Lights, camera, action!

When I saw this month’s topic, I instantly thought of on-screen partnerships in film. My favourite by far is the dancing duo of Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers, who appeared together in ten films. I watch their movies whenever they come on TV because I know exactly what I’ll be seeing -  seemingly effortless dancing and witty dialogue (and gorgeous costumes).  While I enjoy the dreamy ballroom-style dancing, it’s the tap numbers that I find most thrilling, as seen here in this clip from the movie Swing Time.

A favourite film partnership of mine off the dance floor is William Powell and Myrna Loy as they appear in the The Thin Man series. Based on the novel by Dashiell Hammet, the retired detective and his young wife have lots of fun, and drink lots of cocktails, as they investigate a crime. Six films form the series of sophisticated cosy murder mysteries, with a smidgeon of film noir thrown in. And, lest we forget, their dog, Asta, makes frequent appearances.

A non-romantic film partnership (evidently fraught with hostility off-screen) is the pairing of Bud Abbot and Lou Costello in over forty films. My enjoyment of raucous slap-stick humour has a time limit and a frequency limit, but their classic routine, “Who’s on First”, makes me laugh every time.

And finally, we head back to the dance floor for the sibling partnership of the Nicholas Brothers -  Fayard and Harold. This astonishingly talented dance pair began their rise to fame in jazz nightclubs before moving on to stardom in vaudeville and on Broadway. They appeared in over twenty-five films. I can watch these guys dance all day, though I feel worn out after a couple of minutes. Here they are in an excerpt from the film, Stormy Weather.

Do you have a favourite movie partnership that you’ll happily watch over and over again?

Luanna Stewart has been creating adventures for her imaginary friends since childhood. She spends her days writing spicy romance ranging from contemporary to paranormal. When not torturing her heroes and heroines, she’s in her kitchen baking something delicious. She lives in Nova Scotia with her patient husband, two spoiled cats, and five hens.

Website ~ Bookbub ~ Twitter ~ Instagram ~ Facebook ~ Goodreads 

We All Need Humor by Lynn Lovegreen

 

It’s tempting sometimes to see the world through humorless eyes. There’s always terrible news about bad things happening, and we do need to think about serious things if we’re going to make the world better. But sometimes, a little humor can help, too. A wise person knows when to be serious and when to laugh. 

 

Balance is necessary for a healthy life. That means taking time to laugh now and then. Whether it’s joking around with family, making puns with friends, reading funny books, or watching humorous shows or movies, a little laughter can lighten our load.   Laughing with others also builds bonds. Those connections are good for everyone’s mental health, and can help us do the serious work when we have to get back to the job.

 

Connect with family and friends, and the whole world if that’s your thing. Share a laugh.

 

The Muppets have always been one of my go-tos when I need a giggle. Here’s a link from Recipes with The Swedish Chef, in case you need a little lift:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B7UmUX68KtE

 

Laughter is good for you, and for all of us! Enjoy!

Lynn Lovegreen has lived in Alaska for over fifty years. After twenty years in the classroom, she retired to make more time for writing. She enjoys her friends and family, reading, and volunteering at her local library. Her young adult historical fiction is set in Alaska, a great place for drama, romance, and independent characters. See her website at www.lynnlovegreen.com. You can also find her on Facebook and Instagram.

Find The Funny for April Fools

 

One of the gifts my family of origin bestowed on me was how to see the humor in serious situations. Most of them are gone now, but their lasting gift has stayed with me and I’ve inadvertently passed it along to my children.

So, when we scattered my stepdad’s ashes on a windy day and they blew into a family member’s face, my daughter quipped, “Now you get to wear Richard!” He wasn’t particularly well-liked by that person, so the revulsion on the ash-wearer’s face was real. The serious folks were horrified, but we comic-minded folk couldn’t stop quipping the one-liners. Especially my mom, Richard’s widow. Not from a lack of respect on her part—but as a means of emotional survival.

