Two weeks ago, I had the pleasure of watching The 300. If you haven’t seen this film, I definitely recommend it! One of the things I enjoyed about the film (other than all the gorgeous, muscular men!) was the dialouge. I thought the writers of this flick did a fantastic job of creating strong, gripping dialogue. There wasn’t wasted chatter–the speeches were generally brief, the drama extreme, and I felt that every sentence uttered by the characters was of extreme importance.

In other words, I really liked what they said. 🙂

The lines in this film cut to the chase. They had great punch–and many people in the audience would respond immediately (and enthusiastically) to the comments.

So, here are a few of my favorite lines (and if you haven’t seen the movie yet, don’t read any more!):

Spartan King Leonidas: Give them nothing! But take from them everything!

Spartan King Leonidas: This is where we fight. This is where they die.

Spartan King Leonidas: There’s no reason we can’t be civil. [Stated while his soldiers slit the throats of wounded enemies.]

Queen Gorgo: This will not be over quickly. You will not enjoy this. I am not your Queen.

Anyone else have some favorite lines to share? Hmm?

A few Irish blessings for you…

May you always have
Walls for the winds,
A roof for the rain,
Tea beside the fire,
Laughter to cheer you,
Those you love near you,
And all your heart might desire!

Edie Ramer tagged me tonight. And I’ve got to confess, I love this particular game of tag. Here are the rules (as taken from Edie’s blog): “Turn to page 123 in your work-in-progress. If you haven’t gotten to page 123 yet, then turn to page 23. If you haven’t gotten there yet, then get busy and write page 23. Count down four sentences and then instead of just the fifth sentence, give us the whole paragraph.”

So, here’s my contribution (from my recently finished story, so not a WIP–Work in Progress):

Once upon a time, he’d possessed Maya. Had all that hot, rich power in his hands. Sex with a vampire–it was one of the best pleasures on earth.

And the most dangerous.

They were walking away now. Hurrying down the street toward the promised Jag.

His fingers uncurled and his left hand rose toward the phone that waited on his desk. Tap. Tap. Tap. His nails clicked against the back of the plastic receiver.

I finished the rough draft of Call of the Blood on Sunday night. Ended up with a page count of 415. On Monday, I began the great and glorious process of creating a synopsis for the story. Took me three hours, but the dreaded thing is done. And yeah, I am most definitely planning on writing a synopsis post in the very near future. In the meantime though, I am trying to get through the first draft of my edits. I don’t anticipate any major scene changes in the story (that’s why I went ahead with the synopsis), but I’m trying to make certain I don’t have any glaring plotholes or character inconsistencies. I’m hoping that I’ll have this round of edits finished by the end of the weekend. After that, well, then I’d like to get some writing-related posts up.

I’ve noticed a pattern with my blog. Each time I finish a WIP, when I’m on my “break”–I try to get writing posts up. This time, I’ll aim for five writing posts.

In the meantime, if you’re looking for some absolutely fabulous blog reading, check out Magical Musings.

Oh, and if you haven’t heard yet, Anna Genoese is leaving TOR.

That’s all the news I’ve got for now. I promise–when my brain feels less fried, I’ll be a blogging maniac!

Take care—ooh…I almost forgot. A movie that looks pretty awesome, 300, is coming out tomorrow. Anyone planning to catch a show?

Are you a writer who is looking for an agent? If so, then you might enjoy this article on some secret (and some not so secret) literary agents. And, yes, in the interest of full disclosure, one of the agents mentioned, Laura Bradford, is my agent–but I didn’t even realize she was listed until I’d read half of Chuck Sambuchino’s piece.

Other agent resources:

If you’re a member of the Romance Writers of America, the RWA website has an extensive listing of romance agents.

Or you can try checking out Agent Query–the site has great search options.

As always, before signing with an agent, make absolutely certain that you research him/her. The Preditors & Editors site is a great place to start said research.

Good luck on your agent hunt!