The Writing Room

2012-01-29T19:43:00.000-06:00

Congratulations to Ann Best!

Ann won a copy of my book from Kimberly over at Meetings with My Muse.

Thank you, Kimberly, for your generous support!

2012-01-27T15:44:00.000-06:00

Revising the little stuff takes so much time. I spent about five hours at the computer today going line by line through six chapters checking spelling, word usage, and tweaking things just so. My mind is exhausted and I have seventeen chapters to go. A non-writer friend called and I took a much needed break. She asked me what revision I was doing now because I had already done the plot points and meatier changes. I compared it to a teacher grading a paper.

"So then you'll be done and can submit it?"

"Not yet," I told her. "When I think it's perfect, I'll print it up a second time and read it out loud. That way I can find words I left out, sentences that need to be written better, and just anything at all that needs changing."

"That's too hard, I think you should just leave it up to one of those editors. Wait until you hear..."

Works for me. I wonder why I just don't do that?

OOPS, I had no idea I was doing that!

2012-01-20T08:13:00.001-06:00

I'm in the middle of revising a 55,000 word teen suspense novel. A writing buddy was reading something else I had written and called me. "Do you know how much you love the word smile?"
"What?" I asked.
"Every character is constantly smiling at another character."
After a lengthy conversation I pulled up the teen novel. In the navigation bar I searched for smile. Yikes! 97 and most of them were used in the exact same phrase. This meant that I needed to search another word in that phrase. Look. OMIGOSH! I must love that word!
218 look ups, looked ats, look over, look ad nauseum, over and over!
The last two days I have spent changing, replacing, or getting rid of the sentences completely. Pleased with myself for my creativity, I called my writer buddy.

"I left about 14 of each of those words."

"Good," she said. Now look up the word only and don't forget to smile."

64 matches including 11 If only sentences...(groaning in frustration)

Do you have any favorite overused words?

2012-01-18T08:39:00.000-06:00

Over at Meetings with My Muse you'll find an interview of me and a book giveaway by Kimberly, a fellow writer and blogger. It's a first for both of us!

Thank you, Kimberly!

Contest! Would Attending a Webinar w/ Agent Lori Perkins & Louise Fury Interest You?

2012-01-12T22:07:00.001-06:00

Just hop on over to Kimberly's blog: Meeting With My Muse and enter a wonderful and exciting contest worth $100.

2012-01-09T11:30:00.002-06:00

It's a beautiful January morning, still fall where I live. It is cloudy and misting with temperatures that will remain in the fifties. The rest of my red oak leaves are falling and hopefully they will be all down by the end of this week.
Today, I was finally able to see the owl that had been "hooting" at night for months. He stayed put while I grabbed my not-so-professional camera and snapped this pic. He turned and looked at me while the camera flashed a few more times. He seemed more annoyed than concerned. I guess I should get a really good camera with a good zoom if I'm going to keep trying to snap bird pics.

2012-01-02T09:47:00.002-06:00

This morning I hurriedly got on the computer and Hooray! Tough Luck is now available at the Wings e-Press site! Excited doesn't begin to describe my feelings. Thank you, everyone, for all your support and encouragement here and other places. Another big thank you to everyone at Wings for accepting one of my manuscripts and working hard to make this happen.

Annie’s roommate becomes the target of a stalker and when a teacher is overheard blaming her, “Attacker Annie” must prove her innocence by saving Mindy.

Now available at Amazon and at Barnes&Noble.

2011-12-31T10:13:00.000-06:00

Wishing you a Happy and Healthy New Year!

Waiting is Tough for a Nervous Nellie

2011-12-27T18:51:00.001-06:00

Tough Luck will be out next month and that's just a few days away! My fingernails are bitten to the quick from eagerness to see it released and anxiety from little doubts.

A couple of weeks ago I found a couple of errors I had overlooked until the galleys arrived. One was a real doozy. How could I miss it during multiple edits and revisions?

I have no doubt it will be corrected, but I keep worrying and wondering...

What other things have I missed?

Would it have been better if...?

Maybe I should have...?

2011-12-19T21:47:00.000-06:00

Merry Christmas everyone! Hope this is the best Christmas ever for you and yours. May God bless all of you.

2011-12-07T15:57:00.001-06:00

Designed and created by the very talented Richard Stroud, this is my cover for my upcoming YA e-novel Tough Luck.

I keep saying the word my because reality finally set in.This is really happening to me, to one of my novels, ... wow!

Tough Luck is scheduled for release in January, 2012, by Wings e-Press.

The Importance of Secondary Characters

2011-11-28T09:04:00.000-06:00

What a wonderful feeding frenzy last week and now I'm trying to put in some good writing time until the next phase of the holidays sidetracks me.

Back in 2010 I began a Young Adult mystery/suspense novel and blogged about the creation of the characters here. This completed draft is now being critiqued and hopefully will be ready for submission in 2012.

One of the things that made creating the characters so much fun in that novel was the brilliant idea that Susan Fields blogged about and I mentioned in the other article. She suggested googling for pictures of people that fit the characters. This jewel of an idea worked amazingly well for me so I had to do it again.

For a change of pace, I began planning an adult cozy mystery novel that involves some senior ladies and gentlemen. I started googling character actors and actresses from the old days.

I found the most delightful character actors that I grew up watching on television and in the movies. I did a lot of oohing and ahhing, even chuckling, from remembering the parts they played that made me love them. It dawned on me that all these television shows and movies were successful because the supporting cast of character actors did just that--they supported the stars in making the show/movie successful.

It gave me second thoughts at how important I considered those secondary characters in my own writing. Were the majority of them cardboard characters?

It was so sad to see that most of these talented individuals have passed on but, even though I didn't know most of their names, I will never forget their faces and some of the roles they played. It's such a shame that only celebrities get mentioned on the national news when they pass away.These truly talented people deserve so much more of a tribute than to just fade away.

I decided to mention just two of my favorites that you might remember, depending on your age :)

Burt Mustin played Gus, the fireman, on Leave it to Beaver and Jud on The Andy Griffith Show. He seemed to be in everything and I noticed his absence before learning of his death.

Reta Shaw, two of her many roles was the housekeeper/cook in Pollyanna with Hayley Mills and an escaped convict in The Andy Griffith Show. I mentioned these roles because both shows were televised over the holidays and you might have seen them.

From now on I'm going to give my supporting cast just a little bit more attention and respect. They deserve nothing less.

Happy Thanksgiving Week!

2011-11-19T17:17:00.000-06:00

Wishing all of you the happiest of Thanksgivings with your family and friends.

Hopefully, we'll all come back, after stuffing ourselves, ready to meet our end-of-the-year writing goals. But, seeing that Christmas is just around the corner, I think I can safely predict that my computer keys are going to get pretty dusty.

Happy Thanksgiving

2011-11-09T16:52:00.000-06:00

A friend of mine took this photo on a fall foliage trip to West Virginia. I looked longingly at it when she sent it because we were still in the eighties here. This morning we woke up to cool weather and blustery breezes. It's been a beautiful day!

The first cool weather announcing autumn as well as the first days of early spring motivate me to get busy at the computer. Having said that, I must confess that I started NaNoWriMo but stopped after about a week, cleared all the information I had uploaded, and shut it down. I found there was too much to do with serious revisions of a completed manuscript facing me. I could see right away that my heart wasn't in competing with a new project. If any of you are doing NaNo I wish you the best and hope you reach your goals.

Received my Pockets contest entry in the mail, disappointed that I didn't win or wasn't one of the ones chosen to keep, but huge congratulations to the winner: Lori Z. Scott.

Hope your November is going well and the weather is just the way you want it!

Interesting Articles on e-books

2011-11-01T10:23:00.003-05:00

Just wanted to share some interesting articles about e-books. I find it fascinating to hear about the amazing changes happening in the publishing world because of the digital age.

Secret of Self-Publishing: Success by Jeffrey A. Trachhtenberg

Magazine Publishers Look to Where Digital is Booming:The Book Business-Digital Editions by Stefanie Botelho

WSJ best-seller lists to include e-books

Happy Halloween

2011-10-31T09:32:00.000-05:00

Beautiful autumn weather, clear night, lots of friendly ghosts and goblins, sure wish I was a kid again!

Creating Blurbs and Log Lines is Torture

2011-10-21T19:48:00.001-05:00

I was asked to write a 25 word log line and a 50 word blurb this week for the same novel. It took two hours of head scratching, groaning, wiping sweat beads off my upper lip, and pacing around the room saying them out loud. I think they are finished and to me they are good, but I'm not sure if someone else will think they meet the standard for merely adequate.

Am I the only one who finds this absolute torture? Any secret formula from those that breeze through them?

"What the Agents are Chirping About..." Falling Leaflets

2011-10-14T17:25:00.000-05:00

Jess over at Falling Leaflets has an enjoyable post today of agent tweets with links, so I thought you might like to go check it out.

Steve Jobs

2011-10-06T10:16:00.000-05:00

Steve Jobs passed away yesterday. The apple computer was the first computer I ever used. It was given to every teacher in our school on our desks. I was nervous and just knew I would never use one. Now it's hard for me to imagine what life would be like without one.
May God bless his family in this time of loss and God bless his soul.

He's Not Just an Animal to Me

2011-09-26T12:15:00.001-05:00

Did not blog for a while because I have been going through a lot of worries with my cat. Some people don't understand how you can get so attached to "just an animal", but I am more than attached to this particular animal.

He's my bud.

Late this summer I started noticing the signs and symptoms of diabetes. On Friday I took him in to be tested. On Saturday the preliminary blood test results proved I was right to be concerned. He had an extremely elevated glucose level. That could be because of being stressed out at the vets getting his blood drawn or it could indicate something else.

While waiting for the final test results, I couldn't write, read, or do anything, but worry and watch TV. Should I treat him with insulin shots? Would that make him suffer and lower the quality of his daily life? What to do? What to do?

This morning I called and the vet got on the line. "When I saw the preliminary results I thought Mama had nailed the diagnosis, but he's just fine. Some of the results are a little higher than we like, but he's just an old cat now." A simple change of diet for his age--more fiber, less carbs--ought to take care of it.

Yay! Relief flooded me. After giving him a big hug, I rushed out to buy the diet food. Now I'm back at the computer ready to catch up on lost time.

But wait...how much trouble is it to switch a finicky eater over to diet food? Would the battle lower the quality of my daily life? What to do? What to do?

Tell me about the beloved pet who is not just an animal to you.

Irresistibly Sweet Award from Angela Brown

2011-09-15T10:15:00.000-05:00

Just received this Irresistibly Sweet Award from Angela Brown. Thank you, Angela!

