Scobberlotch (v.) to loaf around, doing nothing in particular.

Wordless Wednesday: Listen anew to the ancestors' wisdom

noreply@blogger.com (Scobberlotcher) — Wed, 11 Nov 2009 13:56:00 +0000

We need to haunt the house of history and listen anew to the ancestors' wisdom. - Maya Angelou

My grandfather and his sister, 1920s

NaNo Update & Hemingway's 4 Rules for Writers

noreply@blogger.com (Scobberlotcher) — Tue, 10 Nov 2009 13:20:00 +0000

Hemingway’s Four Rules (learned while he was a young reporter with the Kansas City Star)

1. Use short sentences.
2. Use short first paragraphs.
3. Use vigorous English.
4. Be positive, not negative.

“Those were the best rules I ever learned for the business of writing,” Hemingway said in 1940. “I’ve never forgotten them. No man with any talent, who feels and writes truly about the thing he is trying to say, can fail to write well if he abides with them.”

--

Great advice for NaNo writers; except rule number 1 blots out the fruitless, hopeless, desperate attempt to lay on the adjectives to beef up word count. Ahem. I think today I shall let my dog stomp on the keyboard and write for me.

The plot thickens in Mrs. Boyd this week as we have Charlie Boyd rushed into marriage. (In Madame Bovary, Charles Bovary is married off to a wealthy woman chosen by his mother, but she dies soon after, leaving Charles free to marry again.) This chapter is a short one that begins with his marriage and ends with him inadvertently meeting his future wife, Gemma.

Nora and Charlie married in a simple, poorly attended ceremony at sunset on the white wrap-around porch of their house. In their wedding photograph, Nora is smiling, chin up like she’s won a Best-In-Show ribbon at the State Fair and Charlie, in his father’s ill-fitting suit, is squinting toward the sun, giving him the look of someone doing a poor Clint Eastwood impression. A daughter with tiny black curls and sea-blue eyes, Emmeline, was born five months later.

The Sunday Salon: Reading for inspiration

noreply@blogger.com (Scobberlotcher) — Mon, 09 Nov 2009 02:35:00 +0000

I am late in posting, but I have a good excuse. I've been writing and reading. I'm deep into work on my National Novel Writing Month project - Mrs. Boyd. I'm currently approaching the 15k word mark. Woo! Because Mrs. Boyd is a modern interpretation of Madame Bovary, I've been reading large passages of Flaubert's classic as I go. I know I've said this many times, but it STILL amazes me how contemporary Flaubert's story is though it was published in 1856. And the writing is so descriptive. Consider this passage from Emma and Charles Bovary's wedding procession:

"The procession, first united like a long colored scarf that undulated across the field, along the narrow path winding amid the green corn, soon lengthened out, and broke up into different groups that loitered to talk."

I love the imagery of a procession winding like a scarf.

The other book I've enjoyed this week is The Photograph by Penelope Lively. It's a story about a man who, after his wife dies, discovers a photograph of her holding another man's hand and goes in search of clues to find out what their relationship may have been.

Book Cover Blunders: The hands of love...3 of them!

noreply@blogger.com (Scobberlotcher) — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 13:55:00 +0000

The author, Christina Dodd, has written a funny article about her infamous, three-handed cover.

From that article:

It rapidly became clear that the news about my cover had flown through the conference. Everyone knew … and if they didn't, I found myself telling them.

“Hi,” I'd say, “I'm Christina Dodd. I write historicals, thus fulfilling a lifelong dream and making my mother proud.”

Yawn.

“My cover features a three-armed woman.”

“Oh, you're the one!”

NaNo Update 2: It's not as good or as bad as I think it is

noreply@blogger.com (Scobberlotcher) — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 22:38:00 +0000

Good morning, fellow writers and readers. I wonder, do you have carpal tunnel syndrome, too?

Today in the continuing quest to write the Madame Bovary inspired novel Mrs. Boyd (and yes, I have read the original many times. You should, too. It's amazingly contemporary), I am closing in on 10,000 words today. My goal for this week is 20k, but this seems ambitious right now. Perhaps 15k is more realistic.

