Langley Writes

Book Review: House of Sand and Fog

2014-02-10T20:17:00.000-05:00

Blogging friends, not sure how to check for plagiarism? I use Grammarly because copy-cats are lame. Just ask Zelda Fitzgerald, who is quoted as saying: "Mr. Fitzgerald, I believe that is how he spells his name, seems to believe that plagiarism begins at home."

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My extended family recently congregated at my brother’s beach house. They have a bookshelf that’s evolved into a book exchange and since I'd just finished Jodi Picoult’s Mercy, I left it there in exchange for Andre Dubus III’s House of Sand and Fog. The book cover didn’t necessarily entice me but it had street cred; it was a finalist for the National Book Award for Fiction and #1 on the NYT bestseller list (it was also an Oprah's Book Club pick in 2000 but I don’t always see eye-to-eye with O.) so I decided to give it a try.

Overview

The book starts by introducing a once-respected former colonel by the name of Massoud Behrani. The colonel and his family have been exiled from Iran after the Iranian Revolution. He has not been able to establish a career in America so he works long hours at menial jobs to keep up appearances.

In the next chapter, we learn about Kathy Nicolo, a recovering addict, who is being evicted from her bungalow in the California hills—a home long owned by her family—because of a county bookkeeping mistake.

Their paths cross when Kathy’s house is put on auction and Behrani spends his life savings to purchase the house at a fraction of its worth. He views the opportunity as fortune smiling on him, and plans to flip the house as a means of establishing himself as a successful real estate investor/business man.

A third character, Police Deputy Lester Burdon, comes to Kathy’s house to evict her. Although Burdon is married with two young children, he and Kathy become romantically involved.

The forth main character in the book is the house itself. In fact, the entire plot circles around the bungalow. The characters get so caught up in their quest for owning the house that they lose sight of themselves, resulting in a set of circumstances that go horribly wrong.

The book is written in the first person, switching between several of the main characters. The use of a first person POV gives the reader a clear picture of what each character is going through on a mental and emotional level.

Cultural misunderstandings as well as exploring the married relationship between the Behranis and the desperate relationship between Kathy and Lester keep this book moving forward.

The Good
At first, it seemed obvious who the protagonist and who the antagonist were but as the book continued, the lines blurred. Dubus has a gift for presenting two completely different viewpoints; he transitions from chapter to chapter skillfully using precise language for each character, and lets the reader decide for himself. Sometimes I was seduced into an empathetic attraction to one character and a disgusting revulsion to another and then the tables turned and so did my sympathies. The author created a believable, involved psychological portrait of his main characters, shining a light on their gifts as well as their flaws.

The Bad

Oh the poor, pitiful ending. Listen, as a fiction writer I know how difficult it is to bring everything to a satisfying end but to call this ending unsatisfying is giving it far too much credit. I had a hard time accepting that this was the best Andre Dubus III could do.

A movie was made from the book, starring Ben Kingsly as Behrani and Jennifer Connelly as Kathy. Good casting choices, but I haven't seen the movie and I'm not sure I will. The story is dark and left me with a feeling of hopelessness.

Have you read House of Sand and Fog? I'd love to hear other opinions.

A Talk with the Author of Iron Shinto

2013-11-21T09:38:00.002-05:00

My friend and fellow Indie Author Tricia Stewart Shiu has just finished her book "Iron Shinto," the third book in her popular YA Metaphysical Fantasy, Moa series. I had a chance to interview Tricia, and get a glimpse of her writing process and the inspiration for the Moa series.

How long did it take you to write "Iron Shinto?"

"Iron Shinto" is the third book in the Moa series. The first two books took me approximately three months each and "Iron Shinto took me a year and a month! It is by far the most powerful of the books and is packed with layers of learning.

I can't wait to read it. What is your writing process?

Because I'm a working mom, I write when and where I can. I have envelopes with ideas written on them, scraps of paper with story outlines and I've even used Dragon Dictation to help me remember those great idea occur while I'm driving.

Ha, that sounds like me. So, how did the story come together?

