The 5 Date Rule

What I'm Listening To: Now or Never-Josh Groban

I was watching I Hate Valentine's Day (just because I was bored and am on a slight break from watching Buffy the Vampire Slayer) and the big concept in the movie was one of the 5 date rule. Apparently five dates is the maximum number that a couple can have before what they have constitutes as a relationship and people start to get hurt. I think that the concept was very interesting, but the execution faulty. The main character's motto was "when the romance is gone, let's just move on." I think most of this thinking and her unwillingness to take risks was because she was hurt in her relationship with her father. Here are the guidelines for the dates according to her:

Date 1: breath less flirting
Date 2: broaden your horizons
Date 3: the adventurous date
Date 4: fun and fabulous
Date 5: make it the best date ever

What do you think about the system and would you ever try it?

Also, Nathan Bransford had an interesting post on his blog about the one book that every writer should read  A lot of people picked Stephen King's On Writing, some The Art of Fiction by John Gardner, or Bird by Bird by Anne Lamott. For some reason there were a lot of votes for The Great Gatsby as well. All aspiring authors should at least have one of these books in their arsenal of books to become better writers, if they so choose.
There was also a good post about audience development from Writers Unboxed that people should read as well.

In addition, Rachelle Gardner has a great analysis of a query letter. If you haven't been looking at agent's responses to query letters, you should do so because they are the authority on what is a good one. Even though they all have different answers and preferences about what should stay or go, most of the time they will be in sync as far as the requirements and have good advice that can be applicable to all.

Dr. King + Oprah + Eclipse = Freedom

What I'm Listening To: Everyday Superhero-Smashmouth

While the above doesn't necessarily equal a formula for my well-being, it is darn near close to it. Finals are finally DONE so I really feel the meaning of "Free at last, free at last, thank God Almighty I'm free at last" tonight. I just got finished with my last exam (which was supposed to last until 9:30 tonight) about fifteen minutes ago. While I was  multi-tasking studying for this Weather and Climate exam, I was watching Oprah for the first time in a long time because it was the episode where Taylor Lautner, Kristen Stewart, and Robert Pattinson were all on. Dakota Fanning also made an appearance. K-Stew was awkward as usual. Seriously, while listening to her I wanted to split my ears. In my opinion, she basically acts like she is and like she talks anyway and they seriously type-casted her for Bella, which would be all right if she actually acted and didn't act like herself.

Overall, I thought that the episode was good, but when they had Taylor and Rob go surprise people, they picked the creepiest, most extreme people who I think should honestly go see a psychiatrist. Especially those moms. Naming them "Twi-moms" and saying that Twilight "spiced up their love life" is ridiculous and depressing. You need help. You are 45 and married but you have a crush on a 24 year old and pretending that this is normal. Continuous fantasizing about someone other than your partner is dangerous for any relationship. Even worse is the obsession with Taylor Lautner. He's barely legal and you're a middle aged woman drooling all over him probably with kids of your own the same age. If millions of middle aged women were drooling over your son, wouldn't you be alarmed? His mother probably thought you all needed to be jailed for being pedophiles and shaking her head at you, concerned that you were even in the same room with her son. But of course it's fine when women do it, when men do it we would have a problem with it. Perverts. *now getting off of soap box*

I actually have some book stuff as well. Now that school is over, I can finally get back to writing the new book and double proofing the old book. Agent Nathan Bransford also had an awesome post today on his blog about how to write pitches from the one liner to one paragraph to two paragraphs. I think it's very useful and that all authors should definitely have their pitches ready at all times. Now all I have to do is see about how to most effectively pack up my dorm room...