Where the action is

Wherever I go is the most interesting place in the house. I get up, and all the cats and dogs rush in front of me to see where the action is. Or is going to be, because I’m there.

Like father, like son?

How did Ben keep a straight face when Luke said “I want to learn the ways of the Force and become a Jedi like my father”?

“Well, maybe not JUST like your father, Luke. For REASONS.”

The wind howls

The wind is howling outside. It sounds unhappy.

Let me tell you something, Wind. There’s a REASON we don’t let you inside. You have bad manners. You knock things over and spill drinks. Why can’t you be more like your more congenial cousin, Breeze?

Killing your characters

J.K. Rowling on Twitter:

“It’s the 16th anniversary of the Battle of Hogwarts. I’m having a moment’s silence over my keyboard. I hated killing some of those people.”

There was an article where the writer said “You guys! Despite cavalierly killing Lupin, Tonks, Fred Weasley, Colin Creevey, Lavender Brown, Severus Snape and dozens more, she does have feelings!”

SO wrong. Rowling didn’t cavalierly kill those characters; characters she had spend years developing. But there couldn’t be a Battle of Hogwarts where only the bad guys died. The stakes at the. Battle of Hogwarts were high. For none of the good guys to die would have been shallow, artificial, and unconvincing.

Fair warning to you: I’m writing. I will write characters I hope you like, and then bad things will happen to some of them. I won’t want bad things to happen to them, but if you know some of the characters are the author’s little darlings, living charmed lives, there goes the suspense, the drama. It might still be interesting, but it won’t be as deeply engaging as it could be.

Oh, the humanity

I am watching the beginning of City of Angels. The mother is weeping because the hospital is doing such BAD CPR on her dying daughter.

OK, probably not. BUT SHE SHOULD BE.