Colorado Mysteries

Sabbatical

2008-09-30T08:09:00.000-07:00

I'm taking a sabbatical from writing. Not quitting. Just dealing with a few things that need my full attention.

I will be back when I can.

Polymer Clay Lessons

2008-08-25T08:07:00.000-07:00

Ali was nice enough to spend most of her Saturday teaching Nicole and me how to work with polymer clay. We set up two manual pasta machines and lined the table with wax paper. Then we grabbed some clay and started working.

First you condition the clay. That means either kneading it by hand until it's the right consistency or running it through the pasta machine. Usually a little of both. And we blended colors. And rolled beads. And talked. And ate. And baked the beads. And played with Sherman. It was a great time.

What was funny was how some of the lessons of working with polymer relate to life in general and writing in particular. I want to use them in the Bennie books. The one I'll share here is:

It's always important to chill a while.

Nicole made some beautiful dark beads with spots of royal blue. Some had flecks of silver leaf. She'll have a knock-out set when she's done. Ali made all kinds of wonderful things while we worked. She even gifted me with some pinkish marbled beads that go with the green and pink beads I made. I also made green and fuschia for a different set.

Of course, I don't have pictures yet. But I will when they're put together. Promise.

Thanks to Ali and Nicole for on of the best Saturdays I've had in a while.

Not So Cozy

2008-08-07T07:32:00.001-07:00

I just finished reading Stalking The Angel by Robert Crais. Great book. Even more, great second book. There appears to be no Sophomore Slump here. The pacing, characters, dialogue, plot and humor of The Monkey's Raincoat did not fade.

At the Pirate meeting on Monday, I talked about the book. That I really enjoyed it. And I talked about finding a series of cozies called the Home Improvement Can Be Murder series. That's right. A series of mysteries centered around a woman who is renovating a Victorian house. I have to admit being taken aback. But Shane said, "Write yours better." Then Jenny said, "Yours isn't really cozy anyway. And you can go less cozy."

Good points. My protagonist is a man who does this as a job. It is a cozy, by broad definition. But it certainly isn't what most people think of when you say cozy. Surprise, right? That someone with my personality isn't writing about a wooly-headed old woman who busybodies her way into solving a murder?

I think that this revelation will help with my own renovations of my book. That's the great thing about the Pirates.

Goal-less

2008-08-01T07:34:00.000-07:00

It is hard for me to start a month without any goals. But I think that's what I'm going to have to do. Just let things keep simmering. Keep reading. Only write if I can't stand not writing. And do a little more research.

And complete the UGWP critiques. Almost forgot about those.

Ali is hosting a polymer class later in the month which should be a lot of fun. Other then that, I have no plans.

Scary.

Disturbing Trends

2008-07-30T08:28:00.000-07:00

I realize two books do not a trend make. However, something in both of them points to what could be the tip of a nasty iceberg.

In both books the female protagonist owns a small business. So far, so good. They are both experiencing marital difficulties. Nothing original, but not bad as far as it goes. The respective husbands are suspects in the murders the books are about. Saw that coming. But both women are total ditzes. And there are lines like "That would take analysis and emotional stability. Not something for a female to attempt." Spoken by the protagonists! Excuse me?

In the first book, the woman is trying her hand at a small home crafty type business because her children are grown and her husband is burying himself at work. She forgets to deliver an order--twice. She doesn't feel like putting together the second order, but does not call the client to cancel. The whole focus is doing right by her man--who has been alternately ignoring her and treating her like crap for months. The business feels like an author afterthought. "Oh, crafty mysteries are big, let's put a craft theme in it." The protagonist doesn't even figure out the crime, she stumbles into the perp. Great.

The second book is by an author whose other series I like. That one has a strong female lead who is a great business woman and still manages to be a good friend, attractive, etc. The one I'm currently reading is about a woman with a good business but no business sense. She never knows what she has in stock. She doesn't know who she is renting her shop from (hubby set it all up and even though he left her months before, she hasn't bothered to find any of this out). At least she feels like the wronged woman, but the author has set up the description of the husband and his 'dropping out' in such a way that it's obvious our heroine was the one not paying attention or being supportive. That's the most interesting part of the story, truth be told.

But it's the poor dumb helpless female thing that's worrying. I watched the popularity of Sex And The City with confusion. Four supposedly strong, intelligent, successful woman and all they can find to talk with each other about are shoes and men? Gray's Anatomy is populated with whiny, relationship obsessed residents who should not have the time. And too many shows to mention show successful women as harpies.

I thought we'd gotten past all this, but apparently not. All the more reason to celebrate authors who write realistic, well-rounded characters-male or female.

Genres & Subgenres & Sub-subgenres

2008-07-24T07:55:00.000-07:00

A lot of writers have trouble categorizing their work. Is it dark fantasy? Urban fantasy? Cyber-punk? I thought I had it easy with mysteries. Either you have a professional detective or not. But then I started reading more. I knew about the craft subgenre. That's where Bennie will fit eventually. But within the craft group there are the knitting mysteries, needlework (other than knitting) mysteries, scrapbooking, etc. By the time I finish Bennie, there may be dozens of jewelry series, but I hope not.

The cat mysteries are everywhere. I have asked the Pirates to shoot me if a talking cat ever shows up in one of my books.

Last week, I happened to pick up the first book in Charlaine Harris' vampire mysteries, Dead Until Dark. Geoff recommended them years ago, but I just got around to it during my reading break. It's a very good read. Sexy, smart, funny and scary with an interesting mystery at the center. Nice. I have since picked up the next two books. I mentioned to Fleur that I read a vampire cozy mystery. She named an author (I can't remember the name right now) who was not Charlaine Harris. I started searching online.

We have a paranormal mystery subgenre. Nancy Atherton's Aunt Dimity, a ghost who solves crimes, would fit there. But within that subgenre, there are werewolf mysteries and vampire mysteries and who knows what else.

What accounts for these clumps of books with similar storylines? Is it just something that's in the air? Does a writer see that one-legged female hairdressers seem to be hot and jump on the bandwagon?

Here's the big question: If you read a werewolf mystery and like it, will you look for other author's who write about werewolves?

A Rest or A Block

2008-07-15T15:25:00.001-07:00

I have been finding it harder and harder to get motivated to write this summer. I'm certainly not ready yet to rewrite HM, and D&D needs much more research before I can continue. I think I may need to take a break. Read a lot. Maybe look at taking a class or two.

Being part of a critique group may help, too. Just listening to the comments last month gave me a lot to think about. I'm sure when I've read the submissions first, they'll make even more sense. I'm just glad it's not a group like the CWC. Deb's been in a tizzy all day, and I'm not ready to deal with that kind of pressure.

I'll continue to post. Mostly about what I'm reading. And about the Pirates, I'm sure.

July Goals

2008-07-07T08:50:00.000-07:00

Last week got away from me. There were the end of month/beginning of month duties I normally have plus extra coverage for time off here and there. We all love our extra long holiday weekends, but there is a price to pay for them.

I didn't do well on my goals last month. That is probably an understatement. I did manage to write 20 more pages of D&D and do a lot of research. I also joined the new Sunday group (UGWP) so that I can get better at giving and receiving critiques. It's a bit more work for me, but I think it will be worth it. I also cleaned out the blue room so I can finally organize it as a writing room. That should help, too. There's something about having a signal that says, "It's time to work now."

So, since I didn't make my wimpy goals last month, I'm setting harder ones this month. It seems to work for Jenny, Ali and Deb when they do it.

For July:

--Outline changes for HM. There are a lot and I need to know how I'm going to weave them into what is already there.
--Revise first 3 chapters of HM. My chapters are fairly short so this isn't that much of a stretch.
--Write 25 pages of D&D rough. I am dropping my expectations here. My focus seems to be turning back to HM right now.
--Complete UGWP critiques. I have read all the submissions. I just need to write up summaries for all of them.
--Research 6 yoga positions. I want to be more specific about the research I am doing.
--Research 2 massage techniques. Ditto.

That should keep me busy.

It Has To Be Said

2008-06-27T09:58:00.000-07:00

It's a good thing the boss is out of town for a wedding. The last two days all Deb has done is listen to her new GBS album. Every time I go past her office, I can hear it playing. And she's staring off into space with a goofy expression on her face.

And we all know that next week she's going to be complaining that she didn't have any time to write this month. Two days! I mean, they are a good band, but come on.

I don't get some people.