Here are the rules in accepting this blog award:

1. Thank and link to the person who nominates you
2. Share seven random facts about you
3. Pass this award to five new blogging friends
4. Contact and congratulate the awarded bloggers

1. I once bleached my own hair and it turned out chicken yellow! My mom came to my rescue.
2. Back in the really old days of my youth, I fell in love with Mighty Mouse. I wanted to grow up and marry him.
3. The first book that made me cry was Anna Sewell's Black Beauty.
4. My favorite vacation spot of all time is downtown Savannah, Georgia
5. My first car was a little, red Toyota Corolla.
6. My present car is a little, grey Pontiac Aztec.
7. I love fruit smoothies. In a personal blender each afternoon, I mix 1 tablespoon of fat free, sugar free Vanilla pudding, a handful of frozen fruit (strawberries mostly), and about a cup of fat free milk. Tastes just like a milk shake!

Awards go to:

W. B. Terrien at http://wbterrien.com
Laura L. Sullivan at http://lauralsullivan.blogspot.com
Patricia Schirra at http://patriciashirra.blogspot.com
Francesca Zappia at http://zapslobstertank.blogspot.com
Krista M. at http://thejellybeansofwriting.blogspot.com

Umbrella Summer by Lisa Graff

2011-09-11T14:18:00.001-05:00

I just finished reading the Kindle edition of Umbrella Summer, a middle grade novel by Lisa Graff. I won't write a short synopsis of the novel, but here's a link to the page at Amazon that provides a good one. This novel from 2009 made big, fat tears roll down my cheeks. I had to pull off my glasses, dab at my eyes, but could not put this book down.

As an adult and former elementary teacher, I approached this from an adult point of view with life experiences. I was totally involved emotionally with the main character Annie Richards, her parents, and the woman across the street who just moved into the neighborhood. I don't know what a child would be thinking as he/she read this novel, but I'm sure they would relate to Annie and the other characters emotionally as well.

I love the way the author portrayed Annie's unusual problem of dealing with grief, and the way she had the other child characters interact with Annie while keeping their own special characteristics. I especially liked the way she handled two best friends breaking up, bringing in another character to stir the pot, and including enough humor to make me chuckle.

At times, though, the teacher in me wanted to reach in the book and give her parents a couple of good head slaps! But Annie took care of that in her own way.

This is not a sad book, it is touching, sweet, at times funny, and hopeful as it deals with a family overcoming grief. In the end you come away knowing everything is going to be all right. But the journey to that end is just plain wonderful.

First Campaigner Challenge--200 word flash fiction

2011-09-08T09:22:00.003-05:00

Rachel Harrie has posted the first campaigner challenge. Write a short story/flash fiction story in 200 words or less, excluding the title. It can be in any format, including a poem. Begin the story with the words, “The door swung open” These four words will be included in the word count.

If you want to give yourself an added challenge (optional), use the same beginning words and end with the words: "the door swung shut." (also included in the word count)

For those who want an even greater challenge, make your story 200 words EXACTLY!

MAC’S UNCANNY ABILITY

Catherine A. Winn

The door swung open, Officer Dave glanced out.

“Who is it?” Hilda Gross wrung her hands.

“You sent for me?” Detective Mac Worth asked.

“Looks like the Ski-Mask Bandit has changed and messed the place up.”

“Anyone hurt?”

“No.”

Mac said. “Give me a minute.”

Mac scanned the boutique. Everything was in disarray. The register had been cleaned out and dumped on the floor.

“You okay, Ma’am?”

“Yes, thank you, Detective.”

Officer Dave read from his notes. “After closing, Ms. Gross sat at her desk doing some inventory updates.”

Hilda interrupted. “And then out of nowhere this horrible, horrible little man with a ski mask came in and tied me up. He got away through the back door.”

“I see,” Mac said.

“Stupid me, I forgot to lock the front door.” She pointed to the open safe. “He cleaned me out; now I’ll probably get fired!”

“We’re going to have to catch this guy, Mac.”

“You already did,” Mac said. “Our robber is right here.”

Hilda Gross protested her innocence. Officer Dave’s search produced a bag full of cash.

“Mac, how in the world did you figure this out?”

(see comment section for the answer)

Seventeen by Janis Ian

2011-09-04T09:42:00.002-05:00

This song touches everyone who listens to it in some personal way. It's perfect for those of us who write Young Adult. I did a search for it while creating a young adult character and after listening to it then humming it for two days, I decided to share it with you.

We're thinking of you

2011-08-31T21:22:00.002-05:00

While those of us Irene hasn't affected directly continue to blog and enjoy each other online, the rest of you are in our thoughts and prayers. We can only imagine what you are facing each moment of the day, and the news coverage we get lets us know our imaginations are not far off.

How people could say the warnings were too much hype is beyond me.

A friend of mine was stuck here in Texas for a few extra days because her flight back to Massachusetts was cancelled three times. She finally got a flight to Logan and arrived home to no electricity. She called her mom on her cell to let her know everything was fine, but no news today.

Just know that when you do get back to us, your online family thought about you every day.

Points of View in Young Adult--Help!

2011-08-25T22:00:00.003-05:00

For those of you who have been working in the Young Adult genre this is probably a no brainer. For a newbie like me, it's a head scratching puzzlement.

In my present YA project, I have put the antagonist's point of view in alternating chapters for effect as well as clarity. However, a couple of writers new to YA and I are wondering if more than one point of view is acceptable. We know that it is frowned on in Middle Grade and younger.

1. How many points of view would you suggest for a young adult novel?

2. Would you change points of view within a chapter?

3. If so, would you separate the paragraphs with *** or an extra space?

Any advice or guidance you can share with us would be soooo welcome!

Note: Third Writers' Platform-Building Campaign
Just joined this today and am looking forward with excitement to participating. Go on over to Rachel Harrie's blog and see if you would like to join.

Beth Revis Vlog

2011-08-20T08:29:00.000-05:00

WriteOnCon was wonderful again this year. Can't find enough words to praise the writers who put this on. Learned a lot and entered contests. (fingers crossed) Thank you WriteOnCon founders and participants! I'm already looking forward to next year's!

As fabulous as everyone was, Beth Revis had a vlog that personally touched me. I want to share the link for anyone who would like to watch it.

http://writeoncon.com/2011/08/dont-give-up-by-author-beth-revis/

2011-08-17T21:19:00.001-05:00

WriteonCon is the place to be this week. I have been really enjoying the free online conference! If you haven't already attended, I hope you go check it out. So many wonderful presentations and submission opportunities going on over there!

http://writeoncon.com/

2011-08-17T21:18:00.001-05:00

WriteonCon.com is the place to be this week. I have been really enjoying the free online conference! If you haven't already attended, I hope you go check it out. So many wonderful presentations and submission opportunities going on over there!

http://writeoncon.com/

Baby Cap Ends The Writing Blahs

2011-08-07T19:30:00.001-05:00

As I mentioned before, the weather has been rough in Texas which has affected my writing habits in an adverse way. Now we are having to worry about brownouts. I was told that one reason the motherboard on my other computer was damaged could be cutting power during the automatic download of upgrades. Not wanting to take the chance on this computer, I've been checking email in the morning and doing what I can before shutting it down at noon. That meant no writing and revising except for a couple of hours.

Writing in long hand is not my preference, and I can only think-write for so many hours doing housework. I've read all my books, and puttering around in the yard is no fun when the grass is all dried up and crispy and the temps run in the three digits most days. I needed something creative to do, but the creative part of my brain has become lethargic.

A good friend called me up from north central Texas where the temperature is running in triple digits for over forty-five days, like 110! She's a serious knitter, but a beginner to crochet, and is also stuck indoors. I'm a beginner at knitting, but crochet pretty well. She wanted to send me a couple of patterns she found online of a baby cap and flower decoration. Would I make it not only for her granddaughter, but as a sample to follow? Yes! Perfect timing. I had an excuse to go the Michael's and buy yarn and a few other things before the pattern arrived.

I really enjoyed making something for a baby. It was new and different and I needed it. While my little D hook flew, this cap made me think of a flapper girl...and my brain woke up. During a break, I picked up a pencil to brainstorm things about her.

Who would have thought crocheting a baby cap would give me an idea to get excited about?

"All good plots come from well-orchestrated characters pitted against one another in a conflict of wills." James N. Frey

2011-07-28T09:39:00.002-05:00

I've been getting ready to plot a new novel and when I'm in this process I go back and read favorite writing books to get my enthusiasm revved up and come away with new ideas that will improve my writing.

In The Philosophy of Plot by James Frey, (The Complete Handbook of Novel Writing from Writers Digest), he covered how characters affect plots.

When a writer creates characters he should, according to Frey, make them strikingly different from one another. He goes on to say that these differences will minimize plotting problems that usually develop. The one problem I seem to have over and over again is stalling out and can't seem to get it moving. He attributes that to characters who are too much the same and me, the author, trying to get the characters to do what I would do in that situation instead of what they would do.

Well-orchestrated characters "once pitted against one another, the author needs only to present the predicament to send the characters on their mission."

One of his examples was why not have a streetwise kid hide from the law in a nursing home...my mind took off with that one.

Another example he gave was in The African Queen, how different it would have been if the story was about two old drunks instead of the uptight, Bible-thumping, Rose pitted against the old sot Charlie Allnut.

Creating the plot from a set of well-orchestrated characters is one of the truly creative aspects of the fiction writer's craft.

Thanks, Mr. Frey, I'm off to try and do just that!

Baking a Chapter

2011-07-20T12:35:00.001-05:00

Maybe I'm just desperate to blog creatively but here goes. A chapter from my young adult mystery/thriller is ready to share with my critique group tomorrow. Today as I was making a loaf of sour dough bread, I waxed sort of poetic and compared the baking of bread to writing and revising.
This chapter has been giving me fits. I did my best to mix all the ingredients then put it aside hoping the "yeast" of more depth would rise and make the chapter seem bigger. This morning as I read through it, it seemed a smidgeon bigger, but it needed more revision, so I pound it down and and revised a little more.
Of course, the loaf of bread is pretty on the surface, nice color, crisp crust, but after I slice it...?
I'm hoping they tell me I baked this chapter just right.

Harry Potter, The End (sniff)

2011-07-14T21:59:00.000-05:00

Tonight at midnight several people will be jamming the theaters to go to the last movie. This will be the first year I'm not eager to see it right away. Why? Because I'm going to miss these films. I already miss the books!

For the last several years I have looked forward eagerly for each movie and have never been disappointed. Now, when Part 2 ends...it really ends!

J.K. Rowling accomplished something that has never been seen before. I don't know if it will ever happen again, but I like to think that maybe that writing genius is studying the mobile above his crib and thinking.

