Blog | Jennette Marie Powell

by Jennette, February 13, 2012

Amazon.com released an interesting study last week: The Most Romantic Cities in the U.S. They based this on per-capita purchases by customers in cities of over 100,000 people – as in how many romance novels they bought, how many romantic comedy movies and television shows they rented or purchased, and purchases of CDs and sexual health products.

The results may surprise you; I know I was. Apparently, Virginia is still for Lovers, but not as much as last year – and not as much as Tennessee and Florida. New York certainly isn’t – NYC was at the very bottom of the list. The other surprise? Two Ohio cities made the top 20: Cincinnati at #5, and Dayton at #9!

So where are all the romance novels that take place in Ohio? It’s the first place that comes to mind when choosing a setting… oh wait, that’s just me. Or is it?

If you’re looking for a good contemporary romance, turns out it’s not hard to find one set in Ohio. Big name authors like Lori Foster, Jennifer Crusie, Toni Blake, and Diane Castell have all written a number of romances that take place in Ohio. Some are in big cities, like Columbus or Cincinnati, while others feature the ever-popular small-town romance, like Toni Blake’s series set in the fictitious town of Destiny. A recent read I enjoyed was Forever Material, a romantic comedy by Athena Grayson, which takes place in an unnamed suburb of Cincinnati.

Time's Enemy Cover But what about historical romance, or paranormal? Those are a little trickier. The only historical that quickly comes to mind is Into the Valley, by Roseanne Bittner, which is several years old, but very good. For paranormal, there’s Kim Harrison’s Dead Witch Waling urban fantasy series. I haven’t read these, so I don’t know how much romance is in them, if any.

Those all take place in Cincinnati. So where’s the love for #9 on the list, Dayton? Offhand, I can’t think of any romance novels set in Dayton except for one, and you need venture no further than this website for that. Time’s Enemy is historical, it’s contemporary, it’s paranormal. And it’s set in Dayton.

Do you know of any good romance novels set in Ohio? Especially historical or paranormal? Especially Dayton?? Bring ’em on! I want to read them.

by Jennette, February 12, 2012

Not much to report this week. Had a good one as far as goals went, with most accomplished. The booksigning at Barnes & Noble was fun, if not very profitable (we’re having a very cold weekend here in Ohio, and attendance was not high. Even the big-name authors didn’t draw many readers).

Last week’s results:

Design and print bookplates, stand-up placard, and excerpt brochures to hand out at book signing, plus signup sheet for reader newsletter

Collect and write front/back matter for Time’s Fugitive – Author’s Note, Acknowledgements, etc.
Investigate starting reader newsletter
Write product description and determine tags for Time’s Fugitive; put together Book Info cheat sheet
Review one marketing book (I have four to either read or re-read)
Read last Golden Heart entry (#5 out of 5)
Three interval workouts plus two short workouts
Write one book review
Bonus: any additional blogs

I only got in two interval workouts plus one short. I’d planned to do the last short workout today, but ended up being gone all day. Not a good excuse, just a reason. And I wasn’t feeling well earlier this week, hence why it and the interval workout didn’t get done then. But the Golden Heart judging is done, and my scores turned in to RWA – yay! I also got all of my front and back matter collected for my upcoming release, so that’s a big plus too.

For this week:

Critique a chapter for a writing friend
Book review
Additional work requested for side job website
Break down marketing task list into Yeses, Nos, and Maybes
Brainstorm some articles I can write for my newsletter
Review my last draft of my next book and get it ready for beta readers
Three interval workouts plus two short workouts

How did you do this week? If you’re consistently not meeting all your goals, maybe you need to cut yourself some slack. Take an easy week, and jump back in next week. Or it may be that the goals you’re choosing just aren’t reasonable, given the other demands on your time. What do you think?

by Jennette, February 9, 2012

Last week in reading posts by my ROW80 buddies, I noticed that many mentioned having goals for revisions. Some asked for suggestions.