Laughter is truly the best medicine. Each time the Reader’s Digest showed up at our house as a kid, I’d turn to that page to read the funny stories and witty one-liners. Toss in pop culture like the Carol Burnett Show, Sonny & Cher, Edith Ann on Rowan & Martin’s Laugh-In, and I was a goner. Naturally I evolved into the class clown in school.

My daughter asked me one day, what were the most sins I confessed as a kid, back in Catholic school? That one was easy. Lies. Ever since I can remember I told stories of things that happened and embellished them to sound more dramatic. I wanted that eye-popping, jaw-dropping effect as I told the story.

But yeah, confession. I had to come clean every Saturday. My older sisters told me picking my nose was a mortal sin. I figured I was headed to that thunder-down-under place, with the caves and the ragged clothing and all that heat.

I told the priest every Saturday how many times I picked my nose and how sorry I was. Couldn’t figure out what those weird noises were on the other side of the shady window. Laughter, I figured out later.

Flash forward to adulthood. My husband and I (we’re both Gemini so there’s four of us in our marriage) always competed with each other in social situations for who could deliver the wittiest one-liners. We still do it out of habit and still make each other laugh.  

My love of humor and comedy led me into acting on stage and in film. I gravitated toward Neil Simon, Nora Ephron, and other funny writers. I had the good fortune to perform in Wendy Wasserman’s Search For Signs of Intelligent Life in the Universe, The Female Version of the Odd Couple, and my favorite role of all: Playing Clairee in our community theatre production of Steel Magnolias: “The only thing that separates us from the animals is our ability to accessorize.” 

Again, pop culture influenced me: George Lucas had Hans Solo quipping one-liners during dangerous action scenes in Star Wars. It breathed a sense of brevity, determination, and courage into those characters, and I rooted for them all the more. Then along came Mel Brooks with Young Frankenstein and William Goldman with The Princess Bride. Those are my go-to movies when I want to really laugh. Another one is Bowfinger, with Steve Martin. I’m sure you have your favorites. There are so many. 

When I auditioned for a part in a film, I chose the scene in the restaurant from When Harry Met Sally, by Nora Ephron. “I’ll have what she’s having.” When I finished the scene, the casting director stood and wiped his forehead. “Excuse me while I go take a cold shower.”

I got the part.

When I write novels, I inject humor when possible. In my upcoming release, Alaska Inferno, the hero and heroine volley one-liners when the chips are down.

Laughter. We need it several times a day. Not only for physical exercise, but to relieve stress and to tickle ourselves with endorphins that make us happy.

When you can’t think of anything funny, pretend you’re Sally and fake an orgasm out in public or with your husband at the kitchen table (preferably without children or grandchildren present).

I guarantee you’ll feel better. Especially when you laugh at everyone else’s reaction.

Find the funny in life’s weird, erratic moments.

Your stomach and heart will thank you for it.

LoLo Paige's action/adventure romantic suspense series Available on Amazon!

Corn

by Courtney Pierce

A serious case of corny humor makes me laugh. A snappy retort or a play on words can take me down that path too.  My sense of humor is . . . well . . . a bit off from the norm.  It’s why I inject a dose of humor in all of books. Life is serious enough, so I like to think of my stories as an escape from the traffic, fake news, and the Bickerson's on social media. Forget that yahoo in the Lincoln Navigator who butts in at the merge every dang day. I wouldn’t dare flip the bird at that guy, though, but one of my fictional characters just might.

To my selfish delight, I save up snippets of funny stuff I hear in passing. They go into my reserve tank, and then I let them loose like spit balls from the mouths of my characters. Dialogue is an excellent vehicle for this sneaky, quite satisfying trick. Protagonists and antagonists alike get to say and do things that I, myself, wouldn’t dare to in real life.

