Category: writing life

The Writer’s Club

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Writing can be a lonely business – just you, your computer (or notebook and pen), your mug of coffee (or tea if you lean that way), and your thoughts (should you happen to have any :))

If you’re lucky, you might also have your dogs keeping your feet warm (or your cat lying on top of your work in that oh-so-helpful way that cats have!)

But let’s face it, as writers, we spend a lot of time alone.

Wouldn’t it be great if all us writer’s could take a break every morning from 10:30 – 10:45 and have a good old fashioned coffee klatch?  Just put our writing aside for a few minutes and chat – about writing, frustration and success, who’s working on what and how it’s going, our fears and hopes and aspirations, and the fact that the laundry is NEVER DONE?

Sometimes I think you have to be a writer to get writers.  There are a whole host of discussion topics I never tire of (How do I get through the tricky part of my current WIP?  How do I make my MC seem real?  What’s the best way to convey emotion without sentimentality?  Why did Skippyjon Jones get a stuffty when Phyllis didn’t?  Will I ever sell another ms?  What if I never have another idea in my ENTIRE LIFE? :)) that the non-writer people in my life would be more than happy never to discuss at all!

So I think we should have a club.  I’d suggest the Breakfast Club but that’s been done.  Let’s have the Writer’s Club.  Every day at 10:30, come on over here and post whatever is on your mind, and all your writer friends will chime in with sage advice, words of encouragement, or writerly commiseration.  It will be fifteen minutes of the day we can all look forward to, companionship and understanding guaranteed!

Of course, on this particular day, I will not be here at 10:30 – I have a non-negotiable appointment with my son’s laundry (what did I just say about laundry?!) – but y’all can get started without me and I’ll catch up once the washing machine is running!

Happy Writing!

The Write Facts

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Let’s begin the morning with a rousing chorus of Happy Birthday!  Scout, my beloved brown dog, is 4 years old today.  (And, I might add, she shares her birthday with McDreamy from Grey’s Anatomy – coincidence…?)

baby pictures…

…for your enjoyment
(because she’s so cute!)

In case you were wondering (admit it, you were!) there will definitely be cake 🙂  (Yellow, with vanilla icing, because chocolate, though delicious, is very bad for dogs!)

So anyway…

I’m always wondering about stuff.  Just the way my mind works (and no comments along the lines of, “What?  Your mind works?”!)

I’ve been writing for years, and I’ve been fortunate enough to publish a few books.  I know a lot more than when I started about the process a book goes through from idea to bookstore/library shelf.

I used to have no idea what a proof, a galley, or an F&G was.  Now I have some of each that I can share with kids on school visits so that they can know something about the writing business.  (I would have LOVED to have an author come visit my school when I was a kid… back in the olden days… before the invention of the wheel…!)

Just this year, I got a running sheet for the first time (thanks to my wonderful editor at Walker!)  If you’ve never seen one, it’s the coolest thing ever. The whole book is printed on one huge sheet, with pages all upside down, backwards, and out of order.  But when you fold it the right way and cut it in the right place, it’s the book!

But although I’m slightly less ignorant than I was, there are still a whole lot of things about the publishing world that I want to know!

For example, how many books do you have to sell for your publisher to feel you are doing well?  (And “as many as possible” though obvious, is not a helpful answer!)  And, if you don’t earn out your advance, do publishers perceive your book as a failure?  And, with so many amazing books and authors out there, how do you get people to notice your book?

So in case you, like me, wonder about stuff, here are some interesting tidbits I found out recently:

1.  The average picture book writer will write 10 books for every 1 their agent deems strong enough to submit – no guarantee of publishing.  (And if you don’t have an agent, you can figure for yourself that 1 out of every 10 books you write will hopefully be saleable.  I don’t think my average is that good – more like 1 out of 20 :))

2.  There are about 300 editors actively acquiring in children’s books at the moment (that’s all levels of children’s books, and editors from houses of all sizes across the board.)  Of these, only 70-100 are even looking for picture books.

3.  This year, 150,000 authors will finish their masterpiece, but only about 1/3 of all new titles sell more than 100 copies.

4.  Only a small percentage of published books earn out their advances.

I’m not trying to depress you!  It’s just, I wonder about this stuff, so I thought you might too.

