Annie Jones Joy Writing Through Life

That Gate Swings Both Ways

2012-01-23T13:04:00.000-08:00

I have started this at least three times and whisked it away with the magic of backspace. I worried about seeming ungrateful to those I have worked with in my career so far but this thing happened. Wait, no, ANOTHER thing happened and, well, its getting a bit hard to be a team player when you look around and realize you seem to be the only one actually on your team.


Why sure I'll come up with the idea, create the characters, craft the story, edit, promote, build my platform and be a good girl while you... wait you did WHAT?

If you're reading much about what's going on in print and ebook, traditional and self publishing these days you have run across the term Gatekeeper. The publishers keep proudly proclaiming that the reason writer NEED them is that they are the gatekeepers of all that is good and right and worthy of being published (how do they do that standing next to a stack of celeb centered tomes taller than bestselling author Snooki. Okay, that doesn't take much, bestselling author Khloe Kardashian baffles me).

From poor editing (I've had a few - not at Love Inspired, btw) to poor covers (one sank my single title career before it could even get started) to poor marketing (can it be worse than no marketing? You tell me), any stage of the process of getting a book from writer to reader can make a world of difference. Sometimes they can have long term repercussions that can submarine a whole career. I worry that this may have just happened. With One book.

One book in my backlist that an old publisher decided not to give me back the rights to so they could put it out in an ebook. It's cheap and why not, right? I guess that's what they were thinking. The marketing on it was of the free and why not type. They sent out a book about southern women to reviewers who with one glance can be seen are addicted to Amish. The reviews range from mid range stars with nice comments to 2 stars and outright mean comments. If I were still working with this publisher I might have some say in all this but...

Sigh, so they can mess with my brand, my NAME, with choices like this and feel no pain. I, however, am now wondering about trying to sell and promote ebooks in my name when I know these ugly reviews from people who were clearly never going to like my book (the publisher gave them for free) will pop up and work against me. So, name change anyone?

Probably not but really, it's hard not to feel like even when the gatekeepers are on your side, you gotta watch out not to get your fingers slammed in the gate.

Writing and Time

2012-01-13T07:42:00.000-08:00

It's no secret I've been taking a break writing wise. Well, I just sold another ms to Love Inspired so I guess that's got to end soon. And as usually happens, as soon as I HAVE to write something else I am instantly enthralled with something I'd RATHER write. A cozy mystery series. But...

Ever drop a ping pong ball in a tile shower? If you have you won't forget that doing doing doing sound as it hits the floor, the wall, the other wall, the floor, and so on. That's what I think it sounds like in a writer's head when they have an idea that they can't pin down. DOING DOING DOING!

It begins to drive you a bit mad, you know. And the more the idea bounces away, just out of your reach the more you begin to doubt you can ever catch it at all.

I am honestly afraid I can't finish this book. There. I said it. No, not the one I have the contract for, the one I have the passion for. But I am hoping that applying discipline and effort to writing the book that is my "work" will help that ping pong ball slow down, maybe even pass within my reach.

Ever have that happen? Struggle with one piece, move onto another and then have the first piece start to fall into place? Please, tell me it's happened to you, this doing doing doing is making me nuts.

LINKS!

2011-12-21T18:42:00.000-08:00

It's humbling, really, all these years in to be working a full time job and not writing as much and realize how much marketing and keeping on top of the industry takes and to know how many writers do this all the time, often while doing a lot more at home, either as single parents or parenting small children. My hat is off to ya, those who do so much, and while it's off I can scratch my head and wonder if it will ever be smooth as it once was for me, to write, to edit, to promote and to follow up. We shall see.

Links to the Amazon Kindle editions

The Double Heart Diner

Cupid's Corner

The Lost Romance Ranch

Links to Nook

The Double Heart Diner

Cupid's Corner

The Lost Romance Ranch

Waiting, waiting - Here it is!

2011-12-19T13:41:00.000-08:00

Isn't that just like publishing? You write, you edit, you polish, you rewrite, you send, you wait and wait and wait and then...WAIT!! What? I just realized my backlist books from the Route 66 series are available NOW.

No, not next week. No, not next month. No, not next YEAR. Today. Yup. I checked. You can get them on Amazon. And itunes and wait, a minute while I check... yes and Barnes and Noble!!! (did I put enough exclamation points there?). Wow. I am totally shocked. I don't know why, I have other ebooks out but these are the first that I own the rights to and are out there as past of the brave new world of publishi
Cool. If you know anyone who loves sweet romance and/or would love a few laughs along the rocky road of Route 66, try THE DOUBLE HEART DINER, CUPID'S CORNER and THE LOST ROMANCE RANCH from Annie Jones!

Links tomorrow - as I said this caught me off guard!

Never say Never, huh?

2011-11-29T04:49:00.000-08:00

I really thought I was done with Love Inspired books. Not that I dislike them. Just a series of events that lead me to let go of it all and start thinking in new terms.

I am still thinking about new things, still learning and... well, mostly enjoying an extended break from writing, the first in 15 years! But, ya see, I had this partial that I had done last year then decided not to send out. It's good. I like the story and the characters. So my agent has sent it out.

Today I am contemplating the 'what next' of it all. Not just the 'what next' of selling it but of NOT selling it. Like many of you I have my share of finished unsold books and partials tucked away. Some deserve to stay tucked as far away as possible but others... what next for them?

I actually have some say in that now. They can become books to be sold to the public. Wow.
Second chances and self determination, control of your own career (however that looks in the new world of publishing). It's definitely worth contemplating.

It's part of the new reality for writers to consider 'what next' in the broadest sense. That has to play a part when putting words on paper just as considering the narrower version of the question (since that line wants this, I need to think about that when writing this scene, or Editor X suggested I focus on this so that's what I'm going to do, or I'd like to be known as a writer who is good at 'fill in the blank' so I need to make sure I work on that aspect of craft). Whew.

So, writers, what next? I hope it's something amazing.

I Forgot to Knock on Wood!

2011-11-17T06:25:00.000-08:00

No sooner did I post about not posting and being off line than I came down with something that has kept me out of commission for a couple weeks!

Maybe I did look gorgeous in full make up and lay around in my perfect room reading fine literature. YOU don't know.

I'd like to say I got lots of work done writing and planning but mostly I sat on the couch and coughed. So far, no editor interest in that kind of work!

It did give me time to think about the state of publishing and what's coming - and to let go a little more of it all. I still write, I am still being published, even sent out a new submission but in an odd flip flop, I find myself thinking in terms of traditional publishing as a 'day job' and planning to one day work on the books of my heart and doing new and interesting things with them. Or not.

Funny thing about stepping away from the lit life, you realize that there is a real life going on all around you. I once thought that would make the writing fuller, more real, more dear to me as a writer. Maybe not so much.

I really believe one day the urge will grab me by the throat and I will write, write, write. At least I hope so.

We're Ba-a-a-a-ack!

2011-10-28T04:37:00.000-07:00

Just in time for Halloween what once was unseen is now reappearing!
Don't know whether to blame Poltergeists or my own mixed up crazy button pushing ways for my blog failing to redirect properly from my domain name AnnieJones.me but I think my blog is back.

Of course, now if only my brain would come back on line too! It's a cry (more of a faint whimper, actually) I am hearing all over the blogosphere. It's like bloggers everywhere have come dome with the blahgs. It makes me sad because blogging was such a terrific way to meet people, to view the world, to learn and laugh and a wonderful way to feed the need to write when the old school publishing world is in turmoil.

Will the energy return to the blogosphere? Or maybe it's just the blogs I read feeling lackluster? I'd love feed back, love to hear other's experiences. If you have talked about this or plan to on your blog, leave you link, please.

That's all for now - since I'm not sure the redirecting issue is fixed. Have a great weekend!

Being Helen

2011-10-04T08:00:00.000-07:00

It started so long ago I honestly don’t recall how it exactly began to form. A dream? A setting? A plot device? A scene? The story just was and when I ran it by critique partners and writing groups (which I rarely do with just an idea) the response was the same: “You HAVE to write that.”

So I wrote an opening. And the other writers who read it connected to it and told me: “You HAVE to finish this book.” Only they didn’t say 'that book', they called it by the name of the framework character. Helen Nesbitt. “You have to write Helen.”

Meanwhile back at the career…

My agent didn’t get it. “Maybe if your characters were more likeable" she'd say - likeable being agent code for super nice and in no danger of confusing or offending anyone on the planet. And: “I know I told you I’d like to see something that went back and forth in time, but I don’t like the year you picked for the past scenes.” And: “I know the twist at the end is the thing you think makes the whole book worth the trip and brings home the theme but I don’t know if I can sell that twist. Can you make it a more traditional ending?”

I couldn’t. I WOULDN’T. So I set it aside. For years after writer friends asked, “What’s happening with that book?”

Nothing was happening to that book. But something happened to me because of that book… or I should say because of Helen.

I grew more and more unhappy with the path my career was taking. I compromised again and again on the little things then on the big things because I had a contract and was being told I HAD to. I wrote to please some truly unpleasant editors and an agent who obviously had grown bored with my writing but not with the regular checks my slowly-made middle-of-the-mid-list-mind-set writing produced.

What about writing for READERS? What about writing for yourself? What about MY story? All the while my inner Helen haunted me.

When my agent of 14 years refused to even read Helen’s story unless I made endless changes, I did the thing that has been the best thing for me and maybe one of the worst for my financial security – bye bye agent.

I went back to writing The Book, changed Helen’s name to Helen Hartman and got enough written to make solid pitch and land a new agent.

My original vision of Helen Nesbitt

And to try to help Helen out - I gave her a blog.

I soon learned readers saw Helen and I was one, so Helen Hartman was born

DearHelenHartman.com. Opinionated Advice Columnist. Wry Observer of Humankind. Lover of All Things Vintage. Owner of the Infamous Sweet Little Thermos O Gin. It took some time to find her but with each blog post, each comment, each new follower, every beckoning adventure – ‘Like Helen on Facebook’ is slowly growing and other things are in the works as time permits – Helen has come to life. And in doing so she has informed my life.

Helen Hartman gives me hope. Helen Hartman gives me creative energy. Helen Hartman gives me back the voice that publishing as a commercial enterprise had all but silenced.

I ADORE Helen. I love her style. I love her sense of humor and her willingness to say anything. I love that she doesn’t let anyone dismiss her. I love that now and then she sneaks in a real life lesson.

Most of all I love what she has done for me as a person and a writer. Scary as it is, I have written my last genre romance for my current publisher (not saying I wouldn’t love to write more elsewhere and my updated backlist will be showing up in ebook form soon – starting with the Route 66 series, more on that soon). I love that as I let go of the literary life, I was able to grab onto Helen. In her I have so many opportunities that I’d never imagined. She has grown as a character, too. And that has affected the shape of the story, the goals and motivations of the actual protagonists of the book. It has added a depth that all the editorial input in the world could not have given her, um, me.

Elvis, Bait AND Karaoke. No editor would ever have approved but it works down at the Bait and Bullet (an actual place near my house - yes, I Am kinda in the South, why do you ask?)

And so, even though money is beyond tight and I keep thinking that a responsible adult author would ‘man-up’ and pitch another book that was most likely to bring a check (ever diminishing as they are in the print publishing world) I have to ask myself – what would Helen DO? After almost a year of writing as her, I know the answer to that question.

I am finally going to finish Helen’s story.

I owe it to her.

Pink highlights in my hair? Yes, I believe I will... after all, Helen would!

Ever blog in character? Have a book that won't let of you? Taking a big leap of faith in your writing path? I'd love to hear about it. Please comment and leave a link!

And so it goes

2011-08-30T04:53:00.000-07:00

I actually forget to update this blog. On one hand that's bad. I made the commitment. I Have my name on it. I have books coming out in a month or so and should have a 'platform' but...

Writing about writing? It's all been done. The truth is in the title - JOY. If you are writing with joy and determined to make your work your best and take steps toward that? In this day and age, that might be all it takes to earn a few bucks as a writer, to get readers, to make your own platform to build on. The longer the publishing 'revolution' revolves (that's the kind of revolution we're talking here, folks, not protestors and armed resistance, but the big ol' wheel of history rolling along, picking up new things, casting off old). the more I realize that publishers are NOT the great arbiters of what people want to read that they have told us they were.

That is exciting news for writers and READERS. Go. Find your true voice. Discover new voices.
I'll try to remember to update. Or you can visit where I post regularly - Dear Helen Hartman.

Careful What You Wish For

2011-08-03T12:20:00.000-07:00

Ugh. How many times have I wished I could go back to old books and make them better? Too many.
There isn't a thing I've written that couldn't be improved upon and on some level deep in the 'I make up my own reality all the time and I like it that way' recesses of my mind, I WANT to do just that.

I bet the writer of this sign would change it if given the chance.

Cut to a decade later when I have the rights back to many books and a shot to repub in ebook form. Whaaaa? Edit? Polish? Update? I don't wanna.

I'm the writer. I don't have to do anything I don't want to, including wear clothes or edit that book! So there.

Who knew it would be so hard to make yourself do the things you always thought you'd jump at the chance to do! In part it's because I've moved on, as a writer and as a reader. If I were writing this series today, I'd have done a lot of things differently - so differently that it would mean a complete rewrite to accomplish that. Not possible. So what to do?

YOU better get to work, lady!

My family owns a construction company. Today we are struggling with some folks who are upset that we can't make their 120 year old structure like new. We can't tear it down and rebuild it. We can only work with what we have. That's the lesson I am trying to embrace with my backlist. Not to be stopped by the idea that "I can't rewrite this" but to focus on what I can do.

I can make my own dreams come true -- if I dream of doing lots of hard work.

I can make it the best it can be given what I have to work with.
I can make sure the finished book reflects my voice and vision even if it isn't exactly what I'd do today.
I can keep writing new material as I grow as a persona and writer.
I can be proud of what I have done, of having written these books, having created these characters and having something ready to step into a new kind of publishing experience.

I can't do everything I might want, but I can do these things. And so can you!

There is no Wrong Answer

2011-06-22T15:22:00.000-07:00

There is that old adage - what would you accomplish if you knew you couldn't fail?

I propose the modern author's version is - what would you write if you knew you couldn't fail to be published?

My guess: a lot of junk, something unexpected, something soul purging, something funny, something sad, something awful, something that shouldn't be said - or maybe something that HAS to be said. And something brilliant.

THAT, my writing friends is the brave new world we are looking at. I believe it and plan to test that theory.

I am done with certain kinds of writing for a certain kind of publisher. I think. Yeah, I'm pretty sure. So the blog takes a new twist - charting a new course with me - the JOY RETURNS NOW!


Writing is NOT a spectator's sport

Projects are in the offing. New ideas and writing partners and ventures. I believe with all my heart that a writer who isn't open to change, who isn't always thinking about how else they can get their stories told and reach people who want to hear them is probably close to running on empty in the 'having things worth writing about' department.

So fuel up, Lets GO Joy Writing again!

IT is Printed

2011-06-21T17:32:00.000-07:00

Done and printed off to the mail tomorrow. Then the waiting for whatever comes next comes next.

Sometimes it's a - only a few changes, the check is in the mail to a few changes, we're holding onto our money until we're happy to lots of changes, also no money in the mail.

Should be sad, I suppose but am happy for now. Ask me again when bills are due.

Due Date

2011-06-15T05:57:00.000-07:00

The dreaded due date is here but the manuscript is not going to be delivered. It's done but still have to edit the last part and write the last scene (I always write the last scene last, after all is edited). Will be a few days late.

Had a long time to write this one, too. So have to ponder - why? Why are writers notoriously bad at making deadlines??

Yes, it's a clock with no hands, every writer needs one.

Stages of Deadline Dementia

2011-06-08T18:27:00.000-07:00

Stage One - Denial - No problem. You will make your deadline with time to spare.

Stage Two - Anger - why didn't you work harder, get to it sooner?

Stage Three -Blogging - you'd do anything to keep from writing. Even writing.

Deadline Diet - UGH!

