The Unexpected

I go to B&N to write most of my first drafts. Part of my routine is to find a book or magazine to browse while I eat a cookie and drink a white mocha. Then I usually start writing. The other day I went and didn't find anything to read before grabbing a table. I like the window tables because I can gaze dreamily outside and ponder my next sentence or paragraph. And I like the window sill for my purse, so I found a window table and on the window sill was a book. It wasn't a book I would have picked up myself, but since it was just sitting there, I read the back cover. Then I opened it up and read the first chapter, and the next until I was up to page 128 and hadn't done any writing.

I love the unexpected. I love finding something I didn't know was coming. Especially when I'm writing. I love it when the characters surprise you by being especially witty or clever or devious. Sometimes so devious that you didn't even know they had it in them. My first and only adult novel that I've written, a 142,000 word suspense, was like that. I always knew how it was going to end, until I wrote it. I fell in love with the character who was going to be killed at the end, and found I couldn't kill him. I hadn't expected to love him. He was kind of sleazy after all, but then I delved a little deeper to find out why he was sleazy and once I understood him, I rooted for him.

I'm not saying I did the right thing by not killing him off. If I ever drag the tomb out and decide to rewrite and edit it, I probably will kill him off because the original ending I envisioned is better than the one I came up with to spare him. But I loved discovering new things about him.

In my current wip, a YA, I'm in that discovery mode. I know how the book ends and who the major characters are, but then a new one will show up that I didn't expect, like Caitlyn the Storm, and I discover a new path that the story will take. I love those paths into the unexpected.

BTW, the book from B&N was The White Garden by Stephanie Barron and I did end up purchasing it. I'd love to hear about your unexpected finds, either from your own characters or a book you fell in love with.

In Lieu of a Real Post...

Okay, this is a real post, but it's a different kind of post in that I'm going to link you guys to some really good posts I've been reading lately about the writing industry. Why am I doing so much reading? Because it's the end of the year and I'm coming up with a 2010 Plan of Attack...and because I'm a little anal. I love the writing part of writing, but the business part is a little trickier. I find that if I don't have a plan I'm just writing with my head in the sand. I'm not paying attention to trends (not type-of-book trends, actual industry trends) and I'm doing myself and my writing a disservice.

Yes, we should be writing the books of our hearts but if we're not ready to do some marketing for those books, what is the point? Who will know? Or care? The more prepared we are, the better chance our book has of 1) making it to the shelves and 2) doing well ...

So, I thought I'd share three posts that really make me think this week - about my own writing, about my chances in this industry and about how I'm going to attack 2010 with a passion!

Agent Kristin over at PubRants has the low-down on a new upper-teens/early twenties imprint at St. Martin's Press...

Agent Jessica over at Bookends Lit Agency has a cool post on the likeability of characters and how important it is to create likeable characters.

Agent Scott is talking about the changes in publishing going on right now.

Holiday Stories

A few posts ago, Kristi mentioned that she had never written a holiday-themed story and it got me thinking. I subbed to Wild Rose Press a while back, and they had specific times when they would accept holiday-themed stories.
I'm wondering about the other pubs...if I were to have one of my "flashes" about a Christmas story in say March, have it written by July, do I then sub it in August? Or wait until the eds get in the holiday mood? Maybe Mid-October?
This might seem silly, but I'm serious.
I know we sub stories set around the 4th of July in January, but there's something special about the holidays. Would an editor be turned off, sitting in a hot, stuffy office in the dog days of August and pick up my Colorado-set, snow-deep holiday-themed manuscript? Or should I wait until the season is getting close? Of course, if I wait too long, I might get in the pre-holiday desk cleaning we've all heard about. Janauary doesn't really work either, cause by then we're all sick to death of holidays.
I'm beginning to see why Kristi has never written a holiday-themed manuscript.

Release Day!!!!!

Well, it is finally here. The day I've dreamed about literally for years. My book is being published. Today!!!!! There's a healthy dollop of surreal disbelief topping my excitement. Not to mention frustration at not being able to track each sale literally moment by moment. Because as big a deal as it is the book is for sale, I need to know people will read it. Will choose to read it. Will choose to spend their hard earned money to read what I wrote.

Is it pride, or massive insecurity? I'm pretty sure it is equal parts both of them. Yes, I write for me, because I enjoy it. Because I truly feel I have stories worth telling. But as of today, there is a piece of me that will endure for decades, maybe even centuries after I'm gone. It is my way of making my mark on the world. And you can't make a mark unless somebody else notices it! So I shamelessly beg you to go to www.eternalpress.ca and pick up an e-copy (or you can wait 2 weeks and get it in print from Amazon). I can promise you a mystery, a romance, and hopefully a story that transports you from your life to the steamy, sexy city of Charleston. Oh, and don't hesitate to spread the word to your friends, family, stylists, or even the checker at your grocery store.

