tendertouch: Blog

Unlike some, I tend to go back and reread my favorite stories and sometimes I'm reminded of just why I enjoy them so much.

A case in point is Janna Leonard. She's no longer writing but she has left a fine body of work for us. What I've found I like so much about Janna's stories is that they mostly don't deal with the silver spoon set, no bankers or stock brokers. The characters aren't managers or CEOs, not even engineers and programmers. They're deputies, privates, nurses, mechanics - in short they're the people getting their hands dirty. Yet she treats them with dignity and compassion.

The stories are mostly set in the upper midwest of the United States - more than one in North Dakota of all places. They mostly deal with gentle romances between women, romances aimed at a lifetime together. Her characters face tragedies and disappointments and help one another through them. All in all they feel lifelike, but without being repetitious or boring.

Gentle, compassionate, empathetic, uncertain and dignified. That's really saying quite a lot.

Something came up today and reminded me of one of my favorite SOL authors. After some rereading I thought to put out a recommendation.

If you enjoy:
- romantic stories that don't require some of the tropes that seem to define the romance genre
- sweet and sappy stories that still have a bite
- strong supporting casts
- a not-quite-American outlook
- gentle humor
- leading men named George
you might want to check out WTSman's stories. He hasn't posted anything new in a few years but what he has posted includes some of my favorite stories on the site, in particular 'Wet', 'Odd Job' and 'The Proposition' but the other stories are well worth reading as well.

some words are flowing again. It's not the steady stream that made writing Building a Better Past so easy but I like where it's going so far and I feel I have a vision for the sequel. Along with what I wrote several years back the story is up to roughly 28,000 words and I've got the characters and ideas that I feel will drive the remainder of the story. The lack of a vision for the story was what stymied me before so unless I suddenly realize that my ideas won't work I feel good about being able to continue.

Let's hope I didn't jinx it by speaking up.

I wonder how often writers her on SOL go back and read their own stories? I hadn't done so with 'Building a Better Past' in several years but last week I found the start that I had made to a sequel and after glancing at it decided it might be worth pursuing. Doing that would require rereading the original story, though, to get the flow.

The most surprising thing for me is that I'm mostly pretty happy with it. I can see where I spent too much time in tell instead of show mode and the pacing is uneven but I'm purely an amateur and I still like the story. I love the idea of a character getting a do-over who isn't focused on money, or even that knowledgeable about how to build some up, but is instead mostly interested on living a good, happy life.

I still don't know if the other story will ever come to fruition but I'm feeling better about it right now than I have in a while.

I just realized it's been more than four years since I last posted a blog entry. It's probably time to tell people that I'm not dead yet.

On the good side, I'm reasonably healthy. I even have had an idea or two for stories (though not for a sequel to Building a Better Past.)

On the not-so-good side, time to write is hard to come by and when I have it nothing flows from the mind to the fingers. I tried to put together an outline (I think Building a Better Past would have been better for having one) but even that escapes me. I'm in awe of the people who can turn out something worth reading on a regular basis.