Moving Forward while Looking Back

I'm one of those people who can't normally walk and chew gum at the same time. Easy remedy, I don't chew gum. Seriously. But I'm also one of those people who tend to look backward while trying to move ahead. More than once, I've walked into a wall. Literally.

I had my birthday this week, 43 years of walking into walls and being unable to chew gum.
But I can write. Lots of times, I am guilty of looking back at old manuscripts and thinking "But I liked it then, why should I change it?" Growth, for one. Every year of our lives we grow. Not just physically--vertically or horizontally--but in more subtle ways. Maturing, becoming more discerning and we find that as we age, we may outgrow things we once took for granted. Friendships change, careers change even our outlook on life changes.

The one thing I have noticed about my past is that I have very few photos of myself, which was made very clear when my agent asked for one. I really had to search. I'm the one who takes pictures, not the one mugging for the camera. In my quest for publication and "getting my book out there" this will have to change and I'll have to do some mugging.

Another thing I have to change: I need to build a website.
That will come in the fall once I have "more time" so stay tuned!

Becoming Real

As a break from kids, editing and such, I went out tonight in search of two of my least favorite things: a new bathingsuit and shoes. That's right. I hate shoes. Shocking, me being a woman and all. I'm not sure what the hang up is. I keep the shoes that I like right up until they fall off my feet. Literally. The flipflops I'm currently wearing have been chewed by my cat, squished from many miles of walking and have lost what little bling they had. Frankly, they're disgusting. But I love them.

Novels, for better or worse, I have a tendency to keep around as long as my shoes. I try them on, like them and play with them until they either fall apart or . . . or they go off to an agent to be published. Today, I'm playing. Creating character lists and picking up on little things--quirks or omissions--that I hadn't noticed before. I'm also working on a more coherent synopsis and, last but not least, the novel itself.

The Bookstore Lady began as a silly dream about a cat four years ago. Slowly, writing meeting by writing meeting, I have created a novel that I have reincarnated so many times I've lost track. I still love it, for better or worse, and believe in both the story and the characters I created. I have enjoyed working with my characters so much that they already appear in three more novels. Possibly a fourth. Stay tuned for more on that!

Tomorrow, I'll be back at the grind. Editing, working on the things I need to send my agent and trying to find the elusive bathingsuit that doesn't make me look like a wanna-be teenager or a woman twice my age.

Have a great summer!

I Have an Agent!!!

It's true!
It's been an interesting week. I got the offer of representation from her on Sunday morning then sent off the contract late this afternoon. In the meantime, I'd talked to a couple of friends for guidance as far as the contract and what to watch out for and . . . I signed. Not that this week was an easy path. I went against the advice of a couple people and decided to dive in and take a chance.

The agent I signed with is Dawn Dowdle of Blue Ridge Literary Agency.

The funny part is, I knew her reader and intern Joy long before I knew anything about Dawn. Joy and I were part of an online critique group for several months before she joined Dawn. Coincidentally, I had asked Joy for an edit of The Bookstore Lady before I'd even sent the query! Dawn had seen both versions and decided she liked what I was doing with it.

To Joy and Dawn: I'm looking forward to working with you both.

To my Devil's Advocates: Thank you for your love, strength and support. You make me a better writer and a better person!

To everyone else: Stay tuned!!

The Last Regatta

This past Saturday marked the end of the rowing season for my son. We were in Barrie for, what looked like a rainy day of racing. We arrived at 7:30am to clouds and wind. The water was choppy, but not as bad as they had rowed on all week in practice. Nick was nervous, but ready to race. The picture above, was taken an hour before any racers had to be on the lake.

The first race for Nick was a four-man. The crew pushed hard and placed third. They are a good, strong team and I hope they'll be able to competer together again next year.

The second race for him, was in a two-man scull. Two rowers, two oars each. It was their second time in a two-man, their first time in a race boat. They did their best and, while not placing, they didn't flip which is apparently very easy to do in a race boat with strong winds.

His third race was after lunch when the brief rain shower we got subsided and the lake was calm.
This was a Senior Boys 8 (and Nick who is still a junior). It was far from the best row of their lives. One seat broke off, one foot board broke off, two different rowers "caught crabs" (when they are out of time with the others and their oar get caught beneath the water) and one rower was badly injured by a stuck oar. The name of the boat is "The Bus" and the kids spent the rest of the day contemplating ways to have it disappear and be replaced.

