Character Skills

The movers arrived yesterday morning, a crew of two. These guys know what they're doing. I gave them a trip through the house to show what goes and what stays. The lead man walked through it once more repeating what I'd said, and he had it nailed. He said he's been doing it long enough that he can usually tell what to pack and what stays behind in about three minutes, even without a homeowner telling him. He's a third generation mover.


I didn't realize how much "stuff" was on our walls. Never paid much attention to how many pictures they're packing. I never thought about looking at the walls as containing "stuff" that had to be included in the moving mass.

I'd started laying out clothes for SleuthFest, but hubby checked the weather forecast. It looks like it'll be a good 10 degrees colder than last week's predicted temps. So much for my first thoughts. Out with the shorts, in with the longs. The dress for the pool party probably won't work either. So I need to rethink reorganize, and repack. Not my favorite thing to do. I tend to overpack because I can't seem to zero in on exactly what I'll need for each day, each planned activity. It's a skill set I'm lacking.

One thing I consider when creating characters is what they do for a living, or what they would rather be doing for a living. What skills do they need? Where did they acquire them. Or did they? Or maybe they aren't quite good enough at what they do, which leads to conflict.

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In Africa, I asked our Game Drive guide if he enjoyed his work (yes), and why he chose it (couldn't stand the idea of working inside). Do you ever think about all the jobs out there? How many people do you run into on any given day. Bank tellers, dry cleaners, gardeners. What about the person who holds that sign that says "slow" on one side and "stop" on the other when they're working on the roads? How did they pick those jobs? Are they satisfied?


In writing, it's important to give your characters "super powers" even if they're not the sort that one things of in terms of leaping tall buildings or running faster than a speeding bullet. The ability to walk into a room and figure out how many boxes it'll take to pack everything up is a "super power." Author Rhonda Pollero says her husband has the power to be invisible to waiters.

These skills add reality to your characters, and help make them distinctive.

I'm looking forward to getting away from the chaos of moving for a few days, no matter what the weather. Tomorrow's Field Trip is a preview of Colorado – my talented photographer son has supplied some breathtaking pictures of Garden of the Gods.

Please come back – and don't forget about me just because I'm temporarily without Internet and can't "advertise" my postings.

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You Know What They Say About Assumptions

What I'm reading: Sleepless in Scotland, by Karen Hawkins

Thanks, Marvin for holding down the fort while I was running around all day yesterday.

In prep for moving, we've been getting estimates on moving our worldly goods from Florida to Colorado – eventually. Since we need the money from the sale of the house before we can buy, we don't have anywhere to live out there (aside from some imposition on the kidlets). Movers are happy to store your stuff until you're ready for it.


Since we don't know where we'll live, we don't really know which furniture will fit in a new place. Plus, the décor aspects of Florida vs. Colorado have to be considered. That which works here isn't going to look right in a mountain home. Our prospective buyers want to keep a lot of our existing furniture, which is fine with us.

But movers charge by the pound. While we're happy to ditch the bedroom set, dining room, wall units, and lots of kitchen accoutrements, parting with books is much harder. And books are heavy. I checked the USPS website, looking to see what the options were. I discovered that you can send books and other media, as long as that's all that's in the box, at a price of about 1/3 of what the movers charge per pound. Our daughter and son-in-law in Colorado said they'd be willing to store boxes of books until we find a place.

Counting Down To South Africa T minus 2

Book signing today. It's a fund-raiser for the Adult Literacy League, and there will be over 20 local authors signing at the Altamonte Mall.

Yesterday, the publisher and cover artist and Wild Rose Press bent the house rules a bit and created a new cover for Hurricane Breeze. So much better, don't you think? The dog is more obvious, and the heroine isn't a belly-dancer. Thanks, RJ and Nicola!



I bought another mid-size suitcase to handle conference supplies. However, when I look at the "packing room(s)" I can't imagine how everything will fit. One way or another, it'll have to, I guess. We'll have to be more organized, and pack for the various phases of the trip. We have our 17 day tour, then 5 nights on our own in Port Elizabeth, and then the conference in Cape Town. I've officially signed over my membership duties until I get to the conference. Since I won't have my Five Star edits until tomorrow, I've actually got about a day and a half with "free" time to deal with the trip. Maybe it's time for those lists.