It was 2 weeks ago today that I felt like I was catching a cold, and it was all downhill from there. But, I am pleased.....no, I am thrilled to announce that I AM BACK!
I feel great and I've been writing like crazy. The best kind of writing....when it just flows, and I'm in The Zone, and hours pass.....Ahhhh....Bliss!
And, because of my newly, rediscovered joy and passion for writing, I probably won't be posting on my blog as often. I may not be reading all my usual favorites as often, either, but you can be sure I'll be thinking of y'all. Please send some good writing vibes my way, to help keep me going!!
"And remember, we all stumble, every one of us. That's why it's a comfort to go hand in hand." -- E.K. Brough
ALL WHO WANDER ARE NOT LOST.
Sunday, March 14, 2010
Saturday, March 13, 2010
** Tiny Lights: A Journal of Personal Narrative **
Tiny Lights - The newest Searchlights & Signal Flares are posted. The question for the month was: "Where does your mind go when it wanders?" I wish more of you would enter something for these! Some months the questions are really a challenge. (You'll find me posted there!) It's an excellent opportunity to submit serious or humorous thoughts and be published online. There is no fee, no word count. You can also post your website, blog, and/or e-mail address. I can confirm that people have found my blog because of this. Below is a portion of the description from Tiny Lights:
"Searchlights & Signal Flares" is an opportunity to support and be supported by a community of writers, to let a flash of your own light be seen and shared. You are invited to respond to the following questions (deadlines in parentheses), and if your answers adhere to the posted guidelines, they will be published on the website-no fuss, muss or editing.
If that isn't enough to wake up those sleeping ideas in your head, here's another area of Tiny Lights you'll want to check out. Flash in the Pan: a Quarterly Posting.
One more thing. Those of you that entered the essay contest last month will be pleased to know the winners are due to be announced April 10th!
"The two noblest of things, which are sweetness and light." -- Jonathan Swift (The Battle of the Books)
"Searchlights & Signal Flares" is an opportunity to support and be supported by a community of writers, to let a flash of your own light be seen and shared. You are invited to respond to the following questions (deadlines in parentheses), and if your answers adhere to the posted guidelines, they will be published on the website-no fuss, muss or editing.
If that isn't enough to wake up those sleeping ideas in your head, here's another area of Tiny Lights you'll want to check out. Flash in the Pan: a Quarterly Posting.
One more thing. Those of you that entered the essay contest last month will be pleased to know the winners are due to be announced April 10th!
"The two noblest of things, which are sweetness and light." -- Jonathan Swift (The Battle of the Books)
Friday, March 12, 2010
** Tidbits of Upcoming Posts **
I have different topics I'm anxious to write about, but since it's getting late, I'll just share a few words:
* Tiny Lights newest Searchlights & Signal Flares *
* Erma Bombeck Contest *
* Songs on my playlist *
* Next contest coming up in April *
"I have always been delighted at the prospect of a new day, a fresh try, one more start, with perhaps a bit of magic waiting somewhere behind the morning." -- Joseph Priestley
* Tiny Lights newest Searchlights & Signal Flares *
* Erma Bombeck Contest *
* Songs on my playlist *
* Next contest coming up in April *
"I have always been delighted at the prospect of a new day, a fresh try, one more start, with perhaps a bit of magic waiting somewhere behind the morning." -- Joseph Priestley
Thursday, March 11, 2010
* The Much Anticipated Interview With Judith Ryan Hendricks! *
Following is a question and answer session with Judith Ryan Hendricks, author of four fabulous books, all of which are favorites of mine. Besides being an amazing writer, Judith is such a warm and generous woman. She donated an autographed, first editon copy of "Bread Alone" for my contest last month. Kathy Matthews was the very excited winner. Thank you Judith for everything! *Note: After reading the congratulatory comments, I realized I didn't word this correctly. I did not compose these questions! Judith was kind enough to share the questions from a previous library interview. She gave new, up-to-date answers, though. I'm sorry for the confusion. I didn't deliberately try to deceive anyone!
1. While your first novel, Bread Alone, stands on its own as a story, it also has at its heart, the world of food, preparation, sustenance and eating. What made you add this element to the novel? What function does food play in your writing?
