Blank Books and Blogs

Dec 22nd, 11 / 0 Comments

I’ve always loved blank notebooks — from the ones with gorgeous covers and either plain or lined pages inside to those with little sayings in the sidebar or the bottom of the page that provide hints on things like how to avoid writer’s block.

I have lots of these. I’ve bought some myself (a couple were supposed to be gifts, but I ended up keeping them); most were gifts from friends who knew I liked to write long before I began “novelizing.”  Some of them I’ve had for years and they’ve moved with me many times. I love them all. But they all share one quality: they’re all still blank.

Recently, I took one of the new ones and forced myself to write on the first page — jotting down ideas I’d had for stories, things I’d heard, etc. I decided this would be a journal where I could keep track of all of that instead of using whatever scrap of paper seemed handy at the time (more of which have been lost over time than saved). Good idea, but it felt so wrong to defile the pristine pages because they’re in a bound book. If I don’t like what I’ve written, I can’t tear the pages out because that will show (“everyone will know” — all of those anonymous souls who don’t read my bound journals now or probably ever, but who are foremost in my mind when I am unable to drag even my pencil over the hallowed halls within the covers of that tome). It’s just so daunting.

Now I’ve been trying to write on this blog for some time, and I’m finding it’s almost as daunting as dealing with the blank book, but for different reasons. In the case of the blog, there really is a possibility that someone might read my words, so there’s added pressure to sound intelligent and perhaps have something worthwhile to say. The pressure is off, because if I don’t like my post, I can delete it, although I feel like that’s cheating and shouldn’t be allowed.

I don’t do it as often as I “should” because I find the idea that I’m posting my thoughts and feelings out there for anyone and everyone to read daunting, even as the idea that I would write in a book where I can’t tear out the pages is daunting. But I’m trying. I have filled a few of the pages in the newest book; I’ve made a few posts here, and I intend to write more. I’m assuming it will get easier on both counts in time.

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Taking stock: the base of soup and memory

Nov 12th, 11 / 1 Comment

My dreams aren’t that different from most people’s, I think, and my bucket list, if I really had written one, wouldn’t probably be that different from yours. (Well, I’d leave out the mountain climbing in Nepal.) Yet, having just returned from a trip east to console (and receive consolation from) family after the death of two of our members, I have been reminded to take stock of the things that are truly important in life.

The important things in life are more like what you find in a soup pot than a bucket. By themselves, carrots, celery, and other vegetables and meats aren’t exciting or special, but when put together into a broth and simmered with spices, a fine and nourishing soup emerges. This soup, like most of the days of our lives, sustains us and takes us through the ordinary times. The days containing items from the bucket are exciting, and they make great memories, but we don’t have enough of those to sustain us regularly. We couldn’t get along without something like that soup on a daily basis.

The important things are not in the bucket. They’re all around: your wife or husband, your children, pets. A day doing something fun, or even a day doing chores. Making soup. Sure, the items in the bucket are great, and I’ve done my share of things that have made me exhilarated and proud. I’ll continue doing them, too, but I will also try to remember not to let a day go by without celebrating the joys of my life, both small and large.

I miss you, Mary and Elaine. But in my memory you’re both smiling and telling me to go out and have fun and enjoy life. I’m going to do just that.

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We hold these truths to be self-evident …

Jul 4th, 11 / 0 Comments

Today, I’ve started a new tradition: in honor of July 4th, I am reading the Declaration of Independence. I’ve read it before, but the words always lift my spirits and remind me of what this country is really all about. I try to imagine what it would have been like to hear these words for the first time, and I get emotional. Those listening back then were either caught up in the patriotism and the zeal for independence or they were thinking, “This is treason.” That makes it even more powerful.

Happy Fourth of July, everyone. Take a moment, before the parties with friends and the barbecues, to read the words that helped bring about this great nation.

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CONGRESS, JULY 4, 1776

The unanimous Declaration of the thirteen united States of America

When in the Course of human events it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another and to assume among the powers of the earth, the separate and equal station to which the Laws of Nature and of Nature’s God entitle them, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation.

We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.

— That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed,

— That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness.

Prudence, indeed, will dictate that Governments long established should not be changed for light and transient causes; and accordingly all experience hath shewn that mankind are more disposed to suffer, while evils are sufferable than to right themselves by abolishing the forms to which they are accustomed.