Summer Reading

2008-06-18T08:01:00.000-07:00

I have been buying more mysteries over the past few weeks. Even though I haven't read all of the ones I bought last year. Now I have been reading more recently. And some of the ones I bought were overdue. Like Beth's book, some by Maggie Sefton and the first Diane Mott Davidson--all Colorado mystery authors.

But it bothered me that I was spending more money on books, even though many were from Hooked on Books, the used book store near work. Then it hit me.

Summer reading. That's what I did every summer as a kid. I wasn't particularly athletic. Living in the country meant that often there weren't many kids around to play with. So I read. A lot. Now that it's June, my brain kicks into reading overdrive. So it's okay, even understandable, that I would make sure I have a lot of reading on hand.

Is there a particular time of year when you tend to read more or less? Why do you think that is? And when you do get in reading "overdrive", what do you like to read?

Not Too Bad

2008-06-10T09:57:00.000-07:00

I received the last of my verbal critiques on Sunday. All in all, it wasn't a bad experience. That's not to say that all the feedback was positive. Far from it. But with each negative comment came a good suggestion on how to fix it. There were differences of opinion. Pretty typical.

My next step is to read through the written comments on the pages. I may have time this weekend. Then I'll digest everything, decide what I'm going to change and what to leave alone then start revisions next month.

Thank you to Ali, Deb, Fleur, Jenny, John, Mary and Nicole for their time and comments. You do rock.

Goals

2008-06-02T10:08:00.000-07:00

I didn't make my goal of 50 pages for D&D this month. I made it to 29, which isn't bad. I think part of the reason may be the nervous anticipation of my first critique tonight. I know it's probably silly, but I almost feel like I need to wait until I get feedback on HM before proceeding with D&D. Maybe not silly since they are the same genre. If what I did in HM doesn't work for it as a cozy mystery, I am probably doing the same things wrong in D&D.

Goals for June:

--Get feedback on HM
--Write 50 pages of D&D once I process HM feedback
--Leave HM alone for the month
--Continue research

Not Slacking

2008-05-19T10:56:00.000-07:00

I haven't updated in a while because there hasn't been much to report on my progress with D&D. There are new pages, but not a lot. A scene here or there in between tasks at work. Not like with the beginning of HM when I generated page after page. Of course, that was during NaNoWriMo. Maybe I should pretend it's November. Might help.

Using Ali's idea of listing what I have accomplished, I see that I haven't exactly been idle. Research seems to be at the top of the list right now. That's not a bad thing. A lot of different things happen at spas that I don't know much about. I need to find out the way those things work so I don't sound like an idiot when I write about them. I have even more research to do about migrant workers for the jewelry series.

The blue bedroom seems to have collected a lot of junk since last year. Saturday was a clearing out day. One step closer to being a lilac writing room. I moved the Spooky's food dish out to the kitchen, but she doesn't like the relocation. I'm giving her a week to get used to it. If she doesn't, I will have to find a Plan B.

Even though it feels like May is just about over, I have almost two weeks to accomplish more. I may get to my page count goal yet.

Bead Weaving

2008-05-05T15:34:00.001-07:00

Friday evening was Mary's jewelry party. Imagine two rooms filled with beautiful beaded jewelry. Women wandered back and forth, picking up one thing then another. Five, six, seven times through and I know I missed things that I would have loved. As it was I purchased two necklace/earring sets and two necklaces.

The second part of the evening was the bead weaving lesson. I learned a few things I have been doing wrong. A couple pieces can stay as they are, but one or two will be changed. I picked a moderately complicated piece to use as a template. Mary's clear instructions and drawn pattern helped a lot. Although I was slow, it did make it through with only minor problems. I'll post a picture when I get a chance to take one. And I feel like I can better figure out how to duplicate other pieces I liked.

I now have the fever to do more beading this month. I may have to make time to do that.

Almost May

2008-04-29T13:36:00.000-07:00

I'm looking at how I've done vis-a-vis my goals. I may have 15 pages of D&D when I get it typed up if I'm lucky. Not even close to meeting that one. Research, however, has been great.

I guess I need to use Ali's method of looking at what I've accomplished and not just what I haven't. Look for a new section in May with a list of tasks completed. And, I hope, part of it will be more pages.

A Little Help From My Friends

2008-04-23T11:57:00.000-07:00

Mary's hosting a beading party in a week or so. She'll be teaching a basic bead weaving technique. Should be a lot of fun. Not only will I get a new set of jewelry, but I'll be learning something I can use in the Bennie books. And spending time with friends. Triple threat.

Ali's also offered to do a polymer bead class. That should be lots of fun, too. I love the stuff she does with polymer.

Now if we can just convince Nicole to share what she's learning in metalworking.

Out Of Order

2008-04-15T10:54:00.000-07:00

I wrote a scene out of order. The world didn't explode. Yet.

Yesterday I went to Barnes and Noble to pick up some research books for the D&D series. It's amazing to me how many different topics I need to read about for one setting. Deb says it's a "groovy" setting. I like it, but might have chosen differently had I known. No, that's not true. I do really like the setting.

The characters are becoming a lot more real to me as I go. I guess that's the nature of the game since the same thing happened with HM. It's one of the things that's so much fun about writing for me. Like making new friends.

One Scene at a Time

2008-04-08T13:32:00.001-07:00

Yesterday I picked up a magazine on yoga and another on herbal and holistic medicine. I haven't been able to find one on aromatherapy that is published in the US. There are some from Australian and UK, but they are expensive. Maybe I'll see if an inexpensive book on the subject. Must be one.

D&D is moving slowly, but moving. I don't seem to be able to write more than one scene at a time. What's strange is that I find myself wanting to write them out of order. I haven't so far, but I might get a little crazy and try it. I think it would make for a choppy book that needs much more revision. But it's going to need revision anyway.

Have any of you tried writing out of order? Does it help or hinder?

April Fool?

2008-04-02T07:35:00.000-07:00

Deb's enthusiasm for April seems to be catching. Now that I have a working outline for D&D, I think I will be able to write fifty pages easily. I have been prewriting for a few days. That means I can utilize shorter periods of free time to jot a paragraph or two. It's not ideal, but it's what I have right now.

Having completed The Artist's Way, I have become aware of certain "nasty" words. One of which is "should". I used it three times in the original version of the first paragraph. See if you can figure out where.

I subscribed to a couple spa magazines last week. They are really interesting. One of the most beautiful spas I've come across is here in Colorado. Tax deductible, right? I would have to have the money first, but it just might be worth it.

The jewelry book has been eluding me. It seems that once I found Bennie, the rest of it went away. I tried to sign up for a metalworking class, but it was full. Maybe that's part of it. It's not a totally bad thing. One at a time is good. And maybe if I do run into trouble with D&D, that's when Bennie will start telling me her story.

Preparation

2008-03-28T08:55:00.000-07:00

Yesterday I figured out why I was having trouble getting beyond the first few pages of D&D. Lack of preparation. I did my spa research. (And in a future post I'll talk about just how much I'd like to visit a few.) I did my character sketches for the main characters. I know who gets murdered and whodunnit. So what was missing?

My scene outline. I know a lot of writers just wing it. Or they can plot out mentally and be okay working from that. I have to have an outline in writing. It's not detailed to begin with, but I have to know where my "turns" are, as Jenny calls them. And it's nice to have a list of scenes I know I'll need. So yesterday I wrote the outline and made a list of scenes. I know I'll be adding as I go, but just having the basics down let me relax enough to prewrite two scenes.

Are there certain things you need to do before you can begin? Or can you freestyle all the way through?

Letting Go

2008-03-24T10:53:00.000-07:00

I'm a bit surprised at how hard it was to let go of HM. The Pirates were great and seemed happy to have it. I still had a nagging feeling as I handed over the copies. I knew more description is needed. I knew I needed another subplot. But it was time to let other eyes see it.

Part of it may be how invested I got in the characters. A good thing. But I also want others to like "the guys" as much as I do. I guess we'll see.

One more week to go on The Artist's Way. I don't have much to add about the experience. I'm glad I did it. Even though I went in pretty much kicking and screaming. That tends to be the way with things that are good for us.

Which brings me full circle on this post. I didn't want to let go of HM. But it's probably a very good thing for me to step away for a while.

Perspective

2008-03-20T09:34:00.000-07:00

Deb visited a store called Beads Galore when she was in Phoenix. She came back bearing gifts. There are some unusual beads, colors I wouldn't normally pick but beautiful, and some great charms and pendants. I will post pictures when I get a chance.

