tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3815530646091177574.post7394620327467174286..comments2024-03-22T05:18:29.555-04:00Comments on Romance Bandits: Susan Crandall Is In The Lair!Loucinda McGary aka Aunty Cindyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02217492654108300014noreply@blogger.comBlogger147125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3815530646091177574.post-89256612494916789362008-06-13T15:09:00.000-04:002008-06-13T15:09:00.000-04:00Thanks, y'all. Hope to visit again sometime soon!...Thanks, y'all. Hope to visit again sometime soon!Susan Crandallhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09604544209918722961noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3815530646091177574.post-8994267898006568722008-06-13T14:16:00.000-04:002008-06-13T14:16:00.000-04:00I have always lived in the suburbs but the great t...I have always lived in the suburbs but the great thing about setting a book in the burbs is that there are so many different kinds from small little villages to large sprawling towns.Maureenhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16392692656456938856noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3815530646091177574.post-66139576424945072312008-06-13T13:12:00.000-04:002008-06-13T13:12:00.000-04:00Susan, thank you so much for being such a fabulous...Susan, thank you so much for being such a fabulous guest. I had to come back today and re-read the interview and these comments.Keira Soleorehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14440213826734580889noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3815530646091177574.post-47957723141429608262008-06-13T00:07:00.000-04:002008-06-13T00:07:00.000-04:00Susan, you've been an absolutely fantastic guest! ...Susan, you've been an absolutely fantastic guest! Please come back and see us again. And in the meantime, I'm off to check these tortured characters out. Cassondra knows I LOVE tortured characters ;-)Anna Campbellhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06695579361323275316noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3815530646091177574.post-77695875725985556002008-06-12T23:31:00.000-04:002008-06-12T23:31:00.000-04:00Susan, you've been the best guest EVER. I owe you...Susan, you've been the best guest EVER. I owe you a glass of wine or three in San Francisco, and I mean that. <BR/><BR/>I even promise to NOT hit you up for plot help.<BR/><BR/>THANK YOU so much for giving your day and your wonderful insights to all of us here at Romance Bandits!Cassondrahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07420982030156788059noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3815530646091177574.post-2497699703966226942008-06-12T23:29:00.000-04:002008-06-12T23:29:00.000-04:00I totally get it. And I'll give you a slap on the...I totally get it. And I'll give you a slap on the back for a job well done if you won't give yourself one. You deserve it. Keira will give you one too I'll bet if she gets a break from the busy bar in the lair. (Did y'all notice how I slid right out of there and left her tending bar? She's doing a right grande job of it though isn't she?)Cassondrahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07420982030156788059noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3815530646091177574.post-49867334912834077552008-06-12T23:26:00.000-04:002008-06-12T23:26:00.000-04:00Okay, I'm clearly rambling now. I'm going to pack...Okay, I'm clearly rambling now. I'm going to pack it in for the night (as you should to Cassondra, I saw how late you were up last night posting this!) I'll check back in the AM and see if there are more questions.<BR/><BR/>I really enjoyed my visit here with the Banditas and hope to have the pleasure again sometime!Susan Crandallhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09604544209918722961noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3815530646091177574.post-34354677534451966262008-06-12T23:23:00.000-04:002008-06-12T23:23:00.000-04:00I just meant it's something that a writer has to b...I just meant it's something that a writer has to be continually conscious of.Susan Crandallhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09604544209918722961noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3815530646091177574.post-22602202873614536882008-06-12T23:21:00.000-04:002008-06-12T23:21:00.000-04:00Like I said, Cassondra, it didn't come without swe...Like I said, Cassondra, it didn't come without sweat and the delete button. It IS hard to write someone your opposite, especially in emotional scenes. (that wasn't meant to be a slap on the back for myself!)Susan Crandallhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09604544209918722961noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3815530646091177574.post-19180207086592530372008-06-12T23:17:00.000-04:002008-06-12T23:17:00.000-04:00Susan wrote: Make sense? My wine is making me ramb...Susan wrote:<BR/><BR/><I> Make sense? My wine is making me ramble.</I><BR/><BR/>Perfect sense. But of course, I've read the book (gloating for those who haven't--I know, I'm having a mean moment.)Jeez-o-flip that's a steamy scene. <BR/><BR/>Ahem.<BR/><BR/>The rambles are great actually. I'm not sure many writers can concisely say how they do what they do. All they can do is ramble a bit and, as a newbie, if you listen to enough rambles, something clicks and you get one of those "aha!" moments that makes you a better writer.<BR/><BR/>And I totally get it because Maddie IS very direct. I'm that way. It scares some people. It used to scare MEN--well--<I>boys</I> when I was young and dating. (I'll just tell all y'all that Gabe is no boy and it doesn't scare him. How's that for a teaser? :-p)<BR/><BR/>Interesting though--and a mark of skill--that you can write what is the opposite of your personality in a given situation. I know we're supposed to be able to do that but it's hard.