Terms of endearment.

I'm running into an unexpected snag in my new ms.  It's tiny, I can work around it.  But it BOTHERS me--I can't figure out what to have Jason call Kae.

Now, that sounds silly, right?  He can call her "Kae."  Or he can call her nothing!  Since characters don't need to be saying each other's names back and forth constantly.  But I'm in a place now where he's supposed to be all sweet and concerned for her in a scene.  He says, "Are you all right, Kae?"  (I know, original!)

But it doesn't sound quite right.  It isn't intimate enough.  And when I leave a name off the end entirely, it really doesn't work.   It needs to be more like, "Are you all right, babe?"  Or "Are you all right, honey?"  Or something!

I keep racking my brain to remember what my high school boyfriends and I called each other so I can come up with something good.  But, with most of them, we just used our first names.  Or they'd call me "Min."  First Kiss Boyfriend, I called, "David," but when I was feeling particularly frisky, it was "David, my love."  He called me, "Honey" and "Honey Buns" and "Sweet Cakes."  (Talk about a kind of corny 15-year-old boy, huh?  Those names were so sweet, though!  Um, literally, I guess.)

My ex-husband and I called each other "Babe."  And when he was annoyed with me, he'd use an extra-sharp tone and call me "Hon."  (Short for "Honey.")  There was a block of time when I called him "mo-fo."  He didn't care much for that, though.  Go figure.

My husband and I started out calling each other "Lady" and "Boy."  (You can probably work out which of us was which.)  Somehow--and neither of us knows how--we switched to "Lover."  (We really do say that.  All the time.  We aren't even capable of using our real first names to address each other.  It's a sickness.)

I don't necessarily want to use any of those for Jason's name for Kae!  Is "Baby" too Dirty Dancing?  Or condescending?  "Dear" seems too old lady-ish.  "Sweetheart" and "Sweetie" seem too parental.  "Darling" and "Love" seem too... British, maybe?

What am I missing?

(I could always go with what my stepdad calls my mom:  "Ham hocks.")

Please 'splain?

I received this feedback from a classmate.  I don't understand a word she just said.

Any guesses what it might mean?  (I did ask her for clarification, but she didn't respond.)

Hi Mindi, I think your character is charmly cute. I think you have the right things going for you! Transition is always a tough pill to swallow. In the beginning you have completed you shopping. You go to line up with Dad at register. Easy to follow so far. See Brandy. Heart lurches like new driver of stickshift as you do a u-turn down personal care isle.
The subject is still YOU "driving" your cart and its easier to follow what you are doing. The other way takes you down a bumpy road throwing you off course, I think. Well, that's my opinion. Thoughts get handed gently to next visual for reader through transitions. Who or what's the subject? what does subject need to accomplish with the scene? Why have the scene?
I don't always "see" this in my writing so don't think I'm Miss Perfect here, okay? Nice start!
Hope this pointer helps.

Eh....?  She doesn't like my stick shift simile?  She can't follow the action?  She thinks the scene is pointless?  Or... what?

Super-critter stats.

My new online class hasn't been very active so far. Which is... fine. It kind of takes the pressure off. If everyone else isn't giving amazing feedback, I don't feel so much pressure to do the same. Of course, overachiever that I am, I'm still giving feedback to everyone. I don't know why I'm like this. Actually, I do know. It's that whole "do unto others" thing. Feedback is like crack to me. I give the crack to others so they'll give me some in return.

(Hmmm. Yeah. The crack simile doesn't really work. Because with real crack, you can simply keep it for yourself and it will produce the same effect as if someone else had given it to you. That isn't the case with feedback for writing!)

Anyway, I just did some quick math. My comments make up 19.55 percent of all the comments posted so far. There are fourteen people using this board! I am only one of them! I am 19.55 percent! Is that annoying? How could it be, though? I'm passing out delicious crack!

Auuugggghhhhhh!

I am having a heart attack over here. Every time I get a new email with the words "Re:.. THE FAKE MCCOY" in the subject line, my heart starts up because I know it's either good news or bad news. And when I see the sender's name, the stakes can go up, up, up because it might be an answer on a partial or full!

Tuesday, I queried an agent. Wednesday, she requested that I email the full. So, I did. Just now, I got another email from her.

Now, from having checked out Verla's response times, I wasn't expecting to hear from her for at least a month. What could this mean? She loved it? She hated it? Either way, the answer was going to be right there when I clicked!!!!!!

Hi Mindi, Thanks for sending it! It arrived safely, and I hope to get back to you soon.

Cue the sound effect for all the air being let out of a Mindi-sized balloon. (Or whatever.)

That wasn't good news. That wasn't bad news. That was no news!

My brain thinks that was totally kind and professional of her let me know she got it. My adrenaline-filled body hasn't quite recovered from the experience, though.

Uglee Pikcher Meme.

the rules: take a picture of yourself right now. don't change your clothes, don't fix your hair... just take a picture. post that picture with NO editing. post these instructions with your picture.