Charlene Newcomb

Random sightings

Wollaton Hall – a picture I took in 2010.
Every time I see it, I think of Downton Abbey

Why hello! You’re reading my blog. 🙂

Happy New Year. (Are you still writing 2012?)

Do you enjoy people watching? I’m guilty. Look at all the beautiful people. Short, tall, curly hair, long hair, blue eyes, brown & more, fat and thin, old and young. Every one of them has a story.

The guy across the room in the restaurant. He looks like a professional colleague of mine who lives 500 miles away.

The child who has made a ring out of her dinner roll.

Guys at the bar fascinated by the football game. The music isn’t as soothing as the lovely guitar and bass caressing the morning air earlier this week at Bluestem Bistro. (Horror. Radina’s was closed. How’s a girl supposed to get back into her regular writing routine, eh?)

Good things:

  • Waiters who smile
  • People talking, not texting
  • Caesar salad
  • Warm rolls
  • Daughters who read your book and cry – she liked it!
  • Dinner delivered to a nearby table – the 4 year old gets a piece of cheesecake
  • Dancing waiters
  • Season 3 of Downton Abbey this weekend!

BLOG READING

I took a major break from social media over the holidays. I’m slowly getting back into the swing of things.

@jamigold must have been reading over my shoulder and wrote this post especially for me: Four Tips for Fixing the Infamous “Info Dump” http://ow.ly/grrRF

A Newbie’s Guide to Publishing: Konrath’s Resolutions For Writers http://ow.ly/gnbOr

Roni Loren shares: Social Media Overload: How Do Authors Reach READERS? http://ow.ly/grrlc

Have a great weekend, my friends.

And don’t forget, you can pick up a copy of my book Keeping the Family Peace on Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and Smashwords (for other eReaders).

  1. Jaime Avatar
    Jaime

    Ooh… people watching can be fun, though I’ll admit, I wonder what sort of story that people think of when they see me? For example, I was sitting with my kindle in McDonalds the other day, mooching their wifi (well, not really mooching, as I bought something there, but it feels like mooching all the same.) People would’ve seen a tall girl they’d never guess was 18 or 19, much less nearly 33, with shaggy, short blonde hair and glasses, wearing an old blue hoodie, jeans and black boots and sipping a medium dr. pepper very slowly. I probably looked a bit out of place (for here, anyway! We’re a good 20 years behind everyone else,) and people were probably wondering A. why was I there alone and B. why was I out so late on a school night. LOL!

    I don’t think a one of them would’ve ever guessed I was sitting in there trying to download an episode of the Walking Dead for my mother, no less, who was snoozing in the car. LOL!

    Re: info dump. I actually did this in the first chapter of my nanowrimo novel (which is turning out to be Robin Hood inspired, only with more crack and set in outer space.) I actually made a joke out of it. My novel uses two narrators (they’re identical twin brothers who are very different in personality – one is a scientist, the other is a soldier.) When the second one takes over telling the story, I have him write “Thank you for the history lesson, Professor! It’s not like I don’t have enough nightmares and flashbacks about what happened, you know. Moreover, the last thing I really want to hear about as I sit here awaiting what will most likely be a very horrible death was the equally horrible death of our home world. Yeah. Loved that. Thanks so much.” Granted, that is probably the absolute wrong way to handle it, but given that is is a novel that has almost no chance of being accepted by any publisher, I don’t much care. It’s fun to write, and that’s all that matters to me. 😀

    Reply
    1. Char Avatar
      Char

      If folks are still in the 20th century there, you’re probably right about what they’re thinking, but that’s their problem, right?! You sound like you’d be perfectly at home at our Radina’s coffee shop or many of the other college hangouts. (I’m sure some of the students wonder what the middle-aged lady is doing in their coffee shop. LOL!)

      re info-dumping: making a joke out of it won’t work for my crusades story I’m afraid. I have a few ideas on how to fix one (thanks to writers group comments), and I’ll face the others during rewrite… Never a dull moment.

      Reply
  2. Marie Loughin Avatar
    Marie Loughin

    Now I want to go sit in a restaurant. In fact, I think I will. I’m off to Starbucks (my Radina’s).

    Reply
    1. Char Avatar
      Char

      YAY!! How did it go? Were you just going for the coffee, or did you take your computer with you to write? I managed to get over 1600 words in 2 hours today. I have a feeling a lot of them are crap, but I managed to get the general gist of the chapter down.

      Reply

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