THE OPPOSITE OF LOVE IS NOT HATE

"The opposite of love is not hate, it's indifference. The opposite of art is not ugliness, it's indifference. The opposite of faith is not heresy, it's indifference. And the opposite of life is not death, it's indifference.”  Elie Wiesel

Lately, I’ve been writing about how activity (by the opposite sex) is much more attractive than static (museum worthy) beauty. Even hate has passion and might be understood but certainly not condoned.

Story: He had narrowed the field of women he was interested in to two maybe three. He liked Christal best. They clicked, had great conversations. They shared similar interests, jobs in science, athletics and intellect. And oh yes, she was beautiful, perhaps not the most beautiful of the three, but what did that matter?

At her car, they embraced. “I kissed your ear.” Dizzy with the closeness, he overshot her cheek. Her ear was tasty, so he didn’t mind at all.

“That’s okay.” Christal said this with breathy enthusiasm, as if to say she wanted more. He was certain of this.

That was the last time she spoke to him. Every time they met she pretended not to know him. She wouldn’t return his increasingly meek hellos. She’d walk away. She'd hide.

Was this hate or indifference? The problem he had with her was not knowing what she felt. He had done nothing wrong. Doesn’t every human being deserve an explanation?

He decided that the problem did not lie within him, because she knew him and he had not changed. But he was willing to grow. He was still that caring human being who believed in the golden rule. Apparently she didn’t. Therefore she was no longer worthy of consideration as his possible mate. Still, he was not heartless. There was still a strong curiosity and a willingness to forgive. Love knows no boundaries.

They may not end up together, but if she could grow (in love)…

She needed to become and stay a mensch.

What was her problem?

ONE LESS PROBLEM WITHOUT YA, Ariana Grande, 2014

 

DEVOTION

DEVOTION

He takes her in. Age has stolen many of her charms but he only sees beauty. He's overwhelmed with love. His heart is full of memories of their life together. Even if she cannot fully participate with him he fills in the gaps and cares for her with every ounce of his energy.

Last week I wrote about how activity of any kind (I didn’t elaborate, so let’s specify movement, attitude and conversation) fully trump static beauty. Next week I'll cover the one exception.

THE NOTEBOOK by Nicholas Sparks shows us a great example of this devotion to a life of love and more, much more. Here’s the trailer for the 2004 movie. In this movie ask yourself what intrigued the boy's initial interest in the girl? Was it her pretty face or was it her beauty and the way she acted?

You may be interested in Sparks' upcoming film, THE BEST OF ME. The film graces familiar ground when a young couple meets resistance from parents, but a brilliant romance writer has an irresistable way of showing his/her story. [Besides, hasn't every tale been told in one way or another when you consider the basics? We supply the fresh take/twist(s)/depth etc.].

Shameless plugs (GIVE ME YOURS TOO in comments below): In a couple weeks my rip off (LOL) of Shakespeare's DOUBLE HAPPINESS will be out. I give it a complete make-over. I mean, what did Billy boy know anyway? In my recently released A MORE PERFECT UNION to quote a reviewer, RW Richard "...has done what no other author has before, made a hero and heroine running for the office of United States President fall in love with one another..."

Well the idea of odd bedfellows is an age old tale as well, but that didn't stop me from trying this twist.

The visual man revealed



It is said, "guys are visual." But what does that really mean? Well, I'm a guy and I'll let you in on a guy secret. Guys are attracted to motion.

 

He's standing before a dance floor. He spots three attractive women. He decides which one he prefers. Then a dance starts and only one is animated, not the prettiest, but he asks her to dance.

 

He's in an art gallery. Three beautiful girls are studying the relative merits of three paintings by different artists. One girl begins to show emotion thru facial expressions for artist number one. The guy also likes the art and buys the painting. No silly, he strikes up a conversation with the enthusiastic girl.

 

Nature is not static. Procreation or its drive revolves around the consumation of movement.

 

This guy, me, is severely attracted to Tahitian women doing the fast dance or Hawaiians doing the Hula. I love their (help me with this description - I'm serious) very long fluffed curled to wavy hair as it sways to the beat of the rhythm of life.

 

A guy might appreciate the 'looks' of a woman, but he knows nothing until that woman moves. This includes all her ways of communicating.

 

What you'll see below may be more interesting for a guy than a girl, but who doesn't appreciate this form of artistic expression. Polynesian dance compilations. This presentation has little to do with me being in Hawaii right now, I swear.

 

 

 

Extra credit: Poetry In Motion, 1960, Johnny Tillotson

 

Does your hero have horse sense?

I'm getting ready for a trip, so I'll make this week's blog short.

Is your guy or hero sensitive to the finer points in life? Does he love dogs? Can he appreciate art or music? I Many know this; t's a fine counterpoint to show a softer side to an alpha hero. Give him more complexity.

I know, I never return to a video and I won't today. But last week's IT'S ALL ABOUT THE BASS drew a lot of attention. So today I'm featuring a horse in sync with the tune. What if you hero valiantly stated that horses or other animals appreciated music and he wanted to find some way of proving it. Until science catches up with this issue, you either believe that animals yearn for or cultivate a richer life or you don't. But what of your characters? Does your alpha hero have horse sense? I've got to run out now and hug a macadamia tree.

