Starting Something New

My first fiction attempt, a Middle Grade novel is currently in beta.  I have a couple people reading it, well hopefully they're actually reading it, and I need to find a couple more.  In the meantime, I've been tossing a couple of other book ideas around in my head.  The first one is a fictional memoir, but I haven't figured out some of the general things the protagonist has done, and I haven't figured out whether it's going to be in first or third person either.  I started in first person, just a page, but I'm having doubts.

My second idea is a thriller.  I started with a basic premise, based on a job that I had a few years ago, and have turned it into a novel about terrorists, software (technical details will be kept to a minimum), and an attempt to assassinate someone.  I'm not the greatest plot planner and don't want to do too much up front planning, but I jotted down a few ideas and couldn't see how I'd fill a book.  During an afternoon, I came up with a few more ideas and now, I may be able to pull it off.  I know this is just my typical up-front jitters about taking a new step on a new work.  Somehow I managed to create my Middle Grade novel and this one will come, too.  I started that less than a year ago and I've forgotten already that it, too, began with just a basic premise and took several weeks of writing and brainstorming to come to fruition.  This one will, too.  One thing I will be doing is reading a few more thrillers to see how other authors build the story, the tension, and the action.

Read a book or Why TV is losing me

I watch Good Morning America (GMA) every day while I make breakfast.  Some of it is interesting, but I realized a while ago that the amount of actual GMA is getting smaller.  The last 10 minutes of every half hour, for example is either commercials or local news.  If you've already seen the local news, then you're in for nothing but repeated information.  Then the commercials come on and they're designed to annoy the crap out of you.  If they're trying to sell me something then they're definitely missing the target.

If I hear another quirky female voice wailing about yogurt, hair products, Target, Apple, or anything else, I'm now more likely to scream at the TV, turn it off, and read a book than buy whatever they're hawking at the moment.

The sameness of TV shows is getting to me as well.  I feel like I've seen it before.  The new fall lineup - three new lawyer shows, four doctor/hospital shows, ABC announces another two "what the hell is going on" shows, 100 reality shows, blah blah blah.  The things that get me in front of a TV nowadays are things that are well-written with good characters, and something I haven't seen already - Burn Notice, 24 - or maybe something that's a really well done retread like House or The Closer.

Still, at commercial time, the mute button is my friend.  And once I'm tired of the sameness or the irritation, or even if I'm just in the mood to really get absorbed in my entertainment, I pick up whatever I'm reading at the moment.  I really should do it more often; we all should.