For those writers, maybe I can help. For readers, here’s a glimpse of the nitty-gritty, not-so-pretty side of writing a novel and making it something others might want to read – maybe even pay for!

I can write a first draft of a novel in 3 months, give or take, depending on length. That’s on top of working a full-time, 40 hours/week day job, not ignoring my family, helping with my husband’s businesses, and other responsibilities. I’m not saying this to brag – it’s not that big a deal – but to point out that the first draft – getting the words down – isn’t the hard part of writing a novel, IMO. At least, it’s not hard if I’ve done a decent amount of planning ahead of time (aka plotting or outlining).

My first drafts have plot holes big enough to fly one of these through

The hard part comes after the first draft is written: revision. Because despite the heavy planning I do beforehand, there are always details that get left out, cardboard characters doing stupid things that don’t make sense, and plot holes big enough to fly a C-17 through. All in a world that’s barely seen, much less heard, felt, smelled or tasted. And that’s not even getting into the little nitpicky things like dialogue that doesn’t sound like anything a normal human being would ever say, people we can’t visualize, much less empathize with because they’re so thinly described, all wrapped up in a nice big package of WHO CARES because I left out the emotions.

It’s a daunting task, especially with my doorstopper-sized, >100,000-word, Saturn Society novels. How to handle it without getting overwhelmed?

For starters, I fortunately figured out several things fairly early on:

I need to write the full first draft before revising. Some authors revise and polish as they work; if I did this, I’d never get anything done.
Revising and polishing are two different things, and it doesn’t make much sense to polish when big-picture stuff is just going to change again.
If I think of a major change while I’m writing the first draft, I note it in a separate Word document, then continue writing as if the change was already made. This is particularly useful when a change occurs to me while writing Chapter 14, but requires changes in Chapter 3, 6, and 7 in order to work and make sense.
I read through the whole novel, then make big changes, then change the little, cosmetic things I consider “polishing.”

The above was all fine and dandy, and it got me through five novels, but I still always felt they fell short, that I was missing things. Between novels 4 and 5, I discovered Holly Lisle’s website and craft books, and bought Create a Character Clinic, which is one of the best prewriting/planning tools I’d tried to date, along with her Notecard Plotting article. I used her One-pass Revision method on my book #5, which helped. Yet I was still missing something.

Holly also had a long-term, online workshop that sounded cool, but her second one of these – How to Revise Your Novel – that caught my eye. It’s subtitled “How to Get the Book You Want from the Book You Have.” I signed up as a charter member.

It goes over a lot of the concepts taught in the articles mentioned above, but in MUCH greater depth – and this was just what I needed. It also broke down all the different things to look for – overall, plot, theme, character, setting/worldbuilding, and dealt with each separately so we could learn.

It took me nine months to complete this 26-lesson course. But when I was finished, I had a book that I was confident had sympathetic characters, and interesting and engaging story, a decently fleshed-out setting and world – and best of all, no more plot holes. This revision process was brutal. And it was absolutely what took my writing to the next level.

Time's Fugitive had plot holes big enough to fly one of THESE through

One of the course objectives is to eventually compress the process down so that it’s truly a one-pass revision. I’m not there yet. Time’s Enemy wasn’t even a very wrecked book, and it took almost 5 months to revise. Granted, some of this time I goofed off and wasn’t very disciplined about just getting the work done. But still… Time’s Fugitive was a pretty wrecked book, and it took six months to revise, with very little goofing off (thanks in part to ROW80).

I have no connection to Holly Lisle, other than that I’ve taken her courses and bought many of her craft books. I haven’t even read any of her fiction, other than a few snippets on her website or in her articles, a lack I intend to correct, as she writes the kind of stories I enjoy. But her workshops – and HTRYN specifically – are hands down, the best I’ve ever taken. The HTRYN workshop is not cheap (she’s getting ready to phase it out and replace it with a series of ebooks), but it’s hands-down the best $200 or so I’ve spent for my writing career.