Here are a few thoughts on the novel so far:

1. The whole project is not as good or as bad as I think it is.
2. I've always prefered writing in first-person, so writing in third-person is REALLY stretching me. My current tone sounds like a bard describing a story off-stage. Here is our tale.... Bleck!
3. I'm trying to fill up on a lot of John Irving in the evenings. Irving is the master at third-person. His transitions between characters is effortless. I want to do that!!
4. I'm seriously considering adding recipes to the text. Yes, recipes! Madame Bovary is filled with feasts and food, so I think my chapter introductions might include menus appropriate to the action. (But what to serve with adultery?)
5. I've discovered that Mrs. Boyd has a fixation on Julia Roberts. Hmmm.
6. I have NOT resisted the urge to go back and edit a few things. I know. Bad writer!
7. Halloween candy is a good motivator. (I stole an Almond Joy from my daughter's bag, put it atop my computer and rewarded myself with it after a 1,000 word sprint.)
8. A couple of readers requested a snippet. (Hey, quid pro quo...I want to read YOUR snippet, too.) Here's a paragraph that launches the story into Charlie Boyd's early life. But what I want to do is go back later and find out more about his mother. (Also, I don't know if they had home pregnancy test in 1971.)

In 1971, Martha Boyd discovered she was pregnant. It seemed to her an immaculate conception. She could count on one hand the number of times she and her husband had had sex. So when she saw the results on her early pregnancy test, she fell to her knees and thanked the Lord for choosing her as a vessel of the Second Coming. Then she threw up. When infant Charles Lawrence Boyd came into the world several months later, he had the tell-tale red-wine birthmark of his father; a Michigan-shaped spot on his right hip. Though this evidence dispelled all her plans for being the object of devoted prayer and worship like the original mother of Jesus, she discovered that she enjoyed caring for her newborn son, rocking and singing him to sleep. She informed her husband that her first place in life was now as a mother so he’d better get used to making a meal in the fancy new contraption called a microwave that sat atop their grey file cabinet. By the time Charlie was a teen-ager, he’d gotten used to being the center of his mother’s world and his parents rarely spoke to each other.

And just as a point of interest, here's a pic of how beautiful it is outside in Dallas this week. Definitely not write-a-novel-weather. I want to go outside and play.

Wordless Wednesday: Dance

noreply@blogger.com (Scobberlotcher) — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 13:52:00 +0000

"Life is full of beauty. Notice it. Notice the bumble bee, the small child, and the smiling faces. Smell the rain, and feel the wind. Live your life to the fullest potential, and fight for your dreams.” - Ashley Smith

Brewster Academy, Wolfeboro, NH, circa 1950s. Photographed by my dad.

NaNoWriMo Update: This novel is craptastic...

noreply@blogger.com (Scobberlotcher) — Mon, 02 Nov 2009 17:43:00 +0000

so that means I'm accomplishing the goals set forth by the NaNo organizers. Check

Also, it has taken an unexpected turn around the 4,000 word mark.

As you might recall from my pre-NaNo post, I am experimenting this year by writing a reimagined, modern version of a very famous book. And, I am using Cliff's Notes as my general outline. The famous title is Madame Bovary! So far, this has been a fun ride.

However, the very strange turn is that my Mme. Bovary (aka Mrs. Boyd) now thinks she has more in common with Anna Karenina than Emma Bovary, although you could argue they have a few similar traits. Well, a character is going to go where they will. For now, Gemma Boyd is shop-lifting while her none-the-wiser hubby, Charlie Boyd, has discovered unusual activity on her computer that has him reaching for his whiskey.

How, you wonder, does this parallel with the original book? I decided to present my doomed pair as you would find them right now, this minute - and then I will go back to the beginning and create a linear story following the footsteps of Flaubert. (Note my excessive alliteration word-count builder there.)

You never know. Mrs. Boyd is set in Texas and they may end up in Wal-Mart before the day is through. Think of how many craptastic scenes I create using that backdrop?

Onward!

Capturing Personality

noreply@blogger.com (Scobberlotcher) — Sun, 01 Nov 2009 19:41:00 +0000

As I develop characters for my NaNoWriMo novel, I am reminded of how much you can tell about a person from body language. And this is no where better revealed than from the pure personality of children and the way they stand. I took this pic last night as all the neighborhood kids, including mine, showed off their costumes.

NaNoWriMo is afoot!

noreply@blogger.com (Scobberlotcher) — Sat, 31 Oct 2009 13:55:00 +0000

The official start of National Novel Writing Month begins tomorrow! Or, if you are a hard-core NaNo'er - it begins at the stroke of midnight tonight. You've probably heard of this event. It's a month-long challenge to see if you can write a 50,000 word novel in one month.