The funniest thing to me is that she wants me to teach her to make jewelry. It's funny because I'm still very much a beginner. I feel I need to learn so much. Yet her argument is that I've made more jewelry than she has. True as far as it goes. Maybe we can take some classes together.

How does one go from thinking of oneself as student to teacher? I would be more comfortable teaching quilting than knitting. Even though I learned to knit a dozen years before I looked at my first quilt pattern. Teach writing? Probably not. Not yet anyway. I still have a lot to learn. I think with most things, especially the creative ones, we are always learning. Or at least we should be.

Artist's Way Check-in, Week 10

2008-03-17T12:18:00.000-07:00

It's amazing that I'm this close to the end. I've realized that it's a program I'll probably be doing in some form from now on.

Week 10 is Recovering a Sense of Self-Protection. I'm looking at the things that I tend to let interfere with my writing. Sometimes it feels like everything. I have been reminded of a question I came across in another book. "How does it serve you?" The book was about a woman's quest for self-discovery. She suffered from several chronic illnesses. When she talked to a healer, he asked her, "How does your disease serve you?" Her first reaction was anger. Naturally. Then she thought about it. She got a lot of sympathy from family and friends. She had a ready excuse for not participating in things. Etc.

I had forgotten about that question. Now I have a Post-It on my workstation. When I complain about something (or someone) infringing on my writing time, I'll ask myself the question.

Do you have something or someone who eats up your writing time? How does it serve you to allow it?

Long Week

2008-03-14T06:24:00.001-07:00

With Deb in Phoenix, I've been covering her workload, too. Of course, it's been busy. Not that I begrudge Deb time with her family. If she could somehow split in two and leave one of her here, that would be nice.

The good news is that I have been working on D&D in the evenings. I think it's starting to come together a bit. I'm not adding many pages. It's more that it's gaining weight. I have a better idea of what is going on. Maybe this weekend the word count will climb a little.

How Stupid Are Your Customers?

2008-03-07T07:24:00.000-08:00

There has been an alarming trend in advertisements over the past few years. I first noticed it with "cable" ads. Not infomercials. They were for things like hair removal products or cleaning supplies. The person who needs the product apparently can't function in the real world without it. A new example is the digital recorder for people too stupid to write out a shopping list. "Milk, butter, eggs," the housewife says. Then she listens intently at the store.

Lately, this trend is moving to more mainstream products. Carl's Jr. and Popeye's are both running commercials with stupid customers. Beer ads have done this for years, but I think the wink and nod was that the guys are drinking. But now it's fast food and laundry detergent and cars. Why should I buy a product if it's meant for stupid people?

This also seems to be a trend with a lot of the books I'm picking up. I know cozies are supposed to be fairly easy to figure out. But I see it with different genres. The author waving his hand at the reader to say, "This is the clue." Worse, the long explanations of things. "Here's what I think is a hard word so I'm going to explain it ad nauseum, because I'm sure you don't know it and can't figure out how to look it up on your own."

Am I being overly sensitive/critical or are you seeing this too? Do you feel as if you're being talked down to? How do you avoid it in your own writing?

Artist's Way Update

2008-03-03T11:03:00.000-08:00

I am continuing with The Artist's Way, but will not be giving any more updates here. At this point in the program, many personal issues are being raised. As with most 12-step programs, I think anonymity is important now. I will finish it, though, as I'm feeling I am getting results.

Yesterday, in a flurry of free writing, I came up with three potential HM stories. Some are inter-related so they may end up in one book. Or they might be separate books that reward readers who have read the whole series.

So, no more AW updates, per se. But you will probably see them as I make progress with my writing.

Artist's Way Check in - Week 7

2008-02-28T08:23:00.001-08:00

Late.

I performed all the tasks, and my Artist's Date was a trip to a coffee shop to write free hand for a while. I fleshed out the rushed through scenes of HM. I also introduced a few characters in D&D. One showed up that I knew had to be there, but hadn't really thought about. All of a sudden, there she was. Marigold is a dog groomer at the spa. I'm not sure if most spas have dog groomers, but they should. How many pet owners treat their pets like children? And the owner of the pivotal dog in the story has changed into a well-heeled widow. The town now has a name--Overlook, Colorado. It was settled by wealthy mine owners who didn't want to be in Colorado Springs or Denver, but wanted to be away from the actual mine sites. All in all another productive week.

Each week of The Artist's Way is titled, Recovering a Sense of [fill in the blank]. The program could be called simply, Recovering Sense. In all meanings of the word. Now that I am more than halfway through, I feel as if I am recovering my common sense when it comes to writing. I'm also more aware of all of my senses. It all helps.

Deb has finally convinced me to let her read HM. I know some of the edits I want to make already. It should help to have another pair of eyes look at it before I do, though. Once I tighten up those things, I'll let the Pirates have it. Exciting. And scary. They've never read anything I've written before.

Artist's Way Check In - Week 6

2008-02-18T08:57:00.000-08:00

The spontaneous decorating of a notebook last week was fun. And I have to chalk it up to The Artist's Way. I just don't see myself doing it before the program.

I thought about skipping the Artist's Date last week, because I didn't have a lot of spare time over the weekend. But I decided I could spare an hour and a half. I've wanted to learn how to crochet for years. Then at the last Pirate meeting, Ali pointed out that you can use crocheting with beads to make jewelry. Even more reason to learn. I bought a skein of inexpensive acrylic yarn and a kit with five different crochet hooks and book on basic crochet. During my Artist's date, I started the process of learning. The chain was fairly easy, but the single crochet stitch took some fiddling. I'm very slow at it, and feel like I have ten thumbs, but by the end of the date I produced something that did resemble the picture in the book. I will keep practicing. Maybe I can reduce the number of thumbs I have by the end of the month.

Fun, But Not Really Me.

2008-02-15T12:09:00.000-08:00

Or maybe it is me, and I really have been denying that side of myself.

Yesterday, I decided to buy some new notebooks at Target to start the 3S book. Since jewelry is a big a part of the series, I wanted to find some cute school notebooks with jewelry on the cover. Nothing. Instead I found some that look like they've been used for testing different stencils. The designs are mainly birds and butterflies with a star or two thrown in. Quite different. But nothing to do with jewelry. I bought them anyway because I liked them. And I bought some stick on 'jewels' from the kids party section of the store. I'm going to add them as embellishments to the notebooks.

Sounds silly even as typed it, but I'm doing it anyway. And I'm looking forward to it.

So there.

Late Artist's Way Check In - Week 5

2008-02-13T14:06:00.001-08:00

Some parts are getting easier and others are harder. The Morning Pages are such a habit now that I feel stressed if I don't do them first thing in the morning. And I'm resigning myself to the Artist's Dates. But the tasks often feel like busy work. Cameron calls any resistance a "tantrum" which seems harsh, even when talking about the artist child. I think that is one of the things that annoy me about the program. The hyperbole. Saying 'no' doesn't always constitute a tantrum.

My Artist's Date this week was a hike at Red Rocks Canyon. I've wanted to go there for over a year, but just never made it. Saturday was beautiful, if colder than the weatherfolk predicted. I took the long loop around to the Goddess Contemplative trail. The trail itself is gorgeous. It winds among some of the few trees in the park and up against the geological formations that give the place its name. Volunteers have constructed benches from halfed logs so hikers can sit and meditate at various points along the path. Very nicely done.

About forty-five minutes into the hike, and halfway down the Goddess trail, I had what Deb calls an ah-ha moment. The heroine of the 3rd Series (aka 3S) finally showed herself to me. I know what she looks like. I know her name. I know her history. I don't have a plot yet, but I'm sure it will come.

D&D are also speaking much louder. The name of their town showed up this morning. I'm starting to actually hear them. If I wasn't a writer, I would be worried. But I am thrilled.

Synchronicity Balancing Act

2008-02-07T10:51:00.000-08:00

One of the things that has been driven home to me during the four and a half weeks of The Artist's Way is how out of balance my life is. I knew it was, but not the extent of the imbalance. An early exercise has the person draw a circle with six sections. The sections are labeled Work, Health, Spirituality, Family/Friends, etc. You place a dot in the wedge for how much time you devote to that item. The more time, the closer to the circumference the dot. For me, work was just about to the circumference, family and friends were pretty close, too. Just about everything else was almost at the center, especially Health (taking care of) and Spirituality.

Several other tasks are about listing things you'd like to do if there were enough time or money. One of the recurring themes for me is education. Not another or a higher degree, but just taking classes in things that interest me.