Do you ever start a story that just fizzles out after a few paragraphs, pages or even chapters? I recently talked about how a story idea comes to me in a flash, a scene that nags me until I have to write it. I might need to mention again that I'm a pantser all the way. I HATE plotting or outlining. I usually don't have the famous GMC worked out, not until the book actaully starts to take form, then it all takes shape.
Usually.
But sometimes it doesn't.
I have a lot of partials under my bed for this reason. I have a great "flash", write it. Heck, on some of them I've even finished the ms! A lot, actually. I always lose count, but I think I have 13 completed manuscripts collecting dust under my bed.
I also have at least that many partials, maybe more.
Right now I'm struggling with three current WIPS...the Cowboy's Baby, Larkspur, Rescued...
I want to finish them. I really do, but I've lost interest. It's not that the story isn't there, it's there. In fact, on two it's down pat.
The trouble is, I just don't want to write the damn story. And they're good stories, worth finishing. One of them is brand new, one I was in love with until I started writing it, and the CPs all like. But I'm no longer enjoying it. I open the document and I sit and stare at it. Get up, eat a snack, go to the bathroom, check what's on Oprah, read email, look at Facebook.
Just don't write.
I know what you're thinking, it's the mid-book saggies. Nope. I haven't gotten far enough for the droops. It's just that for different reasons, none of the books no longer hold any appeal. I think it goes back to my confidence issue I talked about a few weeks ago.
Maybe.
I don't know, but it's driving me crazy.
I can't keep starting manuscripts and not finishing them. That's the mark of an amatuer, and I'm no amatuer in this biz. Been at it too long.
Anybody have any sage advice for getting my mojo back? Or a good kick in the ass to get me to finish three good, possibly salable manuscripts?

Writing through the holidays

I'm amazed at how fast the months fly by and I find myself overwhelmed with holiday stuff. I love everything about the month of December, and naturally, I want to do everything. From black Friday shopping to decorating, then of course there's extra cleaning, cooking and entertaining. Cookie parties and tree trimming. I'm always fortunate to get my share of this stuff done. But that means my writing has to take back seat. At least for the month.
But it occured to me that even while I'm busy fighting traffic, standing in line at the checkout, or bent over the oven cleaning, (ugh) I am still in the writing mode because my mind is wrapped up in plot, characters and settings. I'm thinking about what my characters are going to do next. Sometimes I make little notes to myself so I don't forget. On my turkey run last week, I took my Alpha smart and gave myself 30 minutes at the city park to begin a new scene. Last night my two daughters came over for dinner with the grandkids. Even though I was 'on call', dishing up goulash and pouring juice, over the chatter, the girls and I had a mini brainstorming sesson. Cool! The greatest thing about writing is the fact you can do it any time and almost anywhere. How do you write when you don't have time?

My Addiction

My husband would say pens. I probably have more pens than money in my purse at any given time. And I do love a new pen, especially in pink or purple and with a nice glide.

But I think my true addiction is to words. I love words. Whether I wrote them or someone else. I love the power of words, the romance of them, and the sheer honesty of them. I love that one word can express so much and in another instance, so little. I love the poetry, the lyric of rhyme, and the flowering imagery we can create with a little twist of common words. When I create a sentence that I'm particularly proud of, I love when another writer comments how much they liked my turn of phrase. That validation is so good for this writer's soul.

I was in Barnes and Noble the other day and picked up a couple of books to browse through. Even though I have a stack of to-be-reads at home, I almost bought another one. I had to stop myself. It's Christmas season after all and I have to watch my pennies. Although, yesterday I received Pirate Latitudes, Michael Crichton's last book, from Amazon (it was only $9, you can't pass that up!) and perched it atop my mountain of books. And Christi has her book coming out in a week or so, gonna have to snatch that one up. When will this addiction end? And do I want it to?

No. Never. I can't imagine what non-writer's think about when they're driving. I'm either plotting the next chapter or finishing up the present chapter. Characters are dialoguing and I'm making notes at stop lights. I can't imagine not falling asleep without the words of my current character whispering in my ear.

So, now I'm off to Bixby's world to write my words. But as we part, I'd like to recommend a couple of good reads...Whistlin Dixie in a Nor'easter by Lisa Patton and When Autumn Leaves by Amy S. Foster... two new writers worth checking out. I'm currently reading Shutter Island by Dennis Lehane because one of my employees loaned it to me. I have Pirate Latitudes and the new Stephanie Plum, fifteen something or other, waiting in the wings. I'm sure by the time I get done with Shutter Island, the to-be-read mountain will be even higher.

Happy Thanksgiving and as Christmas nears, remember, a good pen is a good gift :)