At the start of each book, I would let the pieces of the story puzzle and characters come in organically. Sometimes the beginning would pop in and then suddenly I'd find myself writing something that I guessed would become the middle. I never edited myself and allowed the thoughts, characters and story to form naturally. The most incredible parts happened as I began to piece the story together. Not everything I wrote was used, but occasionally, I would find that something I wrote at the very beginning fit perfectly into the story much later on. I kept a document for these odd pieces and would refer back to them to see if anything fit.

I love how it all comes together like that. I envy your ability not to self edit along the way, I need to work on that. Tell us the story behind the cover photo and illustrations?

My nine-year-old daughter, Sydney took the cover photos for all three books and illustrated them, as well. It has been such a joy collaborating with her, doing book talks and signings and embarking on this adventure together!

Sweet. What was your personal inspiration for this metaphysical fantasy series?

The series was born from an experience I had in Honolulu, Hawaii. I was visiting with my in-laws and while napping encountered a Hawaiian spirit named "Moa." Although skeptical, I asked for proof that I was not dreaming. She showed me a picture of a woman I did not know as said my mother-in-law could not find this woman and she was, essentially a missing person to her. Moa said her name was Sharon and then I awoke confused. Why would I see a picture of someone I didn't know and receive such odd information. I shrugged off my experience as a dream and went for a walk with my mother-in-law and daughter. As we rounded the corner of a park, my mother-in-law squealed. "Sharon!" She cried out. My stomach dropped. This was the woman in Moa's picture and the name matched, too. Then she turned to me and explained that she had been looking for her old friend for 20 years! I finally decided to chronicle my experiences in "Moa," the first book in the Moa Series. Then came "Statue of Ku" and finally, "Iron Shinto."

Thanks for your time, Tricia. Good luck with the "Iron Shinto" and the entire Moa Series.

To read an excerpt from the book, learn more about Tricia Stewart Shiu or pledge towards her publishing goal, please visit "Iron Shinto" Metaphysical Fiction Series Launch.

Happy writing!

Silenced: A Diva Anthology

2013-10-01T08:00:00.000-04:00

When the hairs on the back of your neck stand up…

When you feel like someone is watching you…

When you’re afraid to turn around…

It’s already too late.

Our latest Diva anthology is live. If you're interested, here's where you can find it:

Silenced: A Diva Anthology

Diva Short Story Anthologies

2013-09-28T15:39:00.000-04:00

I've mentioned the group of fiction writers that I'm associated with here before. In case you missed the post, here it is: Short Story Anthology: Crime Gone Wrong. Anyway, we're called DIVA, and we're four gals from different parts of the world who come together to write short story anthologies.

As a foursome, we decide on the title of the story collection. Once the title's determined, we go off on our own and write our individual stories based on the title/theme. It's interesting to see how the other Diva gals interpret the title. In any given anthology you might get a dark story and a silly story side-by-side, both with the same theme.

So far, we've published:

Crime Gone Wrong

Killer Heat

Summer Love

We're always looking for theme/title suggestions so let me know if you think of anything interesting that you'd like a bunch of twisted ladies to write about. :-)

And it just so happens that we have another book coming out very soon. Watch this space for details.

Happy reading and writing,

How I Got Him To Marry Me: 50 True Stories

2013-03-13T08:00:00.001-04:00

My friend Cherise wrote a book that I want to tell you about. It's called How I Got Him To Marry Me: 50 True Stories and it’s now available in eBook form at Barnes and Noble for Nook, Amazon for Kindle, and Kobo for the Kobo Reader. The paperback will be available April 1 through Amazon. The eBook should be on iTunes soon.

Short Book Description:

He likes it. Now get him to put a ring on it! Learn from these 50 stories of women who have been there! You don't have to interview 50 married women to find out how they managed to get that ring on their finger. The author has done that for you. All 50 were married after 1990, so this is modern information for our changing times. Read and find out how you can get him to marry you and not just live together!

LIMITED TIME OFFER:
Please see the end of the eBook to learn how to claim a free paperback copy after you post an honest review! Limited to the first 25 reviewers at Amazon.com, Kobo, Barnes and Noble, and iTunes. (226 pages in paperback.)

