The Not-so-Seasonal Migration

Is it the mid-winter blues? A case of the shack nasties? No way! But Katy and I have decided to simplify our lives by migrating our pithy comments over to Facebook. We love this blog, and it will remain here — forever probably! — in case we want to make some sort of earth-shattering announcements. Between us we have in excess of 500 contacts on Facebook so we feel like this will maximize the return on effort. We’re going to try to be more regular with our posts, which will appear as Notes on our Facebook walls.

If you want to be informed of our Notes/Posts on Facebook, let one of us know and we will tag you in the Note. It’s pretty simple. It shows up on your wall. If that makes your wall too weird or messy, just look for us on your status updates or news feed.

If you’re not one of our Facebook contacts, join the fun over there by sending us a note. We’d love to hear from you!

xoxo,

Lise

To Exploit or Understand?

Miss Lise,
Now it is my turn to confess that I have been pondering a casual comment you made on a prior post, the one about our country’s obsession with crime shows. When I first wrote that post, I actually thought the plethora of books and TV shows about crime as being like Day of the Dead or Halloween – a stylized way to deal with death, turning it into something not quite real. In other words, death is an all too real and terrifying possibility, so we seek to turn it into entertainment. But then you made a comment that really stuck with me, saying that all these shows and books basically “exploit our morbid curiosity with murder.” I don’t know why, but it really got me to thinking…. about how we slow down and rubberneck at accidents… about the amount of camera time given to close-ups of wounds… about the sheer volume of books about murder. This, in turn, pitched me into a long internal examination of what I wanted to write about and why I write in the first place – a salient point to ponder at the beginning of the year and at this point in my career.

I then read two crime books over the holidays and found I had very different reactions to them. One was a serial killer novel with extremely (extremely!) graphic descriptions of the torture the killer inflicted. It was unnecessary to the story, so far as I could see, in that it explained nothing about the killer’s anguish, confusion or alienation that drove the killer to that point (something ONLY Thomas Harris has ever been able to do well). The other book was “Bone by Bone” by Carol O’Connell, which did indeed have murder at the core of the plot but was more about very complicated relationships among fascinating people in an odd, isolated town. I loved the book. It focused on people trying to do the right thing and the enduring connections between each other, and less on the violence and gore. I realized that, for me, it comes down to what drives a crime book or crime show – the courage of good people to bring justice or the self-indulgent violence wrought by the killer? I’m thinking the difference between exploiting our fear of death and seeking to understand it lies somewhere in that balance.

In deference to the new year …

And all those ridiculous resolutions we make… I know they don’t go much of anywhere. But here’s one for the writers. How many words per day do you resolve to do this year? What did you manage last year? Do you a daily count, a weekly count, a monthly count? Or no count at all? How do you stay productive?

I haven’t been very “accountable” this year, so in 2010 I resolve to do a weekly count of 5,000 words. There, I said it. Some days are very good, some days are very bad but if I can get 5,000 for the week progress will be had.

What about you?

Happy new year you crazy chihuahua.

Okay, I know that sounded random. Because you aren’t a chihuahua, and you aren’t crazy. I know that… but for some reason ever since Katy posted a photo of a crazy chihuahua on the blog, way back when, it has been a . . . hot topic!

So here’s my real message:

Happy new year wherever you are.

May your year be free of crazy chihuahuas!!

xoxo

Lise

Why are people fascinated with crime books and crime shows?

Miss Lise,

Yesterday, between bouts of my annual laundry sorting fest (path to back door excavated!), I stumbled across a facebook post by a friend which turned deeply personal and really got me thinking. In it, a few people shared personal tragedies that had befallen them — and they were, indeed, heartbreaking events — and one spoke of how, once you have experienced personal tragedy of your own, you will never see it as “entertainment” again. This person referenced all the popular crime shows on TV ( I added in all the crime fiction books in my head) and, rather rightly, sounded a bit angry or, perhaps, disgusted by the fascination America has with crime-based popular culture.

I can understand completely why someone would feel this way. The thing is — it never occurred to me that this is why people read crime fiction books or watch crime shows. It’s odd. I always just assumed that people watch for the same reason I do — because all that news coming at me about real-life tragedy and crime is pretty scary and I need to watch crimes unfolding that are actually going to be solved, and justice applied, and reasons provided for why it happened. These books and shows are an antidote to the randomness of real life for me. But I am curious to know what you, and others, think about why crime shows are so popular these days, and crime fiction as well.

Free copy of “Bad Moon on the Rise” bestowed on the person who offers the most perceptice reference to “In Cold Blood” during this discussion!

-Katy

Tree trimming ho!

Katy — It’s *that* time of year, the time of frenzy, chaos, cold, and debt. Stress, stress, and more stress! But it’s also time for that old ritual: trimming the Christmas tree.

Of course not everyone celebrates Christmas. But for those who do there is nothing like dragging a frozen evergreen across your lawn, making a mess in the living room, untangling lights, and gussying up the old Tannenbaum. What is it about putting a huge live tree in a corner to make you feel a bit better? Is the ritual? Is the lights? Is it the tradition, the music, the nog? In my case I just love putting it all together. Some years, I admit, it’s been a chore. Some years I had to nag the kids to help.  I was late, some years I just picked out a pathetic specimen, all tilted or stunted or dry. But with a little love, it changed from Charlie Brown’s tree into mine.

Redneck Christmas Tree - So jolly!

Over the years I have stopped waiting for the rest of the family to get into the spirit of tree-trimming. Everyone has their own holiday needs. If no one wants to help, I do it myself. I love unwrapping the old ornaments, remembering who gave them, the wonderful kids holidays over the years. This year all my ornaments and lights are packed away in another house. So I used the excuse to buy some new LED lights and a few new glittery balls. Not a lot but enough to have a shiny tree to light the winter’s night, and my holiday heart.

Christmas is also about food! What are you baking? Tomorrow I’m making cookies.

xoxo — Lise

PS: Start drinking now so you too can have a Redneck Christmas tree next year!!