-
The Backstory Dilemma…
…is my topic for today. I intended to tell you about how hard it is to fit in what I know about my characters without info dumping all over the page. Whining was imminent because I am stuck, stuck, stuck in revisions on The Music Is You simply because I want to tell my readers way too much. I’m cutting furiously and wondering how in holy hell I’m going to have a story when I’m done. Yes, yes, yes—I know—only last week, I was in celebration mode because I finished Like Fine Wine, so whining seems rather selfish at this point. But that one’s done. It’s out with the beta…
-
Weekend Writing Warriors 8 Sentence Sunday #2
I got such a terrific response last week, here’s another eight sentences from Like Fine Wine. Julie is getting settled into her friend’s apartment, but the guy across the hall is more than a little distracting. In this scene, he’s stopped by to see if she needs anything from the market before the snow storm that’s due, and Julie catches herself being…well…distracted… I leaned against the sofa, arms crossed under my breasts, simply gazing at him. I was frozen there, unable to respond, my mouth as dry as a desert. Was I actually lusting after a guy who’s practically a stranger? And almost young enough to be my son? Yep.…
-
The End
What a wonderful feeling to be able to type “The End” at the finish line of a long arduous writing experience. I have another novel done—really, truly done! And my critique partners are on-board, one even said, “This gave me goose bumps” about the final scene. Goose bumps! Can I get any better than that? It’s out to the betas right now and I’m dying to hear what they think. This book, Like Fine Wine, may be close to ready, but I’ve got the finish the other one before I can go forward with my plans for it because the heroine in LFW is a secondary character from The Music…
-
Weekend Writing Warriors
This is my first time to try something like this, but the idea intrigued me. So here are seven sentences from my current WIP, Like Fine Wine. Julianne Miles has just arrived in Chicago to stay in her friend’s apartment for a few weeks. She’s believes she’s alone until she hears a man come in…uninvited… I was supposed to be here, this guy certainly wasn’t. He was tall and his spiky blond hair, backlit by the sun, shone in a gold halo around his head. “Do I know you?” he asked. “Are you Jules?” I brushed past him and headed for the kitchen. “I’m the widow fucking Miles,” I said.…
-
January Memos
Dear Orthopedic Surgeon, Okay, I admit, it’s not your fault (even though you are the one who cut my foot open!). You never said this would be a piece o’ cake. I was the one who stupidly assumed I’d be healed and back on my treadmill in two weeks. You’ll be proud of me, though. I’m tolerating more weight on the foot, and my cane and I look quite jaunty when we go out together. Healingly yours, Nan *** Dear Muse, Welcome back! We’ve almost gotten Like Fine Wine finished, and The Music Is You is steaming ahead with revisions. We might just have a new book out by summer!…
-
Places I Love
This might be a lazy way to blog, but I’ve been thinking lately about places I love and I thought I’d share a few of them with you. These are all places I’ve been, so the pictures are mine. I’d love to hear about places you love, so share, okay? This one is too easy, but honestly, Paris is right at the top of my favorite places list—it was at the top before I ever got to go. Paris didn’t disappoint, it was wondrous! I’d go back in a heartbeat! This is a castle that we stopped at along the way to Killarney in Ireland. So amazing! There are abandoned…
-
Healing
I’m currently healing from surgery on my foot. Not major surgery, but surgery nonetheless, and I’m surprised at how much it’s affecting me. I guess I had it in my head that I’d be bouncing around a week after the surgeon removed several bone spurs, a cyst, and arthritis from the joint on the top of my foot. Um. I was wrong. I’m not bouncing. Hell, I’m not even walking all that well. It’s painful to put much weight on the foot, which is ugly with stitches and wrapped up in an Ace bandage. I’m disappointed that going up and down the stairs is work and that I have to…
-
An Abundant Life
Every couple of years, I break out my copy of Sara Ban Breathnach’s Simple Abundance. She calls it “A Daybook of Comfort and Joy,” and it truly is. If you’ve never read the book, I recommend it highly and it’s even available as an e-book! I just downloaded it to my new Kindle Fire HD because this year, my pal Marta and I are reading the meditations together each day and discussing them. We give ourselves a few minutes each morning on the phone to talk about what we’ve read and how it affects us. Part of the meditation is to write in a Gratitude Journal. Believe it or not,…
-
So…What? No End of the World?
Okay, I confess to clutching just a tiny bit Friday when I woke up, thinking that it was that day—the day the Mayans supposedly predicted the end of the world. However, this week, I’m at Son’s house, so I figured that if the world was going to end, at least we’d all be together for it. But, it was an ordinary day…well, extraordinary because we’re here with Son, DIL, and Grandboy, but no apocalyptic storms or earthquakes or fire falling from the sky. Just a rainy day made sunny by Grandboy’s sweet smile and giggles. I’m a usually not a person who worries about the fate of the world overmuch.…
-
Learning Structure
I’m learning about structure, about how to build a story so that characters, events, reactions, and outcomes all come together to create a cohesive plot. I tell a great story, I truly do, but I get bogged down in the details of my characters lives—especially their pasts. It’s a common thing for a writer to do. I sent one of my manuscripts to my favorite book doctor, Lani Diane Rich, who is an incredible writer and co-host of the StoryWonk podcasts. If you aren’t already listening to StoryWonk, you should be. Lani and her husband and partner, Alastair Stephens, know their stuff. Their weekly podcasts are informative and very entertaining.…