“Oh, I’m real. Real enough to defeat you! And I did it without your precious gifts, your oh-so-special powers. I’ll give them heroics. I’ll give them the most spectacular heroics the world has ever seen! And when I’m old and I’ve had my fun, I’ll sell my inventions so that *everyone* can have powers. *Everyone* can be super! And when everyone’s super–[chuckles evilly]—no one will be.” Syndrome, from The Incredibles

First off, I gotta thank Diane for posting that I had gone MIA last week. Life got a bit busy last week, and I wasn’t able to think of anything to post but sobbing, and lord knows you didn’t want to read that. So anyway. Things have settled down, and so here we go.

This week, I finished reading a really lovely book, Sarah MacLean‘s Nine Rules To Break When Romancing A Rake. I’ve also been working on my latest WIP, a paranormal that would seem to have nothing in common with a historical romance. But wait! I can find parallels in anything!

And since I was thinking about Sarah’s book after finishing it (always a good sign) and thinking about my own writing (always a solipsistic sign), I realized why I like some heroines more than others: They’re not special.

Let me explain. Unlike the books many of us cut our romance teeth on, the heroines in many of today’s romances are not immediately memorable; they’re not impossibly beautiful, or dramatically above the crowd in some aspect. Instead, they’re likely to have brown hair, be considered plain or plump (as in MacLean’s heroine) and yet, by the end of the book, the hero thinks the heroine is the most gorgeous, sexy thing ever.

And isn’t that what we all want in our real lives? Honestly, if we were all stunning, wouldn’t it be hard to walk around in the streets with people falling all over themselves to look at us? I feel bad for Angelina Jolie sometimes because of that–it must be hard to be THAT remarkable looking when all you want is a little time to think. But if there is a special someone who thinks WE’RE a special someone, that’s what true love is, right?

In my paranormal romance, for example, my heroine has absolutely no skills, beyond being smart and a relatively fast runner. That’s why she’s chosen to do what she does in the book, because she doesn’t pose a threat. And when she first meets the hero, he is intrigued by her, but can’t figure out why. By the end of the book, he still won’t have figured out why, but he’ll have fallen in love with her by that point, so it won’t matter.

I don’t want to read about people who are remarkable, who are supers, in my romance. I want to read about people like me–people who are normal, but perhaps there are a few special things about them that only the hero can recognize (the impossibly gorgeous, sexy hero. It’s not like we’re even-handed here. It IS a fantasy, after all). And by the end of the book, the reader thinks the heroine is special, too. And is pleased knowing that Specialness is within HER grasp, as well.

Which ‘plain Jane’ heroines are your favorites? Do you like reading about regular women and the stunning men who love them?

Megan

Isn’t summer supposed to be a time of leisure? Of Summer Fridays, lounging by the pool, drinking festive cocktails?

Oh, right. That’s for people who work or don’t have kids. Or both. Not neither.

But thanks to the continuing aging of my child (we BEGGED him to stay five years old, he was so cute, but would he? No.), it is way easier to amuse him or let him just hang out on his own and amuse himself (see: video games).

I still haven’t been writing much, nor even yet reading all that much either. But in the course of my freelance work, and to follow up on my post last week, I read a story about libraries trying to revitalize themselves in the 21st century, with some of them moving to shopping malls, adding cafes, even going so far as to add drive-in windows! The good news for my own library is that funding wasn’t completely savaged, so neighborhood libraries will be open five days a week and the campaign raised $320,000 with 30,000 advocacy messages sent to the powers-that-be.

Meanwhile, it’s not all freelance and entertaining the child (which, to be honest, is usually him rolling his eyes at his mom’s antics. Heh. He’s only 11. Wait for a few years, hon, then I’ll really embarrass you!).

We are heading on vacation, going to visit a fabulous aquarium, see gorgeous scenery, eat nommy food and–in the best part for me–not have to cook or clean for almost a whole week! And then when we return I will, hopefully, settle back into a routine that includes writing. The Champion Agent is waiting for more pages from me, which is a nice feeling.

And you? Any fun or not-so-fun plans for the summer?

Thanks for stopping by,

Megan

I have always imagined that Paradise will be a kind of library.
Jorge Luis Borges (1899 – 1986)

Google ‘libraries in crisis,’ as I just did, and you’ll be hit with a massive amount of stories of libraries facing fiscal meltdowns all across the country. My own library, the Brooklyn Public Library, has been running a campaign to raise $500,000 because of budget woes.

A library is not a luxury but one of the necessities of life.

Henry Ward Beecher (Liberal US Congregational minister, 1813-1887)

This is just terrible. (And I have a mug from the Brewster Ladies Library, in Massachusetts, with that Beecher quote on it. I got it from my dad, who volunteered there, and at all of the other Cape Cod libraries he could get to).

It’s been shown that during financial crises, people utilize the libraries more than ever, for the free computers, internet and job assistance as well as borrowing books, DVDs and CDs so their leisure time is more enjoyable.

And yet during such crises public offerings such as the library are some of the first to get their budgets slashed.

An AP story talks about how even schools are cutting library funding, with perhaps close to 20% of schools having fewer library personnel when school reopens in the fall.

Really? We want our kids NOT TO HAVE BOOKS?!?

Okay, so I know we’re all in agreement about how awful this is. What are we going to do?

Earlier this year, I gave $50 to the Brooklyn Public Library (I also owe $5 in fines, but that’s something else). If you are able to, how about finding a library in your area and donating something–money or books–and then posting back here about what you did? We will all applaud your efforts, and likely as not your library will make good use of your donation and the crisis will be that much less.

And thank you!

(Janet will return tomorrow in my place; she had some pesky work tasks pop up, so asked me to fill in).

Megan

As our and future generations dive further into the electronic technological age, some folks worry that good grammar, spelling, etc. will suffer.

And yes, it is true that 1 is frced to shrtn cert. wds in order to fit them into Twitter or a text.

But as long as there are writers, there will be attention to writing’s form.

And one thing I am Very Fond of is Random Capitalization. I use it in my own writing, particularly the humorous Regency-set stuff I write (I just finished one project this week, woot!). I believe I first encountered it in reading P.G. Wodehouse and Georgette Heyer; I’m not sure if the latter intended to Make a Point with her capitalization, but I know the former did. Wodehouse was excruciatingly particular when it came to his writing, including the capitalization.

I love it. It makes a normal sentence POP and SHINE, and really adds a dry wit (my favorite kind!) to the prose.

Capitalization is used in SF/F as well, only it’s not Random; it usually signifies a specific place (like Chaos in Meljean Brook‘s Demon series, or idea that is particular to the book, and of course I can’t think of an example, only I know they’re out there).

But when applied with a deft touch, and to Make a Point? Sublime perfection. And if authors and readers appreciate it–and other nuances of writing–I don’t think we’ll have to worry too much about how our language is getting degraded. It’s changing, for sure, but that’s not necessarily a Bad Thing.

Do you have a new favorite thing to write, read or say? What’s the best and worst part about new ways of communication?