Food serves multiple functions in my stories. First of all, it’s a touchstone for my characters, which is how I feel about food in my own life. So many of my memories seem to be linked to a particular meal or dish or food experience. I guess that’s why I can never remember where I put my sunglasses, but I have perfect recall about the carrot cake I shared with my mom in a little café in LaConner, WA twenty years ago. Second, food is a metaphor for love, for sharing, in many cases for work, and even for life itself. Since I love to cook and eat, alone as well as with friends and family, it’s inconceivable to me that I might write a story that doesn’t include food in some way.
2. Your female characters possess a certain “edginess.” They’ve been cheated on, given up for adoption, left pregnant, work long hours and multiple jobs for low pay, they have been divorced, yet none of them seem bitter and they remain vulnerable to love. Is that a deliberate choice you make to characterize? Do your narrators echo your own worldview? Do you think it’s possible for a writer to distance herself from her main character, or do the boundaries blur?
Bitterness is an interesting trait—destructive and closed, which doesn’t make for much reader sympathy. However, characters like Avery James in Isabel’s Daughter and Sunny Cooper in The Laws of Harmony take on bitterness as a protective coloration. In reality they’re not so much bitter as wary. On the other hand, it’s often more interesting when a character acts differently than her true self.
I have to distance myself from my main character because in the service of the story they have to make a lot of choices that I wouldn’t make. However, I feel strongly that every one of my characters shares at least one of my traits. I love the way Milan Kundera (Unbearable Lightness of Being) says it: “The characters in my novels are my own unrealized possibilities.”
3. What steps take place between your first full draft, your rewrite and the published book?
Well…after I finish the first draft I take my husband out to dinner to celebrate. In the middle of dinner, I say…we’ve got to go home; I just thought of something I left out of chapter 2 that could change the entire outcome of the story. Next I give the manuscript to one of my good writer friends and she reads it and says. I really love this. I say, but what? She says, But nothing. I really love it. I say, what should I change? She says Nothing. I really love it. I go over the pages three more times trying to figure out what she’s not telling me. Then I send it to my agent, who tells me what my writer friend would not. I rewrite the novel and send it back to my agent. She calls me and says, I think C---really likes it. She’ll let us know when she gets back from the holidays.
I sweat out Christmas and New Year’s, going over the ms three more times. After the holidays the editor calls. She says, I love this book. I say, Thanks. That’s great. She says, I just need you to change the ending so that the boyfriend doesn’t die. We discuss certain changes. I make some, but not all. It goes to the copy editor. I proof read the galleys. They send me cover art. I hate it. I call my editor. She makes them re-do the cover art so it doesn’t look like the character is fifteen years old and about to commit suicide. In order to maintain my sanity I start on the next book. And suddenly one day a package arrives in the mail…my Advance Reader Copy! I’m so happy I take my husband out to dinner to celebrate. During dessert I say, oh, God, why did I make that change in Chapter 2?
4. How has moving to New Mexico affected your writing?
The only real difference between writing here and writing in L.A. is that I seem to have more time. Santa Fe is so compact I can be anywhere in town within 15 minutes. Also life is a bit simpler. I don’t expend as much energy just on the details of daily life.
5. In The Laws of Harmony, your story begins about the sudden loss of love when Sunny’s boyfriend is killed, but the story ends up being about a different kind of love altogether. How do you see this book by comparison to your earlier work? Are you changing territory, widening your narratives? Or does each book suggest its own particular context and story while you write it?
Yes to all of the above. Each book definitely has its own trajectory and each one changes you. You are not the same person at the end as you were when you started. The story in The Laws of Harmony went its own way at the end—not at all what I originally planned—and it also changed me as a writer, definitely broadened my perspective. It was like once I finished, I sat back in my chair and said, Well. Where did that come from? I don’t think I look at stories in quite the same way any more.
6. Are you superstitious when writing a book? Do you keep the story close to your chest while you’re generating, or do you feel free to talk about it?
I absolutely believe that it’s best not to talk too much about what I’m working on. First of all everything changes during the course of the writing and you could be talking about a storyline that ends up on the cutting room floor. Also, I think if you talk about something while you’re in the process of creating it, then a lot of the creativity just dissipates, and the story’s energy gets spent on talking about it instead of writing it.