One of the most obvious things that occured to us, as parents, as the day went on was that unless one of our teams were racing, you'd never know there were boats on the lake.At the Island Lake Rowing Club, we have two schools that train in tandem and support each other even when they compete against each other. When neither of our teams were on the water, there was no cheering.

So, you may ask. What does this all have to do with writing? Painting? Anything?

My son and his teammates inspire me.
No matter what the odds against them, they don't give up. They are out on the lake at 6:30am every morning for the entire rowing season ready to give it their all.

As writers, we have a dream. We all want to be published and need to make the same kind of committment that these kids do.
We need to show up.
We need to give it our all.
We need to support our fellow writers.
And, last of all, we need to not worry about how we place at the end of the race.
After all, it is the journey to get there that makes us stronger people and stronger writers.

Reality Check

Sometimes, you just need to do something completely for yourself. Today, for example, I'm currently lounging (yes, lounging) on the front porch in the afterglow of a great massage. The massage therapist I see is brutal and has no qualms with both causing and ending my pain. Since I've already spent the better part of the last two months with hip and knee pain due to a fall last October, the extra pain I endured to rid myself of the "knots" and misalignment is nothing.

This morning, it was an early run to Walmart then to the chiropractor before I met a friend for lunch. I love meeting friends to hang out, catch up and spend time away from the "real world" for a while. Most weeks, I don't do that enough. If given the opportunity, I'll glue my butt to the chair and edit or live someone else's live vicariously in a novel I'm writing.

As writers, we can often overlook the fact that we not only need to create great stories and polish our grammar, we also need inspiration. That inspiration may come from within, but, more often than not, it comes from the work we do, the sights we see, and the people we interact with.
Like the honeybee flying around my yard trying to get through the fence.
Or the school girl running home, bursting with news to tell her parents.

A friend in my writing group once said that I could write about anything and everything.
And I have.
And I'll keep on writing about anything and everything until I can no longer hold a pen and have to dictate to my great-grandchildren.
That's just how I'm wired.

Keep Writing!

Author vs. Writer

At the meeting of the Headwaters Writer's Guild today, Nancy added a prompt to the several Judy had sent. Nancy's prompt was simply: What's the difference between a writer and an author?

I have thought about this question before. In the past, I've always considered myself to be a writer, never as an author because I wasn't published. The label "author" seemed like a stuffy title, a glorified name for someone who writes and is widely published.

In reality, "writer" and "author" are one in the same. An author, according to Webster's Dictionary, is "one who writes or composes a literary work."  A writer is "one who writes, especially as a business or occupation."

I am an author and a writer. As funny as that sounds, knowing that makes me feel important. True, it doesn't help me get my novels out there faster, but it makes me hopeful.

Lately I've been grounded. An injury I sustained last fall has resurfaced and I find I am in pain frequently, unable to do my usual gardening or even walking and bike riding with my kids. No, I'm not seeking sympathy. I am dealing with it and hope to be back to normal before summer. What it has taught me, however, is patience.

I have a stack of unpublished, unedited novels taking up space in my "office" that I would like to polish and submit. Life has taken me away from spending one-on-one time with them lately, but I'm trying to change that. Being stuck on the couch for a while (if I don't take it slow and easy, I suffer!), I have more opportunity to focus my energies on them. One simply needs "filling out" and the other is in the polishing phase.

Coming back to the whole "writer" vs "author" concept. I think a writer is someone who writes for the sheer enjoyment of creating. An author, is someone who takes that enjoyment a step farther, writing, polishing and sharing their work with the world.

I'd like to think of myself as an author, coming to a bookstore near you...

The Pain Drain

I'm in a lot of pain this week. I fell and hurt my knee last fall and twisted my body. Now I'm paying for it.
The gloomy, rainy weather we've had lately doesn't help, nor does stress, but I'm tolerating it and dealing with it. Hopefully, the aches and mucscle spasms will be a distant memory soon!

Sometimes pain can block us, mentally and creatively, and things that we normally do and take for granted seem like Herculean tasks. Even writing. It's not as much the writing, actually, as sitting comfortably and not feeling like daggers are stabbing your joints. Pain is one more distraction that can lead to writer's block if you let it.

I have a day off today (thank you rain!) and am trying to use it to edit. My tools are all assembled and my rough copy is open to the right page, but...procrastination has set in. Briefly. I had a couple of blogs to attend to. I know that I only have three hours of peace before the little people come home from school.

Pain be damned! I have a pillow at my back. The laptop at a good height and a bottle of water on standby. All I need now is to get off the Internet and work before the next load of laundry is done...