E-Book Publishing- the new Wild West!

2011-07-06T09:39:00.000-05:00

Sisters in Crime gave a link in their e-letter to the Wall Street Journal article by Eric Felton entitled: Cherish the Book Publishers—You'll Miss Them When They're Gone

Very good article that makes you stop and think. The part that bothered me was the reference to an e-book author asking other self-publishers for reviews to make them more noticeable. So many writers are bombarding Amazon with, in my opinion, works with no merit that any author who can construct a wonderful story will not be found among the drivel. Sort of like a reader's slush-pile.

Kindle readers I know don't even try any more. As one said, "I've been stuck a few times. Now I only go with publishers/authors I know." She went on to say she looks at who the publisher is before downloading no matter how good the book sounds. "It may be only 99 cents, but that's what I can use toward my favorite authors, instead of throwing it away."

I find myself doing the exact same thing. Traditional publishers have established their reputation for putting out a quality product, if they keep to that tradition, they will thrive in the e-book market as more and more readers get "stuck".

I'm thinking Amazon may have to eventually change from accepting anything anyone wants to upload to having some kind of control or evaluation since they are moving into the publishing business.

E-book publishing and marketing is definitely the new wild west--open and free for the taking. I wonder what things will be like twenty years from now, even ten years.

Happy Fourth of July!

2011-07-04T07:26:00.000-05:00

Imaginary Girls by Nova Ren Suma

2011-06-28T15:16:00.000-05:00

Just finished reading Imaginary Girls on my Kindle and I came away "haunted" by the story, by the characters, by the writing. I'm the reader who likes things real and grounded, this is not. Through most of the story I had no idea what was really going on, I'm still not sure I figured it out, but I was so enthralled in the story, I could not stop reading.

It's different, disturbing, eerie, confusing, nightmarish, surreal, gripping, and oh, so good. I'm glad I bought it.

Ahhhhh, Rain at Last

2011-06-22T12:03:00.002-05:00

Rain, mild thunderstorm, lightning flashes.....ahhhhhh such a nice thing to hear last night. I didn't even mind cleaning up the yard this morning. I know the drought is not over but this was wonderful.

Now if only North Dakota could wake up tomorrow without flood waters, Arizona with no fire, and no tornadoes in the eastern part of North America.

Weather and Writing

2011-06-16T09:33:00.001-05:00

All over the U.S. we are going through unusually high or unusually low temperatures. On the news there are stories about flooding, dangerous storms, drought, fires, and almost anything that can be imagined. All of these things usually feed the creative genius of writers. I say usually because during the conversation with other writers here the weather is affecting our writing in an adverse way.

As the drought takes hold and each day drags on with no relief in sight, it is becoming more and more depressing. We all seem to be in the same pattern. Instead of writing we are escaping into our jobs, TV, movies, and books. We've come to the conclusion it just takes too much energy to think. Even my cat doesn't want to go outside--it's just no fun anymore.

Luckily, I still find a little time to devote to writing each day, but it's not measured in hours. Short bursts of writing activity early in the morning is working for me.

How is the weather in your area? Are you finding that it is affecting your writing output?

Speaking of weather, Angela Ackerman's and Becca Puglisi's blog The Bookshelf Muse has a wonderful series on weather. They nailed drought!

http://thebookshelfmuse.blogspot.com/

Nerves of Mush

2011-06-09T12:28:00.001-05:00

I have hung onto my Pockets contest entry until today. Even though I posted weeks ago it was ready to go out, I just couldn't do it. Doubts reared their ugly heads: Is it okay? Are there any stupid mistakes I keep missing? Will my world collapse if it's not just right? Silly? I know, but that's just me. I put it away to wait and check.

Finally, this morning, I knew it was time. I couldn't hold onto it any longer. I read it several times, wrote the cover letter, printed everything off, and stuffed it in the envelope.

It's in the mailbox and will be picked up shortly.

Should I leave it there?
Will he drop it?

Maybe I should take it to the post office?

Please tell me I'm not the only one who does this? And does it ever end?

Good News:

The summer issue from Stories for Children is now out. Lisa Michaels was the illustrator for my story, The First Kids-Only Hike, and her illustration brought my characters to life. Thank you, Lisa!

For those of you who write short fiction and haven't heard , SFC is now a paying magazine for writers and illustrators.

Blogger Still Having Problems

2011-06-03T09:32:00.000-05:00

Have been visiting other Blogger posts and enjoying them, but find it so frustrating not being able to comment. Wish they would fix this issue quickly.

I did find out that if the comment is embedded below the post with a "select profile" section, it doesn't work and makes you sign in over and over with no results.

By changing my settings to a pop-up window with a security word it worked well and I was even able to comment on my own blog. If bloggers aren't commenting try this change until the other is fixed.

Blogger has been working on this since May 24--hope it won't be too much longer.

Author: Susan Runholt

2011-05-24T11:12:00.008-05:00

Sometimes I wonder about me. Here I write mysteries and somehow I've missed this author. As I browsed the bookshelves of the library I ran across this book. It looked like a great little mystery so I checked it out.

It turned out to be a gem about two teen BFF's, Kari and Lucas. On a trip to Scotland with Kari's writer mom, who is supposed to do a story on fifteen-year-old piano prodigy, Seneca Crane, the girls become friends. Then Seneca is kidnapped and it's up to them to follow the clues they've developed and find her. What kids will love is that Runholt found a reasonable way to ratchet up the tension and put those kids totally on their own with only their wit and self-confidence to see them through.

What makes this a little gem is not only the well constructed mystery, there is also a well developed cast of characters, two friends sometimes at odds, and a little bit of crushing on boys in a foreign country. Put all that together with descriptions of Scotland, traveling on trains, daily life experiences in a foreign country, well, even a girl my age is ready to pack her bags and take off for an experience.

Rescuing Seneca Crane, 2009, is a sequel to Susan Runholt's debut mystery with Kari and Lucas entitled The Mystery of the Third Lucretia. The references in this book to that book, plus the pure pleasure of reading this gem, sold me on going back and picking that up. Book three, Adventures at Simba Hill, has recently been released--Yippee! I'm so going to enjoy my summer reading.

E-Press: The 21st Century's Form of Pulp Fiction?

2011-05-20T08:58:00.001-05:00

There was an interesting conversation last night about unknown writers getting their start in publishing so I thought I would share and see what you thought.

E-books, E-magazines, and E-presses were compared to pulp fiction magazines and trade paperbacks in the first half of the twentieth century. Many famous novelists got their start in pulp fiction as they honed their craft and waited for traditional publishers to discover them.

Pulp fiction writers were looked down on by more successful writers as inferior because they felt the pulp fiction publishers weren't putting out quality work. Even today I've heard the same comments about e-magazines and e-presses. I'm not saying they are wrong. There are good ones out there but authors have to be diligent in research before submitting.

The competition for the few print magazines that accept fiction is mind boggling as every magazine writer knows. Getting your foot in the door with a traditional book publisher is just as difficult. With this economy it's almost impossible. A newer hurdle is the fact that now a writer needs an agent to toss the magazine over the transom. The agent can't toss just anything or the agent's reputation is sunk. Querying agents and getting no response or quick rejections is very discouraging but understandable. I have to pat them on the back for their honest efforts to find someone they want to represent. They now deal with piles of slush in their inbox or their office, and the majority of them still reject kindly.

I have to admit, I want to be published in print. It used to be a major goal but I've slowed down my short fiction submissions to just a few select ones as I work on novels. I keep getting disappointing rejections, but being accepted by an e-magazine or e-press keeps me going. It validates my writing and makes me proud to see my name in...gosh...can I say "print" when referring to electronic success?

What are your feelings about this century's pulp fiction? Would you consider an e-press for a project rejected first by a traditional press?

2011 Pockets Annual Fiction Contest

2011-05-18T14:23:00.000-05:00

I've spent this week polishing and revising my entry to this year's Pockets Annual Fiction Contest. (The rules are at the bottom of the page if you use this link) I wrote the first draft back in March. After putting it away and pulling it out several times to revise with fresh eyes, I think it is just about ready. Hopefully, I will get my story in the mail this Friday. Last year they received 350 entries. Are any of you entering?

Rain!

2011-05-12T12:38:00.000-05:00

Texas is in the middle of a bad drought. February 9 was the last time we received .10" of rain. Grass has crisped up and turned yellow, Stage 1 drought restrictions are in place, and the whole thing is kind of depressing. On top of that, our emotions bounced up and down between highs and lows, because the weatherman kept giving us chances of rain that never panned out. This morning was our last big chance. If we missed it the forecast was gloom and doom for another long week. Prayers were answered!

A large thunderstorm moved in and poured right over the aquifer's recharge zone. This will prevent Stage 2 restrictions and maybe eliminate Stage 1. It soaked our lawns and our vegetable gardens. It filled our ditches and caused minor flooding. It was raining and it was wonderful!

Phones are ringing off the walls as we celebrate with our friends and relatives.

"Our rain guage shows 3/4 inch." "No hail on our side of town!" "They got one whole inch at the airport!"

We know this won't end the drought, but we don't care, this is one happy day!

The terrible irony of all this is that while we were praying for rain other parts of the country were flooding, or recovering from tornadoes and other natural disasters. Just know that we were also praying for you.

Time Flies

2011-05-05T12:11:00.000-05:00

I pulled up my blog today and couldn't believe that I hadn't posted since April 23! Time flew by faster than I imagined, but I haven't been lazing around. I've actually been working hard on my writing and trying to avoid the dreaded Internet Distraction bug.

I sent out queries on one project that seems doomed to go nowhere, even though I love it.
I've been revising another project mentioned in my last post.
And I continue to work with my wonderful critique group on my present WIP.

Then yesterday morning, something exciting and unusual (at least for me) happened. I received a request for a full on a different completed project two hours after I sent the query email! And it was the first query ever on that project!

I took a minute to grab the cat and do the happy dance. He was not amused.

It took another hour to find any last minute oopsies in it. Once I was okay with it, sort of, I hesitated, grimaced, then clicked the send button.

I love email queries and submissions! I have my fingers crossed but I'm not unrealistic about its chances. Guess I'll be pulling up my email several times a day for the next...??

So, I have nothing earth shattering to write about, and I will now start reading much more interesting posts from all of you bloggers who know how to blog a lot better than me.

Some Mistakes Are Blessings in Disguise

2011-04-23T19:11:00.000-05:00

This week I have been very busy revising a novel for the umpteenth time. Have you ever revised a novel, several times, and tightened it up to the point where the word count wound up too low?