7. How has publishing four novels changed your life?
Now when I meet someone at a party and they ask what I do, I have something to tell them.
“Life is full of beauty. Notice it. Notice the bumble bee, the small child, and the smiling faces. Smell the rain, and feel the wind. Live your life to the fullest potential, and fight for your dreams.” -- Ashley Smith
1. While your first novel, Bread Alone, stands on its own as a story, it also has at its heart, the world of food, preparation, sustenance and eating. What made you add this element to the novel? What function does food play in your writing?
Food serves multiple functions in my stories. First of all, it’s a touchstone for my characters, which is how I feel about food in my own life. So many of my memories seem to be linked to a particular meal or dish or food experience. I guess that’s why I can never remember where I put my sunglasses, but I have perfect recall about the carrot cake I shared with my mom in a little café in LaConner, WA twenty years ago. Second, food is a metaphor for love, for sharing, in many cases for work, and even for life itself. Since I love to cook and eat, alone as well as with friends and family, it’s inconceivable to me that I might write a story that doesn’t include food in some way.
2. Your female characters possess a certain “edginess.” They’ve been cheated on, given up for adoption, left pregnant, work long hours and multiple jobs for low pay, they have been divorced, yet none of them seem bitter and they remain vulnerable to love. Is that a deliberate choice you make to characterize? Do your narrators echo your own worldview? Do you think it’s possible for a writer to distance herself from her main character, or do the boundaries blur?
Bitterness is an interesting trait—destructive and closed, which doesn’t make for much reader sympathy. However, characters like Avery James in Isabel’s Daughter and Sunny Cooper in The Laws of Harmony take on bitterness as a protective coloration. In reality they’re not so much bitter as wary. On the other hand, it’s often more interesting when a character acts differently than her true self.
I have to distance myself from my main character because in the service of the story they have to make a lot of choices that I wouldn’t make. However, I feel strongly that every one of my characters shares at least one of my traits. I love the way Milan Kundera (Unbearable Lightness of Being) says it: “The characters in my novels are my own unrealized possibilities.”
3. What steps take place between your first full draft, your rewrite and the published book?
Well…after I finish the first draft I take my husband out to dinner to celebrate. In the middle of dinner, I say…we’ve got to go home; I just thought of something I left out of chapter 2 that could change the entire outcome of the story. Next I give the manuscript to one of my good writer friends and she reads it and says. I really love this. I say, but what? She says, But nothing. I really love it. I say, what should I change? She says Nothing. I really love it. I go over the pages three more times trying to figure out what she’s not telling me. Then I send it to my agent, who tells me what my writer friend would not. I rewrite the novel and send it back to my agent. She calls me and says, I think C---really likes it. She’ll let us know when she gets back from the holidays.
I sweat out Christmas and New Year’s, going over the ms three more times. After the holidays the editor calls. She says, I love this book. I say, Thanks. That’s great. She says, I just need you to change the ending so that the boyfriend doesn’t die. We discuss certain changes. I make some, but not all. It goes to the copy editor. I proof read the galleys. They send me cover art. I hate it. I call my editor. She makes them re-do the cover art so it doesn’t look like the character is fifteen years old and about to commit suicide. In order to maintain my sanity I start on the next book. And suddenly one day a package arrives in the mail…my Advance Reader Copy! I’m so happy I take my husband out to dinner to celebrate. During dessert I say, oh, God, why did I make that change in Chapter 2?
4. How has moving to New Mexico affected your writing?
The only real difference between writing here and writing in L.A. is that I seem to have more time. Santa Fe is so compact I can be anywhere in town within 15 minutes. Also life is a bit simpler. I don’t expend as much energy just on the details of daily life.
5. In The Laws of Harmony, your story begins about the sudden loss of love when Sunny’s boyfriend is killed, but the story ends up being about a different kind of love altogether. How do you see this book by comparison to your earlier work? Are you changing territory, widening your narratives? Or does each book suggest its own particular context and story while you write it?
Yes to all of the above. Each book definitely has its own trajectory and each one changes you. You are not the same person at the end as you were when you started. The story in The Laws of Harmony went its own way at the end—not at all what I originally planned—and it also changed me as a writer, definitely broadened my perspective. It was like once I finished, I sat back in my chair and said, Well. Where did that come from? I don’t think I look at stories in quite the same way any more.