2011-06-02T19:48:00.000-07:00

Ah, the glam life of a writer.

Cereal. Pizza. Burgers. Fries. Soda. Soda and more soda. I'm not even on that tight of a deadline but for some reason whenever I enter that two week countdown all semblance of a healthy diet goes right out the window... usually my car window... at the fast food drive in. What's the deal with that?

Yeah, I know, there's something up there, emotional eating, stress, stuffing down anxiety or maybe just a great excuse to over indulge. The worst part is, having been eating better for a while now, am finding that eating junk is actually making it harder to get writing done! Seriously, if you are struggling to get words on the page, take a look at what's on your plate, or in your glass or in your car (yes, I confess, I tossed a Wendy's Bag in the back seat today to throw away later - glam, glam, glam, huh?)

So starting tomorrow, better food, better work ethic, better writing! Better go see if we have any ice cream...

Better yet - come visit Dear Helen Hartman and leave your blog link!

They can Kill ya but...

2011-05-31T16:17:00.000-07:00

I love that expression meant to rally someone into doing something impossibly brave and usually fool-hearty.
They can Kill ya but they can't eat ya.

I think that in publishing they can kill you, eat you, chew you up, spit you out and stomp on you.

Just sayin'

No, no new developments, just finding it hard to make myself get the book together that is due June 15th and contemplating what's next.

Booked Up

2011-05-26T11:42:00.000-07:00

Seems like everybody is getting a book deal or having a book release or signing another contract... but me.

Honestly, Kim Kardashian is "writing a novel". Snooki wrote one, right?
That actor who makes the dry funny movies, argh, I can't even think of his name, but HE wrote one. Loren Conrad ... yeah, most people have already forgotten who that is too. Those are just the names I can come up with without the benefit of Google or Amazon. Novels. "Written" by nonwriters. Promoted by people who are all promo. Is that what publishers are counting on to save the fate of paper publishing?

Meanwhile back in the world of writers who have poured their hearts and souls and minds into the work and pain and joy of writing...

You need an editor and you and you and, yes even YOU!

2011-05-18T18:43:00.000-07:00

I call it the Cone of Obliviousness. It's this invisible shield that enables us to see and know and understand EXACTLY what other people in our situation, or sometimes in wildly different situations, world-changing situations even, should do. Yet, they seem to be totally oblivious to what THEY ought to be doing.

Writers are the worst.

Well, Okay, I mostly know writers well enough to THINK they are the worst. They start stuff they don't finish. They finish stuff they shouldn't have started. They treasure words, phrases, sentences, ideas, themes that they should bury, yes buried treasures. There is a reason they are in deep, dark holes. Not that they should never be dug up again, but... HELP! I NEED AN EDITOR!

I need another set of objective eyes to tell me my story is off track or that something doesn't work. A GOOD editor also tells you when something makes them laugh or makes them think or brings a tear to their eye. A good editor knows how to work around the Cone of Obliviousness and a good writer understands it exists. Both protect the work.

This is the thing I fear most in the epub self pub revolution that too many people will be uploading from the landing place of the CONE OF OBLIVIOUSNESS. We all need editing, we all need input from other sources. It may sound like heresy but I don't think it has to be a professional editor. Frankly I can say this here because so few people read it, but I think to many editors via the publisher's model are strangling their writers/books/lines. They are choking the life out of them with nonsense until they don't mean anything or they all mean the same thing.
An editor can be an avid reader, an English major, a fellow author - not your spouse, best friend or parent unless they can be brutally honest and your relationship can survive it. But you need an editor. In blogging that's often the readers and comments.
If you feel so moved to edit this thought - please do!

Letting Go of Literary Life

2011-05-16T06:51:00.000-07:00

I was one of THOSE writers. RWA all the way, for years. Local chptr, newsletter editor, committees, conference, contests. NINC. Loops, lists, likes... bbs, blogs, brainstorming...webpages, workshops, writing, writing, writing. If it was about writers, writing, craft, business I was there. Social stuff, networking, not so much. So I know a lot of stuff, not a lot of people.

"I may be a nobody in your book, Mr. Big Publishing, but I am not going away!"

Big mistake, I think but too late for that now because it's all shifted or shifting. This last weekend after being taken to task for simply saying how I felt about something on a writer's list I hit the tipping point. I went no mail. Am about to do the same on all but one remaining writer's forum. Am thinking about where or if I want to submit work again. Not saying I'm quitting writing, just quitting the old school (which used to be the new way - online networking, etc) writing life. Just not letting people who want to promote their own agenda or use me to give them content to promote their agenda or assume I feel the same way about politics, religion, publishing as they do to waste my time and energy.

a good long look at what you're doing and if it really helps your creative process. HINT: If it involves sticking an eggbeater in your hair, it's probably not.

This has me thinking of an article I read once (yes, writing can have a lasting effect) about why smart people make dumb mistakes. It boiled down to 3 things: 1) They did not seek any input. 2)They did not seek varied input (got all their ideas and feedback from the same select group over and over) 3)They relied too heavily on the input of others.

Did she listen to the new voice on the phone, or rely on the tried and true but tired and toothless advice of her closed circle? What about her own instincts?

If you are like I have been, if you find yourself quoting writing memes like: Readers skip prologues or cut out all dialogue tags but said or never... always... editors don't like... Then consider backing away from some of the online babble and listen to 1)new voices from very different places 2)the things that are working for others (have you sampled the writing of the bestsellers in your genre?) 3)Yourself.

I am out in the world making new friends (check out DearHelenHartman.blogspot.com )and planning a couple new projects. Writing is fun again!
Would love to hear what others are doing to charge boldly into the new publishing world dynamic.

The world has gotten bigger, my friends, come join me in it!

Derby Day!

2011-05-07T05:31:00.000-07:00

Big doings around Louisville the past couple of weeks. Weather has affected much of the 'normal' activity of the Derby festival

Balloon race in better weather years ago

but it's gorgeous for the Derby today.
'

No, not a racing fan, but we do gather 'round to watch the one special race.

Love seeing the hats and fanfare.

One thing strikes me about the Derby and writing is that with both of them, what most people really want from them is a connection. In leading up to the big race we are not told a lot about the stats, we are told the story of the jockey, the owner, the horse itself. People admit all the time they root for a horse because of some personal connection - a name that means something, a story that touched them, the horse or owner being from their home state... whatever.


Him: Whatch thinkin'?		Her:I just wonder what readers really WANT from their fiction.

That's the best 'bet' as writers to do what works for our readers, craft matters but if it doesn't connect on a basic level to readers, it's just words on a page, it won't come through in the home stretch!

News

2011-05-03T05:05:00.000-07:00

Not really news... I left the book cover up because, well, I don't really have many readers here anyway AND the book (all the May LI books) hasn't been showing up much until lately. Some good news is that it's been selling well in eook formates, both Kindle and Nook!

This has me thinking about self pubbing ebooks and learning more about that - it's been on my mind and the minds of most writers for some time now and as people make headway in sales with these books it becomes an essential arena for writers to educate themselves about. Still, there is at least ONE book I want sold into ink and paper - so I press on. Hope you are figuring out what you want and are doing the same.

Come HOME TO STAY today

2011-04-19T07:12:00.000-07:00

My latest LI should be on shelves everywhere today - or at least this week. It's a special book because it stems from my personal experience raising a special needs child (who is now a grown up who is a special person to be sure).

Had a really insightful comment on the last post about how Christian authors struggle with self promotion. Once my kids asked me if there were any examples of someone getting out and promoting themselves in the Bible and I said.. "Well, King David did dance naked in the streets."
The response: "Well, maybe you should stick to bookmarks."

If you have a chance, check out Home to Stay!

Praying for writing

2011-04-13T05:42:00.000-07:00

I neglect this blog soooo much. That's okay. I've said it here and many places, I am so over blogs about writing. I think it's all been said and better than me. Love to encourage writers but then I haven't tended this garden and have few readers. That said, if anyone is reading - do you have a special prayer for your writing?

I have a project that is getting good responses then rejections that I truly WANT to see published. have prayed over it daily for a couple years now. I don't think I've prayed as consistently for any other specific thing in my life (most thing do get resolved sooner than this one has, to be fair). Does anyone else do that?

Just curious. I have mixed feelings about praying about a book, it seems selfish and silly some days. Maybe I'm not doing it right.

Just for Fun

2011-04-07T04:45:00.000-07:00

This will go up on my other blog soon as a search and find for vintage goodies but I also snuck my new book cover into a - can you spot the difference photo. So, sharing the 'fun' - a few things to search for - writer version - find the typewriter, the composition book, the book cover, the kind words, something to shed some light on the subject and the author behind the camera.

When Does it All Make Sense?

2011-04-02T13:54:00.000-07:00

In books it almost always does... at some point... finally... when we get through the bleak moment, the climax and settle comfortably into the denouement. All the pieces fit. All the tangled webs, crossed paths, miscommunications, missed opportunities all come together to form some sort of satisfying big picture.

Life is not like that.

This week I will win an award that many years ago I dreamed of winning. It is not some big huge thing but since I came to writing through romance novels, which I read and loved, it was a small pleasure to imagine one day being recognized for my writing in the major review source The Romantic Times. This week at their convention they will call my name for winning the Reviewers Choice for the Best Love Inspired of 2010 - Their First Noel. In the issue where they announced this, I also received a kind and glowing review of my next book, Home To Stay, 4.5 stars. Top Pick.

That is so sweet. I am so appreciative. It was almost a perfect coup... because in my heart Home To Stay might well have been my last book for Love Inspired. Part of that is because it seems like they aren't really all that crazy about my work - it seems like whatever I propose is wrong in some way and the contract offers, even when I suggest a series, are one book, one book, one book. Not that I don't appreciate the contracts. Absolutely I do.

I just... I can't help thinking as whatever I submit is turned away again and again and even the smallest suggestions of my own voice are sanded down to a faint whisper (and the titles become so generic that they don't mean anything, much less reflective of a book as mine) I can't help thinking, what is wrong with me? Why is my work so inadequate? Why isn't the project I love with all my heart and keep getting great feedback on bringing an offer? (the small solace of that is that I am slowly building a great community of Helen fans online, that grows daily and that's totally, 100% my voice though my bank won't take a mortgage payment of 'voice', I checked )

I don't have the answers. Life is not like a book. It doesn't have to make sense. Awards and good reviews are wonderful. I am grateful.
But here's a glimpse into a working writer's life, they don't make up for somebody saying they have faith in you by investing in your book. I can completely understand why so many authors are self publishing now.

Does Plot Matter Anymore?

2011-03-27T15:51:00.000-07:00

I only ask because my daughter came back from seeing Sucker Punch today and told me that the entire plot seemed to be "surly girls who can sexy dance real good so they can accomplish their goal because men are dumb". I tried to question her but she insisted that was about the gist of the movie.

I've come away from a few movies like that (well not EXACTLY like that) lately. Where CGI and action and explosions or randomness takes the place of actual story. And the remakes. Don't get me started on the remakes! Is there not one remaining original thought in all of movie makingdom?

Some would apply that same outcry to... what are we calling it today - Traditional publishing? Commercial publishing? Legacy Publishing? - Of course there's Eisler's big leap of faith (at least in himself and his ability to earn some $ in self pubbing e books) and Connie Brockway's news about doing the same - in which she states outright that publishers have become to stifling for too many authors, that there are enough readers wanting something else for an author to do okay for themselves. I said there and will say here, I think Christian fiction may be behind the curve on this, but I could be wrong. I feel like Christian publishers have been guilty of the same narrow thinking of those who make movies, if something works make more of it and more (other publishers do to but if you've ever read my books and know I've been asked if I'd consider an Amish book, you will understand my concern).

It's an interesting time to be a writer, and a reader... if you're up to the challenge. If not, hey, maybe you can dance your way to your goals! (in this current marketplace, who knows?)

What's the Deal With Blogging?

2011-03-18T06:15:00.000-07:00

I came late to blogging. It's a long story having mostly to do with writing under more than one name and the main name - Annie Jones - being soooo hard to drive traffic to a webpage for and then not really sure what to blog about - which I am STILL pretty undecided about (am just sick of writing blogs, but then I was submerged in a long list of them for the last 3 years or so).

My 'for fun' blog titled Helen Helps! was just that, a fun thing that now I need to whip into shape. It began with the idea of sharing advice I'd found in old magazine, pamphlets, etc. But quickly expanded, especially as I discovered how many people love VINTAGE ANYTHING AND EVERYTHING.

So time to apply the old proven writer's technique - HIGH CONCEPT. I still don't have it for that blog (this one is in the title - I decided to write joyful/encouraging things about the writing life - have failed a few times and removed at least one post).

High Concept - it's easy. Super easy. If someone gives a long explanation, they don't get it.
Sure, it can be Gidget meets the Sound of Music but better yet, sum it up in the title: The Flying Nun (which is better - see it's about a nun who can fly and every plot will be about the nun stuff and the flying stuff, done)
It can be The Godfather meets the Hero's Journey - or better, the title The DaVinci Code ( Da Vinci, smart Italian guy, code - a secret to be deciphered)

Don't over think it. The other blog is based on a character from a book with a long title that is about as high concept as I can manage (it's not my strong suit) Helen Hartman and the Kitchen Counter Revolutionaries. Helen is a woman's advice columnist circa 1970, the story is told by the women who were there to a young woman struggling with her life today. The blog is about all the great vintage stuff I own and find. How do I High Concept THAT?

Writer's Brain... Engage! Oh and if anyone has a suggestion - am open to it.

When Irish Eyes are Smiling

2011-03-16T05:56:00.000-07:00

A proper writer's tale for St Patrick's Day -

Many years ago I wrote a romance called "Irish Eyes"(it's out of print and I have the rights back and when I looked up the synopsis on Amazon, I thought, wow what a great story - so its now on my list to pub on ebook soon) and doing so I made a reference to a music box playing and the hero knowing the words and singing "When Irish eyes are smiling..."
My editor insisted that while maybe that Irish hero would know the song readers CERTAINLY would NOT so I needed to pick a song people knew.
I stood my ground in a phone call.
She decided to prove me wrong.
She went from office to office asking people if they would recognize a song called "When Irish Eyes are smiling" with just a few music box notes?
Not only did every person Recognize it, they each began to sing it and in a few minutes the whole office place was filled with the strains of the beloved old song. She returned to the phone and muttered, "Okay, the song reference can stay."

I am not Irish, but my eyes still smile at that experience.

Stand up for your work, but don't be afraid to test and verify :) or SING when you know you're in the right

When Irish Eyes are smiling...

Have you Done your Google Today?

2011-03-10T06:56:00.000-08:00

My search question of the day: Do they sell liquor in Graceland?

First, it immediately made me start thinking - hey, good book title. Next, I thought - if my computer was seized, what conclusion would THAT lead someone to? Last, I knew that no matter what answer I came up with when the passing reference showed up in a book, someone, somewhere would complain that I got it wrong.

Btw, I did not get the easy answer I wanted but a barrage of stuff that, while might be helpful, wasn't going to help me vet that one line of dialog about wanting a drink before taking a tour of Elvis Presley's former home.
I did find some REALLY useful stuff at Wikipedia. Or maybe not. Okay, I confess, I changed the line a bit to work either way.

Writers can't be everywhere so that's why there's the internet.
I'd love to hear from other writers - what did you Google... on Bing... or Wikipedia...today?

The Right Word

2011-03-06T18:49:00.000-08:00

The difference between the almost right word & the right word is really a large matter--it's the difference between the lightning bug and the lightning.

- Mark Twain

I once read an article about Jamie Lee Curtis in which she said that by changing a single word in her vocabulary she could experience an entire attitude shift. Instead of "I have to do XYZ tomorrow" she began saying "I GET to do XYZ tomorrow."

Tomorrow I GET to write. Deadline met and waiting to hear from editors if it's what they had in mind, I GET to write on the book I love.