Well, that's what happened to me in a project completed the summer before last. I thought it was a big mistake on my part, not the revising, but with all the fluff and unnecesary stuff gone, the whole story seemed too weak. I figured at the time there was no "fire" in it like Donald Maass pointed out in The Fire in Fiction. Disgusted with myself as a writer, I shoved it in a drawer to forget about it.

This week I ran across it cleaning out old paper files. I decided to sit down and read it all the way through. Gosh, I thought, as I read. It has good characters, it has depth, it has a smoldering fire or two, it is definitely fast paced with cliff hangers, but it is just too darn short.

Then I noticed the carefully woven back story. I had worked really hard on that and had done a good job. What would happen if I turned the back story into a chapter? Not a prologue, but an actual new first chapter. I shrugged, it was worth a try.

To my utter surprise and delight, the back story took off with a life of its own. I not only have a brand new and more exciting first chapter, but also a new chapter two which leads into the former first chapter. Granted I have a lot more to do because these changes cause a domino effect, but it's working--it's growing--and I love the novel all over again! The best thing about the whole experience is the novel is getting so much better. Some mistakes are blessings in disguise.

Happy Easter to all of you!

A Little Springtime Excitement

2011-04-18T11:33:00.001-05:00

Just had to post a link to this blog by a writing shepherd. Those of us who have followed Acorn's story at Mud on the Tracks were thrilled she finally gave birth to triplets!
http://maggiesfarmicelandics.blogspot.com/

Paris Pan Takes The Dare by Cynthea Liu Helped this MG Writer

2011-04-08T17:56:00.002-05:00

Paris Pan Takes The Dare by Cynthea Liu was available for my Kindle so I downloaded it. Oh, how I wish I had bought it when it first came out. I'm sending hard copies to a couple of kids who are going to love this book! It is a wonderful, character driven story with a couple of subplots woven in among a spooky larger plot. I could not put this book down! I added a link to Amazon so, if you haven't already, you can read the School Library Journal review .

Ms. Liu taught the writer part of me something with this book. Even though the characters were in seventh grade, this is definitely a middle grade book, and her treatment of this age confirmed for me why some twelve year old character stories are considered YA and others are MG.

This became a head scratching problem last spring when an editor of a publishing house told me one of my twelve year old character novels was young adult and not middle grade. She based her opinion on the age of my main character who was twelve. Because she considered it YA, I needed to add six thousand words before re-submitting. I didn't, instinctively I knew it wasn't YA, no high school student would want to read it, but......? Nice to know my instincts were right.

Cynthea Liu's Paris Pan Takes The Dare is a really, really good book!

Teacher Plan Books--I guess I still need them

2011-03-28T14:41:00.002-05:00

Progressing Nowhere...that's the way I felt last week surrounded by all the writing related tasks I have to do. So many wonderful things to work on, I didn't know where to begin. I started making a list. Not only do I have to send out more query letters on a completed novel, but there are two novels needing revision along with several short stories. I've even put off creating new crafts because there was just too much to do. I was going nowhere fast. Something had to be done.

I chewed on my pencil eraser. Hmmm. What about those good old lesson plans from my teaching days? Sure, filling those things out each week was a pain, but they kept me on track and productive. A modified plan might work.

This weekend I wrote a simple writing schedule for the next five weeks. On the white board on my office wall, I wrote out the days of the week across the top. Under each day I listed one task that had to be done that morning. Period. No procrastination. I concentrated only on the mornings, two hours minimum. Afternoons would be considered recess if I did my work.

Monday - revision of an MG mystery with special points that needed attention
Tuesday - revision of the YA from a list of my critique group's suggestions. (Love that group!)
Wednesday- short stories only.
Thursday- new project development
Friday- anything from M-Th

Today was the first day to implement the schedule and I actually enjoyed myself. Knowing exactly what I needed to do ahead of time, made it easier to pull up the chair and get started. The idea that I only had to put in a couple of hours was motivating.

I revised the first six chapters and before I knew it, lunch time had arrived. The pressure of worrying about other writing tasks was off my mind and I could enjoy working on this one novel. I came away relaxed, smiling, and not one bit exhausted mentally or physically.

I don't know how long this schedule will last, but right now, it's working and I'm no longer progressing nowhere. It's recess now and I'm blogging, nice reward for a job well done.

Do you need a schedule/lesson plans to keep you on task? Or are you, like other writers I know, so motivated and eager to write each day, you know exactly what to do and sit down and do it?

Mary Whitsell's Post--A Must Read

2011-03-23T14:13:00.001-05:00

We've all had those humbling experiences in life that we think are kind of funny after a long time has passed. And we really enjoy them if they happen to somebody else. I just had a good, but empathetic, giggle over at Mary Whitsell's blog. You've got to go visit and read this frustrating and humbling experience. Bless her little heart.

Mary wrote about this so well that I thought what a great scene it would make in a novel. Which reminded me that a few of my own experiences have found their way into my own work. Not all of them. Some are best left forgotten because they bring back all those iccky feelings as fresh as the day they happened.

Have you used personal experiences like this in your work?

Lazy Days of Spring?

2011-03-17T10:14:00.000-05:00

I don't know if there is such a thing as a Lazy-Days-of -Spring emotion but that's what I'm suffering from right now on St. Patrick's Day. It feels like the middle of summer, emotionally. The weather is gorgeous.
In January I painted my garage, even the ceiling, a bright white after a thorough cleaning. Then I madly mowed my yard to mulch the dead leaves that weren't raked and bagged. February came and went with lots of little chores inside and out. But these first two weeks of March, I've done absolutely nothing except read, watch TV, and nibble.
The worst thing is, I'm not writing like I should. I have projects waiting for revision, others waiting for submission, but with no desire to even look at them.When the phone rings, I put down my book and roll off the couch with a groan. "Oh, all right..."
Hopefully, this too shall pass--soon...very soon.

Stylish Blogger Award

2011-03-12T12:12:00.003-06:00

Just received the Stylish Blogger award from Perri. Go visit both her blogs, you'll love them. Thank you, Perri!

Sad, Sad Day

2011-03-11T10:35:00.001-06:00

Decided to post a link to Angela Ackerman's blog. Today's title, Heavy Heart, says very simply what so many of us are feeling.

Why Can't Characters Sit Down and Stand Up Any More?

2011-03-01T09:59:00.001-06:00

One of the things that has been said the last few years is not to use the terms "sit down", "stand up", or "stood up" because if you sit, you usually sit down, and if your character stood up he stood because all he can do is stand up.

I took all this seriously even though it bothered me because what the average person from all walks of life says is, "Come in, sit down." Or "He sat down and we had a good talk."

In the classroom, teachers tell students to stand up all the time. "Stand and get in line" just doesn't sound right.

So why are we, as writers, being told to reeducate the public not to use the words they've always used and continue to use?

I've been paying attention as I read some of the best sellers on the NY Times list. And, I know when you are famous you can break the rules, but these authors let their characters sit down and stand up a lot. Some follow the rules most of the time, but usually there's a slip-up. One even wrote that his character, "...sat down on the couch..." So why has this become a big no-no?

I'm trying hard to follow the road of rules set forth for the unpublished but sometimes it just doesn't seem natural. How do you feel about this? Are you making changes in your own work?

Are Critique Groups Necessary?

2011-02-17T10:44:00.001-06:00

Yay! I joined a newly formed YA critique group for my first ever YA novel. I completed the draft last year, did some revising, put it away for a few months, and now I'm going to get some superb feedback from writers who write for that age. (I will work hard to do the same for them)

Another writer I know has belonged to one critique group that met in person and a second one online. She was so disappointed by the critiques in both groups that she has sworn off of them. She doesn't understand why I'm so thrilled.

"They aren't necessary!" she said, proceeding to tell me why it was not a good idea.

Yes, there are writers who have been very successful going it alone. Maybe I would have been, eventually, but I don't think so. I'm not that successful now, but what little success I've had I give to the groups that I belonged to in the past.

I explained to her that I have been blessed by belonging to other groups. These groups were for MG and younger and had a wide variety of skill/experience levels in the membership. Being a newbie can be lonely when looking for a group, so I was grateful to the first group that accepted a newbie like me!

The importance of the things I learned from that first group was immeasureable. The second one was even better! I left both groups when life became too hectic and I couldn't give to them what I felt they deserved.

I told her that having other people give me honest critiques improved my work tremendously and she should try again. Sometimes it is just not a good fit.

"No," she said, shaking her head. "Never again."

The irony in all this? She has sent me a few things for my opinion. I give it. I send her things. We avoid the word critique.

Some writers can go it alone, I can't. I need the pushing, the brutal honesty, the suggestions for improvement, the commiseration, the cheers, and even the constructive disagreements when two writers see a work differently. I need what members in a critique group can offer.

So do I think critique groups are necessary? For me, a definite YES!

What about you?

A Writer is Like a Hawk Because...

2011-02-11T20:20:00.002-06:00

This hawk sat patiently the other day and let me take several pictures of him. I walked all around and under the tree and he never moved or showed the slightest concern. I came to the conclusion later that he was probably hoping I would go away and not lose him his breakfast. He needed to concentrate on the prey that attracted him to that vantage point in the first place.
I went inside and sipped coffee while I watched him from the window. He stayed very still. About ten minutes later he took off and swooped down into the drainage ditch and out of my view. I don't know if he caught what he was after, but each of the yards are fenced, some with privacy fencing. Most have dogs in the yards. I think he spotted something and waited for it to come out of a fenced yard where he could snatch it up without risking interference.

Being a writer who is always waiting for a favorable end result, I thought about that hawk today as I trooped, rather than swooped, out to the mailbox. Fingers crossed, hoping for good news I opened the box. Nothing. It's been four months, they said it would take four months minimum, but they also said if you don't hear anything in six months to resubmit with another SASE because it probably just got lost.

My Entry in the First Line Blogfest

2011-02-07T07:30:00.004-06:00

I like Faye Nelson, I really and truly do, we’ve been best friends since kindergarten, but, well, it’s hard ignoring that jealous knot in my chest every time I see her.

Name: Catherine A. Winn
Title: The Secret in the Cellar
Genre: MG mystery/thriller

This is my entry in the the dark and stormy night blogfest contest. Posted here for critiques from other entrants, then it will be posted again in the comments section of the contest by February 9 for Weronika to judge. Good luck, everyone!

UPDATE:

After receiving some excellent feed back, I have shortened and tightened up the sentence. The final version is now posted on the contest site. Thank you, all, for your comments and suggestions!

First Line Contest

2011-01-30T10:51:00.000-06:00

It was a Dark and Stormy Night Blogfest Contest can be found by following the link. The winners will receive wonderful critiques from agent, Weronika Janczuk. I heard of this contest from the super blog, The Green Bathtub by A. L. Sonnicheson. Thanks, Amy, for posting this! I signed up right after you did!