Last night I found two pieces of junk mail in the mailbox. One was for a series of classes on either DVD or CD. They listed everything from mathematics to philosophy to art history. The other was for One Spirit book club. They have books about reincarnation, philosophy, tarot, witchcraft and cooking.

Then this morning I read a post on the PPW forum from a friend. She was raving about Julia Cameron's diet book. Said it was a great guide for getting yourself back into a healthy frame of mind.

Even I can't ignore that many messages in twenty-four hours. So I went to Barnes & Noble on my break and bought the book. And I bought a book of meditations. I am going to look into possible UCCS extension or Pikes Peak Community College classes. Since I tend to prefer to do things on my own, I think it might be better for me to take a class with other people.

Could this be working?

Reading Deprivation Over

2008-02-04T11:09:00.000-08:00

I missed reading more than I thought I would. Even allowing myself to read work-related emails and the like. I couldn't keep up with my friends' blogs or any of the others I like to read. No reading magazines or books. I couldn't even start a new knitting project, because I couldn't read the instructions.

The interesting thing is how impossible it is to not read at all. Words are everywhere. Just glancing around my office, I see words on the following:

Calendar
Stapler
Computer speakers
Water bottle
Telephone
Shredder
Computer screen
Computer
Book spines in bookshelf
Magazines on credenza
File folder box
Printer paper package
Voice recorder for dictation
The Monet print on the wall

That's just in my office. At home, they are on food packages, on the television screen, books, CDs, DVDs, appliances, toiletries, etc. etc. etc. There is absolutely no way a literate person can give up reading completely for a week unless you go into seclusion somewhere with all your food in unmarked plastic containers.

John pointed out that to write, you are by default also reading. I struggled with this dilemma as well. I wrote Morning Pages, since they were allowed, but did not work on anything new. Nor could I do revisions since that involves a lot of reading.

What did I do instead? I walked once more than I would have anyway. I watched television. I watched a few movies. I worked on an afghan using a pattern I know by heart. Pretty much what I would do anyway, except read. There were no revelations--except the one about not really being able to avoid reading. Maybe if the weather had been warmer, I would have gotten out a little more. I thought about my revisions on HM and what I want to do with D&D, but I couldn't write them down.

Maybe I will find the reasons later in the program. Maybe the benefits will show up later, too. I'm just very glad it is over.

Artist's Way Check-in Week 3

2008-01-28T10:07:00.000-08:00

I completed my tasks and wrote Morning Pages every day, but I skipped the Artist's Date. I have to admit that I feel guilty about that, which is also quite irritating. I hate feeling guilty, worked many years to avoid feeling it, and here it is back again. Maybe this is one of those "stuffed" emotions she talks about that needs to come out. It doesn't feel like a good thing.

More anger surfaced at one of the rules for Week 4. No reading. At all. Does anyone ever really do this? I think not. Deb admitted that she just stopped reading for pleasure during her fourth week. When you have a job that requires reading, even just email, how do you say you won't? Sorry, boss, I will answer that email next week? No.

I'm noticing a lot of repetition in the tasks and exercise. List five things you used to like to do. List five hobbies it would be fun to try. Write, "It would be fun to....." List five things you would like to learn. All basically the same question from different angles. It feels like she didn't have 12 weeks worth of exercises so she's cheating.

Yes, I am balking big time this week. Which is the week she says we will start making big changes. But you may not feel like you're changing or growing. How convenient.

Fate Also Abhors A Vacuum

2008-01-24T09:16:00.000-08:00

It always seems that just when you unload one job, three other rear their ugly heads to fill up the space. That happened this week.

Fleur very kindly offered to take The Writer's Life column in the PPW NewsMagazine off my hands. Not a lot of time open, but one less thing to worry about. Then I finished my rough of HM. I want to let it sit for a while before I make a few changes I know it needs. Then I will give to any Pirates who wish to read it.

This should mean that I have time to work on D&D now. My lighter, probably even more marketable than HM, cozy. Instead, I am dealing with plumbing. Yes, you read right. Plumbing.

A while back I posted about the danger of letting little problems grow into big problems. In this case, there was very little warning. A leak under the kitchen sink on Saturday. I used Plumbers Putty to fix the seals on either side of the trap. 24 hours later the leak was back. I then replaced the washers. Another 24 hour reprieve. As I was adjusting the pipes, my thumb poked right through one. It seems the pipes are as old as the house.

I planned to leave work a few hours early today to await delivery of my comfy recliner. Now I'm taking a half day so I can go home, take out all the pipes under the kitchen and bathroom sinks, and go to Home Depot for replacements. Then as I wait for the delivery truck, I will be replacing metal pipes with PVC.

The good news is that this may be fodder for future installments of HM. Maybe even a short story. But right now, it's time I am not writing.

Artist's Way Check In - Week 2

2008-01-21T10:00:00.000-08:00

I did finish Week 2 along with Morning Pages, Tasks and the Artist's Date. I actually did 9 of the ten tasks. After reading Week 2, I realized that there were tasks I'd like to do that built on tasks from the first week that I hadn't chosen. In order to avoid that in future, I went back and completed the other 5 tasks from Week 1 and then all but one of the tasks from Week 2. I had planned on doing the last task, but just ran out of time. Maybe this week.

The Artist's Date for this week was a trip to American Furniture Warehouse. It's been a while since I had a comfortable chair. My rocking chair looks good, but it's wood. Even with a cushion, it's not good for the long haul. The chair that matches my living room set is twenty years old like the rest of the set. Again, not comfortable. It doesn't even look good. So I sat in chairs. Many chairs. I decided on an inexpensive, but very comfortable, recliner. It should be delivered by the end of the week. Not only did I have fun looking, but I'll have something to keep.

I'm seeing one of the down sides of The Artist's Way when the writer has a full time job. Sometimes the tasks leave little time for actual work on your project. I know the program was designed for people who are blocked. I would assume that most who start this are not working on anything at all. I also know that I am experiencing a bit of cognitive dissonance about the whole thing. So I am going to keep going.

Week 3 is titled, "Recovering A Sense of Power." John had posted something about ending up on a comfortable couch in an office somewhere. Week 2 and Week 3 feel as if they are substituting for that couch. It may be the way the whole thing feels. If it works, I won't mind having some of these issues dredged up. If it doesn't......I don't know. Maybe I still won't mind.

Artist's Way Check-in

2008-01-14T12:36:00.001-08:00

Completed Week 1.

I did morning pages every morning. There were a few mornings that I was surprised by what I wrote. I have to admit it was fun.

I also did my five tasks. Each week, she lists ten possible tasks and you pick five to do. Those were interesting. They definitely brought up some old issues with people from my past. Having read Week 2, I think we're going to be revisiting some of those issues.

Read the Basic Principals and some of the affirmations daily at Deb's suggestion. These seem pretty hokey. I have to say this turned out to be the hardest for me to do daily.

Forced myself to go on an Artist's Date, and surprised myself by really enjoying it. Old Colorado City is now a tourist area of Colorado Springs, but there are some neat restaurants and different shops there. The kind that are locally owned. I went there yesterday afternoon and walked around, but I forgot that in the winter most of the shops are closed on Sunday. It didn't matter. The Soap Box was open so I bought some of the lotion I like. Holly Berry House Crafts was open, too. They've changed their stock a lot since I was last in there--hardly any cross stitch, but so many different kinds of yarn that the skeins almost spill out of the store. Then I found the bead store, also open and having a sale. The containers of beads that look like small prescription bottles were buy five, get one free. Then the woman working there let me use a coupon for $8.00 off my purchase. I bought nearly fifty dollars worth of beads for thirty dollars. Between open stores, I window shopped. Just a lovely way to spend an afternoon.

So far, so good. I've read Week 2 and will decide which tasks to do.

More Conflict!

2008-01-10T11:38:00.000-08:00

I am very close to finishing the first draft of HM. Almost too close. At the rate I'm going, it will be less than 200 pages long. However, I suddenly realized yesterday that I still need to add more conflict. The good news it that I know exactly where to add it. This time I will finish it as is and go back and add a little later--just prior to letting people read it.

I did not have my revelation during Morning Pages, which I am continuing to write daily, but not long after finishing them. Connection? Possibly. I am just happy to have had it. I think the more conflict, the better.

I think it's interesting studying one's own process or processes in some cases. The Writing Nag posted the other day about writing being like sculpting. You start with a large block of marble and chip away the extraneous. Someone commented that they write skinny first drafts and add on as they revise so they thought the analogy did not apply to them. I, obviously, build as I go. I know Deb does, too. Deb responded that the sculpting analogy applies if you look at it as working in clay rather than marble. Sometimes you add on, sometimes you scrape away.