Excerpt unique to my blog:

When I worked in the office back in Philly, my plebeian office job took about 8.5 hours a day. When I did my work online, it took four hours a day, at the most. Now, I've never been the type to know what to do with my free time, but I had so much of it now that I joined an anime fan group at a bar in Beijing. (I never go to bars, either.)
I befriended guys there who had similar interests. Now, keep in mind:
1) My American office salary of 42k equaled about 252k in China.
2) I'm not bad looking.
3) I was an intriguing ethnic anomaly there.
4) My employers said my productivity had increased, so they weren't nagging me to come back to the office.

With those four points there, you have another recipe for my leaving Cordell. But again, I did not.

Many anime types, there as well as here, have unconventional interests. One of the girls made Chinese wedding dresses. They're nothing like the white mainstay frocks you see in the States. Chinese wedding dresses are short, sexy, and inspired by cartoons. All are white or in pastel colors. Plus, they're silk. It's cheaper to get silk there, so Mao-ling had a ton of silk garments.

"How come your stuff is so cute here?" I asked Mao-ling

She looked at me like I was crazy.

I said, "Cute isn't big where I live. I think it's the strong, independent woman thing."

"It's always been," she said, "and people buy it. People buy it where you are, too."

"Really." I challenged.

Mao-ling is an artist and doesn't have much of a head for business. I'm very organized, but I'm really not all that creative. She and I split her design business 50/50. I set up store accounts on eBay and Etsy, and I got a few brick and mortar stores in Philadelphia to carry her dresses through a friend of mine in PhillyU's fashion program. After about six months, they were selling beautifully. I think the reason these clothes sell so well in the States is the same reason men like Asian girls: they're "cuter" and a bit more delicate, in appearance at least.

If you count the money I get from private clients, Chinese stores, and the accessories I sell online, I make about 20k more per year than I did with my regular job. I also saved about 15k from that my first few weeks.

I am so much happier as a business owner than I was as a corporate desk jockey that I became a whole lot easier to get along with, and Cordell magically found a whole lot more time for me in his schedule.
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Want to read more?
Amazon.com <<< paperback, too after April 1, 2013

Barnes and Noble <<< paperback, too, but later than Amazon
Kobo

iTunes Coming Soon!

Descriptive Writing

2013-02-11T16:28:00.004-05:00

A good friend and talented writer called me last night to offer feedback on my recently published short story, The Buckner Brothers. In summary, she said she liked the story and its unpredictability. She said the pace was good, as was the rhythm. She particularly appreciated the physical descriptions of the main characters and the way in which their psychoses evolved.

Then she lowered the boom; she said she had a hard time visualizing where the action was taking place. The writing lacked a vivid setting. She wanted more ambience, more environment.

So what did I do? Like any self-respecting writer, I ~~drank wine through a straw~~ went back and reread the story she was referring to. Then I studied my WIP. Yep. She’s dead nuts right.

As I looked at my writing through this new lense, it was clear - I do spill more ink on people than I do on places. Interesting. I went looking for advice from my guru, Stephen King. In his book about writing, aptly titled On Writing, King differentiates between two kinds of descriptive writing: the physical description of characters and the description of “locale and texture” (his words).

I’m feeling halfway okay until I read further. King says descriptions of “locale and texture” are more important to good writing than are descriptions of people and characters.

Wouldn't you know it.

Digging for details, I landed on this nugget:

Thin description leaves the reader feeling bewildered and nearsighted. Over-description buries him or her in details and images. The trick is to find a happy medium.

Easy for you to do, Mr. King. But what about fledgling indi authors?

Good description is a learned skill, one of the prime reasons why you cannot succeed unless you read a lot and write a lot. Reading will help you answer how much, and only reams of writing will help you with the how. You can learn only by doing.

Alrighty then, back to the doing. I just hope I don't over-describe the little girl's bedroom in the story I'm writing now. If I do, I trust that my excellent and talented friends will shove me in the right direction. Thanks, Cyndi.

Superbowl Sunday: an Acrostic Poem

2013-02-03T12:56:00.002-05:00

Superbowl Sunday countdown, friends

Utter mania in the house

People coming over here,

Even San Francisco fans

Ravens are the team we want

Brother versus brother but

Only one team will take the prize.

Which team do you want to win the coveted

Lombardi trophy?

Sitting here placing bets

Until kickoff time

Niners versus Ravens

Defense versus offense

As for me...

Yes, the commercials are my favorite part.

