Alison Kent's Blah Blog

This is how seriously I have been twisted by reality television.

While watching the Grammys on Sunday night and listening to Avril Lavigne and Norah Jones and John Mayer and Vanessa Carlton, et al, all I could think about was what American Idol’s Simon Cowell would say about their singing. Yes, I need help.

And then there is another sort of reality. I’ve had more than a few readers recently write and comment on the men I write – and how they, the readers, have wondered whether or not I was male or female due to the very realistic portrayal of my male characters.

I take this as a huge compliment and love hearing that I’ve made my men that real. However, I am also aware that there are readers who do NOT want to read about “real” men. What do you think?

Drop me a note here or comment using the comment link below. I’d love to hear from you.

I wonder about secondary characters and their storylines.

I’ve read comments recently (not directed to me – but on a message board) where readers felt that, even in a long series romance, a secondary storyline took away from that of the main couple. Other readers enjoyed reading about a second couple in tandem with the first.

As I always write a secondary romance, this got me to thinking. I’d love to hear from any of you who happen to read this and feel strongly one way or the other.

Drop me a note here or comment using the link provided below. I’d love to hear from you.

Talking about working in the middle of corporate America as I mentioned yesterday . . . Have you ever read a book where either the male characters talked like women, comparing feelings and fashion, or where none of the characters sounded like a single living person you’ve ever met?

I get a lot of reader mail commenting on how real my characters sound, not only in their conversations but also in their thoughts. The men sound like men, the women like women – and there’s a reason for this. I’m an inveterate people watcher. Okay. I love to eavesdrop!

A good book to illustrate and explain the differences in man speak and woman speak is Deborah Tannen�s You Just Don’t Understand: Men And Women In Conversation . But in lieu of doing your character research in the pages of a book, get out among the living! Sit in a mall food court and listen to teens and kids and families. Go to a sporting event and ignore the game to study the male spectators. Observe their speech patterns and body language, take in their verbal shortcuts, their physical interactions – the high-fives, back slaps, bird flips.

Men do not converse in long expository speeches. And a few minutes of observation will show you this and help you create real and believable men.

I haven’t surfed much at all this year or visited many of my fave romance novel sites. Too much writing to be done. But yesterday I took a break and visited All About Romance and had a nice surprise.

The interim results for their annual readers poll shows 8 titles as Favorite Series Romance – and 2 of them are mine!

How cool is that? I’m quite jazzed!

My clock says 4:57 as I’m typing this, and I’ve been up long enough to take out the dog and make coffee. Thirty minutes or so. This has to be what I enjoy the least about writing lately. The requirement I have on weekdays (Weekends are a different matter entirely!) for dark and quiet to say what I’m trying to say.

The rest of my day is a cacophony of noise and the general madness associated with working in the very center of the country’s fourth largest city – the very city I write about in my books for Harlequin Blaze. Don’t get me wrong – I adore Houston.

And I know that working where I can observe so many people gives a purity and richness to the characters I create. Much more so than if I were sitting behind the same monitor at the same desk all day long. That sort of monotony would never work for me. I need the stimulation, to immerse myself in the ‘real world’ about which I write.

And I know it works. I hear from readers, thanking me for writing “great role models… even if they are fiction,” telling me that, “(the) rap sessions between the guys and girls and the girls was really on the nose,” saying, “It’s not often you find books with several girls that have different personalities and are still friends because they accept each other’s strengths and weaknesses. I loved the talks ‘girl talks’.”

Those notes are the biggest inspiration of all, the ones that make it easier to get up when that alarm clock does go off each morning at 4:30. Hmm. Time for more coffee …

Three vampires go into a bar, and the bartender says, “What can I get you?”

The first vampire says, “I’d like a pint of blood.” The second vampire says, “I too would like a pint of blood.” The bartender says to the third vampire, “And what can I get you?”

The third vampire replies, “Well, I’m driving so I’ll take a pint of plasma.”

The bartender turns and yells to his helper, “Two bloods and a blood light.”

I haven’t watched television on a regular basis for years. A few shows only. Alias, of course. But lately, I’ve been all about the “romantic” side of reality tv. (My first addiction was Big Brother I, and I learned my lesson on that one. No more Big Brother ever!) Thankfully, I’ve avoided all of the Survivor episodes and steered clear of the first Bachelor. (And now we’re even going so far as to having “Aaron & Helene Tell All?”)

But Joe Millionaire? How did I let myself get sucked in? It’s not like any of this is real (is that part of the draw?), or like I believe there’s not a single part of it that’s not staged. Duh. And I really do NOT want to watch the 2-hour finale tonight. Sigh. But I’ve come this far and need to KNOW! Same thing with Trista Rehn and her men. I’ve read the spoilers and know who she picks, but I still have to see it for myself.

My one salvation in all of this is Television Without Pity – the most perfect site to read episode spoilers. The writers there are hilarious – and that means I’ve gotten sucked into READING about reality television as much as watching it! Argh!

So, I must Just Say No to Married By America and Are You Hot? (Lorenzo Lamas? Puh-lease!) and whatever else the networks decided to throw my way.

Especially anything related to the life of Michael Jackson . . .

Thoughts?