6. Are you superstitious when writing a book? Do you keep the story close to your chest while you’re generating, or do you feel free to talk about it?
I absolutely believe that it’s best not to talk too much about what I’m working on. First of all everything changes during the course of the writing and you could be talking about a storyline that ends up on the cutting room floor. Also, I think if you talk about something while you’re in the process of creating it, then a lot of the creativity just dissipates, and the story’s energy gets spent on talking about it instead of writing it.
7. How has publishing four novels changed your life?
Now when I meet someone at a party and they ask what I do, I have something to tell them.
“Life is full of beauty. Notice it. Notice the bumble bee, the small child, and the smiling faces. Smell the rain, and feel the wind. Live your life to the fullest potential, and fight for your dreams.” -- Ashley Smith
** I Know It's Thursday.....But What Month Is It? **
I have so much I want to write about. So many different topics. AND, I have Judith Ryan Hendricks' Question & Answer Session to post. Plus, I have so much to catch up on in my other life...you know, those annoying duties such as going through the mail, paying bills, putting away clean clothes & towels, filing all the junk I kept stacking on the floor in my office, while telling myself I'd feel so much better tomorrow, but tomorrow never came.....
Well, a funny thing happened while I was writing this post. I decided to complain about a couple of things that really bothered me, even though I knew that wasn't my usual style, not the real me. After typing away and writing for what seemed like an endless amount of time, I "saved" my work, while I decided which quote to post at the end. When I came back to this, the only part that was "saved" was the above first paragraph, and one line of the new paragraph...."I have a couple of things I want to complain about."
I think I just experienced serendipity! I wrote it. I got it out of my system. 'Nuff said!
"The purpose of life is to live a life of purpose." -- Anonymous
Well, a funny thing happened while I was writing this post. I decided to complain about a couple of things that really bothered me, even though I knew that wasn't my usual style, not the real me. After typing away and writing for what seemed like an endless amount of time, I "saved" my work, while I decided which quote to post at the end. When I came back to this, the only part that was "saved" was the above first paragraph, and one line of the new paragraph...."I have a couple of things I want to complain about."
I think I just experienced serendipity! I wrote it. I got it out of my system. 'Nuff said!
"The purpose of life is to live a life of purpose." -- Anonymous
Tuesday, March 9, 2010
** IF IT'S TUESDAY, I MUST BE BETTER! **
The last couple of days, I've begun to feel a little better. It's been a slow process, and seems especially slow because I have such a low energy level in the first place. But, I am definitely on the mend! Last night, I even broke into song a couple of times, and my husband gave me that "look". The one where he pretends to appear as if he thinks I can't sing!! Then he smiled and said, "You're on your way back, aren't you!?" Yep, he's gotta take the bad with the good!
I've been rearranging the look of my blog a little bit. Just the right side part. I removed quite a few things, moved others, and shortened the list of blogs appearing in the main area of my Blog List. I chose to only show 10 on the first page, and they are listed in order of newest posts at the top. After you scroll down to the end of the 10th one, you can click on "show all", continue scrolling and see the rest. I used to list them alphbetically, but when I realized I could show them by newest updates, that seemed to make a lot more sense. So, the more you blog, the more you'll be seen!
Poor Tiger! Since her hearing isn't what it used to be, my coughing and using hundreds of Puffs Plus tissues, has interrupted a few of her naps! And I'm not even talking about loud old honking noises! The poor thing will raise up her tilted head, look over my way with one ear flopped, and have a look on her face like Hey! What the heck was that? Did you do that?! And I, always remembering my manners, even with my dog, will say out loud, "I'm sorry, Tiger! I didn't mean to scare you!" *Side Note: I am not being paid by Procter & Gamble to keep talking about Puffs tissues!! But, hey, if anyone from P&G is reading this.....have your people call my people!
“If I could reach up and hold a star for every time you've made me smile, the entire evening sky would be in the palm of my hand.” -- Unknown
I've been rearranging the look of my blog a little bit. Just the right side part. I removed quite a few things, moved others, and shortened the list of blogs appearing in the main area of my Blog List. I chose to only show 10 on the first page, and they are listed in order of newest posts at the top. After you scroll down to the end of the 10th one, you can click on "show all", continue scrolling and see the rest. I used to list them alphbetically, but when I realized I could show them by newest updates, that seemed to make a lot more sense. So, the more you blog, the more you'll be seen!