I have no idea what will become of this book. Some major editors/houses have really loved it but I no contract do I have (I don't get it, either). So, it's not always about the words or the writing or the right attitude, as a writer you Have to accept that. That's a cold hard fact worth learning, no matter how many times a writer tells you (and I've noticed this advice often comes from published authors that want to believe this ) : "Just write a good book. Just concentrate on the work and that's the best way to get (published, noticed, reviewed, sales, whatever the discussion is)."
Good books languish all the time. Bad books sell. And bad books fail and good books soar. Good and Bad are relative any way (and if you don't believe that, you should meet MY relatives).
You can't be bitter about it. You can't let it affect your desire to keep writing. You shouldn't let the unfairness of it all push you into poor choices.

It's like that saying, they can kill ya, but they can't eat ya? They can reject ya, but they can't kill your words. You get to keep writing (even if you have to find another way to get your work to readers)

One of the blessings of "HAVE TO" is it makes the "GET TO's" all the more sweet.

Every word matters. Every day counts.

Be Inspired!
The Book I Write (Spoon) from Stranger Than Fiction

Thank You Naomi

2011-03-04T05:27:00.000-08:00

After pouring my heart out (and thank you for all the kind and interesting responses - so many of us writers struggling, I pray you all are pressing on) and then realizing I had to make some fixes I have still not finished the partial that was due on my editor's desk last Monday.

I miss deadlines. A lot. But not BY a lot. I do not miss early deadlines but suspect more and more this may become the norm because, well, I no longer have confidence that I can do it.

Five years ago my heart stopped. Really. It was a meds thing, but the result was that my heart went crazy, I experienced aphasia (thought I made sense, speaking gibberish) then passed out. Hubby, who had been a health care provider for 20+ years, said my heart had stopped. He thought I was dead. Minutes later it started and we were off the the ER then heart Hosp.
From the moment I got there everyone, and I mean EVERYONE (even other patients) said to me - "You're the kind they say is fine, send home and she drops dead".
Over and over and over.
I tell you that to tell you this: God Bless Naomi Judd.
She was on the health channel on TV while I was there and spoke about her own health issues by warning people - Doctors will put a hex on you, they will say things to you and your mind and body set about making it come true. And the docs don't even understand they are doing it, they think they are being frank, preparing you and I am saying to you, don't let their words become your reality.

I heard that message and I guess you could say I took it to heart.

A couple of years ago I had an editing experience that was beyond brutal. It was, in fact, abusive. That it was from a Christian publisher and that neither my (now ex) agent or the Sr editor stepped in made it worse. IOW There was no Naomi Judd to remind me that I had some power in my own situation.

I have NEVER been confident of my writing since then, Awards, sales, honors, fan letters, nothing has repaired the damage of that nasty, cruel and actually pointless edit. And my career has suffered. I did tell the Sr Edit that the experience broke my heart. As someone who has had a broken heart, literally, I am telling you it was actually worse. Because the real deal made me stronger. The one that broke my writer's heart has also broken my spirit, dashed my hopes and dreams and left me doubting.

If I can do nothing more I hope to be someone's Naomi Judd. That is not to say don't listen to advice about your career or writing, but do not let SOMEONE ELSE'S OPINION DEFINE YOU AS A WRITER.

I wish I had an inspiring end to this like reporting today I signed an amazing contract for that book of my dreams. Not today.

Instead, today I am going to force myself to finish editing 10 more pages, send them off and worry that they won't be good enough.

Joy, yes, Writing, not so Much.

2011-02-28T16:35:00.000-08:00

Actual sign at local gas station - the one on my computer should read "Screen is blank, because writer is not bright"

Have felt quasi queasy all day and it's time to admit why - no, not the flu, or food poisoning or even just an old fashioned belly ache. I am sick about the book I am trying to write.
Ever happen to you?
Ever doubt every scene... every sentence... every syllable? That's where I'm at. I don't know that I can do this anymore. Not writing in general. Writing in specific. That is to say, this book. Just don't know if I can do this book.

You know that game people play - If I won the lottery? Well, if I won (which would be doubly amazing because I don't PLAY it) but if I won, I'd stop writing the books I am paid to write and start writing the books I was born to write.

Makes me a little sad to see that written out, but it's true. It stays.

Years ago there was a lot of over lap and it is one of the great blessings in my life, for which I will be forever grateful, that I have had the opportunity time and again to write books that formed in my being and poured out from my heart (with a lot of help from my brain and a WHOLE LOT OF AMAZING EDITORS). Characters that stay with me today like old friends, quote worthy phrases, settings that are more real to me then places on the globe I only know through photographs and from 7th grade social studies class. I miss those people, those places, those phrases.

Now I sit at my computer for hours with my stomach in knots and my shoulders slumped, feeling beat up and defeated. For the record, I have felt this way about other books, some of which turned out pretty good. It's just that the longer I write, the more time it takes for me to find the pulse of the story. The more times I can't seem to get it right the less hope I can muster that I can ever get it right.

That's where I am tonight. Tomorrow I will get up and flip a couple of scenes around (duh, the cute meet adds poignancy to the dad tucking his kids in alone and suddenly the characters are real and their conflict is clear) and try again to get it right. That's what writers do.

We struggle to get the words right. We wrestle our inner doubts to the ground (then let them back up, like too small fish tossed back into the sea to do battle with another day). We write.

At least I hope this writer will.

Where Do You Get Your Ideas?

2011-02-20T06:34:00.000-08:00

I go outside and look at stuff. Yes, it's that boring. And that fascinating. Me, I go to local antique malls and flea market style malls among other things - like always going to the World's Longest Yard Sale and it's many imitators that crisscross Kentucky in the spring.

Oh and a couple times a year a major antique event. So for fun today and because I am so sick of writing advice and there is soooo much out there, more photos of things that have inspired me - today's version - places I go to let my mind relax and unravel plot problems.

The Plot Doctor

2011-02-11T13:02:00.000-08:00

When you grow up with a writer as a mom, this may happen to you - you may tend to think in terms of plots dos and don'ts and want to create make-believe people. Just for fun, my son's YouTube video:

You can visit his review site athttp://thecartoonatic.com/

More Better

2011-02-10T13:36:00.000-08:00

More Better shots of the view around my county - These scenes are why I love writing about small towns and scenic America. Well, okay I like the people as well but, um, am not brave enough to go up and snap photos of local characters like the white bearded man my family calls 'feral grandpa' because he lives and looks just like we think a grandpa would if left on his own in the wild :)

Winter Day, Spencer County, Kentucky

2011-02-09T10:47:00.000-08:00

If these photos taken in the country side near where I live don't lower your blood pressure, then I don't know what will. Well, meds, of course, but for just feeling peaceful and serene, come and take a drive through snowy Spencer County with me.

Farmland and old houses that once were someone's home

Another cemetery. They punctuate the countryside with old tombstones that speak of history and humanity. It might seem creepy, but they are actually very peaceful looking.

LOTZ more

2011-02-05T05:30:00.000-08:00

Just rewatched the American Pickers episode and see that many of the things I shared were featured on that show so sharing a few more to sort of 'flesh' out how awesome this spot is.

Louisville is full of hidden gems like this, the whole area is and it's been my joy for many years to seek them out and from now on I plan to share them here - maybe as an inspiration for writers, writing prompts or to encourage people to come explore for themselves - no matter why you stop and look, you'll find a treasure!

Why Aren't You Planning a Visit to Louisville?

2011-02-03T13:56:00.000-08:00

This is what I ask people all the time. I love my adopted hometown. I love the way it looks, I love the way it feels, I love the way it embraces eccentricities and arts with similar zeal. And I love the people. I especially love it when all of that converges!

as it did last spring when my husband and I were driving around old Louisville looking for a neighborhood pub to grab lunch and came across a corner lot treasure trove that made us stop.

We couldn't believe our eyes!

As we got out to admire what was clearly an homage to the art of the deal and the joy of junk, neighbors called out: "Stick around. He's on his way over to meet a guy. He might let you in."

He didn't let us in. He did enjoy us ooohing and ahhing and asking where he found this and what was that for. He also gave us a souvenir - a couple of never filled Billy Beer cans! Seems Falls Brewery in Louisville canned the stuff and when it went out of style, Jerry got a hold of the cans that had yet to be filled and has cases of them. He did say maybe we could come inside but then 'the guy' showed up and 'the guy' spoiled the fun by wanting to buy something -- and not wanting to meet Jerry's price. He was done. He had to things to do. More collecting I reckon.

If you are a fan of American Pickers on the History Channel then you saw bits and pieces of Jerry Lotz's little corner of chaos. Don't ask me where it is or how to get there - but if you're a friend or family and feel like paying us a visit, we wouldn't be opposed to driving around trying to find it again - because it was well worth getting lost to find this kind of treasure - and you might get your own Billy Beer can!

Cat and Mouse and Muse

2011-02-03T05:21:00.000-08:00

It happened just last night. One of those moments when, in years past I'd have thought, I'll be writing about this in letters for the next month but now I simply think Blog Fodder! (Okay, first I thought about getting the Flip Cam and recording it for You Tube, but two things stopped me - it would have been too long and, as it turned out, anti-climactic and the fact that people would have thought it was staged).

It was late... lateish. I was in my jammies - actually I was cold so I was in a big pink onsie with built in bunny slippers. Through a series of events involving a cat who can open the backdoor but like most children, can't be bothered to close it properly, a mouse got in the house.It couldn't have been inside long, the dogs went on high alert immediately. I made son peer under the couch as I tipped it back, a teeny gray streak makes its way to the TV cabinet. Hubby, who is on the other couch, doesn't even lift his head but is certain son and I have over active imaginations. Hilarity ensues - if by hilarity you mean the insanity of people not wanting to hurt the little fellow (beginning with my son pointing out that my allowing him to watch cartoons gave him an unrealistically anamorphic view of mice as clever, cat outwitting good guys). Here's the plan: we will line up the furniture in our living room to direct the mouse back out the door. Son will shine big ol' light behind TV cabinet. Husband will poke behind cabinet with a tennis racket. I will shepherd mouse out with broom if need be. Need did not be. Mouse scurried out while we weren't looking (I know because it scared the neglectful door opening car out on the deck - yes, that's how I found out, my cat was cowered down unable to move because there was a mouse in the doorframe.

A writer chasing a muse is a lot like a family deciding they can direct and accidental intruder mouse. The more plans they put in place to make things happen the way they want, the more chance that the muse/mouse will slip away while you're busy doing other things. This is good for the mouse. Less so for the writer and muse.

Write today. Forget about getting everything lined up just right.

What Would I Tell An Aspiring Writer?

2011-01-17T06:16:00.000-08:00

1) Get used to waiting. (That's different than be patient.)

2)Don't get too used to waiting.

Writing is all about waiting. Waiting for the idea to ripen, waiting for the words to come, waiting for the sliver of time in your life to get time to write, waiting to hear from critique groups, agents, editors, cover artists, marketing people, booksellers, and finally readers. It can be exhausting. And discouraging.

The single most important thing I can say about that is - don't get too comfortable with it. Push. Many times I look back and know I should have pushed more. Pushed myself, pushed my agent, pushed for my books. I should have written more (right now I am finally finishing the manuscript of my heart, which I should have done sooner but I was waiting to hear something... anything... from editors).

DO SOMETHING. Even if it's a misstep, taking action will give you a sense of possibility, of power that just waiting for everything to work out robs you of. Write something else. Finish a piece. Create a website or blog. Go to writer's conferences. Learn, learn, learn, about craft, about new ways of publishing, about other writers, about the industry, about your own strengths and weaknesses. Then put what you learn into action. Try. Fail. Try again.

I have been in writer's groups all over the country. I have always been the most published writer in them. I have not always been the most talented writer in them. The biggest difference was that I did something. A lot of somethings. I kept at it.

I think it's summed up in a fortune cookie I got recently: Your ship is safe in harbor. But that's not what ships are for.

The weeks before I got my first book offer I stuck a note up on my bulletin board by my desk that said - If your ship hasn't come in, swim out to it.

Sink or swim. Set sail. Do something. Today.

Conincidence? I'm becoming confident of it.

2011-01-10T06:22:00.000-08:00

I have heard it put in mathematical terms that a coincidence is when two things intersect or occupy the same place or are happening at the same time. That's a loose definition. In fact, in looking the word and its roots up there were a lot of different but similar definitions. I had to agree with the guy who said it was hard to use the term without getting into philosophy (he was a mathematician and of his whole article, that was one of the few sentences I actually understood!).

So philosophizing we will go! The particular coincidence, the thing occupying way too many points in my life right now is a lot like the term coincidence, it's the encouragement to "be confident". Confidence. Hmmm. Not my strong suit. Not as a person, a mom, a writer.

I'm more the - "Well, here it/I is/am. Sigh. I tried my best. I know it's not everyone's cup of tea. If I can just get enough feedback to keep at it, that would be fine" type. Some people might call that humility, others reality. I think in my house we'd have called it 'not tempting fate'. But as fortune cookies, devotionals, year end advice, even sermons kept hammering home the message these last 2 weeks - go forth in confidence, be confident, speak what you want with confidence, be confident in the Lord - I have decided to give it a try.

Oddly enough, just deciding to act from a place of confidence has colored my outlook. I am less worried the last few days. More of a mind that I can figure out the solutions if things don't go the way I hope. It feels like the world is more full of options than obstacles. It's a small thing, but it demonstrates the power words have over us. To chose to move forward with a new watchword can change so much. I have no concrete results to share but as I wait for word on the book of my heart, I am confident it will sell. It will be a book that others read. It will have a chance to reach others. It will be a good experience financially, editorially, and for me and my family. And it will lead to other opportunities. Just writing that makes me want to work harder to make that happen.

Coincidence? Yes, it is. The messages may have been out there the whole time but they finally intersected with me being ready to hear them, being open to applying them. Wishing you many purposeful and happy coincidences... and the confidence to act on them!

You Can't Stop The Signal

2010-12-28T06:02:00.000-08:00

I end the year much as I began it, waiting and hoping and believing in a manuscript that my writer pals (pubbed and un alike) love, that my agent loves... and now multiple editors have said they love... but without a contract.

On one hand, every trip to the bookstore, every click through Amazon, every blog and message of other writers makes me say, often out loud, THEY are getting contracts, why not me? Now I'm not saying I'm not getting ANY contracts, I still have books for Love Inspired coming out and submissions going out this week, but this single title, this book editors, authors and agents all say is something special? (crickets chirping)

Anyone reading this who has ever tried to do anything creative and get it into the hands of people who might help you reach an audience understands these feelings. For some they spark anger, others sink into a swamp of sadness. Me? Well, I go to my muse, who lives in the land of underappreciated writing - a land populated by the lines from books and TV and Movies that just did not get the respect they deserved and yet remain an endless pool of inspiration. For today's 'sermon', I draw upon the 'text' of Serenity (the awesome movie based on the awesomer TV show Firefly)which IMDB lists Joss Whedon as the sole writer of (really? I should research that more, later)

You can't stop the signal, Mal. Everything goes somewhere, and I go everywhere.

Okay, so I'm not Mr Universe but I have at my disposal the next best thing - the Internet.

I also have a good idea translated into a good story, with strong characters and the skill of years of writing. What I don't have are big single title numbers. Being a word person, I don't 'get' numbers. So this year I have decided numbers don't 'get' me.
I will finish writing Helen Hartman and the Kitchen Counter Revolutionaires and it will become a 'real' book in much the same way the Velveteen Rabbit became a real rabbit... because it's loved and because...
(Take it Mr. Universe)
From here to the eyes and the ears of the 'Verse, that's my motto, or it might be if I start having a motto.

For now, at least, writers don't have to give up when they exhaust all options for traditional or new traditional publishing (which I haven't, yet but am being pre-emptive against that anger, sadness, etc thing) that they don't have to throw their work in a trunk or a trash can. Write, edit, read, edit more, polish and publish - one way or another. If you have something worth sharing, don't let anyone else tell you you can't share it with the 'verse.

Don't let fear of not getting that big break keep you from trying. Don't pressure yourself into rushing into a bad choice for your work. Don't let rejection defeat you. Don't... wait don't be defined by the negative (Hey, wait, isn't don't a negative?)