Anyone who has any other interesting facts on file, please share!  I’m always interested!

Have a wonderful day, and eat some cake in honor of Scouty Brown – yours can be chocolate – she won’t mind 🙂

Getting Started

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First things first:  here’s a link to the CLN annotated list of ALA winners from yesterday, in case you haven’t seen it yet.  There are many books here that I’m looking forward to reading, especially the Michael Printz winner and honor books!

Second things second: yes, I have finished the new book trailer for April Fool, Phyllis! but no, it isn’t up yet because there is a sticky part that isn’t playing correctly and I can’t figure out why.  If there are any technological geniuses out there who understand the nuances of imovie please feel free to share your expertise in the comments and up your karma quotient for the day 🙂

Now, on to today’s important topic: getting started.

I told you I was taking a writing course.  It officially began yesterday.  My assignment for the week is to either rewrite a scene from something I’ve already written, or write something new.  I think I’m going to go for option B – write something new.

Which leads me to “getting started.”

There are a lot of “getting started” moments in a writer’s day.  There’s getting yourself started – not so easy at 5:30 AM when it’s dark and 9 degrees… again… 🙂  There’s getting the coffee maker started – that one is easy 🙂  There’s getting the Dog Mobile started to meet the school bus – always tricky because a) the Dog Mobile is unpredictable and cranky and b) we live 6/10 of a mile from the bus stop (so no visual contact), the bus driver is unpredictable and cranky, and when it suits her (like yesterday) she leaves without us…  This in turn can affect getting the work day started by as much as an hour and a half.

Then there’s getting the coffee maker started again in order to fuel getting work started which involves
     a) computer on, butt in chair
     b) a strict self-command to stop checking email and stop reading other people’s interesting blogs and get inspired for the day, and
     c) actually getting started on writing, which involves either getting started from where I left off yesterday or getting started from scratch on something new.  (BTW, I think they call it “starting from scratch” because of the amount of time spent staring into space scratching your head (literally or metaphorically) while you try to think up something to write :))

For many writers, the blank page is intimidating.  Luckily, I am under strict orders from myself to “be inspired at 9 o’clock every morning” (see yesterday’s post:)) so I have no excuse!  I confess, though, that on many days I am not that inspired at 9:01…  When that happens, I just write.  Anything that comes into my head.  It’s like priming the pump.  If I can just get the words flowing, I have a hope of directing them where I want them to go.  Eventually.  Some days it works out, others I do a lot of deleting.  But as David Eddings said, “A writer’s apprenticeship usually involves writing a million words (which are then discarded) before he’s almost ready to begin.”  This helps me convince myself that no writing is wasted – it takes a long time to get to a million words!

Today, for my course, I’m going to get started on something new.  I wonder what it will be?  I’m pretty interested to find out!  I hope it’s good!

What are your “getting started” moments?  Which are hard and which are easy?  How do you deal with the hard ones?

Writing Inspiration

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Some call it inspiration.

Other’s call it the muse.

Still other’s might say it’s a caffeine and chocolate overload 🙂

But whatever its name, it is a writer’s best friend.

Where writing is concerned, there are few things to equal the euphoria of a great idea, the feeling that you have something so wonderful to express that your fingers can’t fly across the keyboard fast enough.  Those moments when words and ideas flow effortlessly are pinnacles of the writing life, something we, as writers, look forward to and hope for every day.

The problem is (at least in my experience!) those moments are few and far between.

If I personally waited for inspiration to strike, I might only write once or twice a year 🙂

Therefore, I go by the words of Peter DeVries:  “I write when I’m inspired, and I see to it that I’m inspired to write at 9 o’clock every morning.”  Words to live by!

So it’s 9 o’clock, and here I am, ready to make my own inspiration for the day.  But today I have a little boost and I will share it with you!  It’s award day!  At 10:45 EST, the ALA will announce the Newbery, Caldecott, Michael Printz, Coretta Scott King, and numerous other awards.  It’s a chance to see, and be inspired by, the best in children’s books.

ALA AWARDS

So tune in, see who the winners are, be inspired by success and great writing, and then sit down at your own keyboard or notebook and make some magic.  Who knows?  The words we write today might be the award winners of the future!