What happened? Which way did they go?

2011-01-29T09:44:00.000-06:00

And it was such a good plan...

I know exactly how he feels. Sometimes after I've sketched out a good plan with the characters in place, I start writing. It usually takes off at a good pace then suddenly stalls or falls apart. I ask myself, what happened? It's tough when that happens. More times than not I plow through but that usually doesn't work. I either have to go back and work on the plan or shelve it for something new and hope inspiration hits subconciously and when I pull it out again the answer will be there. It's usually not. Luckily, my file of failed plans isn't too large.

Stylish Blogger Award

2011-01-27T08:42:00.005-06:00

I wanted to thank Cher Green right away for this Styish Blogger award I received this morning. Later I will fullfill the requirements by choosing the ten blogger recipients throughout the day. Thank you, Cher!

The rules for accepting this award are as follows:

*Thank and link to the person who awarded you this award

*Share 7 things about yourself

*Award 5 recently discovered great bloggers

*Contact these bloggers and tell them about the award

Seven things about myself:

1. As I write this I am waiting for the tree trimmers to remove two huge branches from my 100+ year old red oak. I feel bad that I am doing this, but they hang over my roof and I have to have them trimmed off the roof every year. It's getting too expensive so out they come.
2. I have a sister who is younger and a brother who is older. It's suppose to be hard being a middle child growing up, but that surprised me when I heard about it because I never knew. ( If I'd known I might have taken advantage of it with my parents-darn)
3. I'm a choco-holic, give me a bag of Hershey's kisses and I'm a gonner!
4. I'm the great-aunt of 4! They range in age from 12, 9, 2, 1 and I love them!
5. I always wanted to write but procrastinated until I retired, now I'm having the time of my life on the quest of becoming a published author of a book. The mini-successes along the way have been joyful! So, even if I don't make it, I have great satisfaction in knowing I tried.
6. I love cats and dogs, birds and fish, and grew up with several of each. At this stage in my life, I'm grateful that I have an ornery, 18 pound feral barn cat that won't let me have another pet in the house. I've tried. At first I was horrified but now I like being responsible for just one pet.
7. I envy young writers. Writers who blog, dwell in a wonderful community of support and help. Maybe if they had them back in my non-writing days I might have started sooner. Young writers today are so lucky!

I award this award to the 5 following bloggers:

Sofia Sandoval "A Girl Named Eve" (Sofia is not recently discovered but I feel she deserves this award)
Bess Weatherby "It's the world, dear."
Clara "Pinches of Madness"
Melissa L. Gill "Melissa Getting Published"
JoLynne Lyon "Mountain Lyon"

Manuscript Formatting---Aacckkk!

2011-01-20T11:47:00.004-06:00

(Picture copied from an email-unknown creator)

A writer friend and I were having a discussion/disagreement on proper format for a manuscript. She and I have different ways of formatting based on what we were told at conferences and at critique group meetings. So we decided to do a search. It was mind boggling how many bloggers and how-to sites differ in the way it should be done.

Contact information on the cover sheet only, contact information also on the first page, put the chapter title close to the heading area and start the text way down on the page, put the chapter title way down on the page and double space before starting the text.

Page numbers on the top left, page numbers on the top right, page numbers only at the bottom, put the author's name, title, and page number together, put the author's name and title together on the left, separate the page number on the right.

I could go on but since I think all of you have experienced this on your own, I won't. The two of us decided that we would stick to our own way of formatting but first we would check with the editor, agent, or publisher website for particular preferences before submitting.

The best piece of advice that one website gave, and I'm sorry I cannot give credit because I didn't make a note of it, was that the most important thing in formatting a manuscript is making it easy to read by the person receiving the submission.

I think that says it all.

Dogsled Dreams by Terry Lynn Johnson

2011-01-11T14:51:00.001-06:00

I've been fighting a head cold aggravated by an allergy. I have a vaporizer in the living room by my recliner, an afghan, and a cup of hot tea. But now I have learned what the phrase: "Good for what ails you" means.
Dogsled Dreams made me forget I was sick! I got so involved with Rebecca's desire to run a dogsled race, Jackie, a girlie-girl BFF who Rebecca thinks doesn't understand why she's not more interested in boys and makeup, tension and conflict within the family, a pinch of romance, and an ongoing mystery of sabotage that my tea got cold and I have no memory of sneezing and coughing!
Not only was the story engaging and the characters delightful (she gave each dog its own personality), Terry Lynn Johnson presented facts about dog teams, equipment, and procedures in a page turning adventure. For example, I had no idea dogs pooped on the run and what could happen to the driver when they do!
Dogsled Dreams did not disappoint but it ended much too soon. I would love to read some more adventures about Rebecca and the other great cast of characters Terry Lynn Johnson has brought to life. Kids are going to love this book!

Dogsled Dreams by Terry Lynn Johnson Released!

2011-01-03T16:38:00.002-06:00

I've been waiting months for this day! My copy is ordered and will be here January 7! Check out this exciting and adventurous author's blog at: http://terrylynnjohnson.blogspot.com/2011/01/dogsled-dreams-released.html

Thank you, Kenda! Just received the copy of BEAR SNORES ON by Karma Wilson and Jane Chapman I won on her blog. I know a two year old who's going to love sitting in my lap reading this!

Happy New Year this 1-1-11!

2011-01-01T18:39:00.000-06:00

Happy New Year!

I made two resolutions that I know will probably go "poof" very shortly. You know the ones: lose weight and get more exercise. Then there are some I think I have a better chance at keeping: write regularly, send out more queries on a regular basis, make time to read all the blogs I follow, work earnestly on my WIP, and attend more writing conferences or workshops.

My New Year's wish for each and every one of you is great success in publishing.

Character Quirks or Flaws That Go Awry

2010-12-28T14:30:00.000-06:00

"Enough already!"

This is what I said in total exasperation by the time I finished part of the latest edition of a "knitting" mystery. The main character's quirk or flaw is her love of coffee. This is not a problem in itself but the author mentions coffee, caffeine, strong blends, empty mugs, empty thermos, etc, over and over again ad nauseum. It became so frustrating and annoying to read line after line about coffee that it interfered with the enjoyment of the story.

As a whole, this cozy series is good, gives the reader lots of information about knitting, and the author has developed the other characters very well. However, this obsession by the author to emphasize the main character's love of coffee is ruining the character for me so much so that I don't care if her love life has hit the skids. (My guess is he can't stand her coffee breath and jittery nerves but is afraid to tell her.)

Every writer has heard and read that giving your characters flaws makes them more real and more interesting to the reader. I agree. One of my YA characters wants contacts because her glasses keep sliding down. I've made a note to check the "ad nauseum" factor during revision in the hopes that one day one of my readers won't say, "Enough already!"

What are your thoughts about character quirks or flaws? Have you seen them done to death in novels? How do you know when your reader gets it and no longer needs to be reminded?

2010-12-20T14:45:00.000-06:00

Over at Kelly Barwick's blog http://kellybarwick.blogspot.com/ she discusses her experience at the Big Sur Children's Writing Workshop. She makes me want to sign up for the next one!

I Just Discovered Microsoft OneNote Notebook and I love it!

2010-12-18T09:29:00.002-06:00

When I ordered Microsoft Office 2010 it came with an item called Microsoft OneNote. It was never included in an Office package I purchased before so I'm thinking the difference is I ordered the one that included small business. OneNote Notebook is a looseleaf notebook with tabs and pages created for businesses to share between employees and upload on webs. Anyone can add pages or notes when shared. Great for businesses but fabulous for a writer who makes three ring binders for each novel!

I decided to use it to plan a new middle grade mystery. I listed the elements of a book like plot, character, description on the tabs at the top. After that I clicked on Characters. Under the tab I can make pages for each character. Each page is listed on the right so you can click quickly between each one. I stayed up until the wee hours of the morning filling out pages. No more creating pages, printing, punching holes, and including it in the binder. And I can add pictures of the characters I find on the net!

A few minutes ago I created a second notebook entitled "Personal". My first tab is Submissions 2010. I inserted my flash drive and dragged the Submissions Excel file to the notebook page. Now the submission file is on the page. I can add anything else I want to the same page from typing, inserting, or dragging and dropping from other files like diagrams, charts, photos, etc.

Have any of you used this in your writing? Does Mac have anything similar?

Another Good Writing Book

2010-12-08T20:50:00.001-06:00

I went to the library the other day and like most writers I like reading "How to" books to get some ideas. I found a copy of First Draft in Thirty Days by Karen S. Weisner. I didn't really care about a first draft in thirty days (NaNo cured me of that) but it looked like it had some pretty good organizational tips. I was not disappointed.

Weisner calls it the Thirty Day Method and breaks a monthly calendar down to days. What she refers to as a first draft is an outline. But it is so detailed and filled with enrichment that, yes, it will definitely sound like a first draft.

What I appreciated that helped me see what she was talking about is that she used an actual book (The Lovely Bones p.20) and used that work to do a character sketch using one of her worksheets. She continues using other novels as examples to emphasize worksheets throughout the book.

One of the hardest things for me is keeping track of subplots and giving my characters the extra things that give them depth. Organizing and working the way Weisner suggests has already been a real help in that area. The writer starts out doing the basics but as the days pass and the work progresses lots of rich details are added.

When covering plot she talks about understanding story threads, story goal, subplot threads, tension, release, black moment (climax), resolution, and after effects of resolution but she emphasizes:

"Go into as much detail as possible on your plot sketch, but keep in mind that your first pass will be light on details. Don't worry. Over the next twenty-seven days, it will grow significantly."

With her method, she confidently states that revisions will be much easier because you revise the outline instead of the manuscript. It's an intriguing idea and I have come away with lots of good ideas to put into effect but whether I try the whole thirty day method is still debatable.

I'm Back!

2010-12-06T14:59:00.001-06:00

My Dell desktop arrived today, ten days early! It's taking me a little time to set everything up but now I can catch up on all your blogs! I felt so lost. Just this weekend the old computer took a turn for the worst in Safe Mode and had to be unplugged. I wasn't looking forward at all to waiting almost two weeks. What a surpirse when FedEx rang the bell.

The only drawback is that my printer is not supported by Windows 7. So I'll be shopping for a printer this week. But I don't care..I have a computer!!!

Update on My Poor, Pitiful Computer

2010-12-01T00:17:00.001-06:00

My computer was diagnosed as having a bad motherboard and video. I brought the poor thing home and it is limping along in Safe Mode with Networking while I search for its replacement. Luckily, I was able to start it in this mode and back up anything I missed. Now I can shop with no worries or regrets.

