Debra Dixon - Journaling HOLIDAY

This seemed like such a good idea. Who doesn’t like to watch movies? But let me warn you, this is a *long* blog. This is stream of consciousness. Thoughts that occurred as I watched the movie. I normally try and think about Hero’s Journey as I analyze a film, but remember that Hero’s Journey is not always in perfect order. For instance in Amanda’s journey, I think that her reward comes before the finish of the ordeal. Plus you have multiple story lines in this one.

Have fun. This is all up for debate. Normally I would watch the movie. Wait a couple of days and watch it again to do the analysis. Then study my notes, add some thoughts, organize them and then watch the film again. What you’re getting here today is hot off the press without even a serious attempt at correction. I did these on the computer and remembered why I use an actual paper journal. It forces you to get to the point instead of rambling. I can type much faster than I write. So...long blog.

I will note anything that appeals to me, because I want to remember how details support the themes, the internal conflicts. How contrast can make points for us, etc. Plus if you have trouble writing a synopsis this is a dandy way to give yourself practice "cutting to the chase" and moving the story along. Okay, here we go...

Nonlinear structure to start, it’s all about "compare/contrast" what love is versus what we idealize it as. These vignettes offer something to learn about the characters in this contrast.
I love compare/contrast. I think the reader learns so much.

6 different types of love or love phases.
1 perfect (movie being scored)
2 holding on too tight "blind" to who’s really in the relationship (Miles)
3 love that is fading (Amanda)
4 love lost (Arthur)
5 one night stand or "fleeting" love (Graham)
6 unrequited (Iris)

Discovering Iris - we see her with a beautiful package but no real joy in that gift. It’s sad for her. It has to be hidden away like her unrequited love. Love the metaphor. Inordinate attention to detail. With what he’s done wrong. Her inability to hold back the tears and conversation with friend are clear signal that she’s not come to grips with this situation. The friend is a mentor to tell her she’s not supposed to do his blooming laundry! We get Iris’ confusion about whether Jasper really is gone for good or if he’s maybe coming back. In an ironic twist she is a wedding writer. She writes about the happily ever after that she can’t have.

Ordinary World
Her ordinary world is the newspaper, specifically the office in which she is isolated from the others. The lie about him having bought her a gift creates embarrassment and "undeserved misfortune" which bonds us to a character. Her gift to him is a thoughtful one. However, the excruciating embarrassment is to be publicly assigned to sleeze boy’s wedding. This is clearly an ambush which he allowed to happen. NEED FOR CHANGE. If your characters aren’t getting it you have to punish them. On her way to the cottage it is the perfect picture of her "aloneness." No community. Single girl, tiny but charming cottage. Lived in. Her house is a hodgepodge and she’s also a mess.

Amanda’s world. She has a boyfriend but he’s screwing around. In some ways because she’s a workaholic. Her house is perfect and her life is a mess. COMPARE CONTRAST with Iris. Amanda confronts a problem. Iris avoids. Iris bawls her eyes out. Amanda can’t cry. Amanda wants the blunt truth. Iris is happy with a sweet lie. Amanda will strike a blow and draws a line in the sand. Iris waffles.

The viewer is offered a contrast. A choice. Who do we like better? Neither one is in a good situation. Each handle themselves differently
We see Amanda being competent at her job.

call– The emotional call to adventure is to put sleeze boy behind.
The physical call is to trade houses and get away to reevaluate her life.

Amanda’s call to adventure is the breakup which forces her to face her life...that she doesn’t have one. It’s all work. So, she’s going to take that time, rest, relax. She needs a vacation. Amanda is all about controlling her world.

Their computer exchange offers more characterization. How characters present themselves, the nature of their answers gives the viewer information.

refusal– Iris has a little refusal of the call to forget sleeze boy when she briefly considers ending it all by sucking in the gas from her stove. The duration of the thought and the charming "What are you doing? Low point! Low point!" Help us quickly move on and give a bit of comedy to that sad moment.

mentor– The jingle of the computer instant message jolts Iris out of her gas stove moment. In an odd way the jingle is a momentary mentor. (AFTER THE POSTING CORRECTION: I couldn't stand the typos so I'm clearing some and in the process I think I'll mention that the jingle is actually the herald of the call to adventure.)