Is your writing process more like sculpting in marble or clay? Or is it more like painting a picture, with daubs of paint layering one on top of the other?

The Artist's Way

2008-01-07T10:08:00.000-08:00

I started reading The Artist's Way. A lot of it makes sense. Some of it seems like some over-the-top New Age/Christian hybrid mumbo jumbo. I guess I have nothing to lose except the money I paid for the book and a new notebook. And a little time every week. That seems to be the best part--it shouldn't take more than a few hours a week.

The strangest thing she requires is a weekly Artist's Date. I'm supposed to go out, on my own, and treat my "inner child artist" to something fun. Okay. Seems ridiculous to me. I understand "filling the well" or "blowing up the balloon" as I called it. But why do I have to go by myself? And why is it mandated? If my well feels full, what good does it do to add more water to it? I realize I'm whining a bit. I will do it, at least for the duration of the course, but I don't have to like it.

Even though I have been doing what I thought were Morning Pages, I found that I wasn't writing them in the spirit of AW. I was thinking about what I wrote. You are supposed to just write. Stream of consciousness. That was different.

If nothing else, this will give me something to post about each week.

2008

2008-01-03T07:50:00.000-08:00

Goals. This is the agreed upon time of year to set annual goals, make resolutions, exam one's life, etc. I've been doing the evaluating, but have been having trouble looking ahead. Possibly because the goals I set last year mostly have not been met yet.

If I use last year as a template, I can maybe add fifty pages to HM this year. That's unacceptable. How do I change the pattern? I'm not big on anything new age-y, but results speak for themselves. Deb and Jenny are both big fans of The Artist's Way and morning pages. I can devote 12 weeks to trying it out. Writing every day also seems to work for most of the Pirates. I am setting aside an hour a day just to write, in addition to morning pages time. That's not a lot, but more than I have been doing.

I have heard goals described as dreams with deadlines. The dream part is to finish HM, submit it to the group and get it ready to send out. Another is to write a D&D and, possibly a second HM. I will also learn more about jewelry making and figure out who my protagonist in that series is.

I also will get back to updating this blog at least twice a month.

The Refresh of Shame

2007-12-25T13:34:00.001-08:00

...as John calls it.

I know I've been absent for a while. That's how I've felt. Absent from my writing. And it is very frustrating after the rush of creativity in November. There should have been momentum, but everything came to a dead halt in December. Work has been much busier with the end of the year, but it doesn't account for all of it.

Jenny posted about another metaphor for "filling the well". Her grape metaphor comes close. But I feel more like a balloon that's been deflated. Not a slow leak either. It's like someone just let go. Maybe they let go mid-month last month. The creative burst was me flying around the room.

The dogs are here right now so I'm pretty distracted still. Maybe I should just wait and be conventional. Start again in January. That's what a new year is for, yes? I got a couple award-winning mysteries for Christmas. Sounds like a good week to just read. Maybe that will put some more air in me.

Reprieve Over

2007-12-04T07:41:00.001-08:00

I'm glad I took advantage of it when I had the chance. Although I did not get through the whole rewrite, I'm close enough to be happy with it.

This week, the preparation for the end of the year has begun. Free time at work will be at a premium. I will still take advantage of it when I can. I will have to be more disciplined about writing in the evenings on the weekends than I have been if I'm going to keep up the momentum from November.

Deb reminded me last night that I have an article due for the PPW NewsMagazine. At least one evening this week will have to be spent on that. Other than that, I don't think I have anything else to intrude. So add an article to my goals for the week.

Partial Reprieve

2007-11-30T09:53:00.000-08:00

The last few days of the month and the first few days of the next month are always busy for me. Comes with being a bookkeeper. So I was prepared to be too busy to work on HM yesterday or today. But the boss is pushing to get a new product tested and out the door so I only have a small fraction of my usual tasks to do today.

That means that I may be able to get through the end of the rewrite. Which will set me up nicely for new pages over the weekend. I'll be busier than usual on Monday, but that's okay. Today I may make my revised NaNoWriMo goal of finishing the rewrite and straightening out the tangles.

Evans Above and Rambling

2007-11-27T09:44:00.000-08:00

I finished Evans Above by Rhys Bowen yesterday. I could not find fault with it. The characters are well-drawn and believable. The setting, rural Wales, is unusual and vivid. It had a good plot and the pacing was what a mystery should be.

It's not exactly a cozy, because the protagonist, Evan Evans, is a town constable. But the laid back setting feels like a cozy. One of the reviewers called it Hamish MacBeth in Wales. I would agree.

This is a series I will continue with. There are about 10 Constable Evans mysteries in the series. She (Rhys Bowen is a pseudonym) also has two other series that I might check out.

It gives me hope for the genre. Nancy Atherton, Monica Ferris, Martha Grimes and now Rhys Bowen are all relatively current writers I enjoy. Although Ferris was on the edge with hers. We'll see how the second in the series goes for her.

I typed another 12 pages yesterday, including a new scene. I also have hope for finishing by the next PPWC. Then I may have to try my hand at pitching. I'm not looking forward to that.

Anti-Cyber Monday

2007-11-26T07:38:00.000-08:00

Today is supposed to be the big day for shopping online, aka Cyber Monday. The theory is that people get back to work and use the Internet there to do their shopping. I'm not sure I believe that. Most people who are computer savvy have a connection at home where they don't have to worry about their boss catching them. Or I could be wrong.

For me, today is Anti-Cyber Monday. With the exception of updating this blog, I'm disconnecting from the Internet so I can work on HM. Wish me luck.

A Good Walk

2007-11-23T12:50:00.000-08:00

Yesterday morning, before I started cooking for Thanksgiving, I went for a walk around the neighborhood. It was well below freezing, but beautiful. Clear blue skies with Canada Geese flying in formation. Neighbors also out walking, smiling and saying, "Good morning."

As I walked I tried to prewrite on HM. I couldn't. "But what's next?" Then I realized that I'm doing a "next" scene right now. It's time to rewrite the rejiggered first part in order to be able to "next". It was a good feeling. Because it means that I feel like HM is now in the right shape. Working on a new scene would, at best, be distracting from the task at hand. At worst, it would be a wasted effort because it might not fit with the newly reformed front part. I'm not so structured that I don't think I could find a new, and improved, tangent while I retype.

I thought I was in a bad place right now with HM. But not so. It's where it needs to be. It was a very good walk.

Scenes

2007-11-19T07:41:00.001-08:00

I spent yesterday afternoon listing scenes for HM then arranging and rearranging. It looks like it won't be as spare as I feared for a while. I have a lot going on Sloan and Shannon and a few things with Caleb and Jenny. Instead of introducing a suspect and then dismissing him or her and introducing the next, I have them all jumbled up now.

Overall a productive weekend without gaining any wordcount. I can live with that. For now.

Working For The Weekend

2007-11-16T09:01:00.000-08:00

I printed out HM last night on green paper. I'm trying Jenny's method of different colors of paper for different drafts. It's a lot bigger than I thought it was going to be. Tomorrow I will pull it apart, rearrange it and start the retyping process. The plan is to do that quickly enough that I can add some more pages before the end of the month.

We usually get an extra day or two around a holiday. The boss likes to have a skeleton crew in case a customer calls in so we to have to alternate. Deb's asking for Wednesday since her sister will be out of town. That will probably mean I get the Monday after Thanksgiving. Either way is nice and gives me an extra day to write. And with the Monday, I won't be worrying about cleaning for company or precooking anything.

Weekends are nice. Long weekends are wonderful. Extra long weekends are heaven.

Tangles

2007-11-12T05:35:00.001-08:00

My new subplots and tightening of the timeline, while positive changes, now have me totally confused about which day is which and who was interviewed when. I was going to start another book, but I just can't bring myself to do that before I finish this one. At least a first draft. Writing in circles doesn't appeal to me either. I think I need to stop, print out what I have and get it in order. I will be retyping it in order to keep track of the plot. Then I can continue.

Depending on how long that takes, I may be done with NaNoWriMo for this year. I am more interested in finishing HM and doing it right than in doing it quickly. Even if quickly would have been nice.

Prompt of the Day

2007-11-12T05:32:00.000-08:00

We recently 'fell back' an hour. Write about a time you fell back, either physically or emotionally.