Another great vehicle for making readers smile–and me too—is to infuse something ridiculous into a dire situation. This lightens the mood and breaks the tension. I especially like to do this with an animal, because they’re so well-meaning and pure. It’s like an Art Linkletter moment on Kids Say the Darndest Things. In my latest book, Indigo Legacy (due out in late summer), I use a therapy dog to play out this type of craft. A standard poodle named Pogo picks up on my protagonist’s most hurtful, emotional moment after she learns something terrible about her dead husband. Among his effects is a police report. The dog snatches it and chomps on it like Popeye’s spinach. The vision is intended to be funny, but the emotion behind the dog's bad behavior is not. As a result, my character’s grief is completely re-calibrated.  In an instant, the mood of the scene changes.

Pain is so much easier to write than humor. Whether psychological or physical, pain is pain, but not everything is universally funny. A laugh is the result of the reader's taste and experiences. As an example, take the 2007 novel Sideways by Rex Pickett. Among the backdrop of the California wine country, a raucous boys-will-be-boys story unfolds. Two grown men take a last-hurrah trip before one of them gets married. The premise alone is a total set-up for fun. For me, the debauchery, bathroom humor, and sharp dialogue are hilarious and right on point.  And just when you think these guys couldn’t make one more bonehead move, they top themselves. Every page yanked me forward with one laugh-out-loud scene after another. Of course, some people thought the book (and also the movie) was stupid and immature. Duhhh . . . yeah, that was the whole point!

Unlike authors of thrillers or crime dramas, the recipe for tickling a reader’s funny bone requires their complete trust in the author. But as the author, I'm going to write what makes me laugh, not the reader. A prediction of that magnitude is destined to fall flat because it wouldn't be genuine. How the heck could I possibly know what makes others laugh unless I know them?

Some of the best chuckles are rooted in a character’s struggle. How I get her out of it usually sticks her deeper in fresh mud. It’s a crap shoot, for sure, but when you hit that F-bone just right, then everyone wins.

Go ahead and pick your smile poison: subtle, bathroom, corny, snarky, ironic, or caustic. All forms of humor are accepted here, even encouraged. We can all come up with the flash of something both tragic and funny that really has happened. You know, a real you-can't-make-this-stuff-up moment. How about a character whispering self-barbed dialogue in the women’s restroom after she's already wet her pants? That situation could be dumb or brilliant, depending on what the author does with the scene. 

In truth, it only takes the description of my character's expression in the mirror's reflection to make it funny. 

And on that note, I know a good exit line when I see one. 

Courtney Pierce is a fiction writer living in Milwaukie, Oregon, with her new family. She writes for baby boomers. By day, Courtney is an executive in the entertainment industry and uses her time in a theater seat to create stories that are filled with heart, humor and mystery. She has studied craft and storytelling at the Attic Institute and has completed the Hawthorne Fellows Program for writing and publishing. Active in the writing community, she is a board member of the Northwest Independent Writers Association and on the Advisory Council of the Independent Publishing Resource Center. She is a member of Willamette Writers, Pacific Northwest Writers Association, and She Writes. The Executrix received the Library Journal Self-E recommendation seal. 

Check out all of Courtney's books at:

courtney-pierce.com and windtreepress.com. Both print and E-books are available through most major online retailers, including Amazon.com

The Dushane Sisters Trilogy concludes with Indigo Legacy, due out in summer, 2018. There's love in the air for Olivia and Woody, but will their family history get in the way? Ride along for the wild trip that starts in a New York auction house and peaks in a mansion on Boston's Beacon Hill. Will the Dushane sisters finally get the answers they've been seeking about their mother.

New York Times best-selling author Karen Karbo says, "Courtney Pierce spins a madcap tale of family grudges, sisterly love, unexpected romance, mysterious mobsters and dog love. Reading Indigo Lake is like drinking champagne with a chaser of Mountain Dew. Pure Delight."

Summer + Books = Fun

by Courtney Pierce

Throughout the year, I poke through the shelves of my favorite independent bookstores to stoke my reading fire. The books are stacked on my nightstand and on the floor next to the bed in teetery piles, separated by genre. They wait with the tease of new stories. Each season has a mood: fall is reserved for mysteries like Shadow of the Wind by Carlos Ruiz Zafon; winter gives me a kick with thick thrillers like Natchez Burning and The Bone Tree by Greg Iles; and spring inspires me with gorgeous burst of literary prose as in All the Light We Cannot See by Anthony Doerr.