Amanda’s fictional life trailers offer her mentoring.

cross threshold– Compare/Contrast in how they get to their destinations. Amanda appears to
be tested before she’s ever really crossed the threshold into the adventure. We like this. This is prepayment for the good stuff later. This blonde chick with lots of money and great sweaters is earning a little sympathy and then her charming happiness at the cottage makes us like her.

Iris is stunned, does nothing hard to cross the threshold, but she goes through a gate, through the door, taking us on a tour of the special world. We know we’re not in Kansas anymore and she’s already earned a little good will from us because of sleeze boy.

Amanda needs intimacy. Iris needs to look up and see the great big world of possibilities. Is it just a happy coincidence that their physical accommodations for Christmas are metaphors for what the girls need to learn? I think not.
tests allies enemies

Amanda - Walking the country lane, driving, finding food, making fire, dealing with her inability to just "be" and relax, her tragic inability to sing. And then comes Amanda’s decision that this relaxing stuff is not for her, she’s getting out her suitcase. Refusal of the call.

Iris- trying to open the gate-test. Miles will be an ally, someone to help her discover new things. (AFTER THE POST CORRECTION: Miles is actually a mentor by bad example and in a classic move the mentor is stripped from Iris when Maggie calls him back/away from Iris who must then face Jasper alone.)

The girlfriend is obviously an enemy in the sense that she offers no encouragement to Amanda and retrieves Miles from Iris’ clutches. Foreshadowing for when she takes him away again. The old man shuffling by will be a test for her. The story of the wind is a mentor. "Anything can happen when the winds blow." Characters need to take the texture of their worlds and apply it to their lives.

Amanda– An ally shows up in the form of Iris’ drunk brother, Graham. He’s a great example of how to take a character who could be negative and presenting him with charm. Despite being drunk, he has manners. He asks if it’s okay to sit. Little things tell us he’s a good guy. He doesn’t drive drunk. Beautiful misdirection as well. He’s the charming wastrel who will transform into the lost widower.

Amanda’s new call – Will she share the house with Graham for the night and that transforms to will she share her vacation with him which transforms to will she share her life with him when he’s everything that is wrong for her.

The kiss between Amanda and Graham is a test. EFFECT is important. Her little stumble afterward is the first moment that we’ve seen her out of control. Big signal. First step in transforming Amanda from the controlled person she is to someone who feels deeply.
Graham’s call to adventure is sex with Amanda which he is reluctant to accept because he’s cast in the role of "cabana boy." COMPARE/CONTRAST Graham’s approach to sex with Amanda’s approach to sex.

What are the conflicts to the adventure with Graham? She’s not staying. Women call him. He’s got one foot out the door the morning after because he assures her there is only grief to be found with him because he’s a mess. He has no follow through. She promises she won’t fall in love with him. They’ve very clearly drawn their conclusions that this is a non-starter from all angles. But, he tosses out a bone about a dinner with friends at a pub.

Amanda says it when she says there’s something about a stranger. Starting fresh in terms of expectations. At the airport, her film trailer mentor encourages her to stay in the adventure, to let life unfold.

Enemy for Iris is Jasper asking her to read pages and starting his assault on her resolve.

Test for Iris is helping the old guy who becomes her mentor. He gives her the best advice about being the leading lady of her own life instead of the best friend. Not that secondary character she’s been playing. What she’s finally learned is how she shouldn’t be behaving. She has yet to learn how she SHOULD be behaving. This is that first nudge toward change. An important character realization.

Iris is rewarded for her kindness by discovering that the old guy is actually a distinguished writer with fabulous stories to tell of an interesting era. He becomes the doorway to her discovering how good men feel about their wives, how gentlemen treat women, how she should be treated.

Test for Amanda and Graham is the "morning after" they didn’t. Graham proves he’s hero material because he didn’t sleep with an unconscious woman. Calls from women create superficial conflict. She’s one of many, not special. The drunk/not sleeping provide scene tension created by Amanda’s embarrassment.

Lunch is a getting to know/trust you tests for both. He proves he can handle strong women because of his mother. Amanda comes clean about the event that triggered he decision to shut down her really deep emotions. COMPARE CONTRAST. We discover that Graham weeps like a baby at the drop of a hat.

Conflict is that Amanda is leaving. She’s not ready for complicated. She puts the brakes on. What I love about this is the lovely, charming way they part without melodrama. Gosh, just like grown-ups. The see the place of perilous danger and uncertainty–a relationship that has so much against it because of the distance and not coincidentally Amanda’s fear of deep attachment.