So if you’re looking for a way to tackle an onerous revision, check out How to Revise Your Novel. She guarantees the workshop – if you don’t like it, you can stop paying for it – and when she goes to ebook, duh, you don’t need to buy the whole series if you don’t want. But I’d be very surprised if you start and don’t want to finish.

So for my writer friends, what’s your revision process like? Have you tried HTRYN, or if not, does it sound like something you might find beneficial? Readers – have you ever read a novel with one of those C-17-sized plot holes? Did you work past it, or did you want to chuck the book across the room (or permanently delete from your e-reader)? Got any horror stories (that weren’t supposed to be) to share?

Aircraft photos via the Official U.S. Air Force website

by Jennette, February 6, 2012

Hopefully you are all recovered from massive amounts of beer, junk food, and the best commercials of the year! Hopefully you had a good time, regardless of which team won. But did you ever wonder how – and where – it all started?

The Marker at Triangle Park today (click to enlarge)

Yup, right here in Ohio! Of course, it’s probably not news to many that the NFL was formed in Canton, Ohio, which is now home to the NFL Hall of Fame. Chartered in 1920, the NFL was originally called the American Professional Football League until the name was changed to the National Football League in 1922. And the AFPL’s first game? It was held in Dayton, with the Dayton Triangles defending against the Columbus Panhandles – a blowout with the Triangles winning 14-0.

The Triangles’ story is an interesting one in itself, a far cry from the multi-billion-dollar industry that the NFL is today. The Triangles roots come from basketball, and begin at St. Mary’s University, now the University of Dayton. Several of the college’s players wanted to keep playing after graduation, and formed a team with other alumni and students in 1912. A year later, they branched into football as the St. Mary’s Cadets and quickly gained a winning record and local business sponsorship.

In 1916, the Cadets reorganized as the Dayton Triangles, pulling their roster from the employees of their three corporate sponsors, DELCO, Delco-Light, and the Dayton Metal Products Company. The Triangles’ Manager, Carl Storck, represented the team in meetings in Canton that ultimately resulted in the forming of the AFPL.

The original franchise fee was $25 (can you imagine?!), there was no league president, no bylaws or standard rules. There was no league schedule – each team set its own. The initial meeting on August 20, 1920 included only representatives from five Ohio teams. The follow-up a month later also included representatives for teams from Illinois, Indiana, and New York. This time, the group adopted bylaws and set the league fee at $100 (which none actually paid). Although Illinois’ Rock Island Independents played on Sept. 26 following the league’s official formation, the first game between two AFPA teams was the one in Dayton, played on October 3, 1920.

The Dayton Triangles, 1920

In 1922, other NFL teams began recruiting top talent from the college pool, but Dayton continued to use local players. This was the beginning of a slow, painful decline culminating in the sale of the team in 1930 to a Brooklyn syndicate, where they were renamed the Brooklyn Dodgers. All of the other eight NFL charter teams had already moved, been renamed, and/or been sold, leaving the Triangles as the last charter team in its original incarnation.

But who knew that the first NFL game was played in Dayton? And if you’d like a little more trivia, the very first touchdown in an NFL game was scored that day by Dayton Triangles’ fullback Lou Partlow.

Did you know about the Dayton connection to the NFL? Until I read the linked article in the Dayton Daily News, I didn’t. Got any other cool sports history trivia? Please share!

Dayton Triangles Logo © The National Football League
Historic Marker photo via www.daytontriangles.com
Team photo via Dayton City Paper

Additional resources:
“90 years ago today, NFL began in Dayton,” Dayton Daily News, Oct. 2, 2010
“Dayton Triangles,” Wikipedia
www.daytontriangles.com
“Original Class of the NFL,” Dayton City Paper, Nov. 22.2011

by Jennette, February 5, 2012

Sometimes you just need to take it easy and give yourself a break. I gave myself an easier list this week, and it shows: I got everything done!

