Redeemed Rogues

Wouldn't you know, during a busy week when I have to do a lot of singing, the allergies have decided to kick into high gear. Spring came late for us, and it's coming with a vengeance. I'm almost out of Allegra, so I'm going to have to drag myself to Target this afternoon. I'm iffy on dancing tonight because I can't go without a tissue for more than about 30 seconds. That could make pirouettes kind of messy.

I finally have a book to talk about! I read the latest Terry Pratchett Discworld book, Raising Steam, but there's not much to say because if you're into the series, you'll already be reading it. It's a Moist von Lipwig book, and this time he gets put in charge of getting a railroad going, a task made more difficult and more urgent by an internal struggle among the dwarfs, with their "Taliban" group that opposes progress being a problem yet again. I like the von Lipwig books because it's fascinating being inside the head of this scoundrel and con artist who's now using his talents for good, and I love the way he and Vetinari work together. I'd been rewatching the previous season of Game of Thrones and found it a little disturbing that I was hearing Vetinari's dialogue in Charles Dance's voice, but then I remembered that he played Vetinari in one of the TV productions, but then when I looked it up, I found that I haven't seen the production in which he played Vetinari. I guess it's just spot-on casting because I was hearing "Tywin Lannister" in my head (though Tywin makes Vetinari look like a marshmallow).

I kind of love the redeemed rogue stories, the character you start out opposed to and gradually get to know and then like as he finds more positive ways to channel his energies. That's a lot of why I've been digging the Captain Hook storyline on Once Upon a Time lately. I need to add that to my literary bucket list. I don't know if there's room for this kind of character in any of my planned stories, though. Maybe in that multi-generational gothic thing I want to write.

I think I have the rest of my book worked out. I got stuck on figuring out what should happen in the next scene. It was a complete blank. And then I realized I didn't need the scene at all. It's a travel scene, but I can just jump to the arrival because in this case, the journey itself isn't important. If you can't think of anything that needs to happen in a scene, you don't need the scene. I don't know how much writing I'll actually get done, though, because the allergies are really doing a number on me. This may be a time to put on my "soundtrack" and watch my mental movie a few times.