Super Bowl XLVI / Credits: Getty Images

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This post is in response to my friend Linda Ann Nickerson's Superbowl blogging challenge over at Simply Snickers. Pop on over if you want to participate.

Surviving the Storm: a Poem

2013-02-01T09:45:00.001-05:00

The morning broke

I was alone

No friends around

My heart a stone

A storm approached

There was no breeze

The day was still

There were no trees

Dark clouds rolled in

A mist did fall

I closed the doors

No one to call

My little house

All safe and dry

Is strong like me

We do not cry

We’ve weathered storms

This house and I

We’ve seen worse gales

Pass us right by

We will survive

We always do

This house and I

We will get through

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This post is in participation with the Group Blogging Experience, and this week we used a picture prompt. If you want to blog with us, go to the GBE2 Facebook page and request to join the group. Everyone is welcome.

Short Story Anthology: Crime Gone Wrong

2013-01-31T16:25:00.000-05:00

As many of you know, I participated in the National Novel Writing (NaNo) challenge in November. Even though my novel is pure garbage (but I plan, eventually, to do the proper rewrites and see if I can salvage any of it), it whet my appetite to write more fiction. And to get serious about it.

So what does any self-respecting fiction-writing wannabee do in that situation? She goes and finds herself a group of seasoned fiction writers to hitch her shiny new wagon to. I found a good one.

Enter DIVA, our little group of four fiction writers from different parts of the world who came together to write short story anthologies; three established hot-shots and me. Yep, they let me in the group and you better bet I'm soaking it all in. I've written fiction since childhood but I've mostly kept it to myself. These gals are showing me the ropes and helping me polish my craft.

This is how we do it: as a group we decide on the title of the story collection. Then we go off and write our individual stories based on the title/theme. It's interesting to see how my fellow writers interpret the title and write their stories based on the chosen theme.

Soooo, we just published our first anthology, Crime Gone Wrong. My story is dark. In fact, they're all a bit twisted, in a good way. If you like stories where vengeance doesn't always go as planned, vampires and witches don't see eye to eye, and where peeping in windows might scare you to death, check it out:

Buy our book on Amazon

If you read the stories, please let me know what you think. Honestly. I want to get better and the only way I can do that is through real and constructive feedback.

We are in the midst of writing our second book, a young adult anthology about Summer Love. After that, we're doing flash fiction stories with a Killer Heat theme. It's all very exciting, so stay tuned...

By the way, DIVA stands for Diverse, Independent, Verruckt Authors.
According to our German member, verruckt means crazy. :-)

Plain Vs Plane: Fun with Words

2013-01-10T15:49:00.000-05:00

I have to start this post with the same disclaimer I’ve used before: I am not a grammarian. I make mistakes in my writing. I am always learning, growing and (hopefully) honing my craft.

That being said, I do take the time to look up a word if I’m not sure how to use it. When reading a popular fiction blog yesterday, I came across this sentence:

(MC) felt as if she had been transported to the highest level of the physical plain. Eyes closed, she took a deep breath and considered the possibility that she may have crossed over into the spiritual plain. Intuitively, she knew she must understand how vibration is defined differently on the spiritual plain…

I said to myself – Oh no, not again.

Homonyms are problematic for many writers. I wrote about some of the usual suspects in these posts:

Common Words Writers and Bloggers Misuse

Did that Pique, Peek or Peak Your Interest?

Regarding plain or plane, here’s a refresher:

Plain:

Simple, normal, basic

I’m looking for a plain white t-shirt

Obvious, clear

It was in plain view

Flat, level

He lives near the salt plains of Utah

Plane:

An airplane

A flat or level surface

A carpenter’s tool

Level of existence, consciousness (see above)

It’s confusing because the words plain and plane sound alike. In fact, they both come from the Latin word planus which means flat or clear.

I always have to pause and think when I'm using affect or effect. What about you, are there certain words that trip you up? ____________________________________________________

This post is in participation with the Group Blogging Experience, and this week’s prompt is Oh no, not again. If you want to blog with us, go to the GBE2 Facebook page and request to join the group. Everyone is welcome.