After completing that brutal revision, I needed that easy week. This coming week may be easy or not-so-much. The list looks long, but most of the items aren’t difficult or time-consuming – it’s a lot of little stuff. I’m participating in my first book signing at a local Barnes & Noble, and want to have a few things to give away or encourage readers to go download my Nook book. As always, I’d like to collect some more blogs so I’m not always spending my Sundays writing them, but that never seems to happen. Maybe this week!

Last week’s results:

Launch plan and list marketing tasks for Time’s Fugitive
Read one Golden Heart entry (#4 out of 5)
Three interval workouts plus two short workouts
Finish reading and review the ARC I got last week
Finish web design side job I took on to pay off my publishing company start up costs
Rework Time’s Fugitive cover – I’m not 100% satisfied with it – YES! It’s in my sidebar now.
Bonus: Stockpile some blogs, so that I’m not writing them at the last minute

For this week:

Design and print bookplates, stand-up placard, and excerpt brochures to hand out at book signing, plus signup sheet for reader newsletter
Collect and write front/back matter for Time’s Fugitive – Author’s Note, Acknowledgements, etc.
Investigate starting reader newsletter
Write product description and determine tags for Time’s Fugitive; put together Book Info cheat sheet
Review one marketing book (I have four to either read or re-read)
Read last Golden Heart entry (#5 out of 5)
Three interval workouts plus two short workouts
Write one book review
Bonus: any additional blogs

by Jennette, February 2, 2012

Once again, I’m doing some reading outside of my normal fare. This time it’s Don’t Know Jack, by Diane Capri. I’m not sure how to categorize this – mystery? Thriller? Suspense? It’s all three! One thing it’s not is romance. Normally, I like at least a little romance in my books, and there’s none here – and it totally works!

What IS in this book is nonstop action, answers that only lead to more questions, and more twists than the Dragon’s Tail.* The main character is FBI agent Kim Otto, a young FBI agent on her first assignment as Number One, who’s determined to prove herself in that role. Her second is Carlos Gaspar, seasoned agent and father of four who’s managed to hold his post despite an injury that’s left him with constant pain in his leg. The two are tossed together by “the Boss,” a mysterious, enigmatic figure who they never name, and speak to only when he calls on the special cell phones he provided. Their assignment? An “under the radar” mission to build a file on Jack Reacher.

I’m coming at the book from a different perspective than most readers probably are: I’ve never read a Reacher novel, or anything else by Lee Child – a cultural shortcoming I’m planning to correct. For others like me, Reacher is a former special ops soldier turned mercenary? Government operative? No one knows. But he’s ruthless and will stop at nothing – including murder – to complete his mission, which is inevitably something for the greater good. Reacher lives so far off the grid, he hasn’t been seen or heard of in fifteen years, yet the Boss is certain he’s alive (and there’s no evidence to the contrary).

Otto and Gaspar meet in a small, Georgia town where they enlist the help of the police chief – a woman who knew Reacher way-back-when, and whose motives – and loyalties – are unclear. They immediately get wrapped up in her investigation of a simple, spousal murder that’s anything but. It should be a local matter, but every indication points to the Boss intending them to get involved.

The Boss himself is an enigma. He calls at the most opportune (or inopportune) times, and always seems to be one step ahead of Otto and Gaspar on this wild chase he’s sent them on. Their search eventually takes them to a high-end escort service in DC that Otto has a surprising connection to, to Switzerland, and back across the U.S. in a chase where the stakes increase by the minute.

If you like a good mystery steeped in action, Don’t Know Jack is a book you Don’t Want to Miss!

Don’t Know Jack (The Hunt For Reacher Series) is currently an Amazon exclusive, and can be borrowed for free if you are an Amazon Prime member. You can learn more about Diane Capri, and how this book came about, on her website.

Have you read Don’t Know Jack? Or are you planning to? Read any other good books lately? Feel free to share!

* U.S. Route 129 at the border of Tennessee and North Carolina – 318 curves in 11 miles

by Jennette, January 30, 2012

The Algonquin in 1904

What do you do if you’re stuck in Dayton’s past, bad guys are after you, and you need a place to hunker down until you can return to the twenty-first century? If you’re time-traveler Tony Solomon, you approach the problem logically, and go to the first hotel you think of that was there then – and is still there in the twenty-first century, and is still a hotel.