Better yet -
DO: Finish Your Manuscript
DO: Keep learning, learning from others, learning from failures, learning from successes
DO: Believe in your work enough to make it the best it can be
DO: Write, write, write

No matter what life throws at you, I hope this is a productive, purposeful and prosperous year for you - it will be for me, because...

You can't stop the signal

(BTW Blog that keeps Helen Hartman alive in my mind as I write out the story - http://dearhelenhartman.blogspot.com/)

YOU May Be...

2010-12-20T13:41:00.000-08:00

You may be the High Almighty Exalted Queen of The Way You Think Things Should Be but you for sure ain't the High Almighty Exalted Queen of What Is.

There was someone behaving all snotty and superior for no good reason that I wanted to say that to today. Of course, I didn't. I'm polite that way. I won't say a thing that 1)sounds kinda mean and 2)I'd probably have to explain and thereby take the sting out of the indignation of it all right to someone's face like that. But beware. I WILL post it on a blog that can be read by anyone in the world.

Thus is the power of the writer.

Also I liked the way it sounded and didn't want to forget it and didn't have a pen and paper to jot it down. So I used my blog as scrap paper.

Thus is the freedom of the writer who is pretty sure not many people are reading.

Bwahahahaha. Ha... Ha.

Oh and if I had to say that to a male - High Almighty Exalted POTENTATE of... Because King doesn't get it.

THAT is the reality of a writer no matter who is or isn't behaving or reading... you gotta jiggle the words a little until they are right no matter what.

Have a great week and try to keep your perspective, Be the Queen (or Potentate) of what is and make what is as good as you can.

It's my birthday, it's my birthday, uh huh, uh huh...

2010-12-12T07:06:00.000-08:00

NOT begging for attention - just saying THANK YOU to the Lord for this year, troublesome and trying though it has been. THANK YOU for all my friends and family. THANK YOU for possibilities. THANK YOU for imagination.

THANK YOU for the amazing gift of having realized the desire of my heart, to write. THANK YOU, THANK YOU for this day and all those that came before it and for the hope of many more to come.

From today through Christmas I have the blessing of writing for the joy of it - I Have a proposal waiting to be sent after Christmas, and can take the next couple weeks to write and polish chapters on the book of my heart ( Check out: http://dearhelenhartman.blogspot.com/). It's a wonderful gift to be able to remember why we write, to hush the editor's voice, to shut out the fears of not being good enough or not finding a publisher, to surrender yourself to the words and characters and settings and dream and to just WRITE.

I Kept Thinking... tomorrow

2010-12-07T17:48:00.000-08:00

No I am not going to type out the lyrics to the song from the musical ANNIE that would undoubtedly get stuck in your brain and drive you so crazy you'd start wishing someone would walk by whistling Grandma Got Run Over By A Reindeer just to give your mind a rest.

I'm just saying that for the last month I kept thinking I'd have big writing news to report. Now there is a saying as cliched as that song about the day two days past yesterday - no news is good news. I have no idea if that applies in this case. But it is very much a part of the writing business and is becoming more and more so as publishing tries to sort itself out. It's crazy making and so often ends in disappointment. Guess that's why so many writers are taking their careers in their own hands and getting their work out there themselves. I love this project so much that I plan to do that if it comes to that, so the waiting is a little more tolerable. BUT I'D REALLY LOVE TO GET A CONTRACT FOR THIS BOOK - it's so special and waiting is so hard.

Meanwhile I will keep writing - though I confess I'd rather be writing on the project in the lurch than in the one that is a better chance of selling. Is that human nature? To want to chase after the one who doesn't seem to know you exist? The one who hints at giving you your heart's desire then falls silent?

Call me human!

Let's be Blunt about writing "edgy"

2010-11-18T07:40:00.001-08:00

It's the kind of word that, well, frankly sets my teeth on edge. For one thing, if you are labeling your own work as edgy (especially if you sat down to write it as such), then it's probably not. If you have jumped on a bandwagon to label your book 'edgy' then it's like sitting at the cool kids lunch table a couple years after the cool kids started eating off campus.

To me, it's also brings with it the risk of making your work sound dated fast. It's amazing to me how many books and movies and TV shows look simplistic, muddled, meanings and downright silly because they wanted to be the edgy voice of their day. A lot of crime shows of the 70s (Starsky and Hutch, even Dragnet - I mean have ya ever seen Blue Boy??) are like that, as is much of what Norman Lear produced in the early 70s. It's fun to watch an episode of Maude or maybe All in The Family for the historical content but for entertainment or enlightenment? Not so much. The shows that stay are the ones that avoided the edge and thought about what really matters to people.
Andy Griffith once described the success of The Andy Griffith Show as being a show about a place where people all really wanted the best for one another. And how each of us longs for that kind of place.

Dick Van Dyke said they made a choice not to use slang of the 60s on their show because it wasn't about the time, it was about the people and their relationships and that was timeless. With that in mind a link to share one of my favorite moments in radio that proves that being sincere is the key to making those connections that last.

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=130739954

Writers writers everywhere and not a book to read!!

2010-11-14T14:57:00.000-08:00

It's not that I didn't see wonderful books at the Kentucky Bookfair. I did. Can't even tell you how many I wanted to scoop up. Giving in to my inner book geek I'd have waddled away under the weight of a staggering tower of new reading material.

But the realities of my budget prevailed. So I walked away with a handful of cards and booksmarks of authors that impressed me and will be talking them up and adding them to my Christmas list!

The first thing that struck me most about the book fair was that there were SO many people. Many authors and many shoppers. I was impressed with the quality of the small and self published books, good covers, lovely personable authors. And the buyers... those who were breaking out their wallets were buying in bulk - armfulls, bagfulls, one lady brought a child to carry the overage. Talk among the established authors was concern about numbers and the market and contracts that might or might not be forthcoming. It was no small thing that the bookfair came on the heels of the announcement that Joseph Beth Booksellers was filing for bankruptcy.
The new authors I met were upbeat and had some interesting experiences, so that's great to hear. Self published nonfiction seemed to do well, especially that with a local connection and/or ghosts!

It was wonderful to go and chat and see all the support for all those authors and books. If there is a book fair near you I hope you attend, even if you can't afford to buy a lot, you can talk and listen and learn and, well, just soak in the love of the written word. And when you walk away, you can share what you learned and show some of that love for the authors. Writers who don't read baffle me. Writers who don't support other authors, make my eyes cross. Readers read. It's not them against you. If they read a good book, they want another one. If you write good books then you should support authors who write them too, it's just the right thing to do.

Toward that end the wonderful authors I spoke with yesterday:(alphabetical)
Irene Brand - http://www.irenebrand.com/
Ann Gabhart - http://www.annhgabhart.com/
Molly Harper - http://www.mollyharper.com/
Jennifer Degler
Allie Pleiter - http://www.alliepleiter.com/
Patricia Rice - http://www.patriciarice.com/
Jan Scarbrough - http://www.janscarbrough.com/

There were others but I can't remember names and I don't seem them all listed in the website sooooo when I think of them, I'll share - until then if you aren't buying at least be a good promoter :)

The REAL power of words

2010-11-09T06:12:00.000-08:00

Some people think the power of words lie in their ability to persuade or sell or incite or provoke or inspire and in order to do those things those words must be BIG and IMPORTANT and come at you like a wall or a wave that cannot be ignored.

Those folks might just be the kind who seldom listen to the words of others because they have given themselves permission to dismiss anything that doesn't carry the proper weight - meaning things they don't agree with or did not think of themselves :). (As an aside - this sentence is a homage to the use of words - I could have said - those people usually value their own words more than anyone else's. But I chose each word carefully.
BREAKDOWN: 1)folks = friendly 2) might just be = benefit of the doubt plus actually puts distance between the folks and the unflattering conclusion, 3)kind = a word that softens perception, 4)seldom = sidestepping absolutes, because they have given themselves = giving is a nice word, permission is what nice folks want and they have done this themselves, it's not me judging. 5) emoticon - it's not a word but it's a tool, as all words are, to convey the sense that the writer means this as a lighthearted observation.

Okay - that's not actually what the topic was but can't resist the chance to share the why and wherefores of using WORDS!
All words have power. There is a reason for the God/Logos connection, for calling the Bible the Word of God. All words have weight. And the more wisely we use them, the more power they have.

The book of James reminds us that an animal as large as a horse is controlled by the mouth and so our lives could be brought into line if we could learn to control OUR mouths.

Nothing has demonstrated this more to me than a phone call last week - after literally years (I often stop and ask myself if EVERYTHING authors do for work could be deemed Literal?) of being beaten down at both writing and work (edits that ranged from nitpicky to abusive, an old agent who had lost interest and kept telling me it wasn't right redo it, publishers who's support wavered, a job where I answer phones, do all the internet, run errands, write radio ad copy, go out on jobs, do warranties and all office work for min wage) after all that I was sad and found writing a chore I didn't think I could do anymore. I actually sent out to my fellow writers - What if I can't do it again? What if I can't write another proposal?
Last week I wrote 3 chapters and LOVED It.

What magical words did my agent say that changed everything? Were they a wall? A wave? BIG? Important? Insightful?

You judge - she said in regards to a book that is getting some good editor attention : "No matter what happens, we know this was the right book. This is a good book."

Everyone wants to hear the equivalent - good job! You did the right thing. No matter what happens, you are of value.

If you haven't done that lately for someone try it today. Tell someone you appreciate them, that they have value. You will see just how much power there can be in a few simple words.

Update

2010-11-02T07:36:00.000-07:00

I've left the post about Their First Noel up to share the story about Theo Anderson's writing a bit longer. Just updating today to announced the Their First Noel was just nominated for a Romantic Times Reviewer's Choice Award. A first for me.

Fun - congrats to all nominees.

Don't forget to vote today.

The First Noel and other firsts

2010-10-27T07:21:00.000-07:00

I have a new book out this month, a sweet Christmas romance titled, Their First Noel.

It's a story about a southern baker and a New England builder with totally different outlooks on life who work together to help her enter a gingerbread house contest, as a means for her to spend time in Vermont in hopes of finding her birth father and seeing her first real snow fall.

The Bible verse: Proverbs 16:9 In his heart a man plans his course, but the Lord determines his steps.

I had no idea the steps God had in mind for this book, that they would include great sadness and a humble gift, that God would take these things and use them to help others hear about something - someone - important.

The First and most important thing you have to know about this book and story is that it is not about me. I love this book. I love the story and characters. Love them. But then I could say the same about all my characters. I have always done my best with each book (though sometimes it wasn't THE best result). Being a series book, it's as much about distribution and cover and publisher and many other things as it is about my name/writing. What has happened with this book is about the power of love.

That love takes many forms. A mother's love for a child, a writer's love for the dream of having your voice heard, the love of God for the broken hearted.

In short, while writing this book I reconnected with someone who's friendship went back all the way to grade school. We caught up on line, talked about our sons and our lives and through that I learned that her son had begun writing. Through Facebook and his blog, I got to read his work and catch up with his mom and it was through Facebook that I learned of Theo's untimely passing last November. He was just 18.

Theo Anderson had the kind of talent that comes when a writer is bold enough to open their heart and write the truth. His work is raw and emotional and good.

Nothing seemed adequate to offer comfort but there was something I could offer that all writers long for -- a place to be heard. So began the journey of getting a few lines of Theo's poetry in the dedication to Their First Noel. From that point everything was out of my hands - each step with the book seemed to have it's own energy. Schedules worked out to allow for timing to get things in order. The book then began to be highlighted when the Steeple Hill used the cover on their catalog (a first for me with Love Inspired) then many people began contacting me to guest blog and do online and radio interviews. Romantic Times Book Review Magazine made it a Top Pick with 4.5 stars (first they've given me in my career) Both of these mean more people will be exposed to the book than usual. Library Journal also gave it a wonderful review (yet another first for one of my series romances)- meaning that some libraries will be ordering it and giving it an even longer reader life.

This isn't my doing. This is about a blessing that gives Theo a voice and a way to share his talent with others.
People make plans but God orders our steps. How cool is that?

Even if you don't buy the book in a store, you can pick it up and read Theo's poem facing Chapter One (another first for me in a book - but it means that anyone who picks up the book to read or even just to check out will see his words). If you want to read more of his work or hear his story:

http://theodoreanderson.blogspot.com/
http://www.ryanlichtsangbipolarfoundation.org/site/c.ltJZJ8MMIsE/b.2107363/k.973C/Your_Stories.htm (scroll down, it's the second story)

Memorials may be made to
Theo Anderson Memorial Fund for adolescent bipolar research
200 First Street
Rochester, MN 55905

The Work

2010-10-21T12:29:00.000-07:00

Someone has been sharing pieces written by a long time writer about 'protecting the work' preaching the importance of making others take your writing time seriously. I get that. Honest. I began writing when my kids were in diapers. I wrote through every stage from colic to college, 6 moves through, family crisis and health issues, through part time jobs and full time job loss and while I always took my writing seriously (and raised my kids to do the same) the thing that taught me was just the opposite.
The work is not your life. Protect the stuff that isn't the work.

Protect the joy. Protect the fun. Protect your health. Protect your relationships. Protect the adventure. Yes, even protect the heartbreak. Don't subvert all that to 'the work'. Get your priorities straight. If you are always in the business of protecting the work, in this case, writing, then you are never in the moment, never fully experiencing life.

I can still remember making the choice to leave a party early to go home and write. I wondered at the time where my joy had gone and promised not to let 'the work' take over to that extent again. It doesn't happen, says the person who took notes during her emergency room visit (causing the monitors to go off when my pressing the pen in my fingers cut off the tubing).

This fall I was so focused on 'the work' but 'the work' wasn't cooperating. Still, I did that 'put work first' thing and pressed on writing. What I've ended up with is page after page I've had to delete because I didn't have perspective.

The truth was that the end of the last chapter was a weak foundation. That's not the issue here, though. It's that I'd have seen that a lot sooner if I had remembered to protect the stuff that matters, to stop spinning my wheels, to set the laptop on the tabletop and take my lap out for a walk.

Writing - or whatever your passion or hobby or work - should be taken seriously. It does take time and commitment and focus, but then so does anything worthwhile. Your life is worthwhile. Protect it.

If you get writer's block, build on it.

2010-10-09T05:41:00.000-07:00

I used to say I didn't believe in writer's block but with age and experience comes the wisdom that just because it never happened to me doesn't mean it doesn't happen or isn't very real to someone else.

Most cases I have heard of have to do with a kind of hitting a wall, usually of the writer's own making, a wall of fear. A big advance, an unexpected mega bestseller, an honor that feels undeserved, or deserved but...

What if I can't do it again? What if that was all there was in me? What if that's all I had to say? What if I don't really want to do that again? What if I can't deliver what people are expecting? How can anything I do merit that kind of money, praise, recognition, anticipation? It doesn't have to be a huge thing, of course, it can be just knowing your critique group thinks your present work is "IT" and wondering - how do I write up to that?

If you dwell on that, I can see how it would cause you to freeze up. But if you have the ability to build a wall strong enough and scary enough to cut you off from your creative drive, you have the ability to take that writer's block and build on it.

One... word...at...a...time.

The key is to get those words, to do SOMETHING, to WRITE! Scribble in notebooks and tell yourself no one will ever see it, if that helps. Talk your story into a digital voice recorder. Blog it. Put it in a file marked "practice" or "just stuff". Tweet it out if it comes down to that.

Every day people do things they think they cannot do. I mean tough stuff. This is just writing. Just words. Slap some down, then some more, add a few more and when you have enough to go back and work with, fix them up and move on. You can do it, if you get out of your own way.

Says the writer who has been avoiding writing for 2 weeks. Okay, here goes... chapter 6...

Throwing myself...

2010-10-04T05:45:00.000-07:00

...into another week.

