Mentalist Vs. CSI Vs....Writer?

by Jeanne Adams

Alllllrighty, ladies and gents (but mostly geared to the ladies, sorry, guys!), let's talk television. I have a hot debate for you. If you had to choose between the following wonderful TV men, who would you choose?

A. The Mentalist - Patrick Jane

Jane is a former celebrity psychic who now works as a civilian consultant to the California Bureau of Investigation. He riles up his boss, Senior Agent Theresa Lisbon, breaks the rules and generally solves the cases. Not to mention being fabulous eye candy. There's great repartee between Lisbon and Jane, the rest of the team is sharp and interesting. All in all, great entertainment.
B. CSI Las Vegas - Nick Stokes

If you've been following the blog for the last three years you've no doubt learned that I'm a huge fan of darling CSI boy-o Nick Stokes. He's very smart, very focused on his work and he has a boyish charm; an a "I don't know I'm cute" sort of charm. While he has a bit of a college frat boy thing going, he's also a brilliant criminalist. He's the "everyman" of the CSI Vegas team, slogging through data like a machine, but he's also the constant character that stays solid as other characters revolve in and out of the various storyline.

C. Castle - Richard Castle

Oh, my. What's to say about Castle? ABC says: "He's famous. He's gorgeous. He's smart as hell." Ohhhhh, yeah. There's that lovely tension with Kate Beckett, who secretly is a fan, but trys to pretend she isn't and who is totally snarky, competent, and brilliant. As a team, they are magnificent, within the greater team on the show and with the foil of his wonderful flamboyent mother and down-to-earth daughter. The interactions are fabulous.

D. None of the Above.

Really? You wouldn't pick any of these?

What about Jethro Gibbs from NCIS?

Or perhaps Derek Morgan from Criminal Minds - AKA the amazing Shemar Moore ? (Isn't that the most....hmmm...rippped picture?)

Or the ever delicious LL Cool J from NCIS: Los Angeles. What a wonderful new addition to the line up. Happy sigh. He hasn't lost any of his charm, or sex appeal with age. I love that in a man, don't you?

Maybe Choice D. should be ALL of the Above?

I don't have a lot time to watch TV these days. I'm a full time writer, a full time Mom. A full time "Estate Manager" for the house and home. I do some consulting, I do some other stuff professionally. I'm on the Board for RWA.

There are so many full time jobs in my life that TV is just one of those things that seem to fall by the wayside.

Then came the TV with the DVR.

"Ooooooh, shiny!" (As Christine would say. Snork.)

Now I can watch allll I want. I like this.

I actually have come to realize that it may be as important to watch TV as it is to constantly be reading (and refilling the creative well) when you're a writer.

Hey, Castle does it.

Seriously, popular culture influences trends and influences readers as much as it does writers-as-watchers. It also influences agents and editors. How many times are we asked, as writers pitching a new story idea to either an agent or editor, "What's it like?" We often reference these cultural icons to define essential pieces of our stories.

When my agent asked me to describe what my dark urban fantasy was "like," (and thus hopefully help her find it a home) I was able to sum it up as "It's Men in Black meets Walker, Texas Ranger." She got it in one. So if any editors out there are interested....*crickets chirping*...Bueller? Bueller? (ahhh, now THERE's an iconic reference!)

Grins.

Iconic references aside, I'll give you the caveat that you have to be careful about some references. If a show - like Walker - has been off the air for a while and isn't featured on TV Land, and the editor is quite young, they may not have ever seen Walker, Texas Ranger.

And despite all the Flair on Facebook referring to Chuck Norris, there are a lot of people who don't know who he is. I know, I know, it surprises me too. Those of us who are into kick-em-up-shoot-em-up movies know, of course but not young, not-long-out-of-college editors.

Now long time editors, like dyed-in-the-wool Hollywood types and movie and tv buffs, they know these cultural icon references pretty well. For instance, you could say:

"It's like Beauty and the Beast meets Boston Legal."

"It's like Lost meets Swiss Family Robinson, Harlequin style."

They'd get the picture. Ohhh, the possibilities.

So, friends, who's your current TV Crush? I admitted yesterday that I have a slight crush on Tom Collichio from Top Chef - hey, he can cook, he's smart...what's not to crush on? Of course this was in Christine's blog on sweet little sins. It's just a little crush.

The crush on Nick Stokes? That, my friends, is huge.

C'mon now, fess up. Who's your crush?

Also, do you believe it's important to know about TV and it's pop culture when you write? (Historical authors can skip this question...)

As a reader, do you like it when an author uses a reference to TV or movies you know? Do you think it dates a book if they do it?

Tell alll.....

Oh, and if you're a writer, what's your pitch? How would you describe your book in pop-culture terms? Grins.

The Bandits of Boom!

by Trish Milburn

We're all writers here at the Romance Bandits, and we love good stories -- whether in book, TV or movie form. But there are a few of us who really like stories with some boom too. That is, stuff that blows up, goes kablooey -- you know, boom. So we thought we might share some of our favorite recent "boom" entertainment

I saw lots of boom, but the movie that I can't get out of my head is Avatar. It spoke to me on so many levels -- the love story between Jake and Neytiri (rising stars Sam Worthington and Zoe Saldana), the message about taking care of our planet and respecting people who are different from us, finding something that is worth fighting for. But in addition to those aspects of the story, there's some serious boom in this movie, particularly when Col. Quaritch makes his big move on the Na'vi, the indigenous people of Pandora, who happen to live atop a valuable deposit of the mineral unobtanium. Quaritch pulls out all the stops and throws all the firepower he has at his disposal at this people who do not have "boom" on their side. The soundtrack for Avatar, which I've played over and over, has lots of great James Horner music to go along with the boom, particularly the tracks "Quaritch" and "War."