But when a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably the same Object evinces a design to reduce them under absolute Despotism, it is their right, it is their duty, to throw off such Government, and to provide new Guards for their future security.

— Such has been the patient sufferance of these Colonies; and such is now the necessity which constrains them to alter their former Systems of Government. The history of the present King of Great Britain is a history of repeated injuries and usurpations, all having in direct object the establishment of an absolute Tyranny over these States.

To prove this, let Facts be submitted to a candid world.

He has refused his Assent to Laws, the most wholesome and necessary for the public good.

He has forbidden his Governors to pass Laws of immediate and pressing importance, unless suspended in their operation till his Assent should be obtained; and when so suspended, he has utterly neglected to attend to them.

He has refused to pass other Laws for the accommodation of large districts of people, unless those people would relinquish the right of Representation in the Legislature, a right inestimable to them and formidable to tyrants only.

He has called together legislative bodies at places unusual, uncomfortable, and distant from the depository of their Public Records, for the sole purpose of fatiguing them into compliance with his measures.

He has dissolved Representative Houses repeatedly, for opposing with manly firmness his invasions on the rights of the people. He has refused for a long time, after such dissolutions, to cause others to be elected, whereby the Legislative Powers, incapable of Annihilation, have returned to the People at large for their exercise; the State remaining in the mean time exposed to all the dangers of invasion from without, and convulsions within.

He has endeavoured to prevent the population of these States; for that purpose obstructing the Laws for Naturalization of Foreigners; refusing to pass others to encourage their migrations hither, and raising the conditions of new Appropriations of Lands.

He has obstructed the Administration of Justice by refusing his Assent to Laws for establishing Judiciary Powers. He has made Judges dependent on his Will alone for the tenure of their offices, and the amount and payment of their salaries.

He has erected a multitude of New Offices, and sent hither swarms of Officers to harass our people and eat out their substance. He has kept among us, in times of peace, Standing Armies without the Consent of our legislatures. He has affected to render the Military independent of and superior to the Civil Power.

He has combined with others to subject us to a jurisdiction foreign to our constitution, and unacknowledged by our laws; giving his Assent to their Acts of pretended Legislation:

For quartering large bodies of armed troops among us:

For protecting them, by a mock Trial from punishment for any Murders which they should commit on the Inhabitants of these States:

For cutting off our Trade with all parts of the world:

For imposing Taxes on us without our Consent:

For depriving us in many cases, of the benefit of Trial by Jury:

For transporting us beyond Seas to be tried for pretended offences:

For abolishing the free System of English Laws in a neighbouring Province, establishing therein an Arbitrary government, and enlarging its Boundaries so as to render it at once an example and fit instrument for introducing the same absolute rule into these Colonies

For taking away our Charters, abolishing our most valuable Laws and altering fundamentally the Forms of our Governments:

For suspending our own Legislatures, and declaring themselves invested with power to legislate for us in all cases whatsoever. He has abdicated Government here, by declaring us out of his Protection and waging War against us.

He has plundered our seas, ravaged our coasts, burnt our towns, and destroyed the lives of our people. He is at this time transporting large Armies of foreign Mercenaries to compleat the works of death, desolation, and tyranny, already begun with circumstances of Cruelty & Perfidy scarcely paralleled in the most barbarous ages, and totally unworthy the Head of a civilized nation.

He has constrained our fellow Citizens taken Captive on the high Seas to bear Arms against their Country, to become the executioners of their friends and Brethren, or to fall themselves by their Hands.

He has excited domestic insurrections amongst us, and has endeavoured to bring on the inhabitants of our frontiers, the merciless Indian Savages whose known rule of warfare, is an undistinguished destruction of all ages, sexes and conditions.

In every stage of these Oppressions We have Petitioned for Redress in the most humble terms: Our repeated Petitions have been answered only by repeated injury.

A Prince, whose character is thus marked by every act which may define a Tyrant, is unfit to be the ruler of a free people. Nor have We been wanting in attentions to our British brethren.

We have warned them from time to time of attempts by their legislature to extend an unwarrantable jurisdiction over us. We have reminded them of the circumstances of our emigration and settlement here. We have appealed to their native justice and magnanimity, and we have conjured them by the ties of our common kindred to disavow these usurpations, which would inevitably interrupt our connections and correspondence. They too have been deaf to the voice of justice and of consanguinity.