Decisions, decisions. Shopping for a computer is mind boggling. There are so many new models and features it's really hard to compare, contrast, and decide but I have at least narrowed it down to a desktop of a specific brand,operating system, keyboard, monitor, and mouse. Tomorrow I promised myself I would focus and make a final decision on the model (not too hard) and (gulp) everything else: memory, optical drive, hard drive, video card, sound, software, modem, speakers... Wish me luck!

Computer Crashed Today!

2010-11-23T14:42:00.000-06:00

This afternoon my computer totally crashed. It's at the shop and I'm at the public library. Aacckkk! They said it will be at least five days to diagnose and another fourteen to fix if I choose to fix it. I guess any writing I do will be with a pen. I'll check in when I can.

Happy Thanksgiving

2010-11-23T09:15:00.002-06:00

Hope everyone's holiday is filled with love and laughter. Be careful if you are traveling and come home safe. My turkey is defrosting in the refrigerator, shopping is all finished, and I'm beginning first revisions on my YA started this summer and completed in October.

I promise this is the last mention of my e-reader. For those of you thinking about getting one, this weekend I downloaded a set of seven Jane Austen books, and two books that I'll be using for research. One on Native Americans and one on the Puritans/Colonial Women. For nine books I paid $1.99. One research book was free. Amazon has so many free and very inexpensive books that are out of print or copyright. This Kindle will pay for itself just in the convenience of doing research. Okay, that's it, no more Kindle talk!

Have a great Thanksgiving!

This and That

2010-11-17T08:16:00.001-06:00

I've been spending the last week working on short fiction since I couldn't spend a long time at the computer. This turned out to be a great thing. I completed two adult mysteries and submitted a children's story. I received word that the children's story is seriously being considered :)

Another third story for grown-ups is printed and waiting for me to grade it with a red pen before the final polishing. I want to get it in the mail by Friday. My back is fine now so it's time to begin revising my novel.

After using my sister's Kindle, I finally ordered my own. It will be easier to get classics and other hard-to-find books than in the brick-and-mortar stores. Since it will also cost so much less, I couldn't justify waiting. However, I did buy Evanovich's new book Wicked Appetite last night so I know I will be shuffling between the old and the new form of reading. That relieves my guilt.

Finally, I read a good post at Nicole Ducleroir's blog "Consequences Tend to Snowball" and thought you would enjoy reading it if you haven't already.

Bye-Bye NaNo

2010-11-10T11:29:00.002-06:00

In our city, we have brush, bulky item pickup twice a year. Our normal time for our neighborhood is in October. Due to weather and other problems we received notice Friday that our pick up day would be November 12. I love this day. You can put out front anything you want hauled off: couches, chairs, tree limbs, washers, dryers, old wooden fence sections, just about anything except hazardous items and construction materials. I hate hauling stuff off or paying someone to do it for me.

On Saturday, along with my neighbors, I got busy, and overdid it. I'm now walking crooked with a minor lower back problem. (I have had the major problem where you roll off the couch onto the floor and crawl to where you want to go so this is a piece of cake) My back is a lot better this morning, and I know I'll be out and about soon, but sitting at the computer longer than a few minutes is not a good idea. So, I quit working on NaNoWritMo, but I have a great beginning so I'm not sorry about that.

I curled up in my recliner with some nibble treats, tea, and a very nice muscle relaxer. On top of that, my sister gave me her Kindle to try out a whole novel and I found out a chapter into Glass Castle that I forgot I was reading on a device. That's another check on the plus side, but on the floor next to the recliner is a couple of "real" novels. I'm all set for a few days of self-indulgence.

Good luck to those that are staying the course.

Kindle and Me

2010-11-05T21:55:00.001-05:00

My neighbor's Pyracantha covered in berries is one of our first signs of Fall

Tonight I took a much needed break from NaNo to write about an E-Reader. My sister's Kindle arrived from Amazon tonight around five-thirty. The first in our whole family. Anyone would have known that as soon as they heard the way we oohed and ahhed.

In seconds, with a few touches on the screen, she had it registered with Amazon and was busy downloading her choices of books. ( I asked her how much she was planning to spend and she waved her card at me: "As much as this card will hold." Her husband heard her. "I guess my trip to the lake just got cancelled to next December.")

She chose to use the computer to download books instead of the Kindle because it was easier to browse. Instantly they were available on her Kindle. Naturally, she downloaded my e-book anthology. It was amazing to see it and feel it was something I would look back on as an important technological step for me. I thought about my other technology firsts: my first 8 track tape player, my first cassette player, VHS, CD, and my first DVD, my first computer. Okay, I'm sold! I want my own.

This Kindle is the size of a paperback and to turn the page, you thumb a button on the side. A friend of hers has had one for a year and loves it. For awhile she used it exclusively. "But," she said, "I also love to read "real" books. When I sat down to read one the other day, I found myself so engrossed in it, I kept hitting the side of the page with my thumb trying to get it to turn."

I left my sister to play with it, get to know it, then teach me how to use it. At home, I immediately called a writer friend and we wondered about the print since it seemed to be smaller than 12 point to me on the six inch screen. Was it senior friendly? Yep, Kindle cares about seniors. My sister discovered that you can change the font to a size that's comfortable for the reader. I now know first hand the advantages of e-readers but I don't want to give up books.

I remember hearing about the hooplah of TV versus Movies. They sounded the death nell for movies. It didn't happen. Both survived and now they even interact together making each stronger. Let's hope it's the same for e-readers and books.

What was your first experience with an e-reader?

Great interview with one of my favorite mystery writers, Janet Evanovich, at Media Bistro and her opinion on e-Books.

NaNoWriMo is Looming

2010-10-30T12:44:00.003-05:00

National Novel Writing Month

All prepped, sort of :), and ready to begin. Have been madly working this week on completing my WIP. I just have a smidgeon more to go before the first draft is completed but only if I binge write all weekend. I'm not sure how much blogging I will do during November with all the pressure of being a WriMo, but I will be taking several breaks to relax and read your blogs.

For those other WriMos out there, Good Luck!

Update: Yay! 6:35 P.M. CST Halloween Evening and I just finished my first draft! Now that's a Halloween Treat!

Help! Two Questions for Writers of Young Adult Novels

2010-10-26T11:47:00.000-05:00

I've been working hard on this summer's project. After floundering around for a few weeks, I finally hit my stride again and have been moving steadily through it and discovered something, as a writer, about the characteristics of this main character.

Basically, I had created her to be a slightly angry teen who eventually overcomes her anger and learns to trust and love the adult who she perceived to be her personal nemesis. Characters are supposed to grow and change, but during these last 20,000 words, she's developed characteristics I didn't have a clue she possessed. At first I wanted to halt things again, thought about it, and decided it would be better to forge ahead and complete the first draft no matter what she did or who she became.

Since I have not written a young adult character in depth before, I don't know if this is normal for YA characters in novels. These characteristics showed up when the character was presented with major conflict in her life because of the plot and the antagonist. MG characters don't have to be this complex. For those of you that do write young adult I have a couple of questions.

1. If your character has changed dramatically, do you go back and add or hint at some of these characteristics when you first presented him/her so it won't be such a big difference from the beginning?
2. Do you just let the changes take the reader by surprise the way it took you, the author, by surprise?

If you faced this in your writing, I would love to know how you handled it.

Computer Panic

2010-10-18T07:39:00.001-05:00

I use my computer daily. I depend on my computer. I just didn't know how much. I had been working on my first draft, passed the middle, and was clipping right along at a good pace when my computer went on strike. It would freeze and give everything a pinkish background. The error said there was an infinite loop happening. Lots of shutdowns, restarts, etc. I begged it not to crash and burn like its predecessor. I promised it I would treat it right. I said lots of bad words. During the few times I got the computer to act right, I made sure everything was backed up on flash drives, and searched the net for my particular error, no help there. I did all the things you try yourself first.

On Sunday after starting up twice, it acted fine long enough to get on the web. I got Tech Support online and on the phone. Martin said it was probably caused by interruption of an updated install. He had me log off, unplug the printer and cable modem, push buttons, startup, and reattach things. When I restarted it, the computer acted perfectly. Martin said he thought that would take care of it, but there was no guarantee. All day the computer was fine but I kept waiting...worrying. I visited blogs and wrote some more, worrying the whole time. I couldn't even relax and read for thinking about it. Finally went to my sister's house to get away from it all, I bought doughnuts on the way, the sugar buzz helped. When I came home, I peeked in to see how it was doing.

Oh, how I didn't want to turn it off last night, but I wanted to treat it normally. Would it ever start again? Luckily, no nightmares or tossing and turning. Then this morning I held my breath as I pushed the start button. Whew!

The way I felt during all this, the helplessness of worrying about what will I do without it, the quickly making plans to buy another while this one is being fixed, made me wonder. Should the computer be that important? How about sharing some of your computer panic moments?

A Very Happy Columbus Day

2010-10-11T12:35:00.001-05:00

My friend Jackie had lung surgery last week to remove, I'll call it debris for lack of the proper term, caused by what her doctor said was a super bug. After two more days in intensive care, her condition started improving dramatically. After a long, rough twelve days she came home from the hospital yesterday, weak but on the mend. Thank you all for the prayers and well wishes. It is one happy Columbus Day for her family and friends.

I've been enjoying looking at Fall pictures on several blogs and feeling a tiny bit envious. It will take the first frost to make our leaves change colors and that's usually around November 1. But I'm not complaining, I'm just happy the summer heat and humidity is long gone. Right now, I get up early and troop out the door because the cooler weather makes walking in the neighborhood a pleasure.

October Musings

2010-10-05T11:02:00.001-05:00

I don't have a one particular topic to write about today because I haven't had too much time to think about it. A dear friend is in the hospital fighting pneumonia so I've been praying for her and worrying. We worked together for over twenty years and became grown-up BFF's. Any prayers sent Jackie's way will be much appreciated.

The October weather has turned beautiful. The crisp air combined with the warm sun has been ideal for getting outside and walking, picking and poking in the garden, and just enjoying the outdoors. I haven't been inclined at all to sit at the computer until today. A neighbor set this out for all us kids so I had to snap it.

I can't believe Christmas decorations are already in the store. When I taught school I hated that. Here we were talking about the Fall season, harvesting on farms, Columbus Day, and getting ready for Halloween and the stores were pushing Christmas. In November we discussed Jamestown and the Pilgrims and looked forward to Thanksgiving Day, but only the grocery stores participated with turkey sales. Why can't retail America enjoy those things? Why are the kids and families bombarded with Christmas in October? A retailer once told me that if you can get the families to shop for Christmas early they are so thrilled to be finished that they are inclined to impulse buy and over spend before Christmas. Profits go up and the retailers are happy. Apparently, it works, because they keep moving up the advertising earlier and earlier. I'm glad it wasn't like that when I was growing up.

