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Fun Friday!

Writing is not a serious business. I mean really, among all the serious professions in the world - nurses, doctors, lawyers, firefighters, police officers, counselors... all the people who save our lives and take care of us day in and day out - writing romance novels for a living rates right up there with acting and finger painting on the serious scale. And thank goodness... we all need to lighten up sometimes. But even for writers, amid deadlines, commitments, real life and all of its turmoil - many of us here at the Casablanca blog have had a difficult year, to say the least - we all need to laugh more, have fun, be goofy, get our jollies.

So I am unilaterally declaring today 'Fun Friday'! By the way, did you know that the word 'Friday', in the romance language tradition, is - according to Wikipedia - "The word for Friday in most Romance languages is derived from Latin dies Veneris, 'day of Venus'" Or, some prefer to think of it as from Freya, the Norse goddess of love, beauty and fertility. Either way, it is a dandy day for a bunch of romance novelists to celebrate!

So, here we go for a silly and fun end of the week.

Wanna be a Regency romance writer? You dooo? Well, all you have to do is go to this site, the Regency Romance Plot Generator and take it for a spin. Honest! You will come up with a plot, and all you have to do is write the book from it!

But more fun is to be had! On the main site you will find not only the plot generator, but also a Gothic novel title generator and other things. Go to: Stuff and Nonsense.

But... but... you sputter, there's more to writing a Regency romance novel than some randomly generated plot! You need characters... lots and lots of characters! And you need place names, and house names and maybe a treasure for your characters to seek, or a war for them to fight, and colorful language...

Have no fear, folks. Do I have the place for you to go! Serendipity is its name, and generating random stuff is its game. This site is so much fun, you'll lose hours of possible work time. Honest! Need a French character name? Japanese? A place? City? Description for a castle or a style of clothing.

Even - and this is almost the most fun - a colorful cuss phrase?

Here's what I came up with, in just a couple of minutes:

Okay, so the title of my Gothic book, using the Gothic Romance Title Generator from Stuff and Nonsense is (dah duh-duh-duh! with a flourish)

Return to Dread!

Heroine's Name: Floriane Brideau
Hero's Name: Prince Xavier Domenic
Villain: Humbert Falkwing
Villain's favorite Cuss-Phrase: Almighty mother of a pestilent platypus-abusing squid!
Village: Scarmead (I'm not making this up... that's what I got on the Stuff and Nonsense random placename generator. Pretty good for a placename in Return to Dread, dontcha think?)

One of my favorite generators on the Serendipity site is the Plot Twist Generator... things are clicking along in Return to Dread when (plot twist coming up) "Without warning an assassin arrives, waving a newspaper."

So it is Fun Friday. Want to have some fun yourself? Check out the Regency Romance Plot Generator on Stuff and Nonsense, and for lots of other generators, (where I got the character names and the villain's cusswords) check out this page: Serendipity, where you'll find all the rest.

Haven't had enough, you little minxes? You say you're looking for more cool freaky Friday randomosity? Check out Seventh Sanctum. They can random generate anything!

And have fun!

Comments

  1. This is absolutely insane! I had no idea such generator places existed! LOL. Some of this is just unbelievably crazy, but I have to admit a little help with naming manor houses will be nice in future!

    Here are mine...
    Heroine: Rebecca Sandeford
    Hero: Thaddeus Kennaway
    Setting: Banturret Place
    Villian: Bruno von Mourne
    Title: Rebel Roses

    Ha! Now I am set! Off to write a new one.....

    Thanks for this, Donna. Great fun Friday!

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  2. Hey Sharon... it actually kinda works!!! Love Bruno van Mourne for a villain.

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  3. Thanks for telling us about those sites, Donna - what fun!

    Just how is your assasin is going to kill someone with a newspaper? ;-)

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  4. Not sure, Gail... given the content of some newspapers, bore him to death? Or if it's a tabloid, shock him to death? Or with the Sunday NY Times, just swat him!

