Wednesday, May 12, 2010

Cole Bares All

         Let me brag on myself.  Eight smokin' HOT pages.  No big deal to most of you but considering my typical glacial pace...zippity-doo-dah!
          Consider also that these same eight pages comprise a love scene that's been mostly in my head, perhaps a page of which has been on paper, for five freakin' weeks.
          This is not to say I've been doing nothing during all that time. What I've been doing is ... well, my usual, well, ah...tweaking.  Tweaking that this time caused the manuscript to double in size. Not that it was that big to begin with. But dialogue eats up a lot more of the screen than you might expect. Also word count.
          So how did this happen?  Zoe Winters, an indie writer I know from Twitter and Facebook and her novella, Kept, posted a funny interview with her hero,  Cole, on her web page.  He's a lot different from my Cole. For one thing, he's a werewolf. But I thought I'd give it a try.
          Before he could pencil me in for the interview, Cole had to have a talk with his boss.  Scary. Gave me new insight and perspective. Gave Cole a whole new angle, also a shorter fuse.
         "I don't answer reporter girl's questions, why should I answer yours?"
         "You want to get into her pants, Cole?"
          "Huh."
          "Your noncommittal grunts don't really translate well in this format."
          Turns out Cole did have a few things to say about the percolating, but going- nowhere-fast, sex scene.
         "You're putting me in a spa robe? That'll be the day, sister."
         "We want to get a good look at your manly chest."
         "And what? That's the best you can do?"
         "Come on,  Cole. I gave you Timberlands before."
         "The next time I slide that glass door open and step onto that deck, I'm barefoot, baby."
         "Right. Barefoot. Spa robe. See how that works?"
         "See how that DOESN'T work?"
         "Well, um, no. That's why it's been hanging me up for, like, five freakin' weeks!"
          "Robe drops. And?"
          "What do you suggest?"
          He whistles a little David Rose ditty made famous in a long ago Noxzema shaving cream commercial.
          "That is so not you, Cole."
          "Sure about that?"
          "Well..."
           "What if I'm after something?"
          "You mean besides sex?"
          "Yeah."
          "Hmm. Okay. Jeans, flannel shirt. Got it."
          "And lose the champagne bucket.  That's so not me, either."

        But here's the interesting thing about the scene now.  It's not just about the sex. Both characters have goals and those goals conflict. Even though they move closer, tension remains. And, of course, sex complicates everything. Which moves us forward. At last.
         Yay! Onto the next scene.

12 comments:

Zoe Winters said...

Hehe Nice. Except my Cole isn't a vampire either, he's a werewolf. Anthony is the vampire.

Taryn Kincaid said...

My bad. Correcting it now.

Zoe Winters said...

YAY TY.

Janet Lane Walters said...

Terri, glad to hear those pages are coming. The interview is cute.

Wendy S Marcus said...

Wow! There's a lot going on in that head of yours! Is Cole wearing the champagne bucket? And for the record, I'm a big fan of the spa robe! One little tug and.....whoa....would you look at that?!

Are you going to share the scene at the next HVRWA meeting?

Taryn Kincaid said...

Janet--

Coming, yes. Going, as always, a problem.

Taryn Kincaid said...

Wendy --

I try to keep everything compartmentalized. Unfortunately, it all tends to overlap and overflow.

The "whoa, would you look at that," was a little too easy in this instance. No, he was not wearing the champagne bucket. He was bringing it out to the hot tub. But he's more a brew kind of guy.

Reading this scene at a meeting? Not on your ever-lovin' life!

Kat Attalla said...

Now that scene reveals more about Cole's character than ten pages of discription ever would.

Taryn Kincaid said...

Can't help it. I'm a description whore.

(Metaphors 'R' Us.)

Gina Rosavin said...

See, I made it back! Really annoying how the work interferes with my life! LOL!

I love how awesome it is that you got 8 pages done, while I am dancing about *cutting* that much and more! :D

Great interview - I do that while I'm driving with my characters, should try doing it while I can actually capture it!

And I think he should wear the robe. Brew kind of guys do appreciate finer things too - even if grudgingly! LOL!

Taryn Kincaid said...

Oh, I'll get him in the robe. Just not this scene. Maybe the next. When he's sneaking a peek at the flash drive.

Mr. Brannigan does indeed appreciate the finer things. Even if you have to twist his arm a little.

Liz said...

Nice interview. Is he available for interview with...um....me?

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