We must, therefore, acquiesce in the necessity, which denounces our Separation, and hold them, as we hold the rest of mankind, Enemies in War, in Peace Friends.

We, therefore, the Representatives of the united States of America, in General Congress, Assembled, appealing to the Supreme Judge of the world for the rectitude of our intentions, do, in the Name, and by Authority of the good People of these Colonies, solemnly publish and declare,

That these united Colonies are, and of Right ought to be Free and Independent States, that they are Absolved from all Allegiance to the British Crown, and that all political connection between them and the State of Great Britain, is and ought to be totally dissolved; and that as Free and Independent States, they have full Power to levy War, conclude Peace, contract Alliances, establish Commerce, and to do all other Acts and Things which Independent States may of right do. —

And for the support of this Declaration, with a firm reliance on the protection of Divine Providence, we mutually pledge to each other our Lives, our Fortunes, and our sacred Honor. —

John Hancock

New Hampshire: Josiah Bartlett, William Whipple, Matthew Thornton

Massachusetts: John Hancock, Samuel Adams, John Adams, Robert Treat Paine, Elbridge Gerry

Rhode Island: Stephen Hopkins, William Ellery

Connecticut: Roger Sherman, Samuel Huntington, William Williams, Oliver Wolcott New York: William Floyd, Philip Livingston, Francis Lewis, Lewis Morris

New Jersey: Richard Stockton, John Witherspoon, Francis Hopkinson, John Hart, Abraham Clark

Pennsylvania: Robert Morris, Benjamin Rush, Benjamin Franklin, John Morton, George Clymer, James Smith, George Taylor, James Wilson, George Ross Delaware: Caesar Rodney, George Read, Thomas McKean

Maryland: Samuel Chase, William Paca, Thomas Stone, Charles Carroll of Carrollton

Virginia: George Wythe, Richard Henry Lee, Thomas Jefferson, Benjamin Harrison, Thomas Nelson, Jr., Francis Lightfoot Lee, Carter Braxton

North Carolina: William Hooper, Joseph Hewes, John Penn South Carolina: Edward Rutledge, Thomas Heyward, Jr., Thomas Lynch, Jr., Arthur Middleton

Georgia: Button Gwinnett, Lyman Hall, George Walton

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GALE: Imagine hearing this for the first time. What would you have done? Happy Fourth of July, everyone!

 

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Indie vs. “Real” or Traditional Publishing

Apr 2nd, 11 / 0 Comments

When I began my novel, I already had a non-fiction reference book under my belt which I’d published myself through an independent press. I read all that I could about the changing world of publishing; I attended writers’ conferences and seminars; I agonized over the options.

The bottom line was that traditional publishers had (and still have) prestige. Most aspiring writers my age grew up believing that our dreams would come true once we were accepted by a traditional, big press. But way back then, the world was different, and publishing was, too. Publishers helped you market your books, they provided editors to work with you, and they paid decently. You still couldn’t make huge money being a writer unless you were incredibly prolific and/or incredibly good, but the possibility was there. Being published by a “real” publisher meant that you’d paid your dues and that you had been graded and passed.

Back then, the only people who published their own books were those who weren’t good enough to land a real publishing deal. They used the “vanity press” as a means of getting their books out there. If people found out you’d published your own book (anything other than a genealogical family history or something similar), they’d look down their noses at you.

When printing became something that ordinary people with computers could tackle, that began to change. The stigma of self-publishing—the new name that supplanted vanity press—began to disappear. It was about the same time that working from home and having your own business became something that was envied instead of being the dirty little secret you hoped people wouldn’t learn.

The other issues were the amount of time it takes to get into print for traditional vs. self publishing, as well as the monetary remuneration. It generally takes about three years for a book to reach the shelf at Barnes and Noble from the time you send it to your agent and on to a traditional press. The publisher is gambling that your book will sell and make money for them and you. They pay the up-front costs and then generally pay you a certain amount on the sale of each book (generally after repaying any royalty you received). With the advent of self-publishing houses online, you can now publish your own printed novel  in a matter of weeks. You have to pay for all the editing, cover design, and printing when you do it yourself, but you hope to sell enough to repay these costs and then make some money. Much more of the profit comes to the author under the self-publishing umbrella than with traditional.

