The Pumpkin Patch

Last weekend, I was out for a nice leisurely drive with my family and had a chance to just stare out the window for a half hour or so just taking in the scenery: the rocky brown terrain of inland Southern California as you climb gently over the recently burned out slopes to reach mini-mountain elevations. Okay, well, truthfully - we were on our way to the pumpkin patch with an over-tired 18 month old singing her version of the Barney theme song, the digital shooting sounds of a 10 year old on a Star Wars DS game, and an ornery 8 year old complaining of hunger and heat. In her defense, it was 92 degrees at the pumpkin patch, so maybe she was hot. But regardless of the chatter and noise, I DID manage to get 30 minutes sitting still and looking out the window. I wasn't handing over cheerios or lathering sun screen on bare arms, I was just sitting. And what I realized while I was looking out the window was that I love scenery. Now my husband would call me a liar because I am rarely moved by the view from a skyscraper or the view from a cliff overlooking a lush, green valley...and frankly, I never knew why. Why am I not in awe of these inspiring views when I truly love beautiful places. And what I discovered was that I don't love a good view. I love scenery. I love driving through an area and picturing how people live there. I love how scenes float by the car window slowly so that you can draw out the experience and almost become one with it. A view is simply one dimensional to me. But scenery is completely 3D.

I mention this - not so much to ramble on - which I tend to do, but because I realize that most of my ideas for stories come from scenery that is intriguing or places I've been that speak to me so strongly that I just HAVE to create characters to experience it for me. My first novel was set among the cattle ranches of Oklahoma where I had been just once but held so much passion and heart that I had to get back there if only on paper. My current novel is set on the rolling hillsides of Lancaster County, Pennsylvania where people live a simpler life...perhaps a nod to my inner need to reduce stress in my life?

I just find it amazing when a piece of my writing process becomes clearer to me - more concrete.

It's an amazing journey we are on as writers. I'm so glad to be here among you all!

Tortured Souls

Sometimes I wonder if we writers are simply a collection of tortured souls agonizing to get our stories out. It seems to me that writers, the really good ones anyway, are able to tap into raw emotions that seem to transmit effortlessly to the page. Of course, those of us endeavoring to do just this know how difficult it is to not only harness this emotion but find words to portray it.

I believe everyone has a story within. Everyone has at some time or another felt so deeply that their little pinky toe radiates the feeling. But it is the courage to share these feelings - the sorrow, the embarrassment, the tenderness - that sets a great writer apart from a mediocre one. And it is precisely this courage that I continue to strive for with each sentence that I write. And I find that it is those emotions that scare you to death are the ones that you need to put on paper. It is the courageous writing that stuns its readers into voracious consumption.

We always hear: write what you know. Well, it makes sense then that to successfully transmit deep emotion - whether it be joy, love, fear, worry, agony - the writer needs to relive it in a way. The challenge is to relive it while remaining focused enough not to be lost in it: to hover on the brink of insanity it seems. We need to kind of fade in and out of a deep emotional consciousness so that we can get the words on the page before the feeling is lost. For me, this is the hardest part of writing. I could write endlessly about a character and about her trials and tribulations or I can feel intensely. But to infuse a one dimensional being with three dimensional emotion that allows her to come alive for everyone who reads it is the true test of a successful novel.

What it wouldn't mean to me to have someone read my novel and cry when my character does - then I'd know it was a job well done. But occasionally when I am writing, I know that I am on the verge of something great, something unique and important, but I just can't get there. The intensity is missing.

What do you do when the emotion just isn't there? Have you ever had the courage to write about something that terrifies you?

Creative Blogger Award!

Many thanks to Fran Caldwell for passing on the "Kreativ Blogger" award...though I'm in agreement about the "Kreativ" use of spelling here...