Poor Tiger! Since her hearing isn't what it used to be, my coughing and using hundreds of Puffs Plus tissues, has interrupted a few of her naps! And I'm not even talking about loud old honking noises! The poor thing will raise up her tilted head, look over my way with one ear flopped, and have a look on her face like Hey! What the heck was that? Did you do that?! And I, always remembering my manners, even with my dog, will say out loud, "I'm sorry, Tiger! I didn't mean to scare you!" *Side Note: I am not being paid by Procter & Gamble to keep talking about Puffs tissues!! But, hey, if anyone from P&G is reading this.....have your people call my people!
“If I could reach up and hold a star for every time you've made me smile, the entire evening sky would be in the palm of my hand.” -- Unknown
Sunday, March 7, 2010
** Various Thoughts on a Sunday Night **
It's Oscar night. I've loved watching this gala on TV for as long as I can remember, even those years when I hadn't seen a single movie that had any nominations!....which is usually the case. I was pleasantly surprised by some of the results tonight. Steve Martin and Alec Baldwin were pretty funny. All in all a nice evening of entertainment, especially since I've been sick and haven't felt like doing much of anything for quite a few days.
It's hard to believe I didn't even feel like reading, writing or blogging: three of my favorite things! I've just layed around on the couch, watched TV, slept and ATE!
My wonderful husband, Ron, has been doing things around the house for me, as he does even when I'm not sick. Today he went to the grocery store and picked up a couple of items I said I desperately needed......more Puffs Plus with lotion, and granola cereal! AND, he bought me the cutest, sweetest, Get Well musical card. He said he listened to quite a few before he opened this one and knew this was it!
(He knows I love Mary Poppins and the song, a spoonful of sugar. That is what this card plays when it is opened....and by none other than Mary Poppins herself, Julie Andrews!!) Awww! Isn't he a sweetie? The top picture is the front of the card. The bottom one is a cropped version of the inside, because I didn't want the whole world to see what he wrote! And I must say, that shortly after opening it, listening to the fabulous song and reading his lovely words, I really did begin to feel a lot better! ♥
♪ Just a spoonful of sugar helps the medicine go down.... ♫ ♪
♪ Just a spoonful of sugar helps the medicine go down.... ♫ ♪
Thursday, March 4, 2010
** Think I Need Another Therapeutic Thursday **
I don't catch normal colds like normal people do. I usually start getting that itchy throat feeling and in about a day or two, Boom! I have a sinus infection, or sometimes a little later: bronchitis. Fortunately, this usually only happens about once or twice a year. Anyway, I'm into day 3 and feeling quite droopy. The worst thing about this kind of "illness" is that even though I'm not what I would describe as sick, I don't feel like doing a darn thing....not even writing, or making my cards, or reading! I just want to lay around and try to stay snuggly and warm. BUT, I had to at least open up the old laptop and read a few blogs. I also decided to post a little something today, or people would wonder where I am....Hopefully, you would!
Until next time, I've got my box of Puffs Plus Lotion ( a MUST), my heating pad for my cold little tootsies, bottled water, a cup of (temporarily) hot tea, chapstick, Afrin nasal spray.....and I think I may have to order in pizza for an early dinner! No fever here, so I better start feeding this bug with lots of calories and carbs! That's what Linda O. did and she felt better fast. Sounds like a great experiement to me! :)
If you're going to catch a bug, there's only one I recommend .........
"Happiness is contagious...when you reflect happiness, then all others around you catch the happy bug and are happy, too." -- Jennifer Leese
Until next time, I've got my box of Puffs Plus Lotion ( a MUST), my heating pad for my cold little tootsies, bottled water, a cup of (temporarily) hot tea, chapstick, Afrin nasal spray.....and I think I may have to order in pizza for an early dinner! No fever here, so I better start feeding this bug with lots of calories and carbs! That's what Linda O. did and she felt better fast. Sounds like a great experiement to me! :)
If you're going to catch a bug, there's only one I recommend .........
"Happiness is contagious...when you reflect happiness, then all others around you catch the happy bug and are happy, too." -- Jennifer Leese
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