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When I was in my twenties, I had difficulties keeping plants alive. Particularly the plants I brought into my work office. I’d buy pretty things that died on me constantly.
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One of the people I knew at the time told me that it wasn’t my fault. What I needed to do was to match the type of plant I got with the type of care that I was good at giving.
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She recommended a cyclamen. As I could never remember the name of the plant, I just called it George. For the first time, I was able to keep the plant alive. I kept that first George for quite a few years, eventually leaving it with another person at the office when it was time for me to move on.
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Since then, I’ve had a number of Georges. It’s a flower that I keep going back to, because it does like the type of care that I give it.
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I knew that it was possible to grow cyclamen outside in this climate. So imagine my delight when I found them on the side of the road where I live!
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I figure these are wild, and not planted by anyone, given the spread of the plants. Plus, there were about five patches of these flowers in this area.
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I write characters who are competent. They might be ignorant, and need to learn things. But in general, they have some sort of mad skillz.
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In addition, I like to consume media about competent characters. A character being TSTL (too stupid to live) is one of the fastest turn-offs I have.
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John Rogers, one of the primary writers of the TV show Leverage, described the show as “competence porn.” You were watching characters who were the best in the world at one thing, getting a chance to do that thing.
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This is one of the reasons why YA books frequently don’t work for me. The characters will make stupid mistakes (because they’re young and they don’t know any better), AND they haven’t found the thing that they’re best at yet.
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I recently read a novel where the main character had amnesia. She’d been found with a great gash on her head and no memories of her past life.
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I struggled to get through this book. It was well written, and it had a lot of the fantasy tropes that I enjoy. It took me until I was about 80% of the way through before I finally realized what was bothering me.
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Because the main character only has the immediate past, she isn’t just ignorant. Sometimes she comes across as incompetent. She’s obviously good at what she does. But because there’s such a big hole, she doesn’t know enough. At least not for this reader.
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I understand that this is a me thing. Other readers aren’t bothered by this at all. It does make me wonder if the lack-of-competence thing is one of the reasons why I can’t stand an unreliable narrator. I want to trust in the competence that they claim, and when those claims get shaky, I lose interest.
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What about you? Are you all about the competence? Or not?
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This month's sale is...
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To celebrate the release of Witch Mirror?, the first of the water witch mysteries is on sale for this month!
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AJ's latest vision starts with a dozen people being yanked out of sight by a noose around their neck. It ends with just a single body, hanging from a beam in an open loft.
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What the heck? Did she just witness the work of a serial killer? Or a cult?
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The victim turns out to be more nefarious: a Catfisher, that is, someone who impersonates other people on the internet for attention and possibly money.
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The reality TV show that exposes catfish turns their attention to AJ. As a successful psychic, she must be a fraud. Right?
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Between being pushed for information by one of the show’s host, the machinations of her mother on the Milltown chamber of commerce, and trying to keep her relationship with Roland moving along, AJ has her hands full.
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Particularly when a second, only somewhat reformed catfish comes to her for help after being threatened...
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Witch Mirror?— a cozy paranormal woman’s mystery—continues the adventures of AJ, the quirky characters of the charming Pacific Northwest burg of Milltown, and leaves AJ with questions about magical powers and her path forward, with her family, friends, and lover.
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Let the water—and the magic—flow.
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