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  5. What fun! I didn't know stuff like this existed either, Sharon.

    Here are mine:
    Heroine: Charlotte Onslow
    Hero: Frederick Rotherham
    Setting: Claydent
    Villian: Ichabod the Devourer
    Villian's curse words: Great son of a swollen scallywag-brained shrew!
    Plot twist: Without warning, a maid arrives and pulls a gun.
    Title: Demon Candlewood Abbey

    Donna, maybe your assassin is my maid, with a gun inside the newspaper?

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  6. Oooh, I want to play with this - will do later after I hit my word count for the day. This looks like fun!!!

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  7. Aha, Lori... a maid for an assassin, with a gun inside a newspaper, brilliant! And I love the cusswords! And Demon Candlewood Abbey??? I'd read that novel in a heartbeat!

    Do come play with us, Judi! After the word count, of course (ahem, she says, going back to her WIP)

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  8. Alas, Donna, there are just too many cute things in this world to see, do, and play them all. But sounds like some of the Casa ladies are joining the fun.

    Judi, we must learn how to lighten-up and play first, and then make our page count for the day!

    Amelia

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  9. Judi -
    Do you have a particular word count each day, or a specific number of pages or hours you write?
    I have read so many different books over the years that say you should write a certain number of hours, a certain number of pages, etc.
    Is there any one right answer?

    Donna, I would totally read Demon Candlewood Abbey based on the title alone. That's gold!

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  10. This looks like fun. I think I'll wander there later with my son.

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  11. Sheila, what a great idea! Get kids involved. Seventh Sanctum has random generators for Anime/Manga, fantasy creatures and places, and some of the name generators have naming for Star Trek characters, faeries, and lots of other things!

    I just generated a monster called "Mooching Juggernaut of the Pawn Shop"

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  12. Oh, what great fun! I'm going to incorporate this in the kids' creative writing.

    I kid you not, this is what the generator came up with, title and all, it fits neatly.

    Title- The Sea and the Lady

    Heroine-Jeanne Bergeret
    Hero-Antony Drayton
    Villian-Horatio Greymoor
    Villianess- The Savage Banshee
    Place-Anisad~This modest city is prosperous. It stands near the coast and is mainly constructed of red brick. It is defended by local militia and its most noteworthy feature is the fancifully paved streets.

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  13. Renee, what a great title! The Sea and the Lady... very atmospheric. and The Savage Banshee for a villainess!!! Love. It.

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  14. OMGosh, Donna!
    This is TOO MUCH FUN!!! You know the first thing Aunty had to do was generate cuss words! Here's mine: Almighty mother of a filthy scallywag-molesting kangaroo.

    Hmmmm, scallywag molesting sounds like lots of fun! I'm gonna try it. ;-)

    AC

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  15. Aunty Cindy... mind you, it depends on the scallywag whether you'd want to molest him! Mwa-ha-ha!

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  16. Title: The Ruin of Hartsbane Hall
    Heroine: Jane Percival
    Hero: Digby Durbin
    Villain: Eustace the Fanged
    Villain's favorite Cuss-Phrase: Great mother of a screwball platypus-brained reptile!
    Village: Taddour Vale
    Plot Twist: Suddenly a hyperactive undertaker arrives and attacks your protagonist's sidekick.


    This was too much fun, Donna!

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  17. Danielle,

    That is a seriously cool title! The Ruin of Hartsbane Hall... has to be a Gothic.

    But a hyperactive undertaker! I almost spit fat-free peach yoghurt all over my keyboard at that one! ROTFLMAO!

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  18. Very neat, Sharon!

    My gothic is titled Tower of Whispers. Hmmmm

    Linda

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  19. Cute blog, Donna. I'm in deadline mania and on a tour blog, so no time to play the game, but maybe later!!! :) Fun WILL be had...one of these days!!!

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