Monthly Archives: May 2015

Pucker Up Lyrics

So, I just finished the first draft of my third romantic comedy and it’s off to the editor as I type.  I’d like to say that writing gets easier but that would be a pretty big lie.  If anything it gets harder, trying to make sure that you don’t fall into the same tropes, phrases, and actions of the previous books.  The only thing easier is that I know I can finish – I’ve crossed that finish line before.

This book – Pucker Up – was difficult for me because it’s about two lovers that had a falling out and are coming back to each other ten years later.  Never having a lost love I reconnected with, I kept worrying on if I was writing it all wrong.  The other difficult part is the main character is a secret songwriter.  Which means now I am too!

The most important song of the whole book is Pucker Up!  It’s a riff on a 90s girl group song – if you could picture the Spice Girls singing it, I’ve succeeded.  So I decided to share it with you.  The famous song of Attitunes, the quintessential California girl group – Pucker UP!

He thinks he might be the one, ole Prince Charming
Well I’ve got to say, that’s pretty alarming
Since he’s never met a set of legs he didn’t like
And his car is out cruising all hours of the night

Chorus:

Pucker Up!
–          Step on up, right here, right to the plate
Pucker Up!
–          Time’s a wastin’ and it’s getting kinda late
Pucker Up!
–          Come on, faster, there’s no time to waste
Puh-Puh-Puh-Puh-Puh-Puh-Pucker Up!

 

I believe in transformation, oh don’t get me wrong
Nothing ever stays the same and change is rolling strong
But thinking you’re a 180 leaves lots of room for doubt
Cause I’ve heard all the excuses and my foot is halfway out

Chorus

You’ve got to kiss a lot of frogs before you find the Prince
There’s lots of way this story goes but that fact always is
So come on baby if you want to take me for a spin
We gotta know how this tale rolls, you gonna be all in?

Chorus

Pucker Up!
–          Let’s get that heart rate on the rise
Pucker Up!
–          Might be time to try you on for size
Pucker Up!
–          Eyes front, don’t forget to keep your eyes on the prize
Puh-Puh-Puh-Puh-Puh-Puh-Pucker Up!
Puh-Puh-Puh-Puh-Puh-Puh-Pucker Up!
Puh-Puh-Puh-Puh-Puh-Puh-Pucker Up!

 

Purple Hair

I went to the hairdresser today and I walked out of there feeling bad ass.  I got my hair darkened and purple streaks put in (not the teenage rebellion purple, grown-up I have to work in a conservative office purple).  I don’t go to these places because I have a righteous indignation against my natural hair color or inability to use a hair dryer (okay, that last one might be closer to the truth than I’d care to admit).

I go because walking out of there makes me feel like a confident woman who can conquer the world.  Look at me go take Target by storm!  Watch the compliments roll in!  Pay attention to my badassery as I live my life!  It’s kind of like editing – hair dye helps me realize the awesomeness of me.

As I sit here finishing up the last few chapters of my novel and preparing to send the words off for editing, I’m like a mother watching her baby get on the school bus for the first time.  Will they be liked?  Will they be ridiculed?  Have I prepared them well enough for this big step?  What shape am I going to find them in later?

But editing isn’t the adversary.  We aren’t sparring with an enemy when we get critiques back, simply (hopefully) impartial advice.  They only want to help us shine.  Help the words and characters convey their own confident badassery.  That’s always the goal – to help the words go out into the world and speak for themselves.  When it’s all over, we can’t speak for them.

And maybe they might trim your ends, untangle your modifiers, straighten out your verbs.  Shampoo away the extraneous characters and condition those plot holes.  Take some scissors to that purple prose.  You may worry about it and disagree over it (you should have heard what my mother said when I told her my hair was now partially purple – even though it’s her favorite color, hair is not where it belongs).  But just remember, a trip to the stylist is not a judgement on you.

Sometimes professionals can help us be strong, teach us how to be confident.

In books, as in life, some people just demand purple hair.