Movie Review: Lincoln

2013-01-04T18:53:00.000-05:00

We went to see the movie Lincoln, a Steven Spielberg film, over the holidays. The movie stars Daniel Day-Lewis as Lincoln, Sally Fields as Mary Todd Lincoln, Hal Holbrook as Lincoln adviser Preston Blair, James Spader as political operative W.N. Bilbo and Tommy Lee Jones as Thaddeus Stevens.

Of course I have to give props to the writers. Tony Kushner's screenplay was tremendous, and was partly based on Doris Kearns Goodwin's book Team of Rivals: The Political Genius of Abraham Lincoln.

Most of the movie takes place in January 1865, just after Abraham Lincoln was elected to his second term as president. It was during this time that Lincoln focused on pushing the 13^th Amendment through congress, thereby ending the Civil War and slavery, and uniting the nation.

My favorite thing about this movie: Lincoln’s love of words and storytelling, and how it all sounded coming out of Daniel Day-Lewis’ mouth. Brilliant. Abraham Lincoln often told awkward jokes, went on random tangents, quoted Euclid and the Bible and any other source that gave evidence to the lesson he was offering.

Daniel Day-Lewis, who normally communicates in a deep baritone, used a high-pitched, reedy tenor voice in the film. Historical sources indicate that this timbre is close to the way Lincoln actually spoke. There were plenty of rambling monologues in the script and Day-Lewis kept my husband and I captivated with this soft, homey cadence.

The language and the delivery were magnificent.

Steven Spielberg did a remarkable job with his depiction of our 16^th president. This is one of the most authentic biographical movies I’ve ever seen.

If you love lyrical words masterfully woven together by some of the finest actors and actresses working, then I recommend this movie. If you love action-packed thrillers with car chases and exploding airplanes, then I do not recommend this movie.

Let me know what you thought of the movie.

New Year's Eve: To Resolve or Not to Resolve

2012-12-31T17:06:00.000-05:00

Do you make resolutions? I'm not too big on the concept, mainly because I try to avoid waiting for a certain time/day/year to start or stop something. If I want to make changes, I try to do it when it's necessary. This is learned behavior for me because for years I waited until Monday to start eating healthier foods/exercising more regularly/cussing less/writing more (or better)/using slashes less/whatever self improvement project I was on at the time. If I 'blew it' on Tuesday or at 8:00pm on Monday, I would have to wait until the following Monday to get back on the program. No good. At least, not for me.

So, no major resolutions for me this year. I'd like to wear perfume more often but I never remember to. I would always like to write more or to write better or both. In fact, yeah, I will make a real resolution. I resolve to write more fiction in 2013. That's pretty big. I'd also like to learn how to edit photos and/or design book covers. That may happen.

As I write this, I see that I seriously need an intervention for my slash addiction - that's three in one post. Sorry...

Anyway, to keep from rambling more and wasting your time, I'll close with this. One resolution I make every year is to:

I'm pretty good at keeping that resolution.

In closing, I'd like to share the most plagiarized poem I've ever written.

New Year's Resolution in an Acrostic Poem

The happiest of Happy New Years, my friends. May 2013 bless you richly and fill your hearts with joy.

Lord of the Rings Trilogy for Christmas

2012-12-20T21:40:00.001-05:00

My nephew is a book lover. In fact, he's a 12-year-old bibliophile. Since he also loves video games and sports, I'm thrilled that he displays a sincere love of reading and books. He gets it honestly, he's from a long line of bookworms and bibliophiles but still, it's awesome that we're passing this passion for books along to the youngest generation of our clan.

I love it that I'm not buying him a video game or a DVD. No, I'm giving him books for Christmas. Not just any old books, I'm giving him a cherished box set of J.R.R. Tolkein's Lord of the Rings trilogy. This set originated with my dearly departed Uncle, was passed along to me, and now I'm joyously passing it along to my nephew this holiday season. It seems right.

Test Post

2012-12-15T17:21:00.000-05:00

I'm trying to install the Shareaholic Social Sharing Widgets in this blog and have no clue if I've done it right. This is a test post to see if I have mad skillz or not.

Here goes...

Update - it worked! Check out the shiny new buttons at the bottom of each post. Now you fine people can share all of the wit and wisdom that flows from this blog on a regular basis. <hahaha>

7 Things I Learned During National Novel Writing Month

2012-12-04T12:49:00.000-05:00

A few days have passed since I wrote over 50,000 words during the 30 days of November.