When it came to self-publishing, my situation was slightly different from most authors because my previous working background was in desktop publishing, design, and printing, as well as technical writing and editing. I could format my own manuscript for print; editing was less costly, since I could do a lot of my own edits prior to sending it out for more; and I understood the process that got the book into being after it left my hands. Because of these things, the costs involved with printing my own novel were much less than they would be for others. I still have to market it, make people aware that it’s out there, and hope that I can sell enough copies to make back my investment. Since I believe in the book, I chose this path.

But if I believe in the book, why didn’t I go with a traditional publisher? Why didn’t I send it to agents everywhere, knowing they’d snap it up in a heartbeat?

J.K. Rowling’s manuscript of Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone was rejected by 12 different publishers before Scholastic took it, and that’s just one example writers like to cite when they are viewing piles of rejection slips on their desks.

I do think Bruce and the Road to Courage would have been accepted by a traditional publisher, somewhere, someday. Like many “real” authors are also doing now, though, I decided that the benefits of having that publisher’s name on my book weren’t enough to warrant the hassle, the delays, and the costs, both real and emotional, of going the traditional route. Bruce will be just as real when the book is delivered to me from the printer I chose as if it had come from Random House or Scribner’s.

Publishing, Writing

The day is finally here.

Mar 30th, 11 / 0 Comments

This is a landmark day in many ways. I’ve been preparing for it for many months (no, really it’s been years), and it’s hard to believe the day is here. Last night I uploaded digital files to the printer who will create the printed books for Bruce and the Road to Courage. Today I finished the Kindle and Nook e-book versions and got those uploaded to Amazon and Barnes and Noble for sale.

I’ve learned so much. Learning more about writing fiction is just the beginning, and I hope to continue that for all of my writing career. The rest of the process has been a tremendous amount of discovery and doing, and that’s not finished yet, either. How to get ISBN numbers. How to submit information to the Library of Congress. The process of launching a small independent press (Two Cats Press is alive and well). How to format e-books and the nuances between the different formats. How to market the book, how to get reviews, and the many channels of potential distribution are some of the things I’m still working on. I have no worry that I’ll be bored any time soon.

So many of you have wished me well along this journey, and I can’t thank you enough.

Here’s to Bruce and a landmark day for his journey.

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“…but it’s just a children’s book…”

Mar 13th, 11 / 0 Comments

At a writers’ workshop this weekend, I was talking with someone I didn’t know who asked what I was working on. I told her about Bruce and the Road to Courage. I gave her my 30-second synopsis of the plot and action. I was excited to be sharing the information with her, and I told her that, after the workshop, I would again be reworking the opening of the book because I realized it could be stronger.

“Sure,” she said, “but it’s just a children’s book.” Like that meant I shouldn’t try to make it the best it could be. Like it didn’t matter what kids were reading. Like the writing could be worse when presented to children. Like they won’t care.

I bet they would.

I guess maybe I take myself too seriously as a “novelist” when the only novel I’ve written so far is a book for kids.

But I do take it seriously. I don’t care when people give it criticism it doesn’t deserve. Good criticism has helped it become so much better, and it’s a good story.

So it’s off to rework the opening for the umpty-seventh time. The book will be better for it. Maybe no one else will know, but I will. And I think the kids will like it better, too.

Uncategorized, Writing

Editing the Journey

Feb 2nd, 11 / 0 Comments

Bruce reached the end of his journey on the last day of January, 2011. I woke early in the morning, unable to sleep due to odd noises in the house, and decided to go over the last parts of the novel that needed attention. By the time everyone else was up, his story was done.

“How do you know it’s done?” I asked myself. I don’t have a good answer, except to say that I believe I said all that needs to be said, all the loose ends are tied up (except those that aren’t supposed to be tied), and it reads well.

I handed the book off to my husband for his final reading and editing suggestions. No matter how many times I’ve been over the words, things that could be done better or small elements that I missed (a sentence that, when rewritten, has two verbs and is missing a subject, for example) appear. His eagle eye is busy scanning 30 pages a day and making notes.