And then summer arrives. My favorite reading season.

Summer is reserved for humorous and poignant yarns that make me laugh out loud. Ridiculous situations and colorful metaphors stick with me like the mounds of impatiens in my garden that resemble Chiclets. Beyond the screen of the open sliding door, I bask in the din of chirping crickets and croaking frogs that celebrate a passing shower, an excuse to linger over a page a little longer before turning out the light. 

One more chapter. One more paragraph. One more sentence. And then I look like one of my favorite writers and illustrators, Edward Gorey. That's a picture of him and his cats to the right. 

I search out fun fiction with mature characters, specifically baby boomers because that’s what I, myself, write. The combination of wisdom and Peter Pan syndrome is hilarious. Crazy adult problems prompt—and deserve—an adolescent response. Good intentions crumble with disastrous results for the characters. These books are an entire food group at the base of my pyramid. Who needs meat when I can have a good ’ole baby boomer protagonist who heaps a deep dish of trouble on her plate?

Here’s a peek at this year’s summer selections. 

A Slight Change of Plan by Dee Ernst

A 55-year-old widow is ready to get back in the saddle of love. Of course, it doesn't turn out the way she expects when her grown son and his wife boomerang home, and her elderly mother takes up residence in the basement. The reviews say it’s hilarious. I'm taking on this one first.

Goodbye Emily by Michael Murphy

 (I’m reading this for a second time!)

A humorous and poignant voyage and return. A widower finds closure when he grabs his wife’s ashes, cleans up his VW Van, and hits the road with his buddy. They go back to the site of Woodstock to scatter the ashes. Reliving the concert memories of a lifetime becomes an unexpected adventure. A great story that is both funny and weepy.

Retirement Can Be Murder by Susan Santangelo

A light mystery about a boomer wife who is dreading her husband’s retirement—until he’s suspected of murder. Sounds like I can blow through this one in two nights. If I like it, this author has more in the series. 

A Ghost Of a Chance by Minnette Meador

I met Minnette at a book signing and plucked this from her stack. I always support my fellow local authors. A funny paranormal romance? I've got to check this out while I sip a glass of chilled white wine with my feet propped up on a patio chair.

The Executrix by Courtney Pierce

And last on the list, I’ll be re-reading my own latest novel The Executrix. This time I’ll enjoy it like a reader, not as the author. As I complete the sequel, Indigo Lake, the three middle-aged sisters are in my blood, pumping through my veins like a euphoric drug. These ladies are in over their heads. If all goes according to plan, the sequel will be out before the end of the year.

Courtney Pierce is a fiction writer living in Oregon with her husband of thirty-six years and bossy cat. She enjoys writing for baby boomers. Her novels are filled with heart, humor, and mystery. At least one trickster animal steals the show. For the past three years, Courtney has studied craft and storytelling the best-selling author Jennifer Lauck at the Attic Institute and has completed the Hawthorne Fellows program for writing and publishing.

Visit Courtney's website at www.courtney-pierce.com. Her books can be purchased at Windtree Press, Amazon, Barnes and Noble, Kobo Books, and at several independent bookstores in the Portland area.

Re-Posting a Favorite Post

Happy Holidays, Everyone!

Below is one of my favorite pieces which I previously posted in 2011.  Hope you enjoy.

Wishing each and everyone a wonderful 2014!
Robin
-------

Identifying the specific traits that make a writer is a difficult assignment.  By contrast, defining a non-writer is easy.  The non-writer talks (and talks and talks) but never actually puts his fingers on the keyboard.

I’ve stopped discussing my projects with these non-writers.  Why?  Because the response is nearly always the same:  “You know, I should write a book.”  And of course, that profound statement is consistently followed by:  “It’ll be a best seller.”

