TSTL

True Blood is bordering on....

losing me in just two episodes. OMG! I'm a huge True Blood fan and I cannot for a single minute believe I just admitted that! But after a brilliant and unforgettably sexy first season, the second season seems to have lost its way. I'm so sick of watching Maryann and all the naked, bloody, muddy insanity surrounding her, I'm about ready to cut out someone's heart myself! Tara and Eggs? Honey, my eggs are so overcooked they are like rubber. Last week's episode was bad enough - they shorted me fifteen minutes! Jason was great, yeah, Jason is always a trip, but after the brilliance of Godric and Eric and Sookie and the Fellowship of the Sun, to return to the All-Maryann...All The Time channel??? I was bored. to. tears.

Where to start? First of all, I want to bitchslap Bill all the way back to the Civil War! Talk about passive and unsexy! Get off your damn ass and do something! Remember Jessica, the teen vamp you made who hasn't eaten in six days? Hello?

Second, after the intensity we witnessed between Sookie and Eric in Dallas, to watch Eric's bland reaction to Sam's request for assistance burned me. Maryann has set up camp in Sookie's house. Eric now knows Maryann is the creature that nearly killed Sookie. At least Eric would want to one-up Bill and play the hero, besides, he'd know there was something wrong.

Three, the Queen of Louisiana -- Yahtzee anyone? ROTFLMAO! How can I take this character seriously? Unlike Loreena, there is nothing threatening about her. Nothing wise in her like Godric. She doesn't even seem particularly sophisticated, aside from her 'dayroom.' Unlike Godric, she not only looks like a child, she acts like one. A spoiled, debauched, obnoxious child. Now I'm clear on the fact that True Blood does not follow the books religiously. I'm okay with that...but things seem to be straying pretty far afield.

The worst is Sookie. Last night, she may quite possibly have joined the ranks of romance heroines known as TSTL. Too Stupid To Live. Yeah...there's this monster who tried to kill me before and she can do it again and she's holed up in my house with the entire town under her hypnotic control but I'm gonna walk right in there and get my house back all by my little lonesome because Lafeyette is really gonna be able to shoot her in the head. Drop IQ points much?

So, I still love me some Jason and Lafeyette. Andy is hilarioius. Sam's hanging in there. Bring back the real Bill back and I want Eric naked. Hoyt and Jessica are a trip. And give Pam some decent material to work with. She can be a great character and I want more of her. I'm sick of Tara, Eggs, Tara's mother, Maryann and all the town crazies. Above all, will somebody please find Sookie's brain and return it to her? I want to continue to love this show!

I Have a New Story!

My Best Stories Come in the Dark
(No Double Entendre Intended!)

Last night, I found myself unable to sleep. I tossed and turned and bugged my husband, went downstairs to get a bowl of cereal since carbs supposedly make you drowsy - nothing. I had too many story ideas running around in my head, pushing and shoving like little kids trying to be the first in line!

I'm don't sleep long hours, but I do try to get six to seven hours of sleep a night - which is tough because I'm a light sleeper in the best of times. I just think a good night's sleep is important for your physical and mental health and well-being. However, sometimes I have no choice but to give in to the voices in my head and haul my ass out of bed and write. At least I get the first paragraph down and maybe a working title so I can find the document again when I'm ready.

Last night I refused to give in - big mistake. I managed to get maybe three interrupted hours of sleep. Annoying.

There is one other place where story ideas occur to me - it's almost better because I'm wide awake - when I hike, something I do everyday, rain or shine, early morning, late evening. For me there is nothing better than the smells of the forest, the different intensity of colors as I leave the trees and head into the sunlight, my heavy breathing and straining muscles on a steep hill, looking and listening for wildlife - nature is great for clearing the head of extraneous nonsense and clarifying the direction my characters plan to take.

I brought my computer today so I can do what I should have done last night - give in!

Thoughts for the Day...

Quickies, Shorts, Short Stories

Back in the days before the advent of epublishing, authors wrote collections of short stories. They still do and mainstream NY publishing houses still put them out. But from what I've seen, they are not publishing as many. Short stories used to be a way for a new author to break into the publishing world. It makes me wonder if some of the authors we consider icons would be rejected today, not only because of these economic times, but because of the changing demands and literary tastes of the public.

I started out writing poetry and short stories. Lately I find myself revisiting those familiar forms and it feels comfortable, a lot like coming home. If I were to put together a collection of short stories to send to a NY house, I doubt I'd garner even a reply. But I can write a great short work or a series of short stories and an epublisher will not only read it, if they like it, they'll publish it. The world of ebooks is a great venue for a short story writer.

I know...I know, sometimes we call them Quickies or Novellas, but what they really are is short stories.

Julia's Place for fun!

Breasts, anyone?

My husband and I had the most hilarious conversation about breast size during our hike this morning. Lucky for me, hubbie likes small breasts, but he says he might look, once or twice, at a woman with large breasts. Just...look...

My husband insists that women with big breasts had an evolutionary advantage over women with small breasts because historically, he's betting they could always find someone to mate with them. He says women with small breasts must have had to get by on brain power and by working cooperatively with other women while bitching about how the women with big breasts got all the best cuts of meat. Hmm...I'm all for having a big brain, but I asked, what about personality? Sense of humor? Long legs? Great hair? Intelligence, drive, ambition, survival skills, adaptability? While he agrees these things are important - to him - yeah, he knows which side his bread is buttered on - he says guys aren't really moved by those attributes, at least not initially. He says guys are pretty concrete and they tend to focus on whatever is staring them right in the face. So I suppose that would be either boobs or a butt.

I have this absolutely gorgeous friend who hated her small boobs and after her divorce, got a boob job so she'd be more appealing to prospective mates. It struck me as so, well, sad. Her beautiful face and body and sweet, sparkling personality just weren't enough in her own eyes to attract a man. I'm thinking that's the key - in our own eyes - we have to be attractive in our own eyes. If a guy is attentive only because of big breasts, then is he really the kind of man we want to be with? Not me. But then, I never labored under the delusion that a man would be attracted to me because of my cleavage. He was going to have to look beyond the perky little boobs and appreciate the woman beneath.

Welcome to Julia's Place!

Okay...so I'm a red head.

It's true that red heads have fiery tempers...so don't mess with me. I may slap you right upside the head. I fight for what I want and I fight for the people I love, and nobody mistreats an animal or a child or a woman when I'm around.

There's a feeling of freedom in admitting that. I can draw a deep breath and say, "I'm my own person and I'm through taking crap." With my friends lined up on either side of me, I am facing down the opposition, and taking no prisoners. Nothing is getting in my way now, and I am happy I came out the other side in one piece.

I'm a true survivor. Always have been...always will be. It takes a bit of pushing to get my hackles up, but when they're up, honey, watch out. Hey! I heard that laugh! So I'm not the biggest lean, mean, fighting machine out there, but just remember...don't mess with the red head.

You may call me:

Julia
Chana Alexander
Darlin'
Sweetheart
or Love...but don't call me "baby" unless you know me in the Biblical sense.