The obvious choice would be the Gibbons, now the Dayton Grand Hotel.

Initially named the Algonquin, the building was constructed in 1898, and helped establish Dayton as a place to do business, whether you’re visiting from across Ohio, or across the Atlantic Ocean. According to one newspaper, “People can no longer point to Dayton as a one-street city.”

The Gibbons Hotel, from a 1930s postcard

The Algonquin made the news during the Great Flood of 1913, where some 250 people were trapped in the upper floors. They were better off than most people stranded by the 12-15 foot waters, for they had food and a relatively comfortable place to sleep.

Real estate developer Michael J. Gibbons bought the Algonquin in 1918, and changed its name to the Gibbons Hotel, which it remained until 1963, when it became the Dayton Inn. Either then or later, it became part of the Hilton properties, going through several names. It was the Doubletree from the late 90s until just a couple months ago. It’s now called the Dayton Grand Hotel.

Above is the hotel as it is today. The building next to it was the Post Office in the 1930’s. That building currently houses the Federal Bankruptcy Court. The parking lot, outlined in green, is accessible from Third Street by a narrow alley between the buildings, and plays a key role in Time’s Enemy.

Photos: Algonquin Hotel in 1904 via Dayton History Books Online, courtesy of the Library of Congress
1930s Postcard of the Gibbons Hotel via Etsy.com
Modern-day photos via Google Maps and Google Street View
For reference: Dayton History Books Online

Here’s a short excerpt from Time’s Enemy, in which Tony discovers that perhaps the Gibson wasn’t such a good place to hide after all.

Tony paced across his room at the Gibbons, the only downtown hotel he was aware of that still existed as such in his time, although it had a different name. He threw open the window and gazed over the parking lot, already darkened by the lengthening shadows of the buildings that surrounded it on three sides.

He’d blundered around for hours after he left Charlotte, then took in a movie, something about a lion tamer. He sat through it twice—not because it was good, but because it had enough action to take the edge of his mind off Charlotte.

He paced to the door, then back to the window again. What was he thinking? He was a man who led through knowledge and order. A man who rearranged the magazines on people’s coffee tables. Not the kind of guy who threw a punch without thinking. Or at all, for that matter.

Never mind that it had felt damn good.

Through Charlotte, he’d discovered his heart wasn’t dead, and he could still feel excitement, anticipation and wonder. She was the first woman he’d found remotely interesting since Dora’s defection.

The woman who had the answer he needed but wouldn’t give it to him. Hopelessness settled over him like a new fallen snow. In his quest for knowledge, he’d failed. Was the one thing he wanted—his daughter’s life—too much to ask?

He sat and took off his shoes. If he got extra sleep, maybe the mental energy he needed to bring on the pull would build sooner.

He peered around the room. Bed, dresser, nightstand. Not much different than any of those he’d stayed in on his many travels, other than the absence of a TV and phone. And quiet. At his request, the desk clerk had given him a luxury room with a private bath on the sixth floor. There were no other guests in the wing.

It would be an adequate place to live—exist—until the pull returned him to the twenty-first century. Hopefully, the room would be unoccupied in his time. After he warped, he’d check into the modern-day hotel, then crash.

He wandered back toward the door when someone knocked.

“Yes?” What the hell did someone want this late?

“Room service,” a man in the hallway called.

“I didn’t order anything.” Tony hoped the intruder heard the irritation in his response.

“It says Room 639 right here on the order… Open faced beef sandwich with mashed potatoes, green beans, apple pie…”

Hmmm, that sounded good. Tony hadn’t eaten since breakfast, hadn’t been hungry, but eating might also speed the renewal of his mental energy. Better take them up on it, even if he didn’t order the dinner. He yanked the door open.

The black man in the hallway wore a white server’s uniform, but his hands were empty. Tony glanced down the hall in both directions. Where was the cart? “Where’s the food?”