Chugging Along

2007-11-07T07:23:00.000-08:00

I am making progress on HM. 25 pages so far. While I'm not going any directions I hadn't planned on, I find myself inserting moments between Sloan and the people around him that give more depth to what their relationships are. One I like in particular is between Sloan and his daughter, Shannon. He's remembering a moment with his wife when Shannon was 2 (she's 12 now). Shannon comes in and sees him with tears in his eyes. It's a nice scene--if I do say so myself.

My one concern is that I am moving the plot along very quickly and may end without reaching the page count I was shooting for. Before I get a lot of comments, I realize that the book will be as long as it needs to be. I tend to write sparsely and have to go back and flesh out. Plus it will need to be checked for continuity problems because of the changes I implemented halfway through, which may end up increasing the word count. But I will have to decide if I want to start the second HM book or maybe start D&D or JB (jewelry book--I hate coming up with titles).

Any suggestions? Any that sounded more or less interesting to you? I would guess that the "industry experts" would say to start the second HM because starting one series is hard enough without throwing a second or third. But is it silly to write the second book in a series when you haven't sold the first? I guess I'll just decide when, and if, I get to that point.

Workshop

2007-11-05T08:02:00.000-08:00

I didn't want to spend a whole day at a workshop when I could have been writing. Deb talked me into going, though, and I'm glad I did. Although I am now way behind on NaNo goals.

The presenters hit all the ways writers can add tension to their work. All the pieces of writing can be used. Character, setting, pacing, plot all can be places to add tension. The exercises were fun. I got to try to make a fountain pen scary. I'm not sure I succeeded, but it was fun trying.

I will be thinking about what I learned as I churn out pages of HM. The trick will be to not self-edit as I'm working.

Prompt of the Week

2007-11-05T07:51:00.000-08:00

I'm stealing from the Scaring Your Readers Workshop that I attended on Saturday.

Think of something you'd never be scared of. Now write a short story making that innocent object scary.

NaNoWriMo

2007-11-01T08:16:00.000-07:00

Last year, I had a lot of success starting HM during NaNoWriMo. I hope to be able to use November to finish HM this year. Of course, reading that, I realize how long it's taken me to write my first novel. I hope the second one is faster.

To really do NaNoWriMo, the writer agrees to write 50,000 words in the month of November. That breaks down to 1,666.6666666666 words a day, or about 6-7 pages. I can type about 5 pages an hour. That means if I write for 2 hours a day, I should be able to finish early. "Should" being the operative word.

I will weigh in a few times a week to see where I am. Fingers crossed.

Prompt of the Week

2007-10-29T08:18:00.000-07:00

Halloween night, the doorbell rings. You answer the door, expecting children dressed as princesses, ghosts and Batman. Instead, shockingly, it's __________

Writing Without Actually Writing

2007-10-26T07:54:00.000-07:00

Deb just left my office. She was giving me grief about not updating the blog more often. Of course, she hit the proverbial nail when she suggested that when I'm don't write, I don't blog. I haven't been writing. Well, I haven't been getting words on paper. But I have been thinking about stories. How do I quantify that?

Here are some of the things I've been working out for HM:

--Sloan's relationship with Jenny. When does he acknowledge that she's more than his daughter's godmother?
--How much should the blizzard impact the story?
--Do I need to deal with Caleb's position being an elected one?
--How many deputies would he realistically have?
--What does the area around the quilt shop look like?

For D&D:

--Where does their money come from?
--How many employees are there?
--What kind of licensing do they need?
--What are the packages they offer?

For TOO (The Other One--I don't have a name yet):

--Should it be on a real street in Pueblo or should I make one up?
--What is the name of the shop?
--I can see the protagonist but don't know her name yet.
--What is she retired from that would give her enough money to open this shop?

When I spell it out like that, it looks like I have been working. I don't have answers to everything yet, but at least I know the questions. And with the boss out today, I may be able to answer some of the questions. Or put words on paper and really feel like I've accomplished something.

Prompt of the Week

2007-10-22T09:26:00.000-07:00

Create your own workshop. Think of a writing workshop that you would like to attend. Who would run it? What would the topic be? How long? Who are the other attendees?

Bonus Prompt

2007-10-19T09:04:00.000-07:00

Evil Editor has a fun writing exercise on his blog today. You roll a die and use the number you get to pick a genre. Then roll again and get a setting. And so on. You can see what the options are at www.evileditor.blogspot.com. This is like Deb's story cards, except with specific characters.

My results were:

Children's/YA genre
Set in a courtroom
My two speaking characters are Bullwinkle Moose and Norman Bates.

This could be fun. Or a trainwreck.

Finally

2007-10-17T09:55:00.000-07:00

A good book. The Spellman Files by Lisa Lutz broke the streak of really bad mysteries. The question is: Is it a cozy? I guess an argument could be made because it's about a family and, mainly, what goes on in their family life. But the family business is private investigation so they are all professionals. And what goes on is a lot of cloak and dagger. The last two things would say it isn't a cozy. It really doesn't matter. It's a fun read.

Which leads to a question. Does it matter what label you put on a book as far as genre goes? I have seen some pretty nasty exchanges on one of the Yahoo! lists I'm part of over genre. Those who write "genre fiction" stating things along the lines of "those literary snobs." Arguments over what is literary as opposed to Literature. Gnashing of teeth over the death of horror as a separate genre. Does any of it really matter to anyone outside the writing community?

I don't really think so. People pick up books they think they'll like. They may start in the Mystery section or Romance or Fiction. But then they scan the sale tables or the staff recommendations. They remember a book someone told them about, or that they heard about on Fresh Air. I have never heard any non-writer friends say anything along the lines of, "It was supposed to be a mystery, but there's an awful lot of romance and a poltergeist so it probably should be called paranormal romance with undertones of mystery. It always bothers me when they mislabel something like that." They either say it's good or it's not.

So why do we tie ourselves up in knots over these labels? Or do you? Do you just write what you want?

Environmental Prompt of the Week

2007-10-15T08:15:00.000-07:00

Think about climate changes that have already happened in a favorite spot. If things go on as they have been, what will it be like in ten years? Twenty? Write about what it would be like and, more importantly, how you would feel about those changes.

Throwing Books

2007-10-11T08:11:00.000-07:00

I finished The Body in the Library last week and have been having a hard time deciding on the next book to read. I picked up Fool Moon, the second in the Dresden Files series. About 30 pages in and I can't get into it. Maybe part of it is that they adapted this story for the television series and I already know "whodunnit." But the biggest part is the way Dresden talks about himself. "I growled" and "I barked" are used as dialogue tags several times. Okay, the book is about werewolves. Cute. Except people don't talk about themselves like that. And one of my nitpicks with the first book resurfaced over and over in this one. He keeps describing himself as tall, lanky, long-legged. I get it. You're tall. You don't have to tell me three times every chapter. So I put it down.

Then I picked up The Cat Who Dropped A Bombshell, the 28th book in the series by Lillian Jackson Braun. That is the book that I literally threw across the room two chapters in. All of the characters spent those two chapters telling each other things they already knew. Maybe it's a case of author malaise after so many books about the same characters. Maybe the editors just didn't have it in them to read another book about KoKo and Yum Yum either. Whatever the case, I just couldn't do it. I may go back and look at an earlier installment to see if it is the "curse of number 28" or just indicative of the genre. Which would make me very sad.

There are some good cozies out there. I have read them. So I'm not quite ready to give up on the genre altogether. But it is frustrating to run into so many bad ones.

Blog Action Day 2007 Video 2

2007-10-09T08:11:00.001-07:00

Prompt of the Week

2007-10-08T08:37:00.000-07:00

The New Hampshire primaries and the Iowa caucuses are still months away, but the candidates have been out stumping for months and months. Let's say that you aren't happy with any of the choices so you decide to throw your hat in the ring. Right up your platform.

Goals

2007-10-02T08:32:00.000-07:00

Deb was just in my office talking about how she forgot to set her goals on a weekly basis. Which reminded me that I hadn't done my check-in for the week.

I didn't revise 25 pages last week, but since I overachieved the previous few weeks, I'm okay with that. I will try to finish the revision on the first part this week. That should be about 25-30 pages.

Prompt of the Week

2007-10-01T12:25:00.000-07:00

The Fall colors are brilliant. Describe the scene without using the words red, yellow, orange or green.