My summer WIP is resting. I've come to a little past the middle and am having a hard time deciding which direction the characters need to advance their lives and the plot in the most satisfying way. I decided it needs to be put aside for a few weeks. When I pick it up again and read it straight through it will probably become clear. In the meantime, Halloween is right around the corner, so I've decided to have some fun and write a silly little Halloween mystery for the younger set.

NaNo is just around the corner. They've cleared the old stuff from our pages and it's time to get ready for that. I'm thinking of attempting two MG books instead of one 50,000 word novel. Even if I'm not a winner this year, I decided that would be more than okay if I finished one good draft of a middle grade novel.
So what are your musings as October moves forward?

Yay! Ready to Mail!

2010-09-27T19:33:00.002-05:00

It's seven o'clock in the evening and, after one very long week, I just sealed the envelopes. Tomorrow I go to the post office and send off my submissions to the editors with crossed fingers.

It took longer to rewrite the synopsis but it's shorter, tighter, and much better so it was worth the effort. I'm not sure how long before I receive a response, but that's okay. It's out there again, looking for a home. Now I can visit blogs and find out what all of you have been doing.

Polishing and polishing again, when is it ever good enough?

2010-09-21T12:15:00.001-05:00

I've worked almost all day yesterday, polishing the first three chapters of a middle grade mystery/suspense. I thought it was perfect months ago. By nine o'clock last night the first chapter didn't even come close to its former version.

I think it's finished, again. This novel has been through two critique groups and submitted, then it was critiqued again, edited again, and sent out, only to be rejected. I put it away for a few months. When I pulled it out, I thought it would just need tweaking, but I was wrong. It wasn't that things weren't written correctly, it was that I saw possibilities that would make a stronger main character.

The thing that upsets me, now that I've changed the first part, I have to put away my present WIP and revise the rest of this novel to refine the character arc. First, though, I need to get busy polishing that terrible synopsis I thought was so wonderful.

Is it just me or do all writers grow and evolve so much that nothing will ever be good enough for our inner editor?

SCBWI: Southwest Texas Editor's Day Conference

2010-09-18T16:30:00.001-05:00

The Editor's Day Conference in San Antonio was great. Editor Sarah Shumway, from Harper Collins, and Editor Julie Ham, Charlesbridge, spoke on very good topics. Sarah Shumway covered the topic of the author/editor relationship. She reminded us that the relationship can thrive or suffer depending on the attitudes of the participants. An author has an intention in mind for her manuscript and writes in service to that intention and the editor's job is to see the intentions and help bring the manuscript to be the best it can be. The problem arrives when the author doesn't like the editorial suggestions. She suggests that the author take time to consider the changes, take them to heart, and try to make it better. If the author disagrees with the changes then they need to discuss it with an open mind. The author should not fall apart, solicit second opinions through tweets and social networks, or shoot off a nasty letter.
Julie Ham's topic was on Character and Voice. She stated "Anything in the world can happen to your character at any time, but what should happen are the things the character cares about. As though the character has told the writer what to do." The character should be unique, relatable, grow or change through the course of the story, and we should know what is important to and motivates the character. Voice, she said, is the attitude your story has toward the plot, setting, tension, and character. It doesn't have to be a strong dialect or speech and is probably better when it is not those things. Voice should be recognizable, consistent,and appropriate to the audience. The most provocative thing she mentioned about voice was that it is not necessarily what your characters sound like but it is what your book sounds like (and this is not just for fiction)

The first pages session was very interesting and I learned a lot and took some good notes. ( I was disappointed they didn't cover mine but they could only do ten in the time alloted) Since they said you could send in a synopsis for the first pages session they covered two of them. I was glad about that because one of the synopsis samples made Sarah clap for the first sentence. Since it's someone else's work I don't think I should write it here, but Sarah's reaction was: "Personality! Personality in a synopsis!" So, that's a clue to one of the things that sets off a synopsis.

Carmen Tafolla, the keynote speaker, recipient of the Charlotte Zolotow award for What Can You DO with a Paleta? (Tricycle Press) gave an inspiring presentation. Her main theme was that we should write with authenticity. You don't have to live in New York like she used to think to have something worth writing about. She drew upon her life in the "poor" side of San Antonio in her writings. She said that everyone has an authentic voice.

We also received those magic coupons that let you bypass the slushpile. I bet you can guess what I'll be doing next week!

A Book In A Week

2010-09-15T08:14:00.001-05:00

I just read on Verla Kay where Marie Lamba, author of What I Meant..., is writing a book in a week.

She's blogging about it at http://marielamba.wordpress.com/.

It is an intriguing idea...I wonder...hmmmm...

Tropical Storm Hermine

2010-09-07T23:28:00.000-05:00

I haven't been writing like I should. The summer doldrums hit hard in August and I just couldn't seem to get excited or energized to come up with new ideas that were worth pursuing. Until today.

Tropical Storm Hermine blew through bringing heavy rains and wind gusts that tossed the trees around leaving debris in its wake. While the winds blew and the rain lashed against the windows, my writer's mind began to work over time. I came up with a couple of really good and spooky "dark and stormy night" ideas for stories.

It feels good to get excited about writing again. Tomorrow, while I drag all the fallen branches and debris to a pile, maybe I'll even get a couple of really good "after the storm ends" ideas, too.

Two New Blogger Awards!

2010-09-04T06:42:00.003-05:00

Amanda at Madameduck has been gracious enough to award me two blogger awards. Thank you!

The Rules for The Versatile Blogger Award:

Thank and link back to the person that gave you the award.

Share seven things about yourself.

Pass the award to fifteen bloggers that you think deserve it.

Lastly, contact all of the bloggers that you’ve picked for the award.

One Lovely Blog Award Rules:

Accept the award, post it on your blog together with the name of the person who has granted the award and his or her blog link.

Pass the award to 15 other blogs that you’ve newly discovered.

Remember to contact the bloggers to let them know they have been chosen for this award.

One thing about blog award rules, they can be modified to the individual so here are the results of my modifications:

I want to award these awards to 12 newly discovered bloggers who deserve more followers. I am so glad I found them and hope you will check them out:

1.Jess at Falling Leaflets
2.Shellie at Chapter Writer
3.Kenda at Words and Such
4.Kelly at Barwick Blog
5.Blee at Blee Bonn
6.Erica at Chapter by Chapter
7.Elissa at Elissa Cruz
8.Christina at Christina Klizen
9.Kathryn at Kathryn Jankowski
10.Liz at Gotta Write
11.Christine at Inwardly Digesting
12. Melissa at M.B. Writes

I can think of four things you might want to know about me:

I hate housework with a passion but give me a beautiful day in a vegetable garden and I can spend hours happily on my hands and knees weeding with my favorite garden tool--a paring knife.

When it comes to landscaping and gardening, I used to be a formal garden addict. My sister once told people that if we lived in pioneer times and were blazing a trail through a woodsy area, she would be hacking the trail and I would be behind her pruning all the bushes into popcorn balls.

I see my doctor every six months but spend the last month vigorously exercising and dieting to drop the pounds I gained the previous five months and fool him into thinking I exercised the whole time. (He pretends he doesn't know-I like that in a doctor)

In my early working years on the way to becoming a teacher I was a dental assistant, an art department secretary in a university, a kitchen supervisor in an individual residence hall of a state mental hospital, and a private secretary to a woman who quit her job and moved away owing me and others money.

Thank you, again to Amanda, for giving me these blogger awards!

Writing Descriptions

2010-09-03T09:47:00.001-05:00

Night Blooming Epi

A friend of mine and her husband are voracious readers. She has been a huge supporter of my writing from the beginning and knows I like to learn from other writers. Last night in an email she wrote:

"(husband) convinced me to read James Lee Burke's new book. He absolutely loves the way he writes descriptions. Everytime he reads one of them he goes on about how you can just visualize the settings and events. The vocabulary he uses is amazing and we find ourselves looking up the words we have never heard of. What is interesting is the books are easy to read and understand despite the wide vocabulary."

This made me think about the way I write descriptions. Am I the kind of writer that would make a reader convince someone else to read my work because I write great descriptions? Sadly, I have to admit, I do not, yet...I did a lot of soul searching and looking through my present WIP. My descriptions are adequate, a few are memorable, but I definitely need to improve.

We've been urged to write tighter and tighter in children's writing but rev up the action. We are supposed to grab them immediately and not let them go. Most of their focus is on video games, CD's, TV, DVD's, text messaging, and so many other things that have to do with speed and immediate gratification. Even in the classroom, the teacher has to keep their attention with some type of dog and pony show when presenting a new lesson. That is not a bad thing, I've done it myself and thoroughly enjoyed it, but I can't help wondering if we may be shortchanging children today.

In The Complete Handbook of Novel Writing by Med Leder, Jack Hefron, and the editors of Writer's Digest, Janet Fitch wrote in her chapter Sense and Sensuality, "Think how paltry our lives have become at the end of the twentieth century, compared....other regions of the world still rich in uncensored sights, sounds, smells, textures, tastes."

I would like to believe one of the purposes of a writer in this century is to bring the desire for each reader to go out and experience the sensory world around him. Janet Fitch's article contains six exercises to improve descriptive writing, I think today's writing time will be spent doing those exercises and applying them to my WIP.

When There's No More Room on the Bookshelf

2010-08-28T05:02:00.000-05:00

I buy books, I use the public library, and friends and I pass around books. Before I know it my bookshelves are full. When I prepared to move I didn't want to pay to move all those books and I had no idea what to do with the several hundred hard back and paperback books we had accumulated over the years. A friend told me that a tiny town of about one thousand residents was trying to start a library. The city had little funds for extras so citizens were starting a grass roots campaign to start one with no money. Someone had donated a building and many others donated books. I gave them a call. The woman in charge came out with a pickup and went nuts over the books. Together we loaded the pickup with a few hundred hardbacks in mint condition from the sixties to the 2002. There were biographies, autobiographies, non-fiction, and fiction of all types. She couldn't believe the shape they were in and I explained that only two people, maybe three, read them before they went on the shelves.