After the awards are posted, comment below on your favorites!

Snow Day!

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Breaking news:  we are having our first official snow day of the year!  And it is actually snowing (which is not always the case – in these days of doppler radar (don’t you love it when I use technical terms I don’t really know the meanings of?) the school districts have been known to jump the gun with a little too much enthusiasm.)

I love snow days!

I’m no longer a kid (I know that comes as a shock :)) and I don’t attend school, so snow days shouldn’t be that different from regular days.  I still have plenty of work to do.

But somehow, snow days are still great.  The kids can sleep late and have a fun-filled, relaxing day.  We can have a fire in the fireplace before evening – so cozy:)  There’s an almost lazy feel to the day because if the school buses can’t venture out then I am certainly not going to endanger society by taking the Dog Mobile out of the garage!  So, no errands.  And something about being holed up, warm and dry, while the snow falls peacefully outside is very conducive to writing stories.  At least for me.  As long as I don’t get side-tracked into reading stories instead 🙂

Aside from writing, I have a special project for today.  I’m almost finished with the book trailer for April Fool, Phyllis!  I know you’ve all been counting the minutes until you can see it, so this is surely thrilling news 🙂  It just needs some more of that nit-picky tweaking I’m so not fond of, and then it needs some complimentary music.  Anyone have any ideas?  I’m open to suggestion.  I can’t wait until it’s completely done and I can share it with you!

Also, I hope you all noticed the totally cool count-down thingy on the right side of the blog page.  It’s counting down to the release of April Fool, Phyllis!  So fun, don’t you think?

In other news, I have allowed myself to be talked into joining Month of Poetry.  Yes, it’s true.  My apologies to all the real poets out there.  I wrote my first Haiku poem yesterday.  It was not good.  Maybe today I’ll try a limerick…  There once was a dog on the hill/who loved to chase after a squirrel…  Maybe not.

But I’m thinking of dogs and squirrels because, at this very moment, Jemma is climbing a tree.  I am not making this up.  A squirrel ran up it (well, let’s be honest – she chased it there) and she’s doing her darndest to get up after it.  Four sets of claws are doggedly (:)) clinging to bark, and it is obvious she intends to catch that squirrel by sheer force of will.  Oops.  Sliding.  If only I’d been a little quicker with the camera!  Story idea here?

So it’s time to get to work (as soon as I take dem dogs for a snowy walk and give the squirrels a little break!)  I hope I’ll have the new trailer to share with you by Monday.

Have a great weekend, and if you live around here, happy snow day!

Finding The Groove

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So, y’all know I intend to write a novel this year.

What you may not know is that I have tried before.

Here’s how it went:

Novel #1(from about 1999): my agent liked it but said it needed more – a strong subplot.  12 years later, I’m still trying to figure out how to add a sub-plot.

Novel #2: written for a course at the Institute of Children’s Literature, I thought I was doing better with this one but, being a self-doubter by nature, I kept feeling that my instructor was being too kind, so I gave the novel to a an acquaintance and fellow writer to read.  Her comments were so brutal that I haven’t had the courage to take that one back out of the sock drawer.

Novel #3: has about 30 pages written with two alternate beginnings and I’m considering a third.

Novel #4: has about 30 pages written with three alternate beginnings.

Novel #5: An adventure story with elements of magic.  I wrote a chapter a day for 42 days for my kids.  They loved it.  Really.  And a couple other people who read it loved it as well.  My agent never got past page 90.  It’s currently being inflicted on my writing group.

Novel #6: has about 30 pages written with two alternate beginnings neither of which I like yet.

Novel #7: has about 30 pages written with three alternate beginnings.

Novel #8: has about 30 pages written.

Are you sensing a theme here?  Now you know why I have my work cut out for me!!!

So anyway, I read this interview with G. Neri on Cynsations blog yesterday.  It included some writing tips, and one of them really struck home with me.  It said:

“1.  Give yourself permission to write badly.  That’s right.  Even the greatest writers I know admit their first drafts suck.  So forget even trying.  The first draft is all about getting it out of your head and onto the paper (or disk).  It’s the number one obstacle that keeps would-be writers from ever finishing a novel.  They get stuck trying to make every page, every sentence, every word perfect just right.  Forget it.  Just find a word, throw together a sentence that communicates the basic idea, and move on.  Know that it will suck.  Embrace its suckage… move forward until you reach the end, then go back and fix.  Otherwise, you’ll never get done.”

