Happy Friday, GLIAS’ers! I’m really looking forward to our
new Friday posts and all of the fun and interesting things we’ll be learning
about my fabulous blog mates and what we’re working on over the coming months.
We’ve had great fun over the past three years introducing
you to our favorite authors and we can’t wait to bring you more! More authors aren’t
the only things we’ll be sharing with you in the coming year, but more of US,
too!
In September, Jill hosted our very first “First Fridays With
the Crew” post, where we get to do a quick catch up with everyone, a new
tradition we plan to carry on in the months to come. On other Fridays, Crew
members will be posting individual blogs about themselves or things they find
interesting! We hope you enjoy this opportunity to get to know your GLIAS hosts
more intimately J.
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CONFESSIONS OF A BINGE TV WATCHER by Heather Snow
Anyone remember the show QUANTUM LEAP? Sexy, smart Dr. Sam Beckett
travels back in time to put right things that once went wrong. It ran from
1989-1993…97 episodes of awesomeness that I watched faithfully every week back
in the days before DVR.
That was the last show on network television that I watched.
I know, I know but life…it just got busy, I guess! I missed SEINFELD and FRIENDS
and LOST and GLEE and a thousand other shows in between. (Don’t tell anyone,
but I even missed DOWNTON ABBEY. I know…I should have my historical romance
author card revoked. What can I say? I was on deadline with 2 small children!)
But lately, thanks to Netflix, I’ve been on a TV watching
binge and I wanted to watch things completely different than what I write to
give my mind a rest. It started with FRINGE…iffy at first, but it developed
into an interesting plot line with characters I came to care for. Then I moved
on to SCANDAL, which was a total guilty pleasure. Then I tried ONCE UPON A TIME
and GRIMM on for size…similar premises based on fairy tale lore, but completely
different takes and approaches on it. There were things that I liked and things
that annoyed me about each of those shows, but I continue to be amazed at the
sheer creativity (and great writing!) that goes into them.
I’ve learned a few things in my months of viewing. One?
Apparently I am easily addicted. Two? I am willing to forgive a lot of plot
holes and slow pacing and myriad other issues for characters that I love. Three?
I noticed that with most of the series, it took me awhile to attach to those
characters. The pilots and early first seasons seemed a bit clunky as the
actors and writers tried their characters on for size. But once they grabbed me,
I was sacrificing sleep, writing time, reading time, TOO much time just to
spend a few hours with them.
Which really made me think a lot about my writing. Since I
write historical romance with mysteries in them, I focus a lot on making sure
my plots hang together. Of course, I focus a lot on character, too…I dig quite
deeply into my characters’ personalities, backgrounds, strengths, weaknesses,
etc., before I even type the first word. But what my current unhealthy
television habits have shown me is that I need to focus on them even more. It’s
ALL about character and making viewers/readers love them or love to hate them.
Currently, I am watching SUPERNATURAL. It was another series
that took a little for me to get into, but now I’m hooked. I can’t wait to squeeze
in an episode every chance I get! Overall, the writing has been smart and the
overarching storyline that the characters have suffered through (at least
Seasons 1-5…which is probably where the show should have ended, given the story
arc was tied up then) has been nothing short of brilliant. But most
importantly? I LOVE a character for the first time since Dr. Sam Beckett.
Dean Winchester… I’ve never been one who liked bad boys
(figured they were too much trouble), but Dean…oh my… Talk about a tortured
soul even I would be standing in line to heal. Not too hard on the eyes,
either!
Yes, I understand it’s a combination of factors that have me
so enamored…the writers wrote him well (he’s hilariously snarky, insanely loyal
and beautifully broken), the actor is not only good looking but plays his part perfectly,
and the way he interacts with his brother in their crazy, troubled relationship
really lets me see into his fictionally fabulous heart.
As an author, I don’t have the luxury of having a hot guy
portray character traits that endear him to my intended audience. Nor do I have
a whole season for you to hang on and see if it gets better. I have to find a
way to do that through my words and the situations I put my hero/heroine in,
and I have to do it from page one. But all of this binge TV watching is making
me really think of better ways to do that, and will hopefully help me create
even better characters for YOU to enjoy.
At least, that’s how I’m justifying all of my recent tube
time. Speaking of, I hear JUSTIFIED is a good series to watch to learn
character development… Hmm… ;)
Which fictional television characters have captured your
heart and stuck with you? Any shows I need to make sure I don’t miss…you know,
for research, of course…?
Heather Snow writes smart historical romance featuring women
who put the blue in bluestockings, the men who love them, and the mysteries
they have to solve. Her Award Winning debut series,
including SWEET
ENEMY, SWEET
DECEPTION and SWEET
MADNESS is currently on sale for $5.99 each on Kindle and $6.78 for
paperback.