“My apologies, Mr. Solomon, but I need to talk to you—”

Tony glowered at the man. “Who are you and what do you want?” Something about him struck Tony as familiar.

“My name is Theodore Pippin.”

Fear shot an icy tentacle down Tony’s throat. He couldn’t move. Moisture trickled down his back beneath his undershirt. God, how could he be so stupid? Charlotte and his failure had clouded his mind so much he’d forgotten all about the Saturn Society’s threat.

His stupor snapped. He shoved the door, but he man blocked it with his foot. “I’m with an organization called the Saturn Society… perhaps you’ve heard of us?”

“Yeah, and I’m not interested.” Tony leaned against the door, trying to dislodge Pippin’s foot. “Get out—”

“I’m afraid it’s not that simple, Mr. Solomon. Now if I could come in, we could discuss this like gentlemen…”

“There’s nothing to discuss.” Not with the man who’d been lauded for subduing more time-criminals than any other Society member in known history. Tony leaned harder against the door, but Pippin’s foot held. “Get out of here, or I’ll—” Somewhere outside, a woman shouted. He glanced at the window. Big mistake. Pippin took the opportunity to wedge himself through the door.

More information on Time’s Enemy

by Jennette, January 29, 2012

Once again, I took on too much last week. I hadn’t done a test mile on how long it took me to type in second draft revisions, which are quite different than first draft revisions. As one might expect, they’re much less extensive, but not so much that I could go through a 140,000-word book in one day – which deluded me had thought I could do. Instead, I got halfway through it in one day – not bad, but it threw off what would have otherwise been an easy week. Live and learn! The good news is that it DID get done. And really, I got more done today than I expected. So I’m pleased. I came close to getting the web site done, but the form was tricky, the layout wasn’t working as it should have, and I finally had to walk away (and read the Golden Heart entry, so I got to mark that one green).

Here’s how the rest of the week went:

Type in changes resulting from read-aloud of Time’s Fugitive and send to beta readers (finally!)
Read one Golden Heart entry (#3 out of 5)
Three interval workouts plus two short workouts
Write and post review on Amazon & B&N of book I offered to blurb
Finish web design side job
Guest blog post (in addition to my own blogs)
Go over two chapters for critique partner
Cover design tweak promised to friend
Tweak & validate epub file of Time’s Enemy and upload it to Lightning Source for distribution
Launch plan and list of marketing tasks for Time’s Fugitive
Bonus: do anything that’s on the launch plan list
Bonus: dog walk or other activity in addition to #3

More green than red – we like that!

This week, I’ll focus on what I didn’t get to last week.

Launch plan and list marketing tasks for Time’s Fugitive
Read one Golden Heart entry (#4 out of 5)
Three interval workouts plus two short workouts
Finish reading and review the ARC I got last week
Finish web design side job I took on to pay off my publishing company start up costs
Rework Time’s Fugitive cover – I’m not 100% satisfied with it
Bonus: Stockpile some blogs, so that I’m not writing them at the last minute

How did you do this week? Do you find yourself consistently taking on more than you can do, even when you know you do that?

by Jennette, January 26, 2012

Worthwhile, or BS?

My daughter had to clean out her room – I mean, get everything out – before we painted it last summer. It was a huge job – she’s had that same bedroom, and the same furniture, same stuff on the walls, for years, so decluttering was long overdue.
On top of one box, was a blue ribbon she got one year at Field Day. This was one of the boxes that was headed for the garbage.

How could she just throw out a blue ribbon? Is she that un-sentimental?

I remember the day she brought it home. She was in third or fourth grade, and stuck it on the mini-bulletin board on back of her door. “You got a blue ribbon?” I was a bit surprised. You see, when I was in school, Field Day was fun for a lot of kids. A day out of the classroom, where we got to run and play and do sports. To me, it was sitting outside in the hot sun (it was always close to the last day of school) being bored out of my mind – on top of being an all-day reminder that I suck at anything athletic. You know, the slowest time in the 100-yard dash, last one picked for any team, guaranteed to strike out in softball and get hit with the dodge ball every time. My husband, on the other hand, is very athletic. But in that area, our daughter is more like me.