Zoe Saldana also starred in Bandita Nancy's boom contribution. In Nancy's words...

My favorite “boom” movie of 2009 was, far and away, hands down, and every other emphatic expression possible, Star Trek. I’ll concede that the plot didn’t always make the most sense. No, the time ship coming through as Kirk was being born and then never being seen or heard of again for 20 years didn’t make sense. I really didn’t care as I watched the movie, which means this little problem doesn’t really bother me much now.

The opening, with George Kirk (played by the actor stepping into Thor’s giant boots) trying to save the ship and his wife and child, grabbed me right away. We saw it on Mother's Day, which might have influenced me, but I had the same reaction when I saw it again with the boy and his girlfriend later in the summer. As the story unrolled, the emotional intensity of the character development engaged me enough that I really didn’t wonder where the time ship was or, when it reappeared, what it had been doing in the interim.

The relationship between Kirk and Spock became Star Trek’s linchpin. Chris Pine and Zachary Quinto did a great job of building and then cementing that rapport on the screen, with help from an excellent supporting cast.

And plenty of stuff blew up. What’s not to love?



Bandita KJ finds her boom on the small screen...

Looking for boom on prime time? Check out NCIS, a fabulous show with plenty of firepower, bombs, and romantic sparks. Former marine sniper Jethro Gibbs leads a team of zany agents—including a lab tech who sleeps in a coffin, a female Mossad agent who misquotes American slang, a techno-geek, a brilliant but verbose medical examiner, and a movie-buff Italian hunk—who solve crimes in unique and fascinating ways. Not only does NCIS have a big boom factor, it offers viewers countless other positives. Laughter, for one. Tune in, or better yet, rent the show’s DVDs and start at the beginning. You won’t be disappointed!



For Bandita Jeanne, her boom came from Iron Man, a 2008 film...

Boom? You want boom? If so, my vote is for the one, the only, Iron Man. Nobody does boom like weapons maven Tony Stark. And really, no one could have played Tony Stark any better than Robert Downey Jr. Slightly seedy and just over the edge into debauched, Tony's the devil-may-care playboy who suddenly gets the ultimate wake-up call. No more suits, or steaks or even real food that doesn't have sand in it when he's nearly blown up in the desert, in the middle of a hot spot conflict zone. No more sycophantic sucking up when he's taken prisoner. He has to survive and he has to figure a way to get his illicitly sold tech out of the hands of a hitherto unknown enemy.

Once he does, losing his new mentor in the process, he not only has to live with that, he has to discover and defeat the enemy within his own company. All the while, he's decided to go back and clear out the crappy hell hole in which he was held captive.

Yep, you guessed it, it goes BOOM! Bwahahahahah! I loved this movie. It's witty and sharp, the dialogue and relationships are believable even though its a superhero movie. The almost-romance between Tony and Pepper Potts adds spice, and the boyish charm of the straight-as-an-arrow best friend, played by Terrence Howard, rounds out Tony's circle of friends and confidants. He's isolated himself, and he has to grow as a man and a human being through the course of the movie and it is done, brilliantly, by Robert Downey, Jr. He still has enough of the daredevil left to be believable, enough of the screw-this-we're-doing-it to let you know he's fundamentally himself, so it isn't a total, unbelievable makeover, which I appreciated.

Did I mention stuff went BOOM? My favorite. Did you see it? What was your favorite scene? And wasn't the music fabulous?



So, do you all like some boom in your movies and other entertainment? If so, what has been your favorite recent boom?

ALONE TIME

by Suzanne Welsh

My husband is out of town this week, so I've got the house all to myself. While I miss his company immensely, I love being alone.

Mind you, I didn't say I like being lonely. In fact, I rarely feel lonely. Between the internet which allows me to chat with all the Banditas; my AOL chats with my sister, mother and at least two of my kids; and the phone which rings constantly with people worried about the state of my estate, my FHA loan rate and my need for exotic vacations in places no one has ever heard of, I'd say I have plenty of contact with people. In fact, at my work people leave their nice warm comfy beds just to come to see me...patients because of their labor and doctors because I took the time to call them! And then there is the gaggle of nurses, who love to chat into the wee hours of the night! All these interactions with others is good and provides fodder for both story ideas and characterizations.

No, I'm rarely lonely, but I do enjoy having time for me and my thoughts. I enjoy putzing around the house in my pajamas with no one home to wonder if I'm "getting dressed" today. Rocky, the wonder dog, doesn't mind at all! He knows that jammies mean one of two things. Either I'm writing all day or we're heading back to bed for a long nap at some point.



When I'm home during the daytime the television is never on. The CD player on the other hand is. I enjoy listening to mood music while I write. In an action scene? Usually you'll hear some ZZTop or Lynard Skynard pounding out in my office. A sexy scene? Some Sade or Alison Krauss.

Having alone time in the evenings allows me some freedom to catch up on reruns of The Closer, NCIS (a very cool, underrated show in my opinion) or any CSI, and the latest Project Runway (did y'all see last nights outfits?!)...I already have my hopeful finalists picked out!

And then there's the reading!! OMG...let's see I just finished Sherrilyn Kenyon's ACHERON,(absolutely loved it) and am reading Sophie Jordan's TOO WICKED TO TAME, (very good so far!). SLAVE by Cheryl Brooks is next on my list.

One other project I'm starting this week is a scrapbook for a Christmas present for one of my daughters. (can't tell you which one since they occasionally read this blog!)

So do you enjoy having alone time? When you do, what do you indulge in?