It's not as easy as it sounds. Not with all that weighs me down. I carry with me all the stuff I need to get done (years of frustration, laziness, promises, disappointments, bad decisions and more). That fills a great big suitcase. I have another suitcase full of stuff I wish I had done, plan to do when I get the chance or when I lose weight or when I have the money, etc and all the things I know I will NEVER do but really should.

Those never far away, I slip on my backpack full of worry, about kids and career and pleasing God and, yes, pleasing the whole wide world.
An overcoat of shame comes next. Lined with guilt and embarrassment for my many mistakes, my bad choices, all the things I procrastinated on that have come back to roost.
I clomp along in the over-sized shoes of looking at other's kids and careers and talent and yes, even blessings from on high and wondering why can't I have those things? I struggle along further, wriggling into this funky, awful, ill-fitting and itchy hand-made hat of fear - fear of health problems, fear of loss, fear of being found out as a fraud - crammed down onto my head, almost covering my eyes.

All this I put on usually even before my feet hit the floor in the morning. In short, I am a mess.

That is how I report to work each and every day and every day when I enter the lobby of my life, often having picked up a few extra issues like remembering I am way behind on something vital or that I don't have enough money to pay all my bills glom onto me like old used gum or TP stuck to my shoe. And every day, first thing, the invisible voice behind the smoked glass in the reception area tells me - "'Morning, Jones, the Boss wants to see you."

I schlep onto the elevator and press the button to take me to the top, and then a litter higher still. The ride up is filled with the Muzak of my misery. "You're no good, you're no good, you're no good, baby, you're no good" sung in perfect pop vocal choral harmony with an snappy beat, easy to dance to. Then the bell dings and I have arrived.
The doors whoosh open. The day streams in to meet me. There is no marble hallway in this building. No high-haired secretary to usher me inside.No humongous desk dominated by a black swivel chair. There is only me and the Boss and this day stretched out before me - vast and deep and as-yet, undefined.
It's as if my toes rest on the threshold of the sky.
And from inside the unknown, the question - Well, what are you going to do?

Hang back? Proceed with caution? Step out boldly in faith?
Today I chose none of the above. Today, even half-blinded by fear and nearly completely encumbered by all my baggage, I think that I will throw myself across the brink, not just into the day, but into the Hands of God.

Here we go... The Lord is my shepherd and I trust him to catch me.
amen.

To Finish... and begin again

2010-09-26T07:01:00.000-07:00

I have written 36 published novels in the last 15 years and spent 5 years before that trying to get published. In that time we lived all over Kentucky (Louisville, Lexington, Versailles, Taylorsville), in Cincinnati and in Kansas City and in each of those places I belonged to one or more writers groups. I was almost always the most published author in those groups. Rarely was I the most talented writer.

I was, however, the one who actually FINISHED my projects. FINISHED meaning wrote to the end for starters, and once that had been accomplished editing and reediting and actually making CHANGES then submitting that work to agents and editors.

It sounds so simple but every where I meet with aspiring writers a theme begins to arise. They love starting work but get bored or discouraged and quit and/or move on to something new. The next group finishes the writing but then never finishes with it, they write and rewrite the same project over and over according to each new rule they hear or opinion they get. Just as likely to tank a project, refusing to listen to anyone and not wanting to change a thing. Last but not least, submitting work - it's hard, it's risky, it's humbling. But it's part of the work.

The challenge I would give to all aspiring authors today is, no matter how you 'feel' about your work at this moment (and trust me authors write each other all the times saying things like - I want to kill all my characters today or I think I'll give back my advance and get a job in retail - at some point in the process) FINISH IT.

Write all the way to THE END. Set it aside if that's your style but do not start anything new until you finish your current work in progress.

When you have done that, begin again and do the same. No matter what happens with the work, you have something then. A finished book or story or poem or article -- and that's one of the sweetest things you will ever have as a writer. You did it.

You Are Cordially Invited...

2010-09-17T12:04:00.000-07:00

...to get the %#@!*%$&! over yourself.

(excuse my language - or lack of it ;))

I can't tell you how long I've wanted to have cards made up looking all formal and engraved stating just that. The biggest problem is, how could I ever afford to keep my pockets stocked with the things?

Maybe it's the Internet, with it's all out go not much input model, or maybe it's the stress of modern life with the pressure of everything from finances to family that makes us more aggressive, or maybe it's that people have lost their sense of humor, of citizenship, of fairness, of live and let live-ness. Sigh. I don't know the root cause but I do know that almost every day I run across someone who doesn't want to share their opinion they want to shout it and in doing so drown out all opinions of others who share the planet.

What happened to back and forth, give and take, agreeing to disagree and different strokes for different folks?

Today I got treated to an opinion piece of an author who wanted to make it known that only his kind of writing has any value at all, that what he deems "kitschy" (meaning entertaining? sentimental? interesting?) writing is simply not good. It's an ongoing theme for this writer who actually lists his website as the site of "critically acclaimed writer so and so" (I could do the same, I have awards, some of them very literary, made lists, been well reveiwed - I'd rather have readers letters and kind words though, which are my fav measure of success).

He's not alone in his point of view, of course and I don't get it. (But obviously it got to me, I admit it) except perhaps it's a kind of viagra for the limp literary ego to run down others in order to make one's self feel better. Yeah, that's blunt but since not too many people read my blog, I'm lettin' it stay in my blog - because I feel like I have to speak up for all the people who read and write... well, whatever they LOVE to read and write.

Good for you! I mean it, it is good for you - to paraphrase Auntie Mame - Reading is like a banquet and too many poor souls are starving to death.

Enjoy!!

Live and LEARN!

2010-09-12T06:18:00.000-07:00

Sometimes the best way to learn something is to Teach it!

Gave a workshop session recently and am still going over what I might have done better, what I wish I had added, or asked or done... angst, regret, hoping it was helpful. The one thing not on the veritable endless buffet of 'if only's is the prep work for the presentation.

Like a massive closet clear out, getting ready to share what I think are the most valuable lessons of finding readers in the age of the internet meant I had to get rid of the stuff in my mental closet that didn't work and organize the rest. Whew!

Will share a bit about that - including adding a blog list culled from my own MUST CLICK list - later this week but today I want to issue the challenge you (Yes, YOU, I may only have One reader, but that doesn't mean you don't have to do the work!!)
If there is an area in your life, your work, your writing that needs to be sorted out, create a lesson plan, an outline, a handout with the idea in mind - this is what I would tell someone who was facing the things that I have dealt with, that I do, that I believe, hope for, work towards. This is my experience. This is my vision, This is what is important to me.

Imagine what you could accomplish if you set that out for yourself! If you embraced the value of what is already in you and stretched yourself to find out how to do and be better at it!

You may surprise yourself by what you know but also by what you need to learn in order to make that lesson plan. Live and learn used to seem like such a passive statement to me. A shrug off. Eh, whatever, live and learn.

Today it sounds like the best kind of encouragement - LIVE and learn, never stop learning, even from yourself.

The Kindest Cuts

2010-09-02T07:09:00.000-07:00

If you are the kind of writer who doubts you need an editor then you are not reading nearly enough!
That's the conclusion I came to during my reading this summer (some thoughts about what I read at the end) and the inspiration I hope other writers consider.

This is not a 'blame the editor' kind of deal here, this is a THANK YOU to every editor I've ever had whose keen eye and kind cuts shaped my books into something more readable, more reachable than my original offering. I've always said "I never had an editor make a book worse by cutting something." (there have been a couple exceptions to that but in 36 books, well, that speaks to the kinds of great editors are out there!) Editors are partners. They are a writer's safety net. They do not want a crummy book out there with their stamp on it any more than you do.

I actually wish I had more editors in my life, editors FOR my life, especially when I am about to do or say something really stupid! (tap tap tap - is that really want you meant to say/do?) Someone to point out the inconsistencies in my thinking, the things I have missed that might make a world of difference in the outcome, and someone to tell me when I've done a good job.

Of course in life as in writing, you are responsible for yourself. Your name is on the cover and you are the one who has to live with the consequences. I have some friends like that, but really, in life we're mostly out there on our own, editorless. It makes me appreciate those good friends and editors all the more. Thank you, thank you, thank you!

My summer reading:
I was going to name names but decided that might be tacky and I don't want to stray into book review territory. It's about how editing might have changed these books so I'll make up my own titles for the tomes to give an idea of what kind of book/issue is bugging me.

Life Kicked Me in the Teeth and what I Learned from It: what was touted as an inspirational personal story that would change how we think about a pretty common health issue read like a Doctoral Thesis without the pizzazz. I kept thinking the whole time I have never had an editor who would have let me put something like this out without at least challenging me to get to the point, connect to the readers, make it real.
My daughter's assessment of it: A feast of toast. That summed it up perfectly :)

Itty Bitty B-lister with Big, Big Talent, a memoir - Love this actress, love to see her and hear her in roles and in interviews. Can't help wondering if her editor suffered from the same case of star struckiness. Again, a case of not getting to the point or sticking to one point with a big dose of what IS your point(half way through the book and we know more about stuff done in college than about the 20 years since in show biz).

Selling Made Simple = maybe too simple as this motivational book, many years in print but recently redone for the modern marketplace has wonderful basic idea darts presented with the all the deft clarity of dropping cinder blocks. And I mean blocks. Blocks of text that hid a gem of information in repetitive restatements of that information, sometimes up to 4 times per page. A shift in editing could have brought that out. If less is more, this book could have been a whole lot more!

A Whole Lot of Begatting Going On!

2010-06-18T13:52:00.000-07:00

And I don't mean genealogical who's who either.

Nope, thinking about a rejection I got this week for a book I totally ADORE and want to write so much I can taste it, and that is in no small part because it's about women in 1970 writing a cookbook! Oddly enough I am not sad about said rejection. In fact, when my agent told me it was like "Whew, now that's out of the way we can get on with getting the book where it belongs!"

And I don't know if it was confidence, faith, foolishness or bravado, or perhaps all of the above, but the funny thing is, that it resulted in a series of events happening that supported my belief in this book which then ramped up my excitement to write it, which made me believe even more in it and so on and so on. My open attitude begat a better result which begat... you get it.

Because of this I know I will one day write this book. It will be my big book - even if it's a little something I end up self publishing - I just KNOW IT.

In mulling this over I can't help thinking that I should be getting better at begetting. I believe in what I'm doing, I become open to whatever can make that happen, I make better choices, I believe in those choices, I am open to new ideas to make it happen, I believe I will find a way, even if it's not the way I first imagined and on we go.
It can work in writing, in publishing, in business, in dieting (I mean, if you're concerned about that kind of thing, she says after a two day junk food rampage that's left her bloated and grumpy)in relationships, in anything, right?

One firm, positive belief at a time.

Weed Whacking for Writers

2010-06-08T13:49:00.000-07:00

I think that itch between my ears might be weeds overgrowing the area in my mind that should be occupied by writing stuff!

Laziness has set in. I'd like to blame summer but it was snaking it's way into my work ethic while the mornings were still cool and the days dark and damp with lingering winter weather. I try to get the engine going, pulling on the starter cord again and again. I should... I should... I should be getting more done.

Sputter. Sputter. Cough. Clunk.

Maybe I'll try again after some cold sweet tea....

Unlike yardwork nobody is coming knocking door to door saying "Any writing you need done, lady?" so I guess it's up to me to figure out how to do more than just keep a path cleared with the now and then blog and pay the bills writing. I need to clear the weeds away. The best way to do that is to make sure I have the right tools -- off to the "school supply" aisle at Target!

Hours later.... ;) ... colorful composition books, a new pack of pens and a plan for a fresh approach is hatched. I will write the first draft of the book due in August fast, without nitpicking, and without the distraction of computer stuff... yep, going it the old fashioned way, with pen and paper.

It's awesome the power of a pretty notebook and a new pen. Ah, the siren call of pages and pages of untouched paper bound and waiting to be filled with plotting, witty dialog, romance and the adventures of Otis and Earnest T (the dog's in the next book).

Next up - planting a garden to feed my writerly soul, after the weeds are cleared, I need to set out the rows, plunk down the markers and get my hands dirty with the ink of possibilities! What's growing between YOUR ears??

(PS _ still having trouble replying to comments... sometimes I can come in sideways through IE but there ya go...)

Memorial Day

2010-05-30T06:17:00.000-07:00

Busy busy week - new job, revision deadline, final edits on Nov 1 book, life in general. Many thoughts, no time or energy to get them all down. They all pile up and get in a tangle, it seems like every one of them is exactly the same amount of urgent, they all seem so important and I tell myself that writing is my calling, and through it and my work and family, I serve others - write that book, do that edit, answer that phone, start that new idea, read up on this, clean that, feed those oh and don't forget to exercise, eat right, get enough sleep and tend to your blog!

It all had me looking forward to the 'long weekend'. Only now in the middle of that weekend I can't help thinking that it's not a 'long weekend' any more than Thanksgiving is just a 'lazy Thursday'. Memorial Day was set aside to remember those who have lost their lives in the service of their country... and we now include all who have served and all who currently serve. They are so deserving. Not just of our remembering but of our support and of our time. Writers especially should be thankful because without the freedoms our military protects, our voices might well be silenced.

So today, as we do every year, my husband and I will go to Zachary Taylor National Cemetery and stand at the grave of his father, Clyde Jones, and give thanks for his service and in my heart I will be paying respect to my own father, Alpha Shorter, for his service. I will set aside all my so called urgent needs to contemplate and give gratitude for all the members of my family who have served in the military, and all those families who have served in our own way as our loved one's service puts them in harm's way and us in a lifestyle that not all people appreciate or understand.

Today, I will stop and pray for all those who, when they hear the call - who will keep our country strong and free? Answer, I will. And I will be grateful.

Why isn't Church like Cheers?

2010-05-23T12:38:00.000-07:00

Sigh. We skipped church today. This isn't the first time. We've skipped a lot lately.

And nobody seems to have noticed.
Admitting this in a blog is kind of scary for a Christian writer.

Now, even we tend to think of ourselves as 'new' at our church but the truth is we've been going there for over 4 years and been members for about 3. We have volunteered for all sorts of things, only to never get a call to help. We have joined small groups only to never get a call (or email - we always give our email with these things) to attend. We have attended Bible studies, which have been good starts but then fell apart when people didn't understand the material and dropped out and nobody called or emailed to see if we could fix it. We have belonged to groups. We have certainly not followed through as we had planned to on some of these things, I own that.

I adore my bookclub and I miss sometimes but when I show up they are so happy to see me - to me that is the BEST part of our church, the monthly bookclub. I also love our minister and think he has an amazing spirit and such enthusiasm.

And Larry. I love Larry. Of all the people We've met, he is one of the few that after all these years know our names.

This matters to us. We think about it a lot. We take the blame for our part of it. Maybe we're at the wrong church. Maybe we're not likable enough, maybe we aren't trying hard enough... except, you know, there is this place I meet friends for coffee on Saturday mornings and have done so for a little bit longer than we have belonged to this church. We almost never meet there anymore but once in a while I go in and they immediately recognize me, we chat and laugh. I feel welcome. They are glad I came through the doors - I don't doubt that. A few weeks ago the lady who has sat in front of me for a couple years at our church (in the small service - maybe just over 100 people) and served me Communion many times asked me if it was my first visit when I went to the help desk to try to volunteer again. At least she spoke to me.

Yesterday I'm at King's Island at the Way Too Much TV musical revue (LOVED IT) and when they launched into the theme from Cheers and all I could think was -- why isn't church like Cheers? It's what we really want from church, isn't it? A place where people go to know our troubles are all the same, a place where people know your name. A place where broken people come together to know that they matter. (yes, there are other reasons, but without this starting point, we might as well be watching church on TV or doing a home Bible study and donating money to good causes)

Theme from Cheers By Gary Portnoy
Making your way in the world today takes everything you've got
Taking a break from all your worries, sure would help a lot
Wouldn't you like to get away?
Sometimes you want to go,
where everybody knows your name
and they're always glad you came
You want to go where people can see
your troubles are all the same
You want to be where everybody knows your name.

Bye bye church, not that anyone will call.
or email.

Run away! Run away!

