What the...?

How would you fill in that blank? There're several options available. Personally, I'm a 'heck' girl. And 'dang', 'shoot', and 'crap' work for me too.

Natalie Whipple wrote about the two camps of writing- realism and idealism. Please go read this because it totally removes the typical "I am right and you are wrong and evil for writing things I don't approve of" from the equation.

Here's what I would love to happen with ebooks:
Let us pick which level of profanity we're exposed to.

Why not?

I'm all about having options. To recap, my nine-year-old finished reading Harry Potter 7 a few months ago, and I would have liked to change one word. (Mrs. Weasley says a Bad Word when she's fighting Bellatrix.)

I still let him read it and here's how I addressed it: I reread HP 7 before I gave it to him, so I knew what was coming. We talked about it. He knows that I've said a Bad Word before because here was this one time where we were driving to school in the rain, and there was a really close call in a very dangerous intersection and I said My Favorite Bad Word, the one that always comes out in such situations, not listed above. So he knows I'm not perfect, but I want to be. This will not happen anytime soon, but we STRIVE to be the nicest, most pleasant, unoffensive people we can be, right?

We had a great discussion that has led to Isaac coming to me with things that he's unsure of and him putting down books that he doesn't think fit the standards that we have set. So this has been really really good as far as him learning to make good decisions. I don't want to lose that kind of growth.

My position may be confusing to some, because, hey, I'm confused, too. Should 'Diary of Anne Frank' have been edited for content? Not exactly. But Anne has some confusing, typical adolescent feelings, and I would rather be the one talking to my kids about those, not a teacher at school. I would prefer my kids to get a sanitized version at school.

Wouldn't it be cool if the book people would be more understanding about this than the movie people?

I have romance in my book. There is kissing and it is more than just a peck kiss! I expect that the very particular might even skip a scene. That's fine with me. I'd love to sell more books because people could set the digital bar a little higher to let more sensitive/younger readers enjoy it.

Same with language. One of my characters uses 'medium' bad words, ones found in the Bible. (That's my justification, for those of you more sensitive than myself! It's in the Bible!) It's fine with me if you don't want to read that. Set it at G, then.

Is anyone at Amazon or Apple or Sony listening? No? I'll have use my rainbow words to shout it: I would buy an ereader for this app. I really would. I would also suggest books that I don't now if I could say, "Read this book on PG-13. It's awesome." 

Any thoughts?
Glutton for Punishment?

I’m waiting for my check

Let's try something. I'll describe a story, and you tell me if you can craft a best seller.

There's this ring, and it's really powerful. So powerful that it can make you invisible and take over your mind if you're not careful. So this hobbit—hobbits are like a short people with hairy feet—gets the ring from his uncle.

Then a wizard tells him they are in danger and Middle Earth will be destroyed if Sauron, the evil lord of Mordor gets the ring back. The hobbit is kind of weak, so he has some friends to help him on his quest. There's the true king, an elf, a dwarf, maybe a few more hobbits…I think I'm going to have a tree guardian…maybe I'll call it a tree herder.

Anyway, Freddie (I may change that. Freddie seems a little too 'Hardy Boys', if you know what I mean.) and Steve (may change that, too) go on this long journey, and finally get to a giant crater in the earth, left by a meteor. (The ring is made from meteor-ore and meteors are the only magic strong enough to destroy the ring.) Freddie struggles, but is finally able to overcome his desire to keep the ring and they destroy Sauron and the new king is crowned.

It's a great idea, right? It could become the next big thing- the basis for a whole new genre...

But could you develop the idea as beautifully as Tolkien did?

I've described my idea to lots of people, and since I've spent some time working on my query letters, I can give a decent synopsis. But I still have this niggle in my brain that makes me want to say, "It's better on paper."

Try describing a #1 song to someone. Knock out the melody on the piano for them. They say, "Oh, that's neat that you write music. I'm kindof working on a song right now, too.

It's not enough to have an idea- you have to have a seasoned, sweated over manuscript. You must polish your story until it reflects the red veins in your bloodshot-computer-screen-weary-eyes.

When I first considered joining an online writer's group, some friends were concerned that my ideas would be stolen. That someone would make millions off my brilliantly amazing ideas, if I may be so modest.

But all the plagiarism I've heard about is pretty doubtful. I've read one comment on a blog where a lady that sniffed that she'd finished her novel about a boy in wizard school a month before the first Harry Potter came out. And Stephenie Meyer was sued over some resemblances, but I wonder that the attorney would even bother. (Nevermind that last comment. Of course they would bother.)

It's all about the execution. And execution is hard. Just as hard as bringing the characters to life. (get it?)

But some people are confused about how much work it is to write it, and write it well. So I'm going to copyright some ideas, and whenever anyone uses my little gems, they have to go through me. Coming up with the ideas is the fun part, anyway. Actually writing it…ughh.

1. Magic. This is my idea, and if you want to use it, you'd better take out your pocket book.

2. Vampires. Duh.

3. Thwarted love. I believe in reincarnation as of this minute, and I invented this storyline in a previous life.

4.Fear of your dead spouse not really being dead and you move on and then it turns out they've been trapped on an island for years, dreaming of you. (Tom Hanks, I'm waiting for you to return my calls. Though, to be honest, this one's my husband Nathan's brainchild)

5. I may add some more. I come up with stuff all of the time. Check back later.

I should be rolling in the dough in no time. And it's virtually pain-free!

What am I missing? Did you ever have an idea and somebody beat you to it?

Glutton for Punishment?