As stipulated by the award, I need to let you all in on 7 things you don't know about me. Hmmm...the pressure to be interesting yet not weird is somewhat overwhelming! Nonetheless, here it is:

1. I wanted to be a pediatric nurse in high school...but decided to major in creative writing instead.

2. I would love to take my next vacation to Nashville.

3. I played with Barbie dolls until I was 12 (perhaps getting the creative juices flowing?)

4. I wanted 5 kids up until I had number 3...now I'm good.

5. I dread public speaking and break into a cold sweat whenever the need arises.

6. I like cleaning...I find it therapeutic!

7. My biggest accomplishment thus far in life was potty training my first child...if you don't have children, please withhold judgement!


And although it is difficult to narrow it down, I'll now reveal my nominees for Creative Blogs that I enjoy regularly and think you should too: Barb at Finding My Voice, Cindy R. Wilson, Sonia at The Gutsy Writer, and Charlie at Approaching Utopia. Thanks to all of you for your inspiring posts!

Submission Tally

44 queries sent, 1 request for partial received.

Although the ratio of query to interest may not be the best, I'm over the moon about it. Thank God that little bit of interest from a "highly intelligent" agent came through when it did...I was beginning to get a bit of the rejection blues.

So now I'll wait cross my fingers...and my toes...and well, yes, maybe even my eyes...and hope that she likes my partial as much as my query.



I THINK I CAN, I THINK I CAN, I THINK I CAN...er, um...I KNOW I CAN, I KNOW I CAN, I KNOW I CAN...

In my first book, I had quotations at the beginning of each chapter that in some way had to do with the theme of the following pages. I have since removed them because I found that the quotes were in most cases more helpful and meaningful to me as a way to regroup my thoughts and pin-point exactly what I wanted to say and less important to the overall impact of the novel. But there are a few that remain so inspiring to me that I thought I'd share them here:

"The greatest obstacle to discovery is not ignorance - it is the illusion of knowledge." -David Boorstin

"Truly it is in darkness that one finds the light, so when we are in sorrow, then this light is nearest of all to us." -Meister Eckhart

And my personal favorite:

"For me, writing something down was the only road out." -Anne Tyler

And just the other day, a friend told me "the surest way to be happy is to really, really want what you already have..." Big aha moment for me. So you see, I'm a sucker for a great quote if you have one to share!

How do you research?

I'm finding that my current WIP is requiring quite a bit of research on two specific topics. Up to now I've been doing a combo of writing/researching depending on how the mood strikes me and what my day is like. For instance: if I'm at home with my daughter napping, I write; but if I'm spending the afternoon running taxi service for piano, soccer, scouts etc...I just pack up my research and head out to do it on the fly sitting in the car or wherever I end up. But lately it seems I'm being less than productive. In fact, I've been researching so much that I'm feeling guilty for NOT writing. But WOW am I learning a lot!

It occurs to me that perhaps I need to pick one or the other. Perhaps I should just research day in and day out until I'm confident about my material and then sit down to write. Or maybe I should just write as it comes and then research later and fill in where necessary. I'm leaning toward the first, but I can't shake the nagging feeling that I'm wasting time.

So I'm wondering: how do you handle topics in your own work that require research?

Woo-hoo!!

Done.

Yes, I know I said that before, but this time I mean it. I have FINALLY finished my third and final edit - including changing all my spacing from two to one after all the periods...ugh!!!! It has taken me almost a full 7 months longer than anticipated, but I feel so happy because I truly feel that it is a tighter, stronger manuscript the way it now stands. In my gut I always knew it wasn't ready to sprout wings, but I also wasn't ready to do the necessary work and cut here and chop there. I wasn't ready to let go of one little word. But I did (almost 13,000 of them) and I'm glad.

So here's the newest stats: 16 queries sent, 3 rejections (or "no thank you's" as I prefer to call them) and more on their way out.

Now it is finally back to my WIP that I left simmering on the back burner all summer to re-edit the first work. Mind you, it has been simmering and I do believe it is downright steamy now and ready to take off the fire! I'm so excited, can you tell?

So it's back to work...thanks to all of you that have been patient while I meandered my way through the last couple of months!