2010-05-17T06:48:00.000-07:00

I probably WON'T do it but since I may be pitching in with my hubby's business after next week, am feeling this strong pull to hop in the car and go someplace for the next few days. Extended family is going to King's Island Amusement Park on Saturday so have to be home again by Friday....

I just can't imagine where to go - a short distance for a short trip or short notice.
Just the idea creates it's own energy - sort of like those few moments when you realize you have a new idea for a book or story, huh?

Possibilities! What are you considering right now that has your sensing jumping and your brain engine pumping? I hope it's something amazing.

The Ever Hopeful Heart

2010-05-11T08:05:00.000-07:00

As a Romance writer I never really bought into the hype about Valentine's Day (and often spent it at booksignings or working). Seems to reason as a long time Mom and a writer of Hen Lit, Mommy Lit and Women's Fiction I'd have lost my starry eyed vision of Mother's Days filled with breakfast in bed, pampering and special recognition. But buying my own gift?

Sheesh. Yep, This year I had to round up the family and ask them to take me to breakfast - McDonalds. My son had given me his gift earlier in the week but my daughter didn't do anything and my husband is of the "you're not MY mother" school of Mother's Day so... so while he went off to visit his Mom and I took my daughter to her monthly boardgame group, he told me to buy what I wanted for Mother's Day and they'd reimburse me.

Oh, Mother's Day how like trying to have a writing career are you! Dreams and expectation built up by the stories of how it could be, would be, WILL be when that big break comes, followed by the mundane work of every day, self propelled direction and more personal investment than you'd planned on. And then... well, who knows?

In case you're wondering I got myself Julia Child! the French Chef. A dvd set of her biography and some of her shows. I love it. My family hasn't even asked what it is... or picked up the receipt on the counter to reimburse me.

A lot like the way they are about my writing.

But I'm still at it... and next year, come Mother's Day I will be waiting in bed, my tummy rumbling and with a whole lot of great words ready to get down on the page.

Happy M other's Day

2010-05-09T08:02:00.000-07:00

Today Blogger is acting like a bad child - it just won't do as I ask! So that's why I can't respond to comments. I don't even know if this will register or just 'poof' go swirling off who knows where - just like a lot of my words as a MOM!

Okay, I love being a mom. Have always loved it, even on the bad days. I had an amazing mom myself, so came to it by good example. And it doesn't help that my kids are the kind of people I'd love to spend time with even if we weren't related.

Happy Mother's Day!

The Importance of Listening

2010-05-05T05:58:00.000-07:00

Every day so much comes AT us, noise to our ears, chaos to our eyes, clutter to our minds. We're tweeted to and blogged at and status updated and podcasted and televised to and MP3'd and sometimes even spoken to by REAL LIVE PEOPLE until it's no wonder we're confused and exhausted by the end of the day!

In many ways this is wonderful and exciting. In others, it adds to the stress of daily life and in the middle of all of it, things get lost. Okay, you've heard all the complaints about civility being dead, the ability of people under a certain age to interact is another one but for me the real problem comes down to something more basic. We have lost the art of listening.

We talk over each other, we rush through conversations, we fast forward through TV programs which we've DVRed because we're too busy to actually watch and listen to them. We skim books, blogs, we post our own status and ignore the words of others. We throw prayer darts at God and rush madly on.

No matter how wise, or cute, or clever or important you think you are, life isn't a one way deal with all arrows going out from you. Our minister preached about the process of faith being like breathing recently. He made the point that anyone who just exhales will soon die. We have to stop and take in oxygen, take in the fuel of life in order to live to the maximum - it's a cycle. Prayer works that way. Relationships work that way. Work works that way.

Writing absolutely works that way! If you want to produce something worth putting out into the world, you have to stop and take in that world. You have to listen. Listen to conversations. Listen to advice. Listen to editors. Listen to other writers. Listen to readers. Listen to life around you. Listen with your eyes, listen with your ears, listen with your mind. And when you have spent some time doing all that, listen to your heart - you may hear some amazing things.

Staying Up in a Down Industry

2010-04-29T05:31:00.000-07:00

It seems like everywhere you look around on line the news about publishing is a real downer. Numbers are down, reading is down, agent responses are down. Writers are finding it hard to keep up with all that's going down!

So what's a writer to do? What else? Keep writing, baby.

Okay, so you may have to do it with a new aim, a new direction, a new medium but if you think about it, that can be exciting too. It may not have the opportunity for the kind of financial gain many of us have dreamed of but there is still that whole - I write because I have to, I write because I can't NOT write factor which, as much as I love the day the check arrives, is the big takeaway for most writers in the long run. People will still be using words for at least a little while now ;)
and words are your domain. Use them. Keep stringing them together. Keep honing your craft and keep your eyes open for opportunities to apply all that.

The way to keep up is not to slow down. The way to Stay Up is to Never Give Up!

Life's Too Short Lists - What's on your plate?

2010-04-22T06:12:00.000-07:00

Years ago I heard Susan Elizabeth Phillips give this advice to writers - do your career a favor and stay off your editor's "Life's Too Short" list. As in, Life's too short to put up with this person.

I have tried to conduct my career that way, sometimes seeing people who are a whole walking Life's Too Short List unto themselves get ahead and grab great deals or good PR or spots on panels advising others or whatever. They rarely last, but still, it stings.

But that's not the point. Yes, if I were a better person and a more conscientious writer, that not the point part would be edited out. Guess I'm a bit petty and lazy.
THE POINT is Life IS too short for a lot of things and this weekend, I got out a blank journal and started making a list.

Life is Too Short - to eat garbage.
A revelation came to me when we went to Paul's Fruit market full of locally grown lovely fruit and veggies then on our way home made a stop at Taco Bell and felt blah the rest of the day.
I live in a city (and a country, for that matter) where amazing, wonderful, healthy, interesting and plentiful foods are available year round. Not always cheaply but then if I ate less and ate better, the benefits would outweigh the costs (and I might not outweigh a small Volkswagon!)

Monday made eggplant/zucchini/shallots/mushrooms/roasted tomatoes/garlic and rigatoni.
Yesterday ate BBQ from a guy by the side of the road yesterday (yes, that counts, it was REAL meat (he only made smoked pork butt - oh and lots of jokes about people taking a bite out of his butt etc. I took it from the hands of the guy who cooked it, and it was pretty darn good.

Today - don't know what on my plate but it won't be junk. Life's Too Short.

This no garbage philosophy can apply to writing, of course, and reading. Maybe I should write less and be happier with the quality. Well, good news, I've been doing that, which may also contribute to weight loss because I haven't gotten a contract this year! Trying to look at it all in a new way...
What's on your Life's Too Short to... List?

Words Is Sneaky

2010-04-18T07:57:00.000-07:00

I don't mean the way words sometimes say things we didn't intend, or that we DID intend but thought we were so clever that we had tucked the meaning down deep inside but it came shining right through anyway. That would be tricky. Make no mistake -- words is tricky.

But they are also sneaky. As in they sneak up on you. Usually when you are doing things that make it hard to catch them. Like when you send a note to an editor and say "I have this great idea for a book that would be a great idea for a series, would you be interested?" and the editors says "yes". That's when the words -- not necessarily the words you expected -- will start swirling, and stewing, and simmering and brewing. Glug. Glub. Blub. Surprise!

They have formed themselves into a whole 'nother story and climbed from the primordial ooze that is the writer's mind fully formed. Well, as formed as words ever get, which is pretty loose. Sometimes they stand there demanding attention until you crawl into your chair and decide to get them in shape. Sometimes the take off and carry you right along with them. Sometimes they growl at you and snap and slither under the porch and you know those words and their story will be with you a while before you can poke them enough to get them out and onto the page.

Writers talk about books being like children? Well, they are (not that my children ever slithered under the porch but as teens, they did scurry into their rooms for extended periods of time) Words, like kids, keep you up nights, thought. They make you laugh and cry and doubt yourself. They don't always behave the way you'd like.

So be warned. Words is sneaky. They may be lurking around you right now, waiting for a moment to start ganging up on you.

Annie sighs and thinks of that great idea she pitched the editor that she can't seem to write the first scene for then at the book that she IS working on that is SO NOT what she wanted to do in so many ways.

Sneaky, I tells ya.

Spring Cleaning your Brain

2010-04-13T06:12:00.000-07:00

Today it finally dawned on me that I need to get rid of a lot of stuff that has been cluttering up my mind. It's not all rubbish but it's just not useful to me anymore, if it ever was.

I am going to start with all the writer's advice online that claims they have the sure fire way to write a book that will:
1)grab an editor's attention and lead to that fab book deal of your dreams
2)be a surefire bestseller
3)prove you are a good writer and not some hack like those people with millions of books in print and a huge readership.

Right now the buzz topic is the first page - a while back it was the first sentence - and how you have to basically perform magic on the first page and all short of that is unworthy. Then writers who I assume are a-ok and certainly have some books to their names proceed to tell us how to do that. Here's what not to do (no prologue, no weather, no introspection, no action, no dialog whatever), here's what you have to do (make reader care from the first syllable, get setting, character backstory, tone of book, emotion, action, hooks, cure diseases, share secrets of great wealth in the first sentence, first page).
Rarely do they recognize that many, many well reviewed and mega selling books don't do these things, so they do not study HOW these books work w/o the benefit of their quick tip list for how to write a first page. Not all books are the same and not all readers want the same thing.

First page anxiety has me frozen. The stupid thing is the advice is being pushed by writers I don't read or actually respect in a big way (not saying they don't deserve respect, saying they are not my cuppa and not one of the ones who is inside my head has a big enough career for me to say - well, they must KNOW what they are doing). So it has to go.

Out the window.

It feels a little roomier in here already!

I will write the first page and then the next and then the next and then....

Stolen Moments

2010-04-01T08:10:00.000-07:00

It's April Fool's Day. I'm a writer. That's like an engraved invite to be totally outrageous in posting, well, anything today. I sat here for an hour trying to think of something funny and... nope. Nothing. Because right now my life is stressful and a bit uncertain. I don't laugh much anymore. The circumstances (that I know will pass, but still, they are here right now kicking my behind and weighing on my mind - no that does not mean my mind is in my behind!). They are not stealing my greater joy, but they are stealing moments of laughter, of sweetness, of productivity, of hope. IOW I am no fun lately.

I was going to go on about that but then as I was posting an email came through - a friend who's husband has been in the hospital for the better part of a year now wanted prayers for her mother in law who has cancer. Suddenly my problems seem pretty silly.

So instead of whining about the moments being stolen by thoughtless people, by the realities of the economy, by the shifting publishing marketplace, the shortcomings around my home and the distance between me and my family (who I'm convinced could make me laugh again, even if they didn't do anything but show up!), I am on my knees in gratitude for stolen moments. How wonderful that I do not feel the need to steal away from my life to grab at things that will never really make me happy. How precious to be in a position to pray for others. How sweet is this day.

Nothing can steal this realization from me - God is good and I am His.

Here's Your Permission Slip

2010-03-25T16:07:00.000-07:00

I hereby extend to you one permission slip - you have my permission to write what you want, the way you want it or to NOT write anything at all. You have my permission to write music in word form, to write things the 'rules' say are all wrong, to write complete and utter crap. You have my permission to doodle on the page or to crumple it up and throw it in a huge crate the way Dick Van Dyke did in the episode when he borrowed a novelist's mountain cabin in order to write the Great American Novel. You have my permission to do as he did and wear a funny hat, play paddle ball and wave at the nudist neighbors. Think of that as research.

You have my permission to give yourself a break. If you are reading online for writing advice or putting your work out to editors, agents, critique groups, ezines, blogs, work, magazines, newspapers, newsletters, or for school or fun or fun school, then you are getting a lot of stuff telling you "this is the way we write our books/stories/stuff". You have my permission to ignore all that.

Maybe not forever. Maybe not for everything. Maybe just for the next few hours to give yourself, your muse, your mind and your keyboard a break. Sometimes it's in those times when you give yourself permission to relax a little the best inspiration appears.

You have my permission to follow that inspiration where ever it takes you!

Maybe not writing is the right thing to do?

2010-03-22T07:53:00.000-07:00

I cannot get this proposal done. I have the rough but I keep second guessing everything. I am so sure it will be turned down and whatever time I've spent will be for nothing. Not that I'm getting anywhere spinning my wheels changing a word here and going back and adding there and never getting all the way through these initial three chapters.

And somewhere in the fog of doubt engulfing my brain, there is a small light that flashes the message - you're wasting time Not getting it done, so why are you so hung up that you will have wasted your time doing it? You clearly grasp that you are wasting your time, so better to do something and at least have a shot at a book sale.

Makes sense. Except... the hard truth about writing is that words mean things and you have to use the right word for the job to get the writing right. Like any craftsman or artist, you have to have the tools to do the job. Words are our tools.

So if I take a moment to go back over my expressed fears about this proposal I see the phrase wasting my time over and over. Am I giving myself the wrong message by using these words or hammering home what I really believe about this project and/or working with the targeted publisher?

That's the real question to ponder today. I am all for the 'finish the project before you make up your mind about it' school of writing, especially if you have stacks of unfinished pieces/unedited works/un-explored ideas. If you don't finish anything then I'd say push forward on Something then come back to this concept - maybe, sometimes, there is a real reason not to finish a work in progress.

Maybe you need to set it aside or maybe you need to re-examine what you are doing career-wise as a whole or maybe you just need to approach it from another direction. We make such a fuss about knowing your characters, knowing your subject matter, knowing the craft, knowing the business, but every now and then I think as a writer you need to take a little time to stop and see how well you know yourself.

The answer may be in your toolbox of words that you are using every day.

In Memory

2010-03-19T05:45:00.000-07:00

About ten years ago at this very time of year my husband was in San Antonio, Tx for a regional sales meeting for his former company. All the guys grumbled that they would hold it during March Madness and at every break they'd run for a TV set. One day about a dozen of them decided they'd rather have lunch in the hotel bar where the TV was, even if they only got nachos and wings to eat. So they huddled around a couple of tables with their eyes on the game.

After a few minutes a lovely older woman came to them and asked if they were there for a celebration slated at the Alamo? They told her "no" and being salesmen were charming, not jerks about the interruption but strained to keep their eyes on the game when she went on to say that her husband was very much a supporter of the Alamo preservation, etc. Then she added, He told me not to bother you all because you wouldn't possibly know who he was, that everyone has forgotten about him, but I think you might remember. He's sitting right over there. and she pointed and, again, the salesmen all obliged politely and looked.

And there sitting on a stool at the bar was Fess Parker.
Suddenly a dozen forty-ish men forgot all about March Madness and became little boys again, rushing over to meet their hero and let him know they certainly had NOT forgotten him.

Rest in Peace, a part of America's childhood ;)

It's not enough to write well

2010-03-14T09:41:00.000-07:00

I am in no mood to try to be clever about today's encouragement, y'all, because it is such a bad attitude or habit to fall into that it's just not funny.

People who aspire to write - who do not READ!

This week I was served another heapin' helpin' (hey, just because I read don't mean I don't like a good sit come rerun) of the tired ol' refrain - (insert genre or arena of publishing here - Romance, Science Fiction, Christian, Literary, E-format, Fortune Cookie) just isn't any good. Usually followed by some justification: The publishers appeal to the ignorant masses. The publisher let a small audience bully them into playing it safe. The writers are hacks. They are all the same formula. And they cost too much.

The list goes on and is usually thrown out by someone who in the next few weeks, days, hours, breaths, will voice either their intention of changing all that with their ground breaking works, or to ask people to read their work as part of a 'beta' testing process. They want to be read but they don't want to be reading. The logic makes my brain itch.
Please, if you don't respect the written word enough to buy or read other people's work, and broadly, even things you are sure you won't like, then you need to respect your own words enough to temper them with intelligence and not repeat a bunch of cliches about the miserable state of fiction (which you are not reading widely!)