It's All About The Bass is rising fast on American Top 40 (presented by Ryan Seacrest on iHeartRadio). It's now #2. It was obvious to me, the first time I heard this song that it would be a hit. Make your story a hit, by getting that same feeling while writing it. And give it a chance by doing everything you can to showcase the beauty of your story.

ALL ABOUT THAT BASS (no treble)

Alpha heroes love their bodies (or nobody else will).

In order to maintain a body often associated with or seen on covers of alpha heroes, one must be dedicated to good health, healthy food and exercise. Toss in a little vanity and the awareness of sexual attraction and you may have a character you weren’t looking to write. Picture someone who weighs themselves every morning, goes to the gym (is regimented) and counterbalance that against the image of an action hero who is always on the ready. On the one hand, you may have someone who is focused on maintaining health and on the other hand someone who is ready to jump in front of a train to protect the heroine.

Herein lies an excellent opportunity to paint your hero as conflicted. Anything less might end up coming off comic book hero-esk. I'm not saying he has to interrupt saving the heroine to go to the gym, or am I? Do you think the subject of food might come up, if the guy has a six pack and it ain't in the refrigerator?

For today's video I picked a cute and for some infectious song that’s rising in the charts, which is a bit of a counterpoint to my argument, but maybe not. The song basically says, be comfortable with yourself. It pleads the case for a curvy woman. I personally prefer the stick figure girl derided in the song, but to each his own.

Body types. I’m a bit ectomorph with an athletic regiment past and present. I’m not saying necessarily that ectomorphs go for ectomorphs. My wife just discovered after all these years that I have “skinny” legs. She inspired me to compare and notice that her legs are that of a farm girt. Did we screw up? Well she hasn’t thrown me out, and neither will I give her the boot with my skinny legs.

 

ALL ABOUT THAT BASS by Meghan Trainer, 2014. (Notice the use of colors throughout this video.)

P.s. Cassi Carver was absolutely beautiful in her photo shoot Saturday. That girl needs no touching up, but it will be fun to see how the artist manipulates the shots.

Kudos to Tameri Etherton as well.

Also, I disagree with the song about touching up photos when it comes to professional book covers, because it’s not about the cover, it’s about making the cover a window to the book.

Working writers

I know I write about craft, but hang in there as I get something off my chest.

I've been corresponding with various authors about a new phenomena, 'the little sales boat.' We all think KDP Select or Amazon Prime is the culprit. Amazon, as I said before, won't pay us for anybody who reads 10% or less of your book when they borrow. They also announce a pool of money for each month that they'll give to the authors and what do you think the chances are that the pool of $ is less than the amount we would have made on sales? When someone buys our books, we never know whether they complete it or not and we don't offer them a free rebate, usually. Right?

I'm seriously considering not putting the next book out (Double Happiness should be out in the next month or sooner) into Prime or Select and then compare results with my A MORE PEREFECT UNION.

I need feedback from other authors on their recent experiences with Kindle, so please comment.

CRAFT: It's not the money, it's producing a work of art that one hopes someone will enjoy, hopefully many someones. Artists starve and I suppose if most of us didn't have day jobs, we would be sleeping under a tarp. What, you say, you're still ranting about money. Maybe I'm partially guilty, but there is always a craft solution that can help improve things. If you have a book that is not catching on, don't wait to change the promotional or jacket materials. That's writing too. I have found when I wrote in a flamboyant style for my cover and description of THE WOLVES OF SHWERWOOD FOREST that my sales went up. I knew I had done my job when I received good reviews and other comments.

Working Girl, a 1988 movie is all about ferver for the job, creative thinking and in 1988 especially smashing stereotypes. Here's the trailer:

 I couldn't find one of my favorite scenes in which Melanie Griffith explains to the CEO how she came up with the idea (That saved the day).

Tell lies, show the Truth

To compare "show don't tell," to tell lies, show the truth is invalid. Tell lies, show the truth is just another tool in the professional writer's toolbox.

"No, I don't love you. You must leave now."
But her eyesbrows were drawing together and her foot tapped. She felt something for him. "Don't worry, there are guards about but if I make too much noise they'll think it a Nightingale. If I fall, they'll make a fair cushion."
"Please be careful." She leaned over the balcony squeezing the railing.
He bounced up. "So you do love me." He hopped back in her suite and put his arms around her.
"You know I do."
Later in the scene (which includes a kiss) she tells the truth about why he must leave.
[The dialogue comes from my vague memory of a famous scene from the 1938 version of Robin Hood.]

A subcategory of this technique involves the awful "info dump." If you must use an info dump, because the story can not be told any other way that you know, [IMHO, there's always a way] have one of the two in dialogue lie, have the other a body language expert or just plain tuned in notice subtle descepincies. As an example, the woman is a NCS agent and the guy is from the NSA. They have just been assigned to each other and there's a bit of distrust, a bit of lone wolfing, etc. Oh and a bit of chemistry, right?

This week I want to present one of the songs from my new novel A MORE PERFECT UNION. For this story I felt it worked to set the mood for each chapter. I listened to the song and wrote. I recommended to readers who like to listen to music while reading that they consider my suggestions per chapter.

The song for Chapter Seventeen: Ray Charles, Hit the Road, Jack, 1961