After I moved I decided I wouldn't collect that many again. Well, seven years later, I was looking at over a hundred. I went through them yesterday and kept my "How to write" books, several MG and YA's that I'm saving for my great-nieces and nephews, reference books, a few signed first editions from my favorite contemporary authors, and a few favorites, including paperbacks, I'll read again. That left about fifty. I called a neighbor asking for ideas. She mentioned several nursing homes that had libraries and she told me that one of the animal shelters loved getting books for their thrift store. This was the same shelter where my sister adopted her first rescue. So I bagged up the hard backs and took them out there. They helped me unpack the car. Being hardback and recent best sellers they can even offer them to shops who deal in used books. I was happy to not only find a home for them and help the animals, but now my shelves are waiting for brand new occupants.
I realized driving away that real-hold in the hand and turn the page-books are still wanted. Yes, there are e-books and it is a wave of the future and I'm one of the supporters of those, but I'm happy to think it is going to be a long time until a book in the hand will be considered old fashioned and outdated. There's got to be a place for both kinds in our future society. At least I hope so. What are your thoughts or hopes on the future of books?

Query Tracker Surprise

2010-08-27T11:19:00.000-05:00

I am so excited, honored, and just tickled pink. Today BleeBonn sent me a coupon for a membership to Query Tracker. I had heard other writers talk about how great it was, but never checked it out. It is fabulous! Blee, thank you so much! I have been having such a good time on that site today, so much so, I'm actually looking forward to writing more query letters and getting them out there.

Sea Gull Epic Win

2010-08-25T14:39:00.001-05:00

Ran across this today and just had to post it. Talk about creating characters, these two give a writer plenty to work with.

It's Too Hot!

2010-08-22T13:07:00.001-05:00

It's Sunday. A hot, humid day with no rain in sight. Cicadas are still trilling in the tree tops and don't seem anywhere near ready to quit. I did manage to make it to church and had breakfast with my sister at a restaurant close by, but now I feel drained. I refuse to blame it on my full tummy which usually puts me to sleep like a new born baby. I blame it on the summer temps. It's just too hot to work. Yes, I drove in an air conditioned car to an air conditioned church then to an air conditioned restaurant. I came back home to my air conditioned house but it's too hot to write. (Hmmm, I sense a PB story in there somewhere.) So, in the tradition of a Seinfeld episode, I've written about nothing. I hope whoever stops by and reads this that you are much more active and productive.

What I Learned from WriteOnCon about Queries

2010-08-13T09:42:00.001-05:00

WriteOnCon is over and I have to say I enjoyed every minute that I attended this first annual online conference. My keen interest was the subject of query letters and took notes. I'll mention a couple of things that stood out to me. I learned so much about agents and what happens on the receiving end of query writing. Kate Testerman gave a lot of great information but when she said that she received 6000 queries in one year and only signed one new client, my jaw dropped. When asked which client that was she said look for the debut novel of Veronica Roth's Divergent. She could not put the manuscript down to eat or shower. That's the kind of book she's looking for.

Natalie M. Fisher agreed to give query critiques and received over eighty from conference attendees. As she went through them we all received a reality check as well as some spontaneous belly laughs. A couple of the things she covered were: if they were too long, she didn't read them at all and if they hinted at a "tired plot" she wasn't interested, the plot had to be unique especially in romance queries. And when someone had used a word from the novel without explanation, she said "Never write your query as if I'm already supposed to know what things are." There were several things she did like and one of those was reading the tone of the heroine in the query letter, she said it was a snarky voice and she immediately liked her.

So back to Query Writing 101 for me.

On my post about Synopses one of the comments from Jayne mentioned to make sure and include in my list to reveal the ending of the novel. I knew that but failed to mention it, so consider it number eight. Thanks, Jayne.

Today is the Day!

2010-08-10T07:14:00.001-05:00

WriteOnCon Starts Today!

http://writeoncon.com/

Finally! A Synopsis Technique That May Work

2010-08-08T20:33:00.003-05:00

When I first heard this word in the writing world, I was naive and totally ignorant of how important it is in the submission process. Condense my forty thousand word novel into a two page summary? Sure, no problem. Then reality reared its ugly head. The synopsis is not just a quick summary. My first synopsis was dry, full of facts, and boring. Even I wouldn't want to read that novel but I sent it out and sure enough, no one else wanted to read it either.

I did a lot of research, looked at lots of samples, and I learned a few facts.

The synopsis should:

1. cover the entire novel
2. retain the flavor of the author's voice
3. prove that the author is a storyteller
4. be written in the present tense
5. be an excellent sales pitch
6. be short because editors and agents don't have a lot of time
7. be formatted properly

Length, formatting, and present tense is nothing to fret over, but the first three shoulds are a lot tougher. If they hit the mark then number 5 is automatically successful. I've written another synopsis for a new novel over and over and over again. Instinctively, even though it improved with each new version, I knew that some magic little element was missing. I kept going back to my WIP for a few days to get it off my mind before trying again.

Then early one morning last week, with coffee in hand, I sat down to try again. I took a sip holding the cup with both hands and stared at it. There it was, the magic little element, the same imagination that carried my character through all her laughter and perils. Why hadn't I thought of something like this before?

I visualized a clatch of neighborhood women in my kitchen settling in to indulge themselves in delicious coffee and juicy gossip. They had dropped everything to rush over because I had learned the real story of what happened to the old lady, the nosy little girls, and the night police cars swarmed the neighborhood with flashing lights and sirens screaming.

I began typing as if I were telling the story to them and this synopsis took on a life of its own. It was actually fun to write and because women don't have too much time to hang around another woman's kitchen, the synopsis was complete at under 2000 words. It's now resting for a few weeks before I polish it and send it out again. I'll let you know if this synopsis results in some requests.

Now, I have to put the coffee on and call those ladies again. I have the real scoop about the teenager, the accident victim, and the intruder who comes in at night while everyone is sleeping, moves objects around, and leaves without detection.

Circle of Friends Blogger Award

2010-08-06T08:44:00.032-05:00

I just received this wonderful award from the fabulous blogger and author Andrea Vlahakis over at Up the Attic Stairs. With this award comes the rule to pass it on to five other bloggers with their links. Thank you!

Ann Best at Long Journey Home

Myrna Foster at Night Writer

Amy Jo Lavin at Ramblings of a Novice Writer

Johanna at Once Upon a Novelist

Dawn Embers at It's in the Book

What "Making Characters Memorable" Means to Me

2010-08-05T18:48:00.001-05:00

As writers we have heard over and over that our characters should be memorable. After pondering this while creating many different characters, this is what it means to me.

One of the things I keep in mind when writing the first draft is that the plot doesn't happen alone. The plot happens to the character from page one. Every scene, every incident, every chapter, advances the plot but it also advances the development of the MC's personal character.

How the character behaves in each scene depends upon inner tension and conflict as well as what's happening in the plot. The character's reaction has a direct correlation to this inner conflict. Isn't that what real people face every day? Two similar examples:

Mrs. So and So had a rough day at work, her boss is unhappy with something she did or didn't do, and all she wants to do is sit down and relax. But the minute she walks in the door, her daughter reminds her it's Meet the Teacher night. What will her reaction be?
Then there's Mrs. Such and Such down the street. She has had a fabulous day in real estate by selling the largest home on her list, she walks in the door and her daughter tells her it's Meet the Teacher night. Will her reaction be the same?

When I get to the end of my first draft I want to see that not only does my plot have a satisfying resolution, but my MC has grown, resolved some of the conflict and tension in his/her life, and have become someone my future reader identifies with like a good friend. In order for the reader to feel that way about the character I've created, I have to make the MC someone to care about, who is believable, and has enough inner conflict that my reader carries a touch of anxiety throughout the novel hoping that things work out all the way around.

I like to think about my main character as a person I just met who later becomes a friend. The first time I meet a future friend, I usually like her by what she says, does, or reacts to a given situation. I don't really know much about her, but gradually over time I learn how that person feels about things, what kind of temperament she has, and what she likes and dislikes. If I learn she has problems, I worry about her. I watch, listen, and encourage her. By the end of one year I can honestly say the person I met twelve months ago is not the same person I have come to know and usually I like her even more. I sure hope my reader feels the same way about my MC.

What does creating memorable characters mean to you?

2010-08-02T09:51:00.000-05:00

Penney, my sister's dog, is a four month old basset and mystery hound mix. I was in the living room, heard the doggy door swing open, the click of toenails, and a loud thud. August has definitely arrived. But, as with pups and kids, time was wasting. There were birds to chase, holes to dig, and racing the fence line with the dogs on the other side. Right after I snapped this picture she was up and out the door. My WIP could use some more attention this morning, but I'm no pup.

Making Up for Taking the Wrong Fork in the Road

2010-07-26T22:43:00.002-05:00

The summer is moving right along and the temperature is hot. Even with air conditioning my energy has been zapped. Luckily, I make myself work in the morning for no less than an hour so I've been making steady progress. Last week I was in the middle of writing a scene and it just didn't feel right. Not in a craft sense but more in a "you took the wrong fork in the road" kind of thing way back in an earlier chapter. I wasn't sure I wanted to delete everything from that point but it was either that or forget the whole thing. How many of us have unfinished novels lying around that we just can't seem to save and can't bring ourselves to toss out?

I ran to the grocery store. I can get a lot of thinking done pushing the cart up and down the aisles, but it took more thinking time than that. On Saturday I sat down and went back to where I had taken that fork and started all over again. But not before I cut and pasted the "old" part to a separate document. (No sense in tossing it out completely in case...) The whole thing fell into place and the words came easily. I felt my energy level rise. Maybe working on something that just wasn't right was more energy zapping than the heat. I'm happy to say I'm looking forward to my writing time tomorrow.

Makes me want dust off one of those earlier efforts and find where it really went wrong.

A Slushpile Success Story

2010-07-19T15:40:00.002-05:00

Over at Holly Schindler's blog there is a wonderful interview with Stephanie Blake about her success in rising to the top of the slushpile. Everyone needs to read it. Wishful thinking by every writer who sends out a submission does come true sometimes. What a nice story!

I also want to add that Stephanie worked very hard to reach this point, so this is more than just being lucky. She deserves this success. From a fellow blueboarder who is thrilled for you: Congratulations, Stephanie!

A Hawk Comes to Visit

2010-07-15T11:03:00.004-05:00

This morning I was having my usual cup of coffee on the patio when a hawk landed on my fence near my bird feeder. I ran inside and grabbed the camera. My telephoto isn't that great but I was able to snap these before he flew off.
While he perched on the fence looking around, squirrels set up a racket in a tree nearby. I guess they were sending out warnings. A couple of other birds were also making loud noises, but none of the little critters could be seen. After he flew up into the trees across the way, I couldn't see him, but everything remained still. About five minutes later the doves came out of hiding, the chattering of the squirrels stopped, and things went back to normal.
My cat weighs sixteen pounds but I don't think he's going out the rest of the day. I didn't realize just how large some hawks are until I saw the wing span and body on this one.

(8 hours later: what I called "telephoto" is just a regular zoom lens...duh)