I also had the privilege this week to read just the opening pages of works in progress or upcoming releases of dozens of published Christian authors in different genres, many I never read. The result was humbling. And wonderful. And a big ol' kick in the seat of the pants to take a look at my own first page and get it RIGHT. I'm not talking massive overhauls. I'm talking moving dialog to the exact right spot. Adding a word here, a sentence there. That's the power of respecting and using words, it often takes so little to make a big difference.

Simply put, reading makes you a better writer. Understanding the power of words, makes you a better reader. Being a better reading makes you a... well, you get it.

The thought for the week is that it's time to flex those reading muscles, pick up some new vocabulary and kick your creativity into high gear.

I always say - the best cure for a closed mind is an open book!

Blog fever

2010-03-08T06:03:00.000-08:00

Just a note to say I've started a more specific writing blog. I created this one to be a means of encouragement (which I needed for myself, needed to remember the joy! and because of that haven't linked to others) I think of this blog as a billboard flashing road signs but I wanted a place to talk about the nuts and bolts of writing so, of course, I chose the shower.

Best ideas come when you seem least able to take notes! Here's hoping this is a good idea that helps a few people. PS - those who have asked to link writing blogs - check out I Shower With the Most Interesting People and contact me (you may have to walk me through doing this)about linking - I'd love to!

http://ishowerwiththemostinterestingpeople.blogspot.com/
(Link on the sidebar)

Every writer needs a Fat Head

2010-03-05T06:26:00.000-08:00

We named him Fat Head. If you had ever seen him walking around you'd have understood. His head was like, more than twice the size of his hind quarters. He wasn't our cat. Fat Head wasn't anyone's cat. We was an unaltered male (that's what the vet called him and I like that phrase, I totally know guys like that ;)) and since we live in a country neighborhood, he had a path that he wandered. At first we saw him now and then. So we put food out and he came by to visit more often. Then one day he showed up and half his head was missing! (Turns out it was fur, the cat lady down the street had cleaned him up after a fight, and shaved his head!) After that we decided to tame him.
Slowly we brought him along, by this winter he began coming in our house to eat and often to sleep where it was warm. Every evening and morning we'd see his face in our door wanting to be fed. He said nothing. He really didn't do anything but his wants and personality were fully conveyed in that one moment when we saw him.

Every writer needs to try to create characters that do that for their readers. Characters that, when they pop up the reader knows them. Characters that people care about - I am telling you I have read plenty of books where if the character had shown up with half his or her head missing, I'd have thought - maybe THAT will make them more interesting.

How do you make Fat Headed characters? You make them memorable. Give them a need that the story/other characters/readers relate to. Give them a distinct characteristic. Give them a history, even if it's a mysterious history and a context(IOW don't give the impression they appeared out of nowhere and will go back to it or worse that they are operating in a vacuum, make them relate to the setting and action). These things give them a presence so distinct that even without a word you know they are on the scene. This makes them your Fat Head.

Fat Head showed up injured this week we decided he was our responsibility and took him to the vet. He had feline lukemia and the vet said he needed to be allowed to go peacefully. It's been a sad week but because of him I am actually ready to adopt another cat soon, I miss having a big lug around.
Fat Head had a great life at our house. We fed him bits of steak. We cared about him. We may have been the only humans who did and it breaks my heart we had to be the ones to decide that Tuesday was his last day on earth.

But I will always remember him. And next time I am not getting a character right, I'll ask myself, 'How can I turn this guy into a Fat Head?' and I will smile.

Joanie loves Billy Bob?

2010-02-28T16:32:00.000-08:00

Today I dumped my heroine. She deserved it. She had the wrong name.

Daria. I love the name. It has a connection to the stars and was originally chosen to clash with the heroine's sister's name, Jewel. That was when the story was about the sisters, among other things. Long story short, I am rethinking how complicated books need to be and so have untangled that book and come away with two stories. This book proposal is for the story of the romance so Daria had to go. Maybe Jewel too. We'll see.

Oddly enough, the hero was once one name then a new name when I took the stories apart, now he's back, though with a new last name. That is major because his old last name said something about him that will no longer be true in this book - his ethnic background. The subtle shift of this story meant I needed to shift his appearance, because there isn't space or need to deal with ethnic differences in the romance. But by bringing back his first name I am happy to embrace the idea that under the skin, he's the same good guy.

The heroine's daughter gets to keep her first name. It was and always has been right no matter what the story. To me, that's the magic of getting a character spot on - you can take them anywhere. You may tell a different story or reveal something new about them, but the heart of who they are remains -- and that is first and best expressed with a name.

It may take time. It may mean living with the character's name a while before you realize that's the problem. But get it right. It matters.

I know. Today while was noodling this book over, I scribbled the names down on a piece of paper and immediately sighed. Yes, that's it. That's THEM. Let the story begin.

Any writers out there reading - care to share the perfect name of a character you created? I'd love to hear them.

Cooking up a Good Story

2010-02-25T08:53:00.000-08:00

Writing... Cooking. The connection has been made before. My favorite is Roy Blount Jr's essay The Way Folks Were Meant To Eat - I read it from time to time to remind me of what I should aspire to, both by the advice and his lyrical, amazing writing.

My thinking on it is less lyrical and more pragmatic. I have been trying to piece out a proposal and have been looking over old projects to potentially cannibalize and instead found myself learning something. I am putting too much in. After giving them some time to simmer, I find I can't get the true flavor of these works. Sure, I see all the great ingredients, pathos, humor, action, relationships, romance, danger, regret, secrets, character, characters, characters -- but when they are all thrown together, it's a mess not a meal. Nothing to really sink my teeth into!

I guess I'm on this kick because my son is reorganizing our kitchen for me and throwing away tons of stuff. Suddenly I can find stuff! I can see how to use what I have in new ways, or in their best ways! Correlation to writing?

I think you get it.

This is not a smooth and clever essay on how writing relates to cooking. Give me a break, I'm posting in the space of time before I take my daughter to art class. I just didn't want to lose the thought - if your work in progress isn't getting there, maybe instead of throwing something else in there, you should go back and decide just what you're trying to serve your reader, then take a few things out, add the heat of a little hard work and see if you that doesn't deliver a delicious result.

Okay, now I'm hungry! Good eating... I mean good writing!

Sometimes a Small Comfort

2010-02-23T14:56:00.001-08:00

All is not joyous in Annie-land today. Nothing big. No bad tidings, no hopes dashed. Just a case of the everyday blues made worse when I learned via Facebook that my hubby's family had a big event that we were not invited to. Probably an oversight but that doesn't actually make it better, to be over sighted by people you love and think of often and want great things for all the time. It's an awful aloneness, to find out by accident they don't feel the same way, and then...

And then I write.

Wrote a heartfelt note to my own family, who would never do this, even by accident. Who would never turn me away, who would feed me (I allowed that cold cereal would be all right but it had to be from a box with a cartoon character on the front!). And this evening when the heaviness came over me again, I thought about tomorrow and the fact that I get to work on a book proposal for a book that I truly love. A book with a message of hope and the theme that so many of my books have - letting go. I get to spend my day with words, creating characters and dialog and a setting outside and apart from my hurt feelings, bad hair days, money troubles, whatever is going on.

Years ago a fellow writer told me she'd been reading one of my books in a little out of the way cafe when a waitress who looked like she'd never seen a day of easy work, noticed and said she'd read that book. She'd like it. A few minutes later the waitress came by again to say why she'd liked it - it had made her feel good after a bad day. The waitress found reasons to stop by my friend's table the whole time she was there to talk about my book. My friend wanted me to know that and to remind me of something that has become my writing motto: It is never a wasted effort to lift a weary heart.

I was always humbled to think my writing did that for others. I am encouraged and comforted to know writing can also do this for me, just by sitting down and putting my hands on the keyboard...

Writing helps.

Stop at the Happy Place!

2010-02-14T08:55:00.000-08:00

Writers are not always happy people, especially when we are mulling over our works in progress or even our finished works. Tell me you haven't had that moment of finding/remember/realizing a huge typo or plot hole or grammar goof moments AFTER you hit send or put a manuscript in the mail box and wanted to crawl in after it and fix it.

When my first book came out I'd say "While other people are having labels printed that say "local author" or "autographed copy!" I want my roll of little gold stickers to promise: "My next book will be better!".

I think I lived up that promise and tried to make each book better in some way. The thing is that that process of trying to improve constantly butts up again always fearing it isn't good enough. It becomes a cycle that would leave any author's head spinning. It keeps a lot of us from finishing projects and others of us from ever feeling ready to submit what we do finish.

We all have them. Those unpolished gems and ideas that we go back to again and again but never quite get right. Well, yesterday I finished a proposal on the mother of all my works in progress that never seemed to actually make progress! It's rough. I need to redo the synopsis but there are four chapters that are better than anything I've done so far of a book I have wanted to get around to for years but never thought I could do justice.

Last night I went to sleep content (well, as content as a person muddling through a bout of sinusitis CAN be) and woke up with the realization that my main character had... well, I can't tell you what she did but I can tell you that it was the perfect place to end the proposal. It left the reader hanging AND it gave me the perfect place to pick up and begin again. THIS, I think, is the writer's Happy Place.

I am so glad I got there and hope you get there soon too. For you it may be writing THE END or organizing the outline or getting the poem just so but one thing I'd like to leave you with is that you will NEVER, EVER, EVER reach that much sought after spot unless you get out that project that is intimidating you, taunting you, tempting you and WRITE. If it hasn't let go of you, don't let go of it.

Even if nothing comes of it right away, who knows? It might be the project you were thinking of when you thought - next time I'll do better. Welcome to your Happy Place.

Donut Jones watches the Dog Show

2010-02-07T14:57:00.000-08:00

One of my dogs, Donut, watches TV. Not just anything on TV. No, this little Golden/Dachshund/Basset mix is a very discriminating viewer. He likes to watch other dogs. Dogs 101 and It's Me Or The Dog are big favs, as are certain commercials for doggie products (puppies peddling potty paper are not a priority for this pooch, btw) but his most favorite are dog shows. The Eukanuba Dog Show on Animal Planet was a big hit last night, though I don't know that he'd have made the same choices for Best in Show. In fact, if it was left up to Donut he'd have thought he would have made a pretty good choice. And further more, he'd have picked his best buddy on the planet, Bacon (our Carin Terrier/Dachshund mix) as best sporting dog because he's always a good sport and up for anything, and his next best pal, Moxie Miss Tee, a tabby cat, as best working breed because of all the mice she catches. Yeah, Moxie is not a dog, but that wouldn't matter to Donut, to him she's the best.

Sometimes when I go into a bookstore or read articles about what's hot in publishing I come to the conclusion that I understand publishing about as much as Donut understands the dog show. I love it. Love to gawk at it and dream about it. I would love to play a bigger role in it but when I see what makes the lists, gets the praise for being the best example or gets the big endorsements, I don't always get it. Really? That's what makes a bestseller? That's what makes the literati swoon?

Donut just likes it when the dogs run toward the camera. I just like it when the story sweeps me up and runs away with me. I appreciate the beauty and athleticism and symmetry when a good writer gets it right but I also love it when things mix it up and make me care when I really didn't want to - the way my dogs always have.

I guess that makes me a lit-mutt. A happy accident both in my writing and my reading. I may never make best in breed.

Donut doesn't care that he's not in the big show. He's happy. He's loved by a select few, and is found annoying by a few more. I don't know what the point is other than us mutts need love too! So maybe next time you are in a bookstore to buy a new book, think about adopting an author/book that doesn't come preapproved by all the high falutin' judges and if you have some writing that fits in that category, I hope someone adopts your work too!

woof!

Writing Hard. Make Head Hurt.

2010-02-04T07:10:00.000-08:00

Those words used to send my family scattering as I emerged from my home office after long day at the keyboard. Those days the writing, and often REwriting, leave me bleary eyed, cranky, sometimes hungry or dehydrated, and frustrated at my shortcomings.
Funny thing, I haven't felt that way for a while. Just as I hadn't been feeling the joy in writing for a time, which inspired me to blog about trying to get it back, keep it up.

Connection? I think so.
For me joy comes from feeling productive, from learning new things, from feeling that no matter what happens after that moment, I gave it my best. You can't do all that for long without meeting frustration and distraction and putting in a little hard work. I think of people who work at thankless jobs that make my world better. I think of teachers and nurses and stay at home moms and so many more. Their work is harder than mine, and their work headaches are often also work heartaches but oh when they have those moments of joy...

It all goes together. Hard work. Big joy.

I don't have a huge career but I have books I am proud of. In fact, there are passages in books I've written that make me happy just to remember them.
So, in the long run, I'd rather have these headaches and angst punctuated by moments of joy and a sense of accomplishment than to simply plod along settling for good enough.

So, without sounding preachy the lesson of the day is: Writing hard, Make head hurt. Totally worth it. (Even if it doesn't result in a big publishing deal, massive sales numbers, legions of fans). Totally.

What a delicate thing

2010-01-28T07:49:00.001-08:00

The writer's ego can be. I didn't actually stop blogging here because of that, but because my other job went bye bye and one of the reasons given was "Blogging doesn't do anything."

It just got me. Not that I thought I had anything important to say or a fan base or any of that junk, it's just that not often someone says to you - what you do doesn't matter. (and esp since the option was to let someone set up phony blogs for their company - that if you go to them are gibberish or never updated and while all that junk, and it is junk, gets them on page one, my blog used to put them on every page after and now... well, you get it).

I think this it irks me when people call someone else's writing efforts trash or lump whole genres, subgenres, markets, houses, lines, styles and so on of writing together as no good. Who are you to decided that as an absolute? No good to who?

So anyway, in brief, that's why I stopped blogging. Oh, and Christmas, and a deadline and changing agents and the motherboard on my computer going ker-floooey (yes, that's the sound it makes when that happens - just whirr, whirr, whirr, ker-flooey!).

My mission now is to write the stuff I need to/want to write and to find my sense of humor again. Man, I miss that. I am so sick of being stressed and serious.

Oh, and FYI - a link to a contest I have to post to enter, but I don't know if I will enter but here's the link:Kidlit Contest

I wonder what sound it makes when you try to gear yourself back up again? Grrr-grrr-grr-eOWWW?

All fair in Love and... writing?

2009-11-30T18:44:00.000-08:00

The house next door to mine burned down on Thanksgiving night. I mean it's gone. We stepped outside, heard the snap and pop and then saw the flames and watched as the fire department used pumper trucks because of a problem with the hydrants. It was unlike anything I've ever seen. My son video taped it - he just got a new camera - and after a little bit, he put the camera down and said he thought that was enough.
He just knew it.

I'm not sure that as writers we come with that built in, "that's enough, that's too far, that's not fodder for future writing" voice in our heads. My kids have had to, at times, warn me that whatever they had just said or done or were going through was NOT going to end up in my writing. I agreed and honored that but I didn't get it.

Myself, when I was rushed to the ER after a reaction to medicine stopped my heart, I frustrated the docs there because whenever they left me for even a few minutes, my sensors went off and they couldn't figure out why. I knew why. As soon as they left the room, I got our my pen and paper and took notes on the experience and when I gripped the pen, it compressed the sensor. I didn't tell THEM that, of course. If I told them that, they would have tried to take my pen away and I wasn't sure I was well enough to fight them off!

I may have known some writers who don't feel this way, that everything that happens to them and to most people around them is not just fair game, it's theirs, it's the stuff that inspirations are made of -I MAY know writers like that, but I can't think of any. Can you?

I have put off writing about the fire, and I probably won't say more about it here, but you know some day if I need to describe one...

Not All who Wander are Lost.... but I probably am.

2009-11-18T06:16:00.000-08:00

Haven't added anything new lately, not because nothing is going on but because so much is! Everything from the dust up where a Christian author went on attack against Love Inspired and, many felt, their writers, editors and readers, to the wonderful time I had presenting a session at an eastern Kentucky writer's conference, to the project I am working on for Christmas (a funny book of recipes and captioned family photos) to, um... oh yeah, my book due in December!

When I think of it all, my mind begins to wander... which brings me here with this confession - I get lost. A lot. I mean it. I always plan extra time into my travel plans for going miles and miles in the wrong direction. My husband and son want to get me a GPS for Christmas.

