Still going...

My past two weeks have been spent editing and doing a bit of a re-write of Date with a Dead Guy. Not that I didn't like the story or anything, but I had an epiphany after a rough day at work and decided to change the point of view. I took my third-person narrative and turned it into first-person. So far, I'm about half way there. I've edited the original, but need to flesh the resulting story out to polish it. How do I feel about altering my baby that way? I love it. I always had problems with the original and find the new version much stronger.

The other novel I'm working on is The Bookstore Lady. The story's been through many changes, but it is getting stronger. Before long, both novels will be making the rounds of agents and publishers one more time.

I had lunch with a few friends the other day. One of them asked how many books I've written. I was actually at a loss. More than two, less than twenty. Some I'm working on now to polish and submit for publication. Not an easy feat with three kids, a job, housework, volunteer responsibilities and laundry.
There's always laundry. 

Writing the novels is the easy part. I love putting new story lines and characters onto paper and falling in love with them all. I love the sounds of pen scratching paper, keys clicking while I type and the voices in my head.
Creating new worlds and putting the things I know or think on paper...priceless.

The Christmas Spirit

Okay, I know the last time I posted I wasn't exactly full of Christmas cheer. But here we are, it's Christmas Eve and not only am I ready for the "Big Day" I'm also working on a novel about it set in the wonderful little town I've created over the past three years in other novels. Those novels have been works in progress for far too long. This year, 2011, is the year I finally put them all to rest and work my sorry butt off to have them published. There, it's out there. The Bookstore Lady and Date with a Dead Guy will see their last edits early next year. As for Book Three which is titled Padded Walls, I'm still working on it and have Book Four started as of the beginning of December. It doesn't have a title or even a real story line yet, it's more of a meandering at present.

I have so many projects sitting on shelves which do need to see the light of day. Now is the time to get my act together and start getting things published.

On the bright note, the Headwaters Writers' Guild book is on shelves as of Dec 18th. It is called A Walk in Fields of Gold and retails for $14.95 with $4.95 of that going to purchase books for the children's library of the Headwaters Health Care Facility (our hospital). Our way of giving back to our community and encouraging young readers.

Merry Christmas to all and to all a good night...

The Great Procrastinator

If there's one thing I'm great it, it's procrastinating.
It's true.
If I weren't so darn good at it I'd already be published several times over, my house would be spotless and my kids would have the cleanest, most hole-free clothes on the block.
Alas, this is one area in which I excel.

Then I get those phases where I see a job that needs to be done and get it done before I have the opportunity to put it off. No seizing the chance to procrastinate - I jump before the dust can settle and get things done. In general, I'm not exactly a go-getter. Nope, not me. But the more I sit back, the more nothing gets accomplished.

Query letters don't write themselves. Novels don't edit themselves. (Although the kids are learning to cook and clean.) In short, no one else will do it for me. At the end of the day, it's ME who has to put on my "game face" and do what must be done if I ever want my novels to grace the shelves of Coles, Chapters and Amazon. I am the only person who cares if my work is ever published.

Every little triumph I have, whether it be publishing a photograph or short story in a magazine, a story or poem in an anthology or a full-length novel in bookform or on-line is added to my list of accomplishments. Every year, that list grows a little bit longer. This year alone, I am part of two anthologies - the second due for release by Christmas (I hope!) called A Walk in Fields of Gold.

Procrastination gets you nowhere.

Rolling up your shirtsleeves and working hard to make your dreams come true can get you much farther.
I know I'm a month ahead of schedule, but I have two Resolutions for 2011.
Number 1: I'm working harder than ever to get my novels published. I have two that are ready aside from a great hook and cover letter.
Number 2: I'm taking better care of ME next year. It's hard keep on top of things when you feel like someone ran you over with a team of sled dogs.

To be honest, I was going to post Chapter One of Date with a Dead Guy but...I procrastinated.
I'll get right on that. Soon. Maybe.

Keep on Writing.

Edits and Re-writes...

I've spent a lot of time this week - between trying to get rid of a sinus infection, doing the laundry and going to work - editing. The working title of the book is "Date With a Dead Guy." I started it right after I finished "The Bookstore Lady" (less of a mouthful than The Bookstore Lady's Secret Life) a couple of years ago. Both books have been written, edited, re-written and edited again until I'm starting to hate them both.

But, alas, I don't. They are my babies after all.

As I type, "Date With a Dead Guy" is being printed off so I can give it one last good reading before I submit it to a couple of friends to read. Regardless of their comments, I also need to rework my query letter and come up with a darn good tag-line. You know those lines. They're the one's that hook readers and shoppers alike. Every product on the market today has a phrase that every consumer associates with it. We all know them by heart - ever sing the Oscar Mayer wiener song? - even if sometimes we can't quite remember what product they're for.

Next week, I'll post a chapter from "Date With a Dead Guy."

This week, I have a lot of work to do and an agent to find.

What's in a Name?

Our latest discussion in the HWG was about naming our fictional characters. I am a big fan of baby naming books and grabbing names that I hear out in the real world. Much like I grab tidbits of conversations or incidents that happen to use in stories.

I have to admit, I tend not to use trendy names, mostly timeless ones. Victoria is one of my YA characters, her cousin's name is Cameo. Lucy is my leading lady in Date with a Dead Guy, her leading man is Jad (short for Jaidev).

Kathryn Dean once gave me a critique on a chapter from The Bookstore Lady's Secret Life (also known at Take the Money and Run). Her main focus was on the name I had chosen for one particular character. The character's name was Jewish and I'm not. She starts off as an evil person which Kathryn was afraid could make me look anti-Semetic. Okay, I gave into that one even though the character had her own issues and perfectly good reasons for being nasty. (For the record, in the end she turned out to be a good person once her troubles were behind her.)

Another person who gave me a critique on the same book told me that one character's name was too close to a popular actor's name. It was, but the thought had never crossed my mind. Funny part was, he was the nasty woman's husband!

We did an interesting exercise in our HWG meeting yesterday. Richard gave us slips of paper with names on them and we had to make a character description and a bit of a plot around them. The first name I got was Robert. Robert Redford. That was where my imagination took me and stalled. I traded names and got Elizabeth. Queen Elizabeth, Elizabeth Manley...stuck again. I didn't get any writing done until everyone else read their pieces. What did I end up with? Another Stereotype.

"Elizabeth had been groomed from the time she was a baby to be perfect. Her hair and makeup were flawless before she left the house each day for her job at Theodore, Eugene and Finch. Daddy always wanted her to be a lawyer. Mother tried to steer her into acting. Becoming a lawyer for actors was her version of middle ground.
On a shopping trip to Rodeo Drive, Elizabeth is taken hostage by Bill, a former client. He drives her across the country and she learns that perfect isn't always good enough."

And so ends our lesson on naming characters. I have a new story to write!