Back in LA, Miles arrives to complicate Iris’ vacation. He’s a complete contrast to Jasper. We see a little growth in Amanda as she recognizes the blank card is another nail in a coffin. She tosses the pages aside, doesn’t put them lovingly or regretfully down.

We see Iris create community. We learn about Miles as a "one woman at a time guy." We see how alike Miles and Iris are. Miles is making plans with the guys. Miles makes connections, like Iris. Neither are pretentious.

Test is the leave taking at the door with the "twice kiss." But he manages to make it humorous rather than sleezy, hitting on her.

Amanda’s film mentor returns to chastise her about her unwillingness to change and how she pushes guys away. This goads her to action, to pursuing the thing that might turn out badly.
approach inmost cave

Graham’s house functions as the inmost cave, that place of perilous danger and uncertainty. Her brave new offer is shut down as soon as she realizes he’s not alone. Oops! She discovers these are the "women" who have been calling Graham. Lovely flip of people’s expectation!

ordeal
Widower status is revealed, changing everything she thought about Graham.
Meeting Graham’s kids, surviving the night with all of them.

Reward
Moment in their tent when she realizes how much she and Graham have in common about what family life should be like for little girls – "three musketeers." Amanda is one of a group for the first time in the show instead of being the boss or controller. Life is happening around her and she’s letting it happen. The girls adore her and invite her to sleep over. Maybe this can work.

What did the ordeal cost?
Graham doesn’t know how to do this-dating/relationship. Once it becomes serious, he has to back away. He’s afraid of what it might to do to him and his girls if he lets someone in he may never see again. She’s just someone he had sex with once and slept with twice.

NOTE: Graham and Amanda are pursued on the road back to their normal lives by the opportunity to chat through Iris. In which the sex is revealed to Iris. Also its clear that their time alone now weighs on them. And of course, Graham showing up at the door later is a big pursuit.

At this point Iris accepts another call to adventure which is to get Arthur to the award ceremony. Arthur refuses the call. Iris becomes his mentor, encouraging him, etc.
Iris ordeal ?? I believe it may be her reliving the loss of Jasper with Miles playing "her" role. In helping Miles she faces her pain in the sharpest way yet. She finally confronts her situation with Jasper in bold black and white. No more fudging on Jasper and how he made her feel. The loss is sharp, fresh and cutting. Miles articulates Jasper’s devious plan to keep Iris from starting fresh. What does she lose? That little bit of a lie she’d still been holding on to that she wasn’t that stupid. That she hadn’t been so pitifully pathetic and easy to manipulate. But she was. It’s very clear in retrospect. No more hiding from the fact that she was every bit to blame for letting this happen.

Iris reward is the song Miles writes for her.

resurrection
After sex the same old problem rears its ugly head. Amanda isn’t willing to fully commit. She can’t face the possible loss so she buries the relationship before it starts. And when he says he loves her, she can’t respond from her heart. Her head is still winning. She won’t jump in and commit just as the guy we saw in her first scenes has said. In the limo on the way out, she can’t handle her emotions. For the first time in a long time. She cries and has to run all the way back to Graham, willing to jump in with both feet now. Of course he’s a weeping mess which is great. And when he’s afraid his having the girls will scare her off New Year’s eve, she says that will be perfect.

For Iris her resurrection begins when watching Miles jump to Maggie’s tune again. Here it is. She’s being shoved aside again, #2 in the scheme of things. And to top it off Jasper arrives to romance her but is still engaged. He leads her on using the same half-truths and omissions designed to give her hope. Iris will continue to be a door mat unless she changes, makes different decisions that she has in the past. She has to become the leading lady of her own life. This time she doesn’t accept vague language that her heart wants to hear. She wants blunt words with no ambiguity. She stands up for herself and has the confrontation that has been brewing for three years. We dramatically see her resurrection as someone who is more than she was before. She’s no longer in love with Jasper. She’s going to live her life.

return with the elixir
We see what Iris offers to Arthur. We see her visually lending him strength when she grips his hand, showing that she has enough to spare. Miles arrives just in time. Knowing her has helped him break off the toxic relationship with Maggie and he’s obviously not pining. The girls have a mother again. Iris and Miles pursue their relationship.

Times are changing

I had a really good blog topic planned for today but I need to share some really exciting news going on with me instead. I'll be back the second Thurdsay in September with my originally planned blog.

