I would love to be one of those highly organized people who has a place for everything and has everything its place. Unfortunately, I am the type of person who has a place where things should be and lots of things where they shouldn't be. This is not ideal for a mother, wife, elementary school librarian, and writer. At any given moment, I've got twenty things going on and I usually know the general vicinity of the things I need to lay hands on in a given day, but some days it seems like I'm pulling my hair out trying to remember where I put that ink pen or what happened to that permission slip from my daughter's pre-school. Short of calling the crew from Clean House, I'm not sure what to do. In light of this, I'm designating my first ever free summer to the pursuit of getting organized.
Of course, I'll be writing and promoting during the summer to get ready for the release of Keeping the Faith on September 25th, but the bulk of my time is going to be spent trying to reduce clutter; both emotional and physical. By the end of this year, there won't be ten things standing between me and that note pad I'm always searching for when I need to write out my grocery list. I will be journalling about the process of de-cluttering over the course of the summer and hopefully, after doing lots of research and trial and error, I'll also be giving you information that will help you to de-clutter your own life. Day one will be on Saturday, June 20th. I hope you'll tune in to join me in my quest for a clutter-free life.
Oh...and, yes, there will be pictures. As much as I hate to show my weaknesses, in order to know if a true transformation has taken place, I must do the whole before and after photo thing.
Until next time...
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Tuesday, May 19, 2009
Getting Organized...the project!
Friday, May 8, 2009
What I actually said was...
One thing I really hate is when a person reviews or otherwise gives you feedback about your book that doesn't even match up with what happened in your story. Now, just to be clear, I don't have any problem taking criticism. In fact, I like to know what I'm doing wrong so that I can improve. I can also recognize when someone is having a bad day or just being shitty. I can look past alot of things, but what I can't excuse is when someone begins to dissect a story and it is painfully obvious that they didn't really read it.
For example, I once heard from someone who had reviewed one of my books and in her e-mail to me, she said something about how she didn't think readers would buy the fact that a teenage Rona Shively told her father about what she mistakenly perceived as her mother's infidelity and that, as a result, he sent her packing. Well, the truth is, I don't buy it either. I don't buy it because that's not what I wrote. What I actually wrote was that Rona, being a teenage girl, was very upset by seeing her mother with another man and she told her father what she had seen. Rona asked her father if she could move to Nevada to get away from her mother. Her father had been so heartbroken by the news about her mother that he had helped Rona get away from the situation by sending her to spend some time with a friend of the family. I think, for anyone who knows a dysfunctional family, this type of scenario doesn't seem all that far-fetched. Rona Shively is clearly the product of a family that has issues. Little by little, I've explained this throughout the series and I think it's pretty easy to follow.
This person also said, "What PI would not have a laptop, and need to take one from the pool guy?" Well, in answer to that, I can only say, "Why ask me? That's not really in my book." What is in my book is that one of Rona's clients paid her with a laptop because they didn't have any money. The client had hired Rona to find out if his wife was cheating on him. Rona found that his wife was cheating on him with the pool guy. She didn't take a laptop from a pool guy. Close, but not really. And it isn't necessarily unheard of that a P.I. would not have a laptop. I've said that she isn't necessarily the best detective in the world or even within a twenty-five mile radius of where she lives. She's what I affectionately refer to as the P.I. who's better than nothing. She's not going to fit into anyone's idea of what a P.I. should be, so, if she prefers to use the computer at the library to do her research, that's her prerogative.
I point these things out just to illustrate some of the nit-picking that writers run into when they open themselves up to reviews. Yes, we all want to know how we have done. Yes, we would like to think we've done well. No, we're not happy when someone points out the flaws in our work, but we deal with it. We fix it. We write it better the next time around. Well, that is, unless the criticism is based on something you didn't actually write. Then we tend to wonder whether or not the person reviewing us is actually paying attention.
Surely, this incident is karmic payback for all of the papers I wrote in high school based on my understanding of classic novels I never actually read. Oops...I may have said too much there. In any case, I always tried to at least have the main points of the story clear before offering up any kind of analysis. It's only fair that we at least be accurate in our criticisms if not tactful. If you can't get through the reading, then say so. Don't just make things up. I may forget things on a regular basis, but I remember most of what I write. I think.
Until next time...
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Monday, April 20, 2009
I don't have all of the answers...
but I've got a few of them. I recently came across an article in one of the online newsletters (Writers Online Workshops) to which I subscribe about the "Five Hard Questions You Must Answer to Succeed" as a writer. I pondered them for a moment and figured, what the hell, I'll give it a shot. So, here are my answers:
Five Hard Questions You Must Answer to Succeed
Who are your favorite authors and why? Lisa Scottoline because she writes about real people and real problems. She also happens to be a wonderful person and I'm truly inspired by her. Janet Evanovich because she explains things in plain English. She doesn't try to fancy it up and she knows what she's talking about. Aside from her Stephanie Plum series, I truly enjoyed her "How I Write" book and use it as a guide in my own writing. J.A. Konrath because he's a fun and talented writer who can really give you the creeps. And I mean that in the most complimentary way. Sarah Strohmeyer for making a character that is so likable in her Bubbles Yablonski books.