Pirate Name

2007-09-27T09:55:00.000-07:00

I haven't been updating because I have been covering for Deb at work while she's on jury duty. I can't remember if we've talked about the fact that we work at the same place. We do. That's how we met. So I've been extra busy this week, which is fine. She did the right thing by serving. What it means is I just found out about the pirate names. Mine is:

Dread Pirate Rackham

Like the famous Dread Pirate Roberts, you have a keen head for how to make a profit. You have the good fortune of having a good name, since Rackham (pronounced RACKem, not rack-ham) is one of the coolest sounding surnames for a pirate. Arr!

I sort of like it.

Prompt of the Week

2007-09-24T18:05:00.001-07:00

Listen to Neil, writing down any words or phrases that 'speak to you'. Then pick one as the start to your writing.

Unexpected Results

2007-09-20T08:15:00.000-07:00

On Monday I thought that I would be lucky to get through 25 pages of revisions. I am well past that already. What happened? I wish I knew. I just seemed to get in the zone, and things started to flow. Fingers crossed that it continues. I'm always afraid that once I realize the writing is easy, it won't be any more.

Have you been able to identify what can put you in the zone? Or is it something different every time?

Neil Gaiman's Murder Mysteries

2007-09-17T07:51:00.000-07:00

Deb asked me last week if I'd read Stardust yet. She loaned the book to me a while back. I had to admit that it's still sitting on the nightstand. I've been so focused on mysteries that I haven't picked up anything else. "That's what I thought," she said and handed me an interesting blue book titled, Murder Mysteries. When I opened it, I discovered that it's a comic book based on a Neil Gaiman short story. I think my lip curled at that point. "It's a quick read. Just try it." Deb can be pushy when she wants.

I read Murder Mysteries and was so impressed I finally picked up Stardust. I'm still impressed. I don't know if I have the time to tackle anything longer right now, but I will read more Neil Gaiman stories. Maybe I'll pick up a copy of one of his short story collections.

Author Self-Reference

2007-09-13T07:30:00.000-07:00

Around page 75 of The Body in the Library, a young boy tells the chief inspector that he enjoys reading murder mysteries. The boy collects autographs of famous authors and starts listing them. One is Agatha Christie. While it made me smile, it broke the illusion and threw me out of the story for a second. I know other authors have done the same thing--Dante comes to mind, but that was part of the structure of The Divine Comedy.

How does an author do it successfully? Is the cleverness of an author referencing themselves worth the chance that the reader will be thrown out of the book and not pick it up again? Would it be easier if you were less well known?

Weekly Goals Check-in

2007-09-10T08:44:00.000-07:00

My goal for the week was to finish marking up the beginning of HM and type it up. I did the marking, but not the typing. However, I did figure out a plausible way for the guys to figure out who did it and how to tighten the timeline to add more tension. Good stuff, so I'm not going to beat myself up over not typing the changes yet.

For this week, I'm going to start the retype, making both the timeline and subplot (marks) changes. As this will take longer than just adding the mark-ups, I will be very happy with twenty-five revised pages.

Prompt of the Week

2007-09-10T08:39:00.000-07:00

Pick a historical character. Now pick a fictional character. Put them together in a story.

Process Improvement

2007-09-07T08:05:00.000-07:00

A few years ago I worked at MCI/Worldcom. Back before The Big Layoff of 2002. I was part of group whose responsibility was to improve processes. Specifically invoicing processes, but we also were asked to help with many other kinds of processes.

Shane's very funny, and amazingly accurate, post did save a lot of time and effort for Deb and me. So, I will agree to write one article and see not only how much time it takes, but what impact it has on my other writing. Then I'll decide if I want to become a columnist.

Thanks for cutting to the chase, Shane! And for a good laugh yesterday.

Decisions

2007-09-05T15:05:00.000-07:00

The other night at the rogue gathering, Deb asked me if I'd take over her column in the Pikes Peak Writers NewsMag. That's a nice offer, I am honored, but it's also something else to fill up time. I already have work, research, jewelry and the actual writing.

The column is called The Writer's Life and is about different issues a writer faces. Similar to what we talk about on our blogs. She said I could write about anything I want. They only publish every other month, so it might not be too time consuming.

I'll think about it.

Goals

2007-09-03T21:23:00.000-07:00

Last months my goals were to write 25 pages of HM, finish the 1st Christie book and 2 more. And stay in the better place.

I have stayed in a better place and finished the first Christie book. I also started reading the 2nd one. And I came up with a couple cool subplots to enrich HM so I've been marking up the start to incorporate them before I go on.

Using Ali's weekly goal plan, this week I'd like to finish marking up the first bit and get it typed up. Doable, as Deb says.

Prompt of the Week

2007-09-03T21:18:00.000-07:00

Start with this sentence: Two guys come in with guns.

Scary Things

2007-08-28T11:24:00.000-07:00

Ali's challenge for September is to do something that scares us, do something risky. What am I afraid of? A quick list is: looking foolish, mice, possessed dolls/mannequins/ventriloquist's dummies. None of those seem to relate very well to writing mysteries.

Writing a mystery about a mouse-shaped ventriloquist's dummy that seems possessed seems really silly. Three birds with one silly stone.

But I'm not sure I'm going to go there.

Prompt of the Week

2007-08-27T09:43:00.000-07:00

One of your characters won't survive the night. Write an obituary outlining a brief history, a list of accomplishments, the people who will mourn his/her passing and the cause of death.

First Effort

2007-08-22T09:37:00.000-07:00

Here is the result of meeting Ali's deadline. I had to have at least earrings done by last Saturday. I'm pretty happy with the result. The yellow is all from the background as the beads used were black, clear or some combination of the two.

I did notice, though, that Ali didn't stop anyone else at the door to check for newly made jewelry.

Prompt of the Week

2007-08-20T08:25:00.000-07:00

I used to love using photos for prompts in Feminine Ink. They--like poetry--always caused big groans. But we also got some great responses. Use this as the starting point for your writing today.

Unstuck In Time

2007-08-17T09:49:00.000-07:00

"Just remember that the best bits come up and surprise you from behind. " A comment by Whittaker Luckless on a post by John about being stuck that was a follow-up to a post by Ali about also being stuck.

I have been stuck with HM. Nothing that usually works has helped with the unsticking. I even considered the booze suggestion made by a couple people over on Ali's blog. I went to see Stardust last night with a friend (you were right, Ali & Deb), and while negotiating the traffic cones on Austin Bluffs Parkway on the way home I had a flash for a great subplot. That led to an idea of how to proceed.

Maybe the movie sparked something. Or it could have been the conversation at dinner before the movie. Or it was just that I wasn't worrying about being stuck. In any case, it worked.

Jewelry Post

2007-08-15T07:42:00.001-07:00

Ali very gently reminded me yesterday that I haven't made a jewelry-related post in a long time. That's probably because I haven't actually made any jewelry yet. I started to on Friday but felt like I still didn't know enough to accomplish anything. Yesterday I bought Jewelry Making & Beading for Dummies. It explains all those terms and techniques I couldn't quite figure out from the magazines I had. So I should be able to have a new pair of earrings done by Saturday. That's the deadline Ali gave me for completing my first project.

I also picked up a copy of Stardust while I was at the bookstore yesterday. I've been reading all the posts and comments by Ali, Deb and Jenny about Neil Gaiman. It may be time to check him out. Deb's offered to lend me Neverwhere and American Gods if I like Stardust. I'm not a big fantasy fan (except for Butcher, who really writes mysteries), but we'll see.

Prompt of the Week

2007-08-13T08:37:00.000-07:00

You are summoned for jury duty. The waiting room at the courthouse is filled with other potential jurors. One person seems familiar to you. Then you realize they played an important role in your past. Who are they and what did they do?

Monsoons and Comfortable Silences

2007-08-07T07:45:00.000-07:00

Last night was First Monday for The Group. People either arrived earlier (Jenny, Shane and Ali) or later (Fleur and Mary) than usual because of a violent thunderstorm that moved through the area from about five to six o'clock. Visibility was almost non-existent. Wind and mini-rivers on the sides of the roads made driving dangerous. Most of the usual suspects showed up anyway. John even joined us for the first time.

There was the usual spate of venting and catching up with each other. Some of us only see each other at these gatherings. Jenny asked her questions. We groaned, but had a good time answering. Then we'd go quiet for a few minutes. Some would stare off. Others nodded as if agreeing with something in their own minds. But it was never an uncomfortable silence. More of a collective breath-catching.

A half-hour after closing--the people at It's A Grind are really great about not throwing us out--we issued our final challenges to each other and walked out into a damp summer evening.

Now I'm ready to jump back into HM and get to the end. How what we do leads to renewed creative energy, I will probably never figure out. But it works.