This is good advice for me.  I can spend weeks revising a paragraph, but as you can see from my track record, I’m not so good on completion!  Didn’t I just list 5 novels with 30 (admittedly very polished but going nowhere!) pages?

What’s your biggest writing obstacle?  How do you cope with it?

Stay tuned as the year progresses, and we’ll see if my novel progresses with it!  Ultimately, I think it’s all about finding the groove 🙂

Goldilocks and the Three Hairs

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Rapunzel and I have something in common.  Neither one of us spends a lot of time getting her hair cut.

Rapunzel and I also have something in common with Goldilocks.  We all have blond hair.  Or at least, we used to.  I’ll get to that in a second.

Anyone who knows me will attest to the fact that I take fashion ignorance to unprecedented levels.

I wear blue jeans if at all possible.

I am not really sure what a pump is.  (The kind for your feet, not the thing that gets water out of the basement when it floods.)

I have never, in my entire life (which according to some began during the stone age) had a manicure or a pedicure.  (No, I am not making this up.  Get your jaw off the floor.)

I have never worn make-up, unless you count the time in 9th grade when, for a bit part in Wild Oats, I had to wear mascara.  It made my eyes itch, so henceforth I have avoided the stage.  And make-up.

Hairstyles?  Handbags?  Haute coutour?  Forget it.

Fashion.  Ignorance.

So when I tell you that yesterday I had my annual haircut you will understand that it was a Big Deal.  My concession to fashion, such as it is.

Really, once a year is enough.  I can’t be bothered to go any more often.  I have too many other things to do.  And anyone can trim their own bangs.  (Although I read somewhere that trimming your own bangs was a sign of self-loathing….  hmmm….)

I used to get my hair cut every 18 months or so, but that all changed when the three hairs showed up.  (This is the part I was getting to.  You can stop holding your breath in anticipation.)  Allow me to explain…

Locks of Love is an organization that accepts donations of hair to make hairpieces for financially disadvantaged children who suffer long-term medical hair loss from any diagnosis.  The minimum length requirement is 10 inches, and I found that if I grew my hair for about 18 months I could donate that without shaving my head completely.  Then, one fine day, the three hairs showed up.  Unmistakeable.  Impossible to hide.  Three gray hairs, front and center.

The ladies at the place where I used to get my hair cut (which has since gone out of business… coincidence?) informed me that Locks of Love would not accept hair with gray in it because it didn’t hold dye evenly.  Foolish me.  I believed them.

Here’s how I discovered my mistake yesterday:

I seated myself before the lovely Veronica, whose unenviable job it was to hack off my golden tresses.

“What would you like?” she chirped.

Before I could respond, she began flinging around terms like, “layers,” “highlights,” and “side bangs” with reckless abandon.  I was forced to throw cold water on her blaze of enthusiasm.

“Hold it,” I said.  “Let me explain.  I wash my hair.  And comb it.  That’s it.  There will be no styling.  No blow drying.  No mousse, no gel, no spray.  Nada.”

Her face fell.  “So, just a simple cut?” she clarified, no doubt hoping against hope that she had misunderstood and there was still time to talk me into a devilock, a pixie cut, or anything with a name.  Even a mullet.

“Just a simple cut,” I confirmed.  “The simplest.”

With a sigh she set to work.  Snip, snip, snip.  I could almost hear her thinking, “Bor-ing!”

“You know,” she said conversationally, “another three inches and you could donate to Locks of Love.”

“No,” I responded, secure in my superior knowledge.  “I have three gray hairs.  Locks of Love won’t take it.”

“Yes they will,” she chirped, once again enthusiastic.

What???  Could this be true???  Had I really been so completely hoodwinked???

I refrained from raining on her parade by saying a better time to have mentioned this would have been two minutes ago before she started snipping.

7 inches of prime hair – unbleached, uncolored, un-permed, undamaged by hair products or blow dryers of any kind and blond except for three hairs – was currently hitting the salon floor.  Wasted!

