Thursday, May 18, 2006

The Dirt.

No, seriously, this post is about dirt.

And Lasagna.

I've been researching (I could get LOST in research) for a short I'm doing set in Brazil and it deals with the fabulous Terra Preta. HERE is another great article.

Many of you may have seen the Discovery Channel's show on it, or have heard of it before. I did, but I never investigated until now. This stuff, and the ability to make it anywhere, has the can revolutionize farming. Like, no more fertilizer. (The organic freak in me is dancing) So I'm going to make some over the weekend with my son and have him do a report for homeschooling. Fire and Dirt are good for teenage boys. (With supervision of course) I'm excited because my soil where I live is really sucky clay which refuses to grow anything no matter how much I compost. All I can grow is weak Haricort Verts.

This thing, where I recreate or do something I've researched is not new to my family. I also learned how to make soap this way. My herione made it in a historical, and I needed to know how. Anyhoo, the soap is awesome and I made so much I haven't bought soap for a year. Almost time for the next batch. The homemade is far better than store bought. Teenage Hatchling also helped with that experiment and loved it. It's way cool and we add all kinds of pretty stuff.

Hopefully I will be able to do this (the dirt thing) tomorrow because I have to make a lasagna or two for my MIL. She fell and busted her arm up good. They've been eating take out for weeks, and not good take out at that. Just thinking about it makes me crave salad. So I'm off to the Specialty Italian Store where I get the best damned parsley and cheese sausage in the whole world. That is the STAR of the dish. We're also making a huge salad to get some greens in there. My kids are macaroni and salad freaks. I make a ginormous salad every Friday in the warmer months and it is gone in no time flat. I would do this more often for her but she lives three hours away and this is our first time down since her fall. I didn't want the hatchlings clammoring all over her and hurting her arm again. My oldest famale hatchling has decided to make her Nani fudge too. Which she will lurve. So hopefully she will be set for awhile.

I was thinking of makeing her some other food that my FIL can take out and warm up for them.

Any ideas?

Wednesday, May 17, 2006

Some Interesting Discussions

So. It's that time of year again. You know, the all het up over RWA's lack of erotica and what the Sisters of the Immaculate Sex Scene (PBW's name, ain't it grand?) deem worthy of calling romance? Yes, convention is in the air.

Alison Kent and Julie Leto have something to say.

Cripes, sorry for my numerous typos in comments and double posting because my PC is fritzy for some reason today.

Angela Knight has a brilliant post from March but it sums up a why sex scenes are important.

My personal belief is that somebody who writes mechanical sex solely to placate a publisher and make money is a lot more guilty of being a pornographer than I am.

No matter how much some writers might like to pretend otherwise, at their core, romances are about a sexual relationship between a man and a woman, not a purely spiritual union of souls. After all, when was the last time you read a romance staring Ghandi?

I’ve heard writers argue that their readers don’t care about sex, that in fact, they skip the sex scenes. My response is: then you’re doing something wrong. Anytime a reader can skip any scene in a book, the writer has screwed up. Every scene should advance the plot, characterization, or conflict -- preferably all three. That includes love scenes. A scene your reader can skip needs to be rewritten.

[...]Every time the hero and heroine go to bed together, it should reflect where they are in their relationship. In fact, ideally you should be able to read through the sex scenes alone and track the progress of the romance through the book.

[...]Remember, too, that each love scene should not only mark the progress of the relationship, but advance it. The characters are sharing a deeply personal interaction, exposing themselves to each other emotionally as well as physically. It should change how they relate to each other.


I was talking to my Dh about this yesterday. (Yes I talk to him about everything) And he had an interesting perspective. He said, "Then they aren't getting it good enough."

I pushed his arm. "Stop it, that's not nice."

"No. Really. If it isn't making an impression or cementing your relationship it isn't good enough."
He's right. Sex, like any other aspect of a relationship needs to grow, and that growth shows within and without. As writers we need to portray that honestly.