Puppies and Pens

    So I know this is a writing blog, but it's also my blog and I like to talk about what I'm doing week by week.  Last week was Banned Books Week.  This week is, "Hey look everyone!  I got a puppy!" Week.  So because I've had a bit of a distraction the past few days, I figured I'd share these pictures with you instead of some writing.  Because who doesn't love puppies?!?!
    Her name is Astrid (yes, after the character from How To Train Your Dragon, it's my favorite movie), and she is 9 weeks old.  She was born the day after my birthday.  Her favorite things are sleeping, her tug-o-war rope, and sleeping.  I can't really tell what color she is.  She's brown and black in the same spots, and looks kind of ashy.  She's got spots all over her nose, chin, tummy, and paws.  And her favorite spot is under the coffee table.

    Yeah, she's a real cutie.  If you look closely, you can see the stripe down her face is crooked.  I love it.  We've been looking at getting a puppy for a while, and when we saw her on Saturday, we fell in love instantly.  She's definitely a handful, but at least she's a cute handful!

    Okay, so I'll talk about something other than puppies.  Apparently the new POV for Rose is going over really well with my readers.  I transcribed the 4th chapter over the weekend while Puppy was sleeping.  So it's slow going, but it's still going.  This week, my plan is to transcribe the fifth chapter into 1st person POV, and *surprise* that's the perspective prompt that I've been promising to post.  

    That perspective prompt really got me thinking about Rose and what POV does for a story.  The first person style narrative lets me get across the emotion and attitude that I tried to do (and failed at) with Rose.  I love how easily Phillippe's attitude leaks out of the words and into the reader with this new POV.  And I think it really works well to show Rose's character development throughout the story.  Third person just wasn't cutting it anymore.

    Anyway, the reason the fifth chapter is going to be the perspective free write, is because the fifth chapter is the first chapter where I'm actually changing the narrator.  In the original version, Rose mostly narrates the events of their "first date".  After looking it over, I realized that I want to see Phillippe's perspective more of their lunch.  I want him to observe Rose's discomfort rather than having Rose mention she's uncomfortable.  I want his thoughts when she insists it isn't a date.  I want his feelings about her.  And I can't wait to really dig into this and see what happens.  Then I'll post both versions of the chapter to compare.  That's what to expect this week, and maybe more pictures of Puppy.

    ~Alyson