30 days and 30 nights of literary abandon. Indeed.

It was a huge commitment but it taught me more than I ever imagined. I often said it was like taking an immersion class in fiction writing. Here are some of the nuggets I got from it:

1) It's hard to turn off your internal editor but when you do, magic can happen. So can crap. Still, if you end up with more magic than crap, you're ahead of the game.

2) The world doesn't stop spinning if laundry piles up and counter tops are jumbled. The NaNo veterans remind us that when we signed up for NaNoWriMo, we set the audacious goal of writing a novel in 30 days, not scrubbing surfaces clean. Word.

3) Support groups work. I did not participate in NaNoWriMo write-ins but I did join a virtual group that was awesome. We encouraged each other and shared successes. Like Ernest Hemingway says, "Writing, at its best, is a lonely life." A support group makes it feel less so.

4) Friends and family can help. Let them know what you're doing. When I left the Thanksgiving table to sit behind my computer and bang out words, they gave me a pass. In fact, they wanted to know how many words I managed to do that day.

5) What you start out to write may not be what you end up with. My NaNo novel went in directions I never planned. It took sprawling tangents with wild subplots; new, interesting characters showed up with rich back stories - it was a fascinating process.

6) Just write. And write. And write. Don't stop. Some people dig writing challenges, some swear by Zen Writer or Dr. Wicked's Write or Die. I tried them all when the muses weren't smiling on me. The point is, keep your fingers tapping no matter what. A guy in our support group wrote a scene in his 2009 NaNo novel where a father told his son a bed time story. That story turned into a children's book that he's currently shopping around. You never know what will come out of the experience.

7) Embrace the rewrite when you're ready. I crossed the 50K finish line but lost steam. IMHO, my story could be good and it started strong, but I lost the love. I plan to put the manuscript in a drawer for several months and forget about it. I hope to reread it with fresh eyes one day, edit the heck out of it, tack a decent ending onto it and decide what to do next. But I did it!

The list is specific to me and my experience as a first time NaNoWriMo participant. I'd love to hear how you did!

Oh yeah, in addition to writing the novel, I blogged through the month. If you want to take a look at my progress, here are the links:

National Novel Writing Month - I'm In
NaNo Day Two and Super Storm Sandy
NaNoWriMo Personal Best
28,623 Words
NaNoWriMo and Me: I Got Nuthin
Closing In On NaNoWriMo
NaNoWriMo Winner = Me

Thanks for the encouragement, friends.

An Acrostic Poem Celebrating December

2012-12-01T10:53:00.000-05:00

Hard to believe it's already December! To mark the beginning of the holiday season, here is an acrostic poem that reflects how I feel about this month, this time of year.

Days are short and

Endlessly

Cozy

Everything is

Merry and

Bright

Evermore grateful, abundantly blessed

Rejoice!

Happy first of December, friends. May your days be merry and bright.

NaNoWriMo Winner = ME

2012-11-30T15:36:00.002-05:00

It feels kind of silly to call yourself a winner when everybody that crosses that 50,000 word finish line is dubbed a winner. Still, I'll take it. It's been a long month. I managed to write the NaNo novel, keep up with my client deadlines and be there for my personal commitments. So yeah, even if there are hundreds of winners, I'll gladly wave the winner flag right alongside them.

The National Novel Writing Month stats are interesting.
Number of words logged during the 2011 event: 3,074,068,446

Total collective word count for 2012: 3,144,450,256

That's a bunch of words! I bet some of them are even good. My own, however, are probably not. Not yet, at least. I'll fix all that during the rewrite.

Coming up soon, I'm going to write a post about everything I learned by participating (nee, winning, haha) NaNoWriMo. Some of it is trivial and some is pretty profound. I just don't have to juice to write about it right now. I'm spent.

In case you're wondering, yes. All in all, it was worth it.

NaNoWriMo - Been there, done that, got the tee-shirt.

Closing In on NaNoWriMo

2012-11-27T19:21:00.000-05:00

Four days. Four short days remain in November - National Novel Writing Month - which means I have four days to finish my novel.

What's that? How am I doing? Oh, thanks for asking.