Yes, Ali, I'll work on those earrings this weekend, too.

Prompt of the Week

2007-08-06T08:03:00.000-07:00

I've been wanting to use poetry as a prompt, but kept running into the copyright issue. Evil Editor has solved my problem. Go to www.evileditor.blogspot.com and scroll down to the Poetry Corner. Read the submissions and pick a line or phrase from one of them. Something that strikes your fancy. Then use that as the first line of what you write. Have fun with it.

Goals

2007-08-01T07:52:00.000-07:00

If you've been following along, you know that I didn't get much written this month. I didn't make my goals, but I did get through to a better place to start August. The goals were to write 25 pages of HM, outline D&D and read two Agatha Christie novels. I did finish the outline just under the wire yesterday. I marked up what I'd already written of HM and read half a novel.

This month I'd like to actually write 25 pages of HM, finish the 1st Christie book and 2 more.

And stay in the better place.

Pulling A Fonzie

2007-07-30T08:52:00.000-07:00

I'm about halfway through reading Murder at the Vicarage by Agatha Christie. It's the first of the Miss Marple books, and I'm wondering if Dame Agatha had planned to start a series when she wrote it. My guess is no.

The book is written in first person from the perspective of the vicar. Miss Marple is, at this point anyway, a secondary or even tertiary character. She's the old busybody who lives next door to the vicarage. One of many old busybodies in the village. But she is more fully fleshed than any of the other characters. Was this on purpose? Or did Christie just fall in love with the character and give her more attention than the protagonist? Was the format a purposeful device to introduce Miss Marple?

I know there are biographies of Agatha Christie. I don't know whether any of them go into these issues. Would anyone other than a writer care? But I'm smelling more research in my future. Of course the big question is, does this impact what I'm doing with my own mysteries?

Possibly. What if in HM, Caleb becomes the stronger character? Pulls a Fonzie, so to speak. Is this something to protect against in the writing by making sure Sloan is the more interesting of the two? Do I slight Caleb in order to elevate Sloan? Would it really matter?

I think I need to trust my gut and just write it. There should be room for two, or more, strong characters.

Prompt of the Week

2007-07-30T08:48:00.000-07:00

When you hear the word "summer" what images come to mind? Pick one or two and write about them.

Bonus prompt: Write a poem using these images.

Research or Distraction?

2007-07-25T14:25:00.000-07:00

I like to do research. It's learning new things. I was one of those kids who looked forward to the new school year. Doing research is one of the joys of writing for me.

But there are times when I think I overdo it. In HM, the protagonist has a job that I know only a little about. So I need to research it. No problem there. Buy a magazine that caters to the person who does this job. Except it isn't one magazine. It's all 4 titles on the shelf. For several months in a row. Do I really need that much information?

The same with D&D. They own a particular type of business. This one doesn't have a lot of magazines on the shelf, but I buy what I can find. Then I decided that someone they know should make jewelry. Ali and Mary are both wonderful jewelry makers. Great sources. But I also bought 5 jewelry magazines the other day.

Maybe it's not a research problem, but a magazine addiction.

To emulate Ali, I'll pose a question: How much research is too much?

Prompt of the Week

2007-07-24T07:41:00.000-07:00

Christmas in July. How would you change the way you celebrate Christmas if it fell on July 25th instead of December 25th? If you don't normally celebrate Christmas, which holiday would change for you and how if it was held in mid-summer instead of the usual date?

Relief

2007-07-20T08:07:00.000-07:00

About fifty pages into the reread, and it's not as bad as a I feared. That may change when I get further in, but for now it's looking okay.

Yay!

2007-07-17T15:36:00.001-07:00

I decided to read through what I have already and make some notes. Not a full rewrite, but at least get down what I feel is wrong.

It feels like positive motion.

Hallelujah!

Prompt of the Week

2007-07-16T09:35:00.000-07:00

In honor of Bastille Day: What would be worth going to prison for?

Whining

2007-07-11T09:10:00.001-07:00

Just a little.

I'm having trouble getting back into a routine with HM, and I'm not sure why. Part of it may just be that I did break my routine. That can make things a bit hinky.

Writer's block obviously isn't the problem, because I'm not having trouble posting. Or working on other things. So it's HM related.

What about HM is giving me pause?

Characters? No, I love my characters. The Group teases me about playing with the guys. And I like the supporting cast. So characters are not the problem.

Setting? Again, love the setting. A little town in the mountains of Colorado with a blend of people whose families have been there for generations and newcomers using the former village as a bedroom community. All good.

Plot? I like the murder. Which is weird sentence to type. Victim-good. Murderer-good. But there's something nagging there. Subplots aren't strong enough. And I'm not sure that the clues are great. Or the resolution.

In summary, what I hear myself saying is that it needs revision. Okay. But revision is for after the first draft is done. First draft is for just getting it down in all its messy glory. As Deb says, "Sometimes The First is painful, embarrassing or messy." And for first drafts, it should be.

So, I need to tell that Inner Editor to shut up and wait her turn.

Goals

2007-07-09T09:25:00.001-07:00

Guess I should fess up to how I did on my wimpy goals for June and set some new ones for July.

Last month I said, "I'd like to finish my first cozy, known here as HM, and outline a second, which will go by D&D (not Dungeons and Dragons, even though my nephew loves that D&D). Not a lot but enough to keep me busy.I'd also like to read a few more of the current crop of cozies out in the world today. Just to see what's there and, maybe, discover what might be missing."

I did not finish the draft of HM, but I did figure out that it's okay to write the beginning, then the end, then the middle. Hoping that helps move the page count. Did not outline D&D since goal one wasn't finished. It shouldn't have mattered one way or the other, but it did. I did read another cozy and bought the two Agatha Christie's to delve into.

This month, I'm setting my sights a little lower since we're already more than a week into July. I'd like to write 25 pages of HM. And I will outline D&D no matter what happens with HM. And read at least the 2 Agatha Christie's.

Prompt of the Week

2007-07-09T09:19:00.000-07:00

"The sky is falling!"

Something falls on your head. What is it? Where did it come from? What does it mean?

Getting to The End

2007-07-03T13:06:00.000-07:00

Interesting First Monday last night. There was some great discussion about Deb's book, which I've read and like, but have a hard time with all the characters at the beginning. Then we moved on to our usual format.

Deb and Jenny spent a lot of time trying to figure out how the Harry Potter series will end. I guess I'll have to read the books one of these days. The movies are okay. I'm not sure why I've resisted reading them so much. Maybe it's all the hype around them.

Someone asked me about HM. I told them about the problems I'm having with just wanting to end it even though it's far too short. Shane asked if it wouldn't be okay to write the beginning, then the end, then the middle. I don't see why not.

I think that's what I'm going to do. I have a five-day weekend to put it in practice. Maybe that will be my process. Maybe not. But I feel like I need to experiment and the first book is the place to do that.

Prompt of the Week

2007-07-02T13:51:00.000-07:00

In honor of Jenny (she knows why):

Your character was born on February 29th. Describe how s/he feels on those non-leap years.

Brainstorms

2007-06-29T09:36:00.001-07:00

They're wonderful things.

I was writing Morning Pages--a habit Deb got me into a year or so ago--and thinking about the fact that I haven't written as much on HM as I'd wanted to this month. So the questions started.

Why not? Because I'm not sure where to go from here. Wait, that's not exactly true. I want to wrap it up but the word count is about a third of what I need minimum.

How to fix that? Need more going on. A few more subplots. Maybe change the structure. Add more depth to some of the current subplots.

Cool! Now I have a blueprint. Decide what to add and what to expand. Then I will employ a little of The Novel Plotter's Toolkit (thanks, Giles!) and resummarize my chapters with what I need each to accomplish. Then do it.

Just that easy.

In theory.

Going Home

2007-06-27T07:47:00.000-07:00

In a manner of speaking anyway.

Last night I picked up two Miss Marple books at B&N. I realized that I haven't read Agatha Christie in at least ten years. So the next two mysteries I read will be "The Murder at the Vicarage" and "4:50 From Paddington."

We had a discussion the other night about sometimes not being able to go back and read books you liked when you were younger. That your taste as a reader matures and changes, and what you loved at 12 or 18 or even 25 may not hold up when you're 35 or 45.

Will that be the case with these? I certainly hope not.

But I'll keep you posted.

Prompt of the Week

2007-06-26T13:58:00.001-07:00

Include the following 3 words in your writing for this week: plum, storm, bossy