<BR/><BR/>If you notice a bit of green color leaking out of my pores, that'd be envy--of the skill level.Cassondrahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07420982030156788059noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3815530646091177574.post-29161711879702140262008-06-12T23:03:00.000-04:002008-06-12T23:03:00.000-04:00Cassondra said: "Wow. Any insights into the "study...Cassondra said: "Wow. Any insights into the "studying the character" part?<BR/><BR/>I know you said you "spend a lot of time with the characters" before you even start writing. What form does that take for you?"<BR/><BR/>Well, in the case of Madison, she's not the push over nurturing type that I am. I just read the other day a description of a good journalist/columnist (I'm sure I don't have this exactly right) comforts people who are too agitated and agitates people who are too comfortable. You get the gist. Madison is harder edged, yet empathetic. She's come to motherhood in an unusual way, to a teenager not an infant, therefore her relationship is going to be much different than my own experience. You have to think of things like that when you construct your scenes. She brings a much different perspective to the table ... as does Ethan. <BR/><BR/>Here's another example. When I wrote the scene where Gabe is massaging her shoulders in her kitchen, I began with her being a little more shy about it. But Maddie is direct, therefore she should deal with this situation the same as she does others. She directly comes out and asks Gabe if her response scared him. Make sense? My wine is making me ramble.<BR/><BR/>That time I spend with my characters prior to writing is mostly mental. I think of different possible situations, how they would react, what in their lives would make them react in that way, what kinds of experiences have they had that shaped them. It even goes to name selection. What would their parents have named them, given their social station and the time they were born. Things like that.Susan Crandallhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09604544209918722961noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3815530646091177574.post-21664632926179458052008-06-12T22:52:00.000-04:002008-06-12T22:52:00.000-04:00Hey, that's what we writer's do, project emotions ...Hey, that's what we writer's do, project emotions -- and I say, why not on honeybees?Susan Crandallhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09604544209918722961noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3815530646091177574.post-19163072468024417362008-06-12T22:45:00.000-04:002008-06-12T22:45:00.000-04:00Susan said:But you also have to really study that ...Susan said:<BR/><BR/><I>But you also have to really study that character and decided how they would react themselves. <BR/><BR/>I really had to concentrate on this in PITCH BLACK, because Madison is sooo opposite of me. Time and again I'd have to stop myself, ask who was in this scene Susan or Madison, hit that darned delete button and start over. </I><BR/><BR/>Wow. Any insights into the "studying the character" part?<BR/><BR/>I know you said you "spend a lot of time with the characters" before you even start writing. What form does that take for you?<BR/><BR/>I know it's late and we're keeping you WAY past the point of good manners, but..well...we're a rowdy bunch here in the lair. And we've had wine, so manners are, as the pirate code would say in the Johnny Depp films...."more like <I>guidelines</I>"....so I hope you'll forgive us a bit.Cassondrahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07420982030156788059noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3815530646091177574.post-46453516356942959972008-06-12T22:39:00.001-04:002008-06-12T22:39:00.001-04:00Susan said:Is it true that honeybees are disappear...Susan said:<BR/><BR/><I>Is it true that honeybees are disappearing? Seems I saw that on a what-to-worry-about-next magazine show. </I><BR/><BR/>LOL on the "what to worry about next" show. That's why I don't watch them. I stress enough as it is!<BR/><BR/>Yes, there have been significant losses in the honeybee population in the past few years. BUT we think it's not as bad as the "what to worry about next" shows make it sound. At least not yet. We'll know in the next couple of years probably if we understand the reasons for the losses or not. (How's that for a maybe?)<BR/><BR/>And hopefully the honeybees will hold out long enough for us to understand them a little better.<BR/><BR/>I'm glad it's calling attention to the small things that most people don't notice or care about, but that are SO important to us here on this Big Blue Marble we call home. (I'm dating myself here---anybody else remember that show? I can still sing the theme song.)<BR/><BR/>Our lives would change significantly if there were no more honeybees. Hopefully they'll be okay. Did y'all know that when a honeybee stings, she gives her life for her colony? To sting kills the worker honeybee. It's a selfless act. (Here I go, projecting these emotions on little bugs.)<BR/><BR/>Everybody asks me if I've written a book about a beekeeper and the answer is no. Maybe I need to do that. Wonder how you get a suspense plot out of honeybees? Hmmmm. Okay, the wheels are turning. I'm not gonna burn them the way they did in that Steven Seagal movie.<BR/><BR/>Hmmm. Small town setting--I may have to hit Susan Crandall up in San Francisco for a plotting session. ;0)Cassondrahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07420982030156788059noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3815530646091177574.post-1534170094956893792008-06-12T22:39:00.000-04:002008-06-12T22:39:00.000-04:00Now that I have my wine ... the truth is -- even w...Now that I have my wine ... the truth is -- even with truth serum, I can't explain the mystery of good characterization.