Here are the specifics:

So yeah, I'm closing in on it. I made a commitment to put 50k words on the page this month, so I'm staying with it.

I'm pretty sure that what I've written the past few days is crap. It may be salvageable crap or it may be editing room crap - that remains to be seen. But not anytime soon.

For now, I will finish the book. Then I'll do what Stephen King recommends and put the manuscript in the drawer for a while. After some mental distance, I'll be better equipped to determine what to keep and what to scrap.

Right now, none of that matters to me. What matters to me is that I finish what I started, that I write 50k words during National Novel Writing Month.

I think I can, I think I can...

NaNoWriMo and Me: I Got Nuthin

2012-11-17T14:10:00.001-05:00

An alternate title for this blog post could be:

I Got Nuthin*

What I'm writing today is not worth reading. Sometimes it flows right out of me and other times every word is a struggle. Today the writing muses are not smiling on me.

Ah yes, the National Novel Writing Month takes place annually every November. This is the first year I've made the crazy commitment to write 50,000 words in one month. All-in-all, I'm glad I'm doing it. It's teaching me a lot about myself and my fiction writing.

The relationship I have with my story, my characters and my craft is all over the board. Sometimes I love my characters but hate my story, sometimes I love my plot but hate my writing, etc. - you get the picture.

(And yes, I get that love and hate are strong <<and lazy>> words to use here but I told you that what I'm writing today is not worth reading.)

Focusing on the positive, here are my stats:
- as of today I've written 30,742 words (some are good and some are pure crap)
- I have 14 days to write 19,258 more words (hopefully some will be good)

What do you guys do when you're in a rut and nothing you write sounds good? Keep tap, tap, tapping or walk away for a bit? I'm walking away for today.

Before I go, let me share this funny NaNoWriMo video.

What I have today: noth·ing*/ˈnəTHiNG/

Pronoun:

Not anything; no single thing: "I said nothing".

Adjective:

Having no prospect of progress; of no value: "he had a series of nothing jobs".

Adverb:

Not at all: "she cares nothing for others".

Synonyms:

pronoun. none - anything

adverb. not at all - none - never - not a bit - not in the least

28,623 Words

2012-11-16T12:17:00.000-05:00

28,623. That's how many words I've written since November 1st. Well, that's how many words I've written on my NaNo novel. I've managed to keep up with my client work and my general correspondences. Aaand, I've even managed to squeeze in a few blog posts. All-in-all, that's a lot of output for this gal.

I celebrate the fact that I'm past the halfway mark on NaNoWriMo. For a long time, 25,000 words seemed impossible. Now, an additional 21,377 words seems impossible.

The problem is, I don't know how my story is going to end. I have a vague idea but it's not clear. No, that's not true, I have no idea. I know how to write the story and I've finally figured out how move it forward but I'm still not sure where I'm moving it to.

For me, writing an ending is the hardest part of fiction. I've spent so much time writing non-fiction, which is easy to wrap up with a nice little bow, that I've lost the touch (assuming I ever had it).

Anyway, as long as my fingers keep up the clack, clack, clack soundtrack of my November then I'll be okay. I trust that the ending will come in due time.

So, that's how I'm doing. One guy in my writing group has already written over 75,000 words! How about you?

Write on, good people.

NaNoWriMo Personal Best

2012-11-08T18:21:00.002-05:00

I hit a mile-marker today, a personal best. I'm up to 10,598 words on my NaNoWriMo book. What's that you NaNo savvy people say? That I was supposed to hit 10,000 yesterday. Right you are! But let me tell you something - I've never crested the 10,000 mark on any single project. So this, my friends, is worthy of a blog post. And a nice glass of wine (or two).

My trusty NaNo dashboard informs me that I have to write 1,714 words a day to finish on time, and I think that's immensely do-able.

Is it any good? Probably not. At least not yet. But that's what December and beyond is for, to make it good. For now, it's words. Words on a page. 10,598 words on a page, to be exact. That makes me happy.

For those of you playing along, I hope you're writing like the wind.

If you're writing like the wind, your probably not reading this blog post. Still, I'm rooting for you, one and all.

Happy Writing!