So her getting a ribbon in field day surprised me, until I took a closer look: “Participation,” it read.

"When everybody's special, no one is!"

“Everyone who didn’t win something got one of those.” She shrugged. “It’s stupid. One of those things they think is good for our self esteem.” She said “self esteem” in an air-quotes enunciation. LOL! Even at age nine, my daughter had already developed a healthy BS-detector.

Because that’s pretty much what it is. When I was a kid, only the winners got ribbons. If I’d gotten one, I’d have known it for what it was, too. Kids aren’t dumb. Most of them know this stuff is supposed to make them feel good, but it usually ends up just being patronizing. I don’t think not winning any Field Day ribbons gave me any major self-image issues. On one hand, it’s important to recognize the ones who do have special talents, especially when that may be all they have. My husband struggled in school, but he excelled at sports. If he’d gotten a ribbon for “participating” in a spelling bee (which he’d have probably been the first one eliminated), he’d have called BS, too.

What do you think? Does everyone deserve to be “special” or is this just needless pandering that everyone knows is BS?

by Jennette, January 23, 2012

No, I’m not talking about the weather (although there’s plenty to complain about there). This is something else entirely, although it is seasonal. Some years, it doesn’t really start until late September or early October. Other years, it gets going early. I’m talking about when you’re enjoying a relaxing evening at home (is there such a thing? LOL). Or you’re at least spending time with family, getting chores done, doing some writing (in my case), or that old classic, sitting down to eat dinner.

They should just leave me alone

Then they call. Not the telemarketers – we’re on the national Do Not Call list, so that’s cut down on them a lot, with the exception of GE Home Security (but that’s another rant).

I’m talking about political campaign calls. Sometimes it’s a computer. Sometimes it’s a human. Sometimes they’re taking a survey, but most of the time, they just want to tell you why you should vote for their candidate, or for/against a particular issue. If you’re registered to vote and you have a landline phone, you’re vulnerable.

It’s worse in some places than others. It’s really bad here in Ohio, because we’re a swing state – meaning any year, which party gets the lion’s share of our presidential or congressional votes is up for grabs. And while we have a little less clout than in prior years (we lost two congressional seats this year) we’re still a significant number with 20 electoral votes.

This guy took the high road - yes, it can happen

It doesn’t matter which party you’re registered with, but if you’re registered to vote but not for either party (i.e., that sought-after animal called an Independent), it’s probably worse.

Several years ago, one poor sap called at 10:30 on a Sunday morning, when my husband had just happened to wake up. Now, my DH is a master of improv, and he was excited to answer it, especially when a human came on the line. Well, DH launched into the rudest, most offensive rant I’ve heard in years, and I think the guy hung up within ten seconds. That party has not called since. Big WIN for being obnoxious! Now we just have to think of some way to offend the other party so they’ll stop calling too.

Of course, there are still the TV ads. Incessant blathering, all of it so biased as to be worthless. I hardly ever watch TV, but my family does, so there’s no escaping them. In that vein, I would like to thank U.S. Congressman Steve Austria for deciding not to run for re-election. Because of the redistricting in our state, Congressman Austria’s district has been chopped up, leaving him in the same, redrawn district as fellow incumbent Mike Turner. Both have similar qualifications and voting records, so while Turner has been in office much longer, it’s not necessarily a foregone conclusion as to who would have won, had the two been pitted against each other in a primary. Austria decided not to run because he wanted to avoid an expensive, negative primary campaign. (And I did not want to watch the obnoxious commercials.) So thank you Congressman Austria, for taking the high road.

Now I just have to figure out how to get my husband to turn off the TV so I don’t have to listen to the other bozos screaming about each other.

Do you find election season a pain in your area? Are you in a swing state, or do the telecampaigners pretty much leave you alone?

More at the My Town Monday blog