Meanwhile, I’m working on the cover art and illustrations. I’m excited — this is a plateau of a new sort, and I’m breathing differently at this higher altitude.

Many of you have written saying you are waiting for a copy of the book when it becomes available. Sight unseen, you are telling me you trust that I have written a book you would like to give to your children or grandchildren. I am honored. I believe the book will live up to your expectations. Thank you, everyone, for your support.

Writing

I’m nearly finished with Bruce’s journey (and he is almost ready to begin)

Jan 22nd, 11 / 0 Comments

Bruce and the Road to Courage.

I have been working on this novel for so very, very long, it’s hard to believe it will be finished soon. Yet I’m almost there. Having toyed with the idea of expanding the book into a series, I believe my original format still feels best for the characters and the story, so I’m now doing final edits (is there really such a thing?). Tomorrow I will begin reading the book aloud — a terrific tool for catching things that don’t sound right or read well. Following those fixes, a double-check of all the little things, and then it should be DONE.

A children’s novel of this size should never have taken this long, but I guess that doesn’t matter as long as I finish it. And it’s a good book — a book I’ve enjoyed reading as well as writing. I hope you will like it, too.

Next steps: deciding about illustrations and marketing (evidently that has to start now, even before the book is done).

Lots to learn, but it’s all fun. Hang in there, Bruce. You’ll be out and about soon!

Writing

Daily writing progress chart

Jan 11th, 11 / 0 Comments

Green is good

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Begin at the beginning and keep going

Jan 11th, 11 / 0 Comments

Not too far into the new year. Time to begin a blog, or at least that’s what everyone (anyone who is anyone) in the writing world says. For me, it’s just one more way to get words out onto this virtual paper where you can read them. Narcissistic? Perhaps. I’d rather choose to believe I might have something to say that would be worth reading. Here goes.

I’ve learned so much by writing this first novel. Oh, yes, I’d read many books about writing, and they all had good information in them, some better than others. I ingested all I could, from Stephen King’s On Writing to Oscar Collier’s How to Write and Sell Your First Novel. Don’t have your characters tell; make them do. Avoid adverbs. Some authors plot in advance and some outline; others just begin and let the plot wander until it gets where it’s going. Some do character studies; others find out who their characters are as the novel unfolds.

I did a little of all of that. I knew the rough story outline before I began writing. I knew who my main characters were and how they would interact. I didn’t yet know how they take off on their own: they decide they’re going to do something and off they go. It reminded me of doing the Ouija board with my mother when I was young. I always thought she was pushing the planchette (the pointed wooden indicator on which you rest your hands), although she swore she didn’t. Now I wonder if perhaps, like these characters, it simply had a force of its own.

Probably the best advice I received was to just keep writing. Thanks to all of you to continue to send your good thoughts and who keep me buoyed when the plot won’t advance, the characters are stuck, and I start rereading and feel like everything I’ve written is terrible. Just keep writing.

The other day, I was looking at other authors’ blogs to get an idea of the kinds of things they talk about, and I came across a suggestion that I’ve adopted. A visual reminder of day-to-day progress that came originally from Jerry Seinfeld. He kept a yearly chart with one square for each day, and he placed an X through the square when he wrote comedy material on that day. The goal was to have a continuous chain of Xs. He believed that writing every day was the best way to keep the creative juices flowing.

This seems to be especially true when you’re working on a novel. When I’ve had to stop writing, due to illness or other aspects of life taking precedence, getting back into the story requires a lot more work than if I haven’t taken a break. I have to reread previous passages to recall just where everyone was and what they were doing. I make mistakes, writing things twice or leaving something out I thought I already mentioned. I’ve learned it’s worth putting other things aside to accommodate the writing rather than the other way around.

Besides, writing is fun. I get to be with characters I enjoy, in worlds I create, doing things that come up unexpectedly. I get a real kick out of watching as scenes unfold and I simply follow along as the characters do things I never could have imagined. (Well, of course, I guess I did imagine them, but it doesn’t seem that way. Honestly.)

I hope you will enjoy following along with me as I record thoughts, things I learn, and other items that I feel would be as interesting to you as they are to me. I also hope you will send comments so I know you’re out there. Without you, dear reader, there’s no reason for me to do any of this. Thanks for giving me a reason, and I promise I’ll just keep writing if you’ll just keep reading.

Writing