<BR/><BR/>I truly think the characters have to be real to you -- and they have to be separate from you at the same time. YOu can tap into your personal emotions and reactions to certain situations for some of it. But you also have to really study that character and decided how they would react themselves. <BR/><BR/>I really had to concentrate on this in PITCH BLACK, because Madison is sooo opposite of me. Time and again I'd have to stop myself, ask who was in this scene Susan or Madison, hit that darned delete button and start over.Susan Crandallhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09604544209918722961noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3815530646091177574.post-83568649055244970742008-06-12T22:29:00.000-04:002008-06-12T22:29:00.000-04:00Ooooh, wine. What I good idea. Think I'll pour m...Ooooh, wine. What I good idea. Think I'll pour myself a glass!Susan Crandallhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09604544209918722961noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3815530646091177574.post-32835567436278876812008-06-12T22:27:00.001-04:002008-06-12T22:27:00.001-04:00Terrio said:SEP does love to torture them. But it'...Terrio said:<BR/><BR/><I>SEP does love to torture them. But it's never over the top. It's the same things many people face everyday. </I><BR/><BR/>And yet, she makes us care, and care hard.<BR/><BR/>Same as Susan's books. <BR/><BR/>Maybe if we could get these amazing ladies in the same room at the same time, we could lock the doors and not let them out until they tell us how they do that. Maybe y'all who are pure readers (and the most beloved people on EARTH here in the lair) don't care how, but us writers--we wanna know the secrets.<BR/><BR/>Maybe Jane could bribe the Golden Rooster and get him to slip something into Susan's wine--truth serum.....get her to tell us all the mysteries of making us care about the people in her books.Cassondrahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07420982030156788059noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3815530646091177574.post-72545495185538570332008-06-12T22:27:00.000-04:002008-06-12T22:27:00.000-04:00Cassondra,Is it true that honeybees are disappeari...Cassondra,<BR/><BR/>Is it true that honeybees are disappearing? Seems I saw that on a what-to-worry-about-next magazine show.Susan Crandallhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09604544209918722961noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3815530646091177574.post-54877113040462880052008-06-12T22:22:00.000-04:002008-06-12T22:22:00.000-04:00flchen said:Uh, bees?? Yup. Honeybees. I'm a bee...flchen said:<BR/><BR/><I>Uh, bees?? </I><BR/><BR/>Yup. Honeybees. I'm a beekeeper. Maybe I need to blog about that. When we did our "Two truths and a lie" blog about the Banditas, everybody guessed that my lie was that I was a beekeeper. But that was actually the truth.Cassondrahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07420982030156788059noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3815530646091177574.post-49024052952493940002008-06-12T22:18:00.000-04:002008-06-12T22:18:00.000-04:00SEP does love to torture them. But it's never ove...SEP does love to torture them. But it's never over the top. It's the same things many people face everyday. One minute she has you crying and the next you're laughing. I love that about her books.Terri Osburnhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17176989488447450585noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3815530646091177574.post-62293436184148245582008-06-12T21:54:00.000-04:002008-06-12T21:54:00.000-04:00Oh, and Susan, I like emotional--I'll definitely p...Oh, and Susan, I like emotional--I'll definitely put these in the TBB! And yes, I loved Ain't She Sweet--Sugar Beth's story is such a good one :)Fedorahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10879033776125666713noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3815530646091177574.post-26154569424841238742008-06-12T21:51:00.000-04:002008-06-12T21:51:00.000-04:00Sounds good then, Cassondra! Uh, bees??And thanks...Sounds good then, Cassondra! Uh, bees??<BR/><BR/>And thanks for the thumbs-up, Keira--I'll definitely get this one, then! And I think it might be Lombard Street (the curvy one) in SF--there's definitely lots to do and see there, but don't forget to pack in layers--SF can be gorgeous in the summer but then the fog rolls in and all of a sudden, the temperature drops ten or 15 degrees, easy. Brrr!Fedorahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10879033776125666713noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3815530646091177574.post-61126608064349435432008-06-12T21:45:00.000-04:002008-06-12T21:45:00.000-04:00Terrio,I loved Sugar Beth's story as well. SEP do...Terrio,<BR/><BR/>I loved Sugar Beth's story as well. SEP does know how to torture her some characters doesn't she?Cassondrahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07420982030156788059noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3815530646091177574.post-22523781139035447482008-06-12T21:38:00.000-04:002008-06-12T21:38:00.000-04:00Hello terrio! Glad you're here. I had a long unp...Hello terrio! Glad you're here. I had a long unplanned absence myself this afternoon. That's why all of my responses are so bunched up!Susan Crandallhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09604544209918722961noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3815530646091177574.post-9076500694934259812008-06-12T21:35:00.000-04:002008-06-12T21:35:00.000-04:00I agree about the newcomer thing in small towns. ...I agree about the newcomer thing in small towns. Those kids who moved into my town after we started Jr. High ... well, they were always new.<BR/><BR/>And my town has gone through some major growth as Indy slops over on us. People now ask where I'm from and I say Noblesville, they say, no I mean before you moved here. The times they are a'changin'.Susan Crandallhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09604544209918722961noreply@blogger.com