In a prior life (last year), I tried to help these wayward souls reconnect with the mother-ship.  Below is a compilation of my attempts.

ME:  What will your book be about?

Clueless in Seattle:  It’s about a wizard.  He goes to Rome to save Catholicism by killing the Pope—who’s turned into a vampire.
Cole Kreme:  I don’t know but it’ll have lots of sex so it won’t be boring.
Ima Borin:  It’ll be my life story, starting with my advanced mastery of potty training and will continue on through my fourth marriage.
Nita Klue:  It’s about this mermaid.  Except she doesn’t have fins and she doesn’t live in the ocean.
Olive Miya Poopa:  I plan to write about how toilet paper is made.  It’ll be a kid’s book.
Future Bestsellers (Multiple People/Personality):  It’s about my mother (father/child/ex-husband/drill sergeant/psychiatrist).  My therapist says it’ll be good to get it down on paper. 

ME:  What genre do you plan to write?

Morrel, Marge R.T.: Oh, I don’t write that racy stuff.   I want something the entire family can read.
Drew A. Blanque:  There are no Johns in my book.
Clueless in Seattle:  My book will be written in English.
Ima Borin:  I thought I’d just use regular paper.

ME:  Have you taken any writing classes?  Attended any workshops?

Paige Turner:  I took four years of high school English.  Since my poem won first-place in the third period “Beauty of Spring” contest, I don’t need any more classes.
Otter Noah:  I don’t need any classes.  My book will write itself.
Clueless in Seattle:  You have to take a class to write a book?  That’s just not fair.
O. Mai:  Workshops?  Is that for binding the book once it’s written?

ME:  Do you know anything about manuscript formatting?

Clueless in Seattle:  I’m not writing a manuscript, I’ll write the whole book.
Nita Klue:  My editor will take care of all that stuff.
Doug A. Hole:  I’ll just do a hardcover book.  I’m not too fond of those computer novels.

ME:  You know writing is hard work, right?

Chase N. Mattel:  Nah.  I’ll just use the tape-recorder on my way to Myrtle Beach.  My wife can type my novel when we get home.
Heir, Hedda:  How hard can it be?  You think, you type, you staple the pages together.
Clueless in Seattle: Whaddya mean?  Like it’ll take more than a month?
Otter Noah:  Maybe for you, but my book will write itself.

ME:  Do you have a publisher in mind?

Doug A. Hole:  Once I finish with my book, I figure I’ll just look at the NYT Bestseller list and contact the company that has the most books on it.  They’ll jump at the chance to publish me.
Missy N. Link:  Well, once I go on the Today Show, that’ll take care of my publicity.

ME:  So have you actually started your novel?

Heir, Hedda:  No, but the entire book is in my head.
Chase N. Mattel:  I plan to write it over the holidays.
Noah Deia:  I haven’t started the book, but I’ve finished the forty-eight page prologue.
Liam Malone:  No, but I plan to start as soon as my kid (spouse/lover/mother) starts first-grade (high school/college/drinking (okay, so no one said drinking, but they should have)).
Otter Noah:  I’m in no hurry, my book will write itself.

Identifying the specific traits that make a non-writer is obviously easy.  Can we back into the making of a writer by applying the opposite?  If so, a writer is committed, craft-savvy, and disciplined.

In conclusion, do we try to educate the non-committed masses who think writing a book is easy? Or should we just cop out with a grin, a nod, and a “yeah, you really should write that book? “

NOTE:  Actual responses have varied, but are only slightly exaggerated; names have been changed to protect the ignorant, eh . . . I mean innocent.

Re-Posting a Favorite Post

Happy Holidays, Everyone!

Below is a piece I first posted a couple years.  I hope you enjoy. 

Wishing each and everyone of you a wonderful new year.
Robin
-------

Identifying the specific traits that make a writer is a difficult assignment.  By contrast, defining a non-writer is easy.  The non-writer talks (and talks and talks) but never actually puts his fingers on the keyboard.