Today I have really exciting news, I've sold my first full length novel, Getting Lucky with Luciano!! I couldn't be happier. My book will be coming in print from Parker Publishing in 2008! As you can tell I'm so happy about this. I haven't stopped dancing around since I got thephone call. Anyway, I've made a few changes that will be coming up soon. I won't be writing under the name Kelley Vitollo anymore. My new book and everything that is released from here on out will be under the name Kelley Nyrae. I'll be getting everything switched over soon complete with a new, fun, website. My website will still contain links to my current releases, Dream Man and Weathering the Storm but from here on out I'll be going by the new name. Thanks for listening while I shared my fun news. Have a great week everyone.

What makes a heroine really stand out?

I think we’ve all read the TSTL (too stupid to live) heroines. Oh geez, don’t get me started! None of us ever want to be accused of writing one! So, what makes your heroines memorable—in a good way?

First I’ll talk about some heroines I’ve read and loved.

Christine Feehan—Dark Fire. Tempest. she was a mechanic and I like heroines who don’t have a typical female job.

Lori Foster—Too Much Temptation. Grace. She was so on fire and ready for sex. I loved it! And I enjoyed that she wasn’t a raving beauty. She was plump, but sexy.

Erin McCarthy—The Pregnancy Test. Mandy. She was just freaking hilarious. I’ll never forget her character.

Jaid Black—One Dark Night. Nikki. I loved her secret desire to get involved in a D/s relationship. She was smart and resourceful and that made her character deep and engaging.

Now, onto a few female characters that I’ve written.

Tess—Scandalous Behavior. coming to Secrets volume 25: Wicked Delights. She’s shy and introverted. Intelligent and vulnerable. And when she steps outside her own comfort zone to engage in some naughty office sex, I cheered her on.

Ava--Forbidden Fruit (also coming to Red Sage Publishing). Ava is a tomboy and doesn’t find herself particularly sexy. She’s more comfortable with animals than people. Her feisty attitude was so cool!

Now, which heroine do you love? It can be one of your own or by a favorite author...or both!

Repeat after me....P-R-O-C-R-A-S-T-I-N-A-T-I-O-N

I'm going to ask this question of my fellow authors out there. How many of you put off writing to the last minute? And if you do, why?

I'm a notorious procrastinator. Don't get me wrong, there's nothing that I love more in life than writing. So I don't understand why I put it off until my deadline is looming like an in-coming fog. I often tell myself it's because I work best under pressure, but that's not necessarily true. I have a love/hate relationship with writing. It's like an addiction. I have to get my "fix," yet I know how it'll consume every moment and every breath I take until I'm done. I don't know, maybe it's just me. I thought it would be curious to see how many other authors share this affliction...

OH...TGIF EVERYONE!!!

Life Happens

Let's begin with a...way to go, Dara! She got Deb Dixon to guest blog!

Someone needs to be getting something done around here, and for the last week or three, it hasn't been me. Life happened. Oh, I could make a list that would collect hugs, prayers...but really, sometimes the dips help you appreciate the highs.

So...How about a round of to-do lists? As in...what do you need to get done before the end of the month? There are big deadlines coming up...the Brava novella contest, the SuperRomance contest, heck, I had to register my RITA judging preferences today!

• Polish the partial of Where There's Smoke.
• Draft a synopsis for Orgasmic.
• Prep my Writing To Deadline workshop.
• Complete my handouts for the CORL conference.
• Fast Draft Getting Personal.

And you? What's on your list?

Jenna is hard at work on her next title for Mills & Boon Modern Extra. In the meantime, check out her website, blog, or reading group, We Call It Research.

Debra Dixon to Guest Blog

Please check back on Wednesday, Aug 29th for the amazing Debra Dixon as she guest blogs about keeping a movie journal and what that will do for your writing. Watch the movie "The Holiday," which she'll discuss as if she's writing in the journal.

Point of view--head hopping

So, today I want to ask you all, writers and readers alike, does it drive you nuts when you're reading a really good story, but the author keeps jumping back and forth between the hero and the heroine? I ask, because I'm reading a book (I won't mention titles and names) and every paragraph the author is switching points of view. I'm getting dizzy here! Usually I love when the author gives me both points of view. In fact, that's the way I write. However, when the author switches every paragraph I start to feel lost and confused. Who's thinking what? Which head am I in now? Ugh!

So, what's your take on this subject? And be honest, I want to know your thoughts!