Quirky Quagmire

I think most people have strong opinions about quirky... quirky characters, quirky settings, quirky plots... even quirky language. Now you don't have to have the same opinion for all these things... many people can take their quirky in doses, but not swim in it.

The height of quirk

But there are some people with fastidious intolerance where the quirk comes in... some of these happen to be literary agents.

It isn't always the first thing you screen for when you query... are we a match on the quirk? But I've seen some full-on intolerance.

This confuses me.

What the heck is wrong with quirky? It gives flavor, humor... what's not to like?

But I think the PROBLEM is people have used the TERM quirky as a synonym for say... irritating... or weird (and yes, this may indeed BE a synonym in some uptight, fussy person's head). But I think people ALSO use the term if a character is inconsistent (which is a no no, and NOT quirky, but unrealistic--so this is a penalty for other people misusing the term, if you will...). Quirky sometimes means over the top, which can work—I will give a couple examples momentarily, but over the top HAS to be done humorously—serious can't carry over-the-top. (and honestly, not everybody has a sense of humor, sad as this may be. If you doubt this, read Twilight—not a humorous thing in the whole book. No laugh, no joke, no incongruence where the author intends a giggle. I suspect poor Meyer has no humor. And I pity her. It's true. People who take life so seriously have no fun. If she spent some time naked now and again, she'd write better. *cough*)

So you've been warned. When you make your agent short list, look up their views on quirky. Find matches or you are banging your head against a wall.

Favorite Quirks

Characters: Luna and Tonks (Harry Potter), Foxface and Beetee (Hunger Games trilogy), Bilbo Baggins. The Cyclops half brother of Percy Jackson.

Quirky settings: Life of Pi (a small boat with a tiger:  perhaps missing the humor to quite pull this off, but it might have been my frame of mind reading), Through the Looking Glass.

Quirky plots: Even Cowgirls Get the Blues, The Graveyard Book. Tom Robbins and Neil Gaiman are MASTERS at quirk.

Quirky tellings: The Book Thief (strangely humorous for a Holocaust book), A Series of Unfortunate Events

Quirky language use: The Color Purple (here, not humorous, but poignant), The Golden Compass

The BOOK, not the movie (never seen the movie)

Now books like Harry Potter had several quirks... all the details of the courses, spells, games... the historical figures... but it was set up in a fantasy setting, so it took more... but STILL some of the quirks were particularly quirky.

I think probably the quirk winning writer favorite of mine, though, is Tom Robbins. He twists and turns and bends and it is a wild good time... and not everybody gets him. I had a phase where I judged my compatibility with people by whether they got Tom Robbins or not.

I should probably mention that I won't probably be working with anybody intolerant of quirky, even if most of my stuff doesn't push too many boundaries... My BFF of my MC in my cozy series, though, definitely qualifies.

AND of note!  RaShelle Workman has given a fabulous boost for Elizabeth and I and our book release today, so THANK YOU, RaShelle!  (And anyone interested in the Crazy Cozy Blogfest June 5th, please click the icon in my top right 'I'm Doing What?' box!)

Wonky Me

So I am over at Burrowers, Books and Balderdash today talking about how I'm taking over the world, so that is my REAL blog, but I thought I'd share a few random quirks here...

Breaking the Ice

While I want it to warm up more than ANYTHING, I sort of love the days that are half melty, half below freezing. Know why? I walk along the sidewalk or edge of the street SMASHING the ice that has nothing under it anymore. It's this weird power trip (and I love the sound when it's thin ice). It's like I am personally conquering winter and bringing spring on.

Sometimes I will get on a sidewalk where I will notice that out there SOMEWHERE, I have kindred spirits in this domain.

Eating Grapes

I'm totally laid back, right? Very few things I'm picky about. I'm married to Mr. Pickypants (and YES, he wears pants—grrrrrr!) But when it comes to eating grapes, we swap roles. I think a person should take off the part of the stem and eat ALL those, then take a new one. He just picks one grape at a time from the total stalk. MAKES ME NUTS! (Son has picked up my habit, the daughter his)

Real Life

So I may have to go under soon. You heard me... my boss wants to write a GRANT. As early as yesterday I had to work ALL DAY at work... *cough* But if I get crabby in the next few weeks, this might be why, and you have been warned. On the POSITIVE side, though, I have a conference in Austin in May. I get to meet up with my FABULOUS writing buddy Stacy (who got her second novella contract within weeks of her first... she has fired out into the writing world fast, after years of perfecting craft...) you'll hear more about her... provided Austin survives the two of us in the same city... (anyone else in the Austin area, give a shout—maybe we can coordinate)

And 19 days to the next ABNA cut... anyone who wants to swim in pudding while we wait, head on over to the BB&;B link at the top...

And it's Thursday. You know what THAT means!