I’ve stopped discussing my projects with these non-writers.  Why?  Because the response is nearly always the same:  “You know, I should write a book.”  And of course, that profound statement is consistently followed by:  “It’ll be a best seller.”

In a prior life (last year), I tried to help these wayward souls reconnect with the mother-ship.  Below is a compilation of my attempts.

ME:  What will your book be about?
Clueless in Seattle:  It’s about a wizard.  He goes to Rome to save Catholicism by killing the Pope—who’s turned into a vampire.
Cole Kreme:  I don’t know but it’ll have lots of sex so it won’t be boring.
Ima Borin:  It’ll be my life story, starting with my advanced mastery of potty training and will continue on through my fourth marriage.
Nita Klue:  It’s about this mermaid.  Except she doesn’t have fins and she doesn’t live in the ocean.
Olive Miya Poopa:  I plan to write about how toilet paper is made.  It’ll be a kid’s book.
Future Bestsellers (Multiple People/Personality):  It’s about my mother (father/child/ex-husband/drill sergeant/psychiatrist).  My therapist says it’ll be good to get it down on paper. 

ME:  What genre do you plan to write?

Morrel, Marge R.T.: Oh, I don’t write that racy stuff.   I want something the entire family can read.
Drew A. Blanque:  There are no Johns in my book.
Clueless in Seattle:  My book will be written in English.
Ima Borin:  I thought I’d just use regular paper.

ME:  Have you taken any writing classes?  Attended any workshops?

Paige Turner:  I took four years of high school English.  Since my poem won first-place in the third period “Beauty of Spring” contest, I don’t need any more classes.
Otter Noah:  I don’t need any classes.  My book will write itself.
Clueless in Seattle:  You have to take a class to write a book?  That’s just not fair.
O. Mai:  Workshops?  Is that for binding the book once it’s written?

ME:  Do you know anything about manuscript formatting?
Clueless in Seattle:  I’m not writing a manuscript, I’ll write the whole book.
Nita Klue:  My editor will take care of all that stuff.
Doug A. Hole:  I’ll just do a hardcover book.  I’m not too fond of those computer novels.

ME:  You know writing is hard work, right?
Chase N. Mattel:  Nah.  I’ll just use the tape-recorder on my way to Myrtle Beach.  My wife can type my novel when we get home.
Heir, Hedda:  How hard can it be?  You think, you type, you staple the pages together.
Clueless in Seattle: Whaddya mean?  Like it’ll take more than a month?
Otter Noah:  Maybe for you, but my book will write itself.

ME:  Do you have a publisher in mind?

Doug A. Hole:  Once I finish with my book, I figure I’ll just look at the NYT Bestseller list and contact the company that has the most books on it.  They’ll jump at the chance to publish me.
Missy N. Link:  Well, once I go on the Today Show, that’ll take care of my publicity.

ME:  So have you actually started your novel?
Heir, Hedda:  No, but the entire book is in my head.
Chase N. Mattel:  I plan to write it over the holidays.
Noah Deia:  I haven’t started the book, but I’ve finished the forty-eight page prologue.
Liam Malone:  No, but I plan to start as soon as my kid (spouse/lover/mother) starts first-grade (high school/college/drinking (okay, so no one said drinking, but they should have)).
Otter Noah:  I’m in no hurry, my book will write itself.

Identifying the specific traits that make a non-writer is obviously easy.  Can we back into the making of a writer by applying the opposite?  If so, a writer is committed, craft-savvy, and disciplined.

In conclusion, do we try to educate the non-committed masses who think writing a book is easy? Or should we just cop out with a grin, a nod, and a “yeah, you really should write that book? “

NOTE:  Actual responses have varied, but are only slightly exaggerated; names have been changed to protect the ignorant, eh . . . I mean innocent.

Must Love Dogs? Sarah Raplee, Paranormal Romance Writer

My name is Sarah Raplee, and I write romance fiction. They say that admitting the problem is the first step to recovery, but I like being hooked on writing. I’m one of the founders (aka Queens) of Romancing the Genres, along with Judith Ashley.