What do they do that grabs your attention and keeps you turning pages? It's a combination of being able to relate to what's happening and having felt a connection to what the author is saying. Some writers grab you with their first sentence and you just know that you want to keep going. If it takes twenty pages for me to connect with a writer, then I just can't spend the time reading them.
What keeps you coming back to your favorite genres? The characters. I believe that we create a relationship with our favorite characters and we look forward to finding out what they are doing with each new story. That's what draws me to mystery series. You get to shadow your favorite P.I. or Amateur Sleuth while they figure it all out and you don't even have to dodge the bullets. It's great for those who like to live vicariously through more adventurous types.
What compels you to write fiction/ memoir/ poetry? It gives me somewhere to vent mostly. If I have something I want to say, I can say it through my characters and get my point across without sounding like I'm preaching. I have a few pet causes that I love to talk about, one being women's empowerment. I hope that through my characters, I am showing women in a positive light and in a way that makes them feel more empowered to speak their minds.
How will you make sure that your own work grabs and keeps your readers' attention every bit as well as your own favorites capture you? I'll keep it real...and not like Dave Chappelle real...just true. The emotions of the characters need to come from the same place they come from for me. I don't want to read about how it should feel to experience something and then try to paint that into my storyline in some attempt to be politically correct. If something feels like hell, I want to say it and make the reader understand that pain. Sometimes, things aren't pretty and I think it's important to show characters warts and all. I hope that I am always able to do that in my writing.
This was a fun exercise. I'm always surprised to find out something new about myself when I answer questions like these. Then again, I seem to surprise myself all of the time. But that's another post.
Until next time...
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Sunday, April 19, 2009
What do you say to that?
It seems that there are some people out there who just don't understand how to be tactful and appropriate and that they have decided to bring their ignorance to my table. Generally, I try to respond to morons as tactfully as possible and in some cases, I even ignore the stupidity. This time, however, I am going to take a moment to put it all out there and see where it goes.
For starters, I had a comment come across my blog the other day about the post I wrote on FOX news. When I read the comment, my first thought was that it was crass and inappropriate and that it probably could have been phrased differently, but since it showed a differing viewpoint I was willing to approve it. I responded somewhat jokingly and was prepared to let it go at that. Unfortunately, the other person decided that he or she (of course they posted anonymously) was not ready to let it drop. This, in turn, netted an angry response from another outspoken young lady who posted something else in my defense. At this point, I posted what I believe was a stern response to all of the nonsense and haven't heard more since.
The aim of the original comment was not to add value to the conversation, it was merely to shock the reader. I don't enjoy that. As a matter of fact, I believe it shows a lack of imagination and intelligence on the part of that commentor. If he or she (again, I have no idea which) had wanted to say something important, they would not have resorted to comments about my undergarments and so forth. They simply would have defended FOX news and left it at that.
In an unrelated incident, I was playing around on Facebook the other night and decided I would do one of those top five lists that everyone is doing on there. One of my friends posted her top five cookies and so, I decided to post my own list of favorites. Within a few minutes, I received a comment on my list. The comment went something like this, "Yes, you look like you enjoy all of them, all of the time." I thought to myself, "WTF? Did I say something to offend this guy?" The comment came from a person on my friends list whom I did not know very well. I won't say his name here because, unlike him, I'm at least a little classy. However, if you would like to know who it is, please let me know. We'll talk.
In any case, the comment completely blindsided me and for a while, I was feeling very bad about it. Of course, I immediately deleted both it and the friend from my list. No way am I going to allow someone the opportunity to insult me further once they have done something like this. The funny thing is that this guy was always posting motivational quotes and things that would lead you to believe he is a decent guy. I've never met him, spoken to him directly or anything like that, so I can't be sure if he was having a bad day or if cookies bring out the worst in him or what.
What bothered me most about the second incident is that he had no reason to say it other than just to be mean. Since he doesn't really know me, he doesn't know that my weight has been an issue for several years. You can't be pregnant every year for five years and not hold a little weight on your frame. After five miscarriages, your body tends to be a little uncooperative. Since I know that there are good reasons why I'm overweight and that it isn't simply a matter of sloth and gluttony, I generally have a thicker skin than this (no pun intended) if my weight is ever the topic of conversation. But I just could not understand what prompted such an attack from this person. Even if you're just having a bad day, the old adage, "If you can't say anything nice, don't say anything at all," still holds true. There was simply no reason for him to be so vicious.
I realize that anyone can get online and that sometimes, we befriend those who are less than stable. Generally, we add friends to our Facebook, Twitter, and MySpace pages based on very little information and so, we are always at risk of being insulted or offended by our "friends." Does this mean we should stop friending people we don't know in real life? No, it just means that we should be aware that there may some crazy boob lurking about just waiting for an opportunity to call you names or be a big jerk to you. I generally like people until they give me a reason not to. After that, the gloves are off. So, as I said before, if you are on Facebook and you want to make sure you aren't the next target for this guy, please feel free to contact me and I'll let you know who he is.
Until next time...
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A Little Bit of Mystery: Short Mysteries to Confuse and Amuse