If I was going to make any donations, I would have to start from scratch.

“Well,” I said, “maybe next time.”

I then made good use of the rest of my time in the chair by asking her questions about beauty school.  You never know, I might want to write a character someday who has talents and/or aspirations in that direction.  So the ordeal wasn’t a total waste of time.  I like to keep a weather eye for useful material.

The moral of the story?  Don’t let a few gray hairs stop you from donating.  In fact, I believe Locks of Love will accept your hair even if it is mostly gray, or even all gray.  As for Rapunzel, she could help a lot of kids if she’d get out of that tower and share her hair!

And me?  Now that my head is lighter, maybe some great ideas will float out of it.  You never know!

Technology 101: Book Trailers

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I told you I was off to work on the book trailer for April Fool, Phyllis!, and I am.  But let me assure you, it is uphill work!

I read an article or a blog post somewhere (sorry, no idea where) which described people as falling into one of two categories: digital natives and digital immigrants.  My children are digital natives – they have grown up with computers and other electronic devices of all kinds and seem to have an innate understanding of how they function.  They also have no fear whatsoever of experimenting with said devices to see what they can do.  I, on the other hand, am most definitely a digital immigrant.  Technology of all kinds eludes me.  I require large amounts of handholding to try anything beyond Microsoft Word, and I am afraid to experiment lest I cause my computer to spontaneously combust, thereby costing me my ability to check my email 4,000 times a day and play Sporcle.

So you can see how creating a book trailer could be uphill work!

There are some famous authors out there whose publishing houses get their book trailers made by professionals.  I am not one of them.  There are other slightly less famous authors out there who do well enough to pay a professional to make book trailers for them.  I am not one of them either.

I use imovie and badger my computer-savvy children with endless questions until I hack my way through the trailer.  Possibly not the most efficient or popular method, but it gets the job done.  If you’re interested in viewing my hack jobs thus far, please click this link: SLHILLYouTubeChannel

(While you’re there, please feel free to subscribe to my channel, “like” the trailers, and/or write glowing reviews marveling over the creative and technological genius clearly at work behind both books and trailers :))

This is how it works.  I turn on imovie (I can do this because all I have to do is click on it.)  Then I can’t remember what to do next, so I shriek loudly, “HELP!” at which point one of my long-suffering children comes to my aid.  This happens a few more times while I import images and color blocks for text.  This is followed by a long period of pondering exactly how I want to use the images and what I want the trailer to accomplish.  Some confuse this period with daydreaming or playing TextTwist, but I promise you, it is all about intense thinking.

Once I decide where I’m headed, I just have to put it all together.  This, unfortunately, is a very nit-picky job requiring A LOT of patience, a commodity of which I am in short supply.  I am frequently forced to sustain myself with oatmeal raisin cookies and excessive caffeine in order to soldier on through.  I then make everyone in the house watch the result numerous times and give feedback, which is followed by more tweaking and the members of my household becoming mysteriously hard to locate.

But when at last the trailer is done, I love having it.

Opinions vary as to whether book trailers are useful in any way, but here is my theory: in this day and age of online shopping, consumers looking for books are not in a position to pick them up and leaf through them to get a feel for what the books are like.  A book trailer gives you a little of that experience.  Ideally, a person looking to buy your book can click on the trailer and get an experience similar to holding it and skimming through it in the book store.  I think that’s helpful, especially with picture books where the art plays such an important role.  So that is why I make them.

What are your thoughts on book trailers?  Do you watch them?  Do you find them helpful?  Do they influence your decision to buy or not to buy?

And now, back to work.  I’ll let you know when this one is done, but don’t hold your breath.  Any spontaneous and completely unsolicited mailings of sustaining cookies and/or chocolate will be much appreciated!

Pretty On Pink

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As a writer, I spend a lot of time writing.  Flabbergasting, I know.

Some days, ideas and words flow easily.  Those are great days.

Other days, I hit the delete key so often it’s a wonder I haven’t made a hole clear through the computer.  And the kitchen table underneath it.  And the floor underneath that.  Those days are less great.