NaNo Day Two and Super Storm Sandy

2012-11-02T17:59:00.000-04:00

Today is the second day of NaNo and I'm pretty far behind. I've been in NYC since last Saturday, October 27. The day before 'Frankenstorm' Sandy devastated the East Coast. Yeppers, I leave the coast of South Carolina and travel TO a hurricane. Not my finest moment but who knew?

We've been seriously sidetracked. Getting through the storm took all of my energy and concentration; there wasn't a lot of thought given to writing.

Still, I managed to hack out roughly 700 words yesterday and another 700 today. Lame and slow but I'm way out of my regular writing routine *understatement* so I'm giving myself a break (sense a theme? I'm very forgiving).

I'll try to get home tomorrow. LaGuardia is open now, so it's looking good. Hopefully I can write like the wind next week and catch up. I should be writing 1,673 words a day to reach the required 50,000 by the end of the week so I have a long road ahead of me.

Keeping a positive attitude...

Hang with me, muse.

If you're doing NaNoWriMo, I wish you the best of luck. Let me know how you're doing.

National Novel Writing Month - I'm In

2012-10-31T10:46:00.001-04:00

Yep, you read that right. I'm doing NaNoWriMo this year. It starts tomorrow and the only thing I've done in preparation is daydream, because I'm good at that. I have the loose threads of an idea percolating but nothing more.

I'm taking the NaNo Honchos at their word:
It’s okay to not know what you’re doing. Really. You’ve read a lot of novels, so you’re completely up to the challenge of writing one. If you feel more comfortable outlining your story ahead of time, do it! But it’s also fine to just wing it. Write every day, and a book-worthy story will appear, even if you’re not sure what that story might be right now.

So that's exactly what I'm going to do. Write every day, ignore my internal editor, and see if a book-worthy story ever drops in.

I'm making this public declaration because I've heard "the looming specter of personal humiliation is a very reliable muse." I believe that. And because I'm an all-or-nothing commitment phobic procrastinator, I need all the help I can get.

Wish me luck!

PS - if you're doing it, let me know in the comments so we can ~~shame~~ help each other along. :-)

Admission of Suckage

2012-10-30T11:53:00.000-04:00

Yes, it's entirely true. I have neglected my blogs in the biggest way possible. In fact, shamefully, I didn't even know the password to get in here. I had to look it up.

I suck.

Let me tell you how bad I suck. There has only been one post between the one I'm writing now and this one, where I vow that I'll start blogging again. See, I win the suckage award.

I forgive myself for sucking.

That's always true. Life happens, things happen, and sometimes something has to give. Usually the thing that has to give is the thing that 1) doesn't need me for health reasons 2) doesn't need me for emotional reasons and 3) doesn't pay me. So as much as I love this blog (is that weird?), sometimes it gets pushed to the side. Not my writing, that never gets pushed to the side. Just the blogging.

Now I'm busting out the password, brushing off the dust, and reintroducing myself to the blog.

If you're reading this, thanks for staying interested. I missed you.

Happy Blogging!

Freelance Work

2012-01-04T17:19:00.000-05:00

A few years ago I retired from the corporate workplace. What's that you say? I look too young to be retired? Well, that's mighty kind of you, thanks.

Ahhh, flattery. It always makes my day. Where was I? Oh yeah, work. So I retired from a big job that required lots of hard work and responsibility and decided to be a freelancer - although I had no idea what that really meant. I set about researching freelance opportunities and started a fledgling writing career. I'd hack out corporate communications copy, sales brochures and annual reports all day long; mostly for companies I had relationships with from my previous jobs. Hey, it's a living. But I still didn't know how to develop a 'real' freelance writing career.

In the meantime, I started blogging. Now I'm old school (another age reference? really?!) and didn't know nuthin about no blogging. I jumped in anyway and wrote some pitiful posts. Wavering somewhere between online journaling and mindless drivel, I chugged along. I needed a place to be creative so I kept at it.

Feeling a little more confident and realizing I needed a niche, I began a blog about my pets. People started to read it. I started to like it. I'm a crazy, diehard animal lover so it fit. Then an editor at a corporate dog food blog started reading, one thing led to another, and now I blog for them. Real work as a freelancer! A few more goodies have come my way and I am eternally grateful. I plan to work harder and keep growing.

I'll finish this post with yet another age reference. If you take anything away from this post, it should be this:

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