O'Connor story about pigs and a doctor's office, and she ended with a vision that was, to my mind, a rather blunt depiction of her theme, and she happened to get away with it, so perhaps its possible after all. Yes.

*nods*

*runs off to shower*

*and only mentions this because it involves getting naked and that's actually pertinent here on this particular blog*

Tamara Hart Heiner said...

that is such a cute dog! I love dream sequences. I had to take them out of my novel. Maybe they'll stay in my next book.

Mason Canyon said...

I hope you hear from Cassandra or someone who knows about her. Now my thoughts are going to the bad places. Maybe life just got a little crazier for her and time slipped away.

BTW, Joel is adorable.

Mason

Thoughts in Progress

Hart Johnson said...

Alexandra-Isn't he great? He really is darned cute, and his personality is pretty great too, though it took him a while to train us.

Ted-I think people would notice--I know I periodically see people who haven't updated and if I don't have some clue why, i will try to track them down.

Jessica-I love them, too--I think dreams assimilate our worries with a bunch of strange stuff, and I LIKE them.

Jenny--good idea to look at other sources--I think I follow her on Twitter, so I will check there--that is the place that someone traveling is more likely to check in on... As for the bathroom... or My OFFICE as Mr. Crabbypants calls it... since I write in the tub, I have a devoted shelf...

Simon-I think that is the risk--using dreams as if you were a VISIONARY or something--as a reveal, they don't work unless you have a character who is a seer or something.

Tamara-My earlier works had a bunch--I try to limit them now, but they still sometimes seem the best way to express certain anxieties... in my first book, I have a little girl who hears a story and then has nightmares about it--it is the technique to transfer some info to her parents and a little foreshadowing and I really like it, but I don't know if I'll get to keep it or not...

Hart Johnson said...

Mason--sorry to take you dark places with me! I really just wanted to throw it out HERE because I thought it was the best way to reach someone who KNOWS.

Anonymous said...

I love Joel. I hope that won't make you think of me as dogged, dogmatic or dogterileadeedopperous.
Hope you soon re-establish contact with Cassandra.

All the best, Boonie

Carolyn Abiad said...

I think dreams can be a useful tool, if used sparingly, not as main plot points. Like Jessica said, they can be good for characterisation. I bet dreams are good insight on the "100 things" list for a character.

Alex J. Cavanaugh said...

I was just thinking yesterday that I hadn't heard from Cassandra in a while!

LTM said...

shew, you said it about poorly written dream sequences. But I suppose if it's done well. I actually have a dream in BNN, remember? But it's super-short. One 'graph.

Love the doggie, and I sure hope CJ shows up all fine and good! (LOL--the lumberjack death eater. You nutty~ <3

Hart Johnson said...

*giggles at Boonie's dog puns*

Carolyn-I bet dreams DO fit there. Even things like some characters would dream vividly and often, others never remember them, others have nightmares (oooh, especially when they have a guilty conscience!)

Alex-give a shout if you find her--her twitter account was left at the same time.

Leigh-yeah, the short I think aren't a problem because you avoid the traps and people really DO dream. (at one point I had that whole Lumberjack song somewhere--found it, didn't write it, but I love the image)

Carol Kilgore said...

Ack! Blogger ate my comment. I've contacted Cassandra, too, but have had no response. Yes, definitely worried. Joel is a darling!

Deb and Barbara said...

LOVE Joel! And LOVE dreams too. Always try to write them down when I can. I don't use them often in my writing, though, but they do help me work through story-issues, etc. Fascinating when that happens.
B

Bridge Marie said...

You find inspiration in dreams? Impressive, most of mine tend to be more about things I'm already thinking about, they're not super relevant to what I write about. Wish they would be, though, that's cool.

Very cute doggie!

lisahgolden said...

I love a good dream that must be written down before lost. A couple of them have turned into short stories.

The picture of the death eater with the whale tale is hilarious.

I hope Cassandra shows up soon.

Talli Roland said...

Oh, now I'm worried!I hope Cassandra is OK!

I'm not a big fan of dreams in novels unless they play a MAJOR role and reveal something ultra-important!

Hart Johnson said...

Carol-I hate it when Blogger does that! Hopefully between us, we can track Cassandra down...

Barbara-there is some of that working through for me, though THAT mostly, is when I exercise. The dreams are more sort of flashes of set-up that I think, 'hey, that would make a great story!'

Bridge-I'm not sure I had the same kind of dream when i was your age--or maybe I wasn't noticing things in the same way when I had them. for AGES I only had one story in me at a time, but when i finally finished CONFLUECE, suddenly the dam sort of broke--now, at any given time, I have half a dozen I REALLY want to work on.

Hart Johnson said...

Ha! Sneaky sneaksers!

Lisa-yup--GOTTA write those good ones. Otherwise I am up the rest of the night becuase I am afraid to lose it!

Talli--interesting that you like it to play a huge role... I sometimes like it, but it needs to be explained HOW--like harry's dreams that were actually visions via Voldemort--THAT was good dream use. And I like dream PROCESSING--where the MC already HAS all the info, but the dream assimilates it so they understand...

Anonymous said...

Dreams: I'm currently reworking a manuscript called "In Dreams" and taking many of the dreams out. Feh. New title and massive editing will be coming.

Cross-dressing Deatheaters: Bwahahahahahahaha!

Puppy: Awwwww... So sweet! I wants to hug him.

Jo Schaffer said...

Hahah! You are such a Monty Python fan! (= Haha! Just watched that with my boys.
I love talking to people about dreams and finding meaning in them. My MC has significant dreams.It's fascinating how the subconcious mind gets through sometimes. (=

Anonymous said...

aww Joel is gorgeous. Those fluffy ears need a good squeezing hehehe.

Southpaw said...

What a cutie pie! I do like a well done dream myself.

Hart Johnson said...

Kimberly-Oh! To have a whole manuscript with dreams and needing to drop a bunch! How hard!

Jo--definitely a fan! Back in my Harry Potter days we had a long drawn out effort to prove JK Rowling was a Monty Python fan. teehee.

Thanks for all the Joel love! He is pretty great--quirky, but we love him!

Helen Ginger said...

He is totally cute. He has the face of a big dog, but the legs of a short dog. Love him!

I used to have vivid dreams about my characters. I kept a lighted pen or lighted pad by my bed to write notes before the dreams faded.

Cheeseboy said...

Well, if I could get a dog like Joel, I'd get a dog.

I don't have dreams about my writing. But I do find that my most creative thoughts come right before I fall asleep.

Ketutar said...

LOL Lingerie night... Er... what else did you speak about?