I like getting lost. Okay, not usually while I'm doing it, but afterward, I have the best stories! Like the time my friend Deanna and I got to a meeting late (because I missed Cincinnati and was making my way to Dayton!)and found ourselves in the middle of a conference of cross dressers. Or last Saturday when I went miles in the wrong direction heading home from my speaking gig and, because I gotten away early, I followed a sign to Old Schoolhouse Antique Mall just to see what they had.

It took me through a teeny town to a small old stone schoolhouse with 6 rooms, I think and one of those auditoriums with the big wooden stages - seeing the building was wonderful. Seeing the Amish ladies selling baked goods was cool. Looking at all the great stuff (I got a vintage Christmas apron - score!)and chatting with people was so fun too. Seeing a part of the world that I would normally have passed by (or never gotten to since I was supposed to be headed west, not east) refilled my soul in so many ways.

Also, when I got back to the highway I realized my mistake and after a bit of a panicky problem solving was able to get turned around and headed toward home. I try NOT to do this in my writing. I try to get it right the first time, just because it saves time, because I am afraid I am wasting effort by writing down a wandering path.

But you know, it always brings me something. It refills my creative well. I don't know it at the time but later, when I see the notes I didn't use, or think of a plot twist or scene that didn't work, I know I have something to learn. My own kind of great story... I realized what I had done wrong and knew not to do that again or I found it wasn't so bad and could be a springboard for another story, character, scene.

So I guess I'll keep doing that. Writing my way through life and sometimes going in the wrong direction or by passing the point, and coming away with a better story for it!
As for that GPS - yes, I'll take it gladly but it may not get used as much as the men in my family think it will be!

Story behind the story

2009-11-12T05:44:00.000-08:00

Oh what fun... they have a guest blog spot at the Steeple Hill blog to tell the story behind the story of The Holiday Husband.

http://community.eharlequin.com/content/story-behind-holiday-husband-annie-jones#comment-226016

The Gift of Coming Untangled

2009-11-10T07:38:00.000-08:00

There are two kinds of people in the world, those who can untangle things (string, necklaces, Christmas lights) and those who don't.

I no longer assume those who don't do this CAN'T do it. Some can't. They try, the nearly drive themselves crazy with the trying. Then they give up. They cut their losses, literally. Or they pitch the tangle. Or they put it back where they got it and hope the untangling fairies pay a visit before they need the thing again. Or they take it to an untangler.

I have always been able to untangle things. Well, almost always. In fact that's one ways I look at writing... you get the frame work, dump the elements out, untangle them and put them in an order that completes the story. Ahhh. It feels good to work that way and it's clear to me when it's working. Once in a while, though, even something gets so twisted and tied up that I can't even see where to begin to sort it out.

Every day life, for example.
It works me into great big unbudgable knots.
And I just can't see where to start. Everything seems to be equally as important and/or as ignorable! I wanted results, I lived in fear that I was losing out on opportunities, so I tried to work on a dozen spots at once, and the tangle tightened.

What does this have to do with writing? Well, recently I got so frustrated I just grabbed a spot and pulled. And you know what happened?

What happened doesn't matter.

It's what DIDN'T happen that made the difference. The world didn't fall apart. That tug (in my case the decision to let go of my former agent) loosened things up enough for me to start seeing things as separate not just one big blob. Next, I got a job which meant certain duties had to be done on certain days - another thread slipped free. I was beginning to see forms and possibilities.

Then I began to blog for work and from that blog here. WOW. Having to sit down and take the time to think about what WORKS writing wise helped me focus on what needed to be done.

I sold a book on my own and love it and realized that I could do that.
I got a great new agent.
I cleaned my HOUSE.

Each effort eased the pressure somewhere else. This year we had out Halloween party without me going crazy the day of, trying to get everything done. FUN! I have been able to work on a special project for Christmas that I have wanted to do for YEARS.

I have writing to do and I know there is time to do it.

That's the lesson, the gift in coming untangled. Time.
And here we are - I have a blog and I'm blogging, I am not frantic (most of the time).
And it all started by taking a risk and giving the tangle a tug. Try it.

High Concept? Try a Honeycrisp!

2009-11-02T15:15:00.000-08:00

Okay, the shine is off the term 'high concept', I know. I'm not even sure what the big buzz words to describe how to crystallize your storyline for a powerful pitch are right now.

It doesn't matter. The more directly you can put the basics of your story, the more chance you have at getting a reader's (editor, agent) interest. Examples: The DaVinci Code (you know DaVinci, smart guy, and there's a code... a secret - and away you go). The Flying Nun (there's this nun who can fly, that's going to figure in every plot).

Today I found a new one while grocery shopping. The Honeycrisp apple. If you have not tried one of these get the store immediately! These apples deliver on the promise of their name from the moment your teeth sink in and break the taut yellow and red skin - crunch! And juicy, so juicy it splashes on your cheeks and drips down your wrist.
Delicious to the eyes, the ears, the tastebuds, and to the memory. This is what autumn should taste like. Fresh and full of promise, sweet but not syrupy. Nourishing enough to satisfy and yet looking forward to your next fix.

Writing should be like that. It should get the reader a little messy with the story splashing off the page and nourish without overfilling (leave room for your reader to bring something of their own to the table!). It should begin with an unmistakable promise. This will be good... pick it and enjoy.

Where the words bloom

2009-10-30T07:22:00.000-07:00

Last night I won the Spooky Award at my writer's group. It's an annual award and great fun. I have never won, and that's been fine with me because it's a big hairy spider and I'm still not sure how I feel about having it in my house!

BUT ask me how I feel about the piece I wrote? I don't think it deserved to win. There were others much better but I am still quite proud of it for a reason only other writers can probably understand. It was one of THOSE stories.

You know the ones. You come up with them, you love something in them, the character, the concept, the setting, the title... it could be anything. So you dive in, you dream, you dabble, you develop... then you begin to doubt. You just don't have 'it'. Whether the it is the story or the time or the talent, you convince yourself you are lacking. You try. You keep coming back to the project but you can't bring the words to life. Sometimes you can't work at all. So the story gets set aside or stuffed down deep, buried but good. But it's there. It's still there.

Then one day something jars the dust/dirt/dream loose (a movie, a contest, a sight, a phrase, another bout of doubt for yet another of one of THOSE ideas) and you wonder... and you go back and see what you had. Hey, this wasn't so bad! In fact, it has some great elements, if you just...
So you prune and nurture and shine some light in just the right spots and suddenly - you HAVE something!

No writing is ever wasted. It always teaches you something. It plants seeds that may take a long time to come to fruition but they will bloom somewhere, often when and where you least expect it. It might be a sentence that is perfect for another piece, it might be a character or setting that wasn't right for one story but is just what is needed for a current work. It may be a whole story that just needs a new venue.

Struggling to get something just right? To come up with a wonderful idea? Try just write. It won't be a waste. It might be one of Those stories. Plant some seeds today and rest assured, one day they will bloom.

Christmastime is here....

2009-10-22T12:43:00.000-07:00

First, I am NOT one of those people who gets all upset when the Christmas displays show up in September (August, yes that makes me peevish - July, downright grumpy but once school has started again...). I love to look at all that stuff. LOVE all the glitter and sparkle and cuteness and well, Christmas of it all.

And I love vintage anything but vintage Christmas? The BEST. I have a lot of the things my parents had, that I remember growing up. And when I lived in Kansas City, I discovered the wonder of Estate Sales for finding holiday-themed treasures. There I began the custom of asking the sellers about the people who had collected the, um, Estate so when I set out my vintage finds I can say - this was my Mom's. This was from when I was first married. This belonged to Rose and Jack (I don't know Rose and Jack who but I like knowing they aren't completely forgotten).

I also love to find 'finds' in antique stores. Favs include plastic nativities, glass ornaments (esp in PINK) and Christmas aprons and...

Wait I started this to share some news about my next book... see what just thinking about Christmas even in October does to me????

I SAW MY LATEST BOOK IN WalMart today! It's a bit early but it's out there or will be soon.

Blessings of the Season (Love Inspired). My novella: The Holiday Husband (a story chock full of vintage Christmas stuff as my hero and heroine spend the weeks before Christmas in a department store window living like the perfect 1950s family!) I loved having Christmas pasts to draw on and having some really fun finds to 'anchor' the story in my mind. I set them around as I wrote and drew on a visit we had paid to an 'all electric house' museum where young women gave us tours dressed as hostess housewives of the day.

It made writing the book more fun, hope that shows in the finished product.

The harvest

2009-10-21T09:41:00.000-07:00

I love this time of year. Love the bounty of harvest and the brightness of the large, low moon illuminating the landscape. And I love our little pumpkin patch. Just a tangle of vines on the hill behind the house, never any more pumpkins than my family could use for display. But this year, we only had four. Barely bigger than pie size and one hardly bigger than an apple - guess you could say we had a bad case of shrunkin' punkins.

I blame the rain. And the weeds. Too much of a good thing, too much of a bad thing, not enough or maybe too much work on my part. And a whole lot of other factors that I probably haven't taken into account because I can't control them.

A little like writing, huh? Years ago I heard a snippet from Garrison Keillor (that I have not been able to find since)where he compared writing to farming. My crop is prose, it grows in rows...

It's an image Ive always embraced. Partly because it helped me to feel better about praying for success (does a farmer feel its wrong to pray for his crop? Then why should a writer? ) And partly because, like a farmer, so much of what becomes of the seeds I plant is completely out of my control. Also, I like to wear overalls.

This past few weeks I've been able to not write - I have written some but for fun, and myself not for a project. I've blogged, and worked on my other job, and gone traveling a bit. As for what I've written that needs a home? I've done the work. Sent it off to market. It's out of my hands for the time being.

This used to panic me. I'd try to force it, tried to always get something else going like a scientist making plants bear fruit all year long. Those hothouse tomatoes never taste as good the warm, fat 'maters grown in season, planted in their own time and tended as they should be. And my hothouse writing was as often as not just as waxy, artificial and flavorless as the winter 'big boys' and beefsteaks (those are kinds of tomatoes, y'all).
So for now I think I will let the ground go fallow for a few days more. Let it rest so that when it’s time to plant again, it (and I) will be ready to receive the next crop, nurture it, bring it to market then let it go and pray it nourishes someone.

Fifteen Minutes

2009-10-19T06:40:00.000-07:00

9:43 I have to get something down and I have to get going. Fifteen minutes to not just spew out my thoughts, but present them in a readable way, which means editing and organizing and... tick tock, a whole minute gone already.

9:44 Okay - I just wrote a sentence, realized I didn't have time to explore and support that premise and wiped it out. Another minute lost.

9:45 Only it's not lost! My mind is whirring. My fingers flying. All the pistons are firing, which is not usually what's going on in THIS head. Whenever writers talk about doing writing exercises I give them the side eye and say "Tell me, do I look like a person who exercises?"

But ya know, this blogging thing, this time thing, it does tap into something that taking all the time and pages allowed by my deadlines and word count expectations just can't deliver. Immediacy. Honesty. Mistakes that might be the best part of the whole deal for instance I first wrote readerability instead of readability and that made me think about the importance of writing to the reader's abilities - so often it's tempting to write for other writers and forget not everyone cares about how many adverbs you use, they care if the story speaks to THEM).

9:51 Time is almost up. When it's gone, I will have something to work with, something to build on. That's my challenge to writers today - timed writing, just let it go for fifteen minutes. Lock the voices that tell you it's got to be this or that, think of communicating with a reader, put yourself out there. That's joy, even if it is a bit messy!

9:53 - yes, I went back and edited for typos, may not have gotten them.

9: 55 - a few minutes to spare but will pub it as is (yes I'm editing again but this time to add this thought) Writers - tell me about your experience with timed writing - love it? Hate it? Love to hear more.

Welcome to Merciful

2009-10-13T13:31:00.000-07:00

The township of Merciful, Georgia is the home of 41 families, 15 state football championships, 11 flourishing businesses, 6 farm festivals yearly, 3 hopeless romantics and a dog named Donut.

Oh, none of that (except Donut) actually exists.
Yet.

It's an idea that's been with me for a couple of years now but I haven't really fleshed it out. A place where people come for all sorts of reasons and find the things that matter most - love, faith, friends and themselves.
Not as slow paced as Mayberry not as fast talking as Stars Hollow, I see Merciful as a lovely blend of all the wonderful small and midsized towns that I love to discover as I wander the American countryside. (where I find gems like the Crump Theater in Columbus, Indiana).

The characters? Quirky, of course. And kind. Familiar, I hope and yet just different enough to reveal something unexpected to us about ourselves and the people we love (or hope to love ;)). I have a few story lines cooking. Have been speaking with an editor I've never worked with before who is just lovely, and has given her thoughts and have been trying to decide if I want to develop the story as a women's fiction series or as a romance series.

This is the fun stuff. That time when anything is possible. Like the anticipation of the perfect snowfall, a delicious meal, a romantic dance in the arms of a man who makes your heart skip, or a good book.

Ahhhh.

Welcome to Merciful - it's out there. Think I should try to find it? I have a map and some mental postcards and a few stories from people telling me it's worth the trip.

Don't Forget the Joy

2009-10-10T15:41:00.000-07:00

Writing used to be fun. It used to be exciting. It used to be... mine.

I can't remember ever NOT wanting to be a writer. As soon as I had mastered the art of making big, soft shiny gray letters on paper, I began to fill my Big Chief Tablet with plays and poems and short stories and comedy pieces. In Mrs. Jackson's third grade class in Sherman, Texas, the boy who sat in front of me read one and said "Why do you do that? Nobody is going to read it."

I had met my first critic. And it didn't deter me. I wrote in middle school and high school and college, took a break to marry and start my family and when I had kids that needed a mom at home, I began again. My hubby used his first ever Christmas bonus to buy me an electric typewriter and the first thing I ever submitted was read by a real, live editor! She rejected it and that began a long line of rejections before I sold. I'd like to say after I sold that it got easier, that I had more of a sense of knowing what to do to get the sure sale, the great review, to make a list, to get the next offer.

But it was the not knowing that was the fun of it all. The challenge to keep learning, to keep asking more of myself, to make every day writing a new discovery.

Somewhere along the way, I lost that.
What happened?

It's tempting to lay the blame on writing becoming work. To say the demands of the market and issues with editors smothered my creative spark. I WANTED to believe that. In fact, I made some major changes in my career based on that very presumption.
I left my agent of 14 years (amicable, I still love her). I made up my mind never write for a certain house again. I dropped many of my professional obligations (clubs, lists, orgs). I began submitting to new agents.

None of that had the effect I had so longed for. I still felt panicked and anxious and stupid when I sat down to write. And it showed in every word.

I was ready to give up.

Then a few things happened - my dear friend Beth Harbison (read her books - Hope in a Jar out now) told me she couldn't get a certain story out of her head and I went back and looked at some of the pieces I had abandoned because they didn't fit the market of the moment. And I found out that back before I realized how difficult/scary/unprofitable it can be to be an AUTHOR that I was/am a pretty good writer.

I also began working in sales and marketing for Ram Jack of Lousville (foundation repair) where I was author and editor and chief distributor or all materials (you should see my nifty brochure for promoting our services to Realtors;)).

And thanks to another dear friend, Stephanie Bond (the Body Movers mystery series currently available) and watching her get mad and get moving at a time when most people would have caved in and lost hope, I began to rebuild a strategy for my writing career.

I also sold a Christmas romance that I REALLY love (I have one out Nov 1, btw, a novella called The Holiday Husband in Blessings of the Season from Steeple Hill - you can find it everywhere) because my sweet editor, Emily Rodmell, reminded me to put the romance first.

What wonderful advice from these amazing women.
Don't forget what you can do when you don't worry about how hard it should be.
When things don't go the way you planned, make new plans.
Put the romance first. Be it in life or in writing. Find the thing you love, find the thing worth fighting for and working toward, the thing that makes you better and don't lose sight of it.

Write. Love. Fly.

You can do it.