On a few truly awesome days, I get an offer for a new manuscript (that’s the absolute best!), or I get to see a new piece of a book en route to publication (also amazing as I get to see my idea coming to fruition!)

Christmas Eve, as it turned out most appropriately, was just such a day.  I went down to my mailbox (which happens to be over half a mile from my house) and what should be waiting for me but this:

F&G of April Fool, Phyllis!

Definitely worth the trip to the mailbox!  What a thrill to see my new book nearly finished!  Especially as it came with this note:

I cannot wait to hold the first bound copy in my hot little hands!
Maybe it sounds silly to be so excited, but I am still at the stage where every new book is a source of pride and delight.  Truth be told, I think I will always be at that stage.  There may be writers out there like Jane Yolen who have written and sold over a hundred books who have a more ho-hum approach and can take their success for granted, but if I am lucky enough to publish a hundred books, I will be just as thrilled by the hundredth as I was by the first, and I don’t think I’ll ever take anything for granted!
April Fool, Phyllis! is due out February 21, 2011, so I really should get to see the finished product soon. I will be sure to share it with you when I do.  Jeff Ebbeler has once again done a fantastic job with the art.  The colors are beautiful, the details imaginative, the characters’ expressions just right.  I can’t wait for you to see it!
I am very likely to think up a contest with an advance copy as a prize, so stay tuned if you’re interested!
Now, I should probably get to work on the book trailer, because no matter how many opportunities I give it to create itself, nothing seems to be happening.  So off I go!
But don’t you think Phyllis looks pretty on pink 🙂

If You Give A Writer Wrapping Paper

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HINT For Beth’s Birthday Hunt Clue #4

If you still don’t get it, email me 🙂
(also, the blog address is in my sidebar :))

You guys are going to be so proud of me!

I have squeedged my way through my office door!  And let me tell you, it wasn’t easy!

Not only that, I have cleared a path all the way from one side to the other!  (I know.  It boggles the mind.)

“Hello, my friends!” I said to my beloved writing books as I saw their colorful spines for the first time in weeks days.  “Greetings!” I called to Phyllis and Woolliam (who were sleeping in my school visit bag and did not appreciate the interruption!)  “Achoo!” I sneezed, just because I felt like it and not because there was even the tiniest speck of dust in the air.

So now, let’s just be happy with a little progress in that department and not talk about the fact that the path is very narrow, piled high on either side with Christmas presents and wrapping paper and piles of books that need to be shelved and writing/school visit paraphernalia of all kinds.  Rome wasn’t built in a day.

Let’s talk about something else entirely.

I work very well with deadlines.  But if there appears to be plenty of time, I am the queen of procrastination.  I shall give you an example.

I’ve got all these Christmas presents to wrap.  Christmas is 4 days away.  If I start now, and wrap a few gifts at a time, I’ll be done by a reasonable hour on Christmas Eve.  But that is not the way I work.

I squeeze into my office (still thrilled that I can get in – it’ll be a while before that wears off!) with the honest intention of wrapping.  But there’s a lot to wrap.  Which present should I do first?  I look around and see the gift I picked out for my niece and nephew, and it reminds me of when my kids were that age, which reminds me of an amusing anecdote, which gives me an idea for a story, and the next thing I know I’ve found a scrap of writing paper and I’m jotting down notes for a story on the back of it because, really, I’ve still got 4 days to wrap, and if I don’t write down an idea when I have it, I might forget!  This is what happens when you give a writer wrapping paper.  She uses it to write, not wrap.  The same holds true for napkins, ATM receipts, and the inside of the red part or the foil part of a KitKat wrapper, although the outside of the foil is useless.  In case you were wondering.

A person who is a writer can turn any occasion into an opportunity to write.  That is because we are creative!  And what better way to use our creativity then to turn a mundane task like wrapping, vacuuming, or closet organization (stop that – I hear you snickering!) into a useful time to think up a new story?  And write it on the back of whatever comes to hand, whether it be an old grocery list, a corner of the english muffin box, or that speeding ticket field trip form…

So, I have a sneaking suspicion that Christmas Eve will roll around and I’ll be up wrapping until 4 AM.  I know this because it happens every year.  But if I’m lucky, I might have a couple new story ideas come Christmas morn 🙂