I've participated in this challenge for the last two years. At first, I wasn't sure if it would be a good exercise, but now I really look forward to it. Whatever novel I've produced in the last two years always stems from this initial exercise. I use this month to brainstorm all the potential 'what-ifs' of a story and mostly see how much trouble I can get characters in vis a vis their bad choices and bad weather. (Bad weather is a great NaNo cheap-trick. If you introduce, say, a tornado, you get all your characters active inside of a minute!)

This year, I'm launching into a new story in an unsual way. I'm using the Cliff's Notes of a very famous story as my outline. Yes, you read that right. Cliff's Notes. Only I'm going to interpret the notes with a modern view in mind because I believe this is a tale that is STILL so contemporary. Yes, it'll be a modern take on an old classic. Here's the first sentence. See if you can guess the famous story!

"Charlie Boyd was at a disadvantage from the start, rendered almost unmarriageable by his parents’ poor example."

I'll be posting more about my adventures with Charlie and his wife, Gemma, in the weeks to come. Let me know if YOU are diving into NaNoWriMo, too. Here's the link to my NaNo page so add me as a writing buddy and I'll add you.

Onward!

The Mommy Files: An Original Halloween Short Story

noreply@blogger.com (Scobberlotcher) — Fri, 30 Oct 2009 13:20:00 +0000

I see a future mother/daughter writing team, don't you? Note how she shifts point of view to make it more suspenseful. And might I add, that's one flexible Zombie! Now we just need a name for the story. It was a dark and spooky night...

Why can't I be the Meryl Streep of fiction?

noreply@blogger.com (Scobberlotcher) — Thu, 29 Oct 2009 14:12:00 +0000

In the August issue of Novel Writing Magazine, Jane Friedman wrote something that put a bee in my bonnet:

“It’s likely you’ll be returning to the same themes or topics throughout your writing career. [e.g. – if you write about small-town life today, it’s likely you’ll still be writing about small-town life in a few years.] Becoming known as someone who explores certain themes or topics can make you interesting and visible to particular audiences.”

As a reader, I understand why writers write about similar themes. But like most people I know, I have an expansive curiosity – and so this advice puts me in a conundrum. Must I write about the same themes? The same landscape?

So I ask you: Why can’t I be the Meryl Streep of writing? Streep has an unquestionable range of talent. She can portray an inflexible nun (Doubt), a romantic hotelier (Mamma Mia) or a cold magazine editor (Devil Wears Prada) - and so many other roles in between! She may be virtually unrecognizable from one character to the next, but you still want to see her. You know you will be in good hands. Her brand is Meryl Streep – not any particular character or era or subject. If she can inhabit different worlds and still have fans, why shouldn’t a writer be able to do the same? Why can't I write about murder and suspense from a man's point of view and then write women's fiction that explores marital infidelity?

I suppose I know the answer. If you want to build a following or readership, that following must have a sense that they will get what they expect when they plunk down hard-earned money for an author’s latest work. I have purchased most of Elizabeth Berg’s novels because they explore the underbelly of women in suburbia. I love Elmore Leonard because I can experience the crime underworld and root for both good guys and bad guys – all while learning how to write dialogue. And I just bought Tom Rob Smith’s sequel to his debut Child 44, The Secret Speech, because it’s a continuation of the story, featuring the same protagonist in the same setting – Stalinist Russia.

Writers who’ve built a career in a certain genre are generally more successful. They have a style. They’ve created reader expectations and they meet them. They sell books.

I understand this on a business level, but didn't on an artistic level until I read this:

"A second novel must be like the second song on a CD. It may be different, but the listener must be able to recognize similarities in the different tracks, They must sound like they fit together, but also be unique."

(I'm paraphrasing this because I can't for the life of me remember where I read that. I remember I was standing in a bookstore, reading it from the acknowledgments. Somehow, that book didn't make it home with me.)

The musical analogy makes it clear: It's a good idea for a writer's SECOND novel to include the voice and style and possibly, the themes, that marked the first work. It might just need to sound like another track on the same CD.

I'll still keep my Meryl Streep dream alive and I hope my career is as diverse. In the meantime, there's plenty of time to create more stories that fall under the category of psychological suspense and family drama, which are themes I explored in my first novel.

Write on!

Wordless Wednesday: Life is either a great adventure or nothing." - Helen Keller

noreply@blogger.com (Scobberlotcher) — Wed, 28 Oct 2009 12:00:00 +0000

My father-in-law (left) when he was a cowboy in the early 1960s.

This is inspiring

noreply@blogger.com (Scobberlotcher) — Sat, 24 Oct 2009 22:33:00 +0000

Click on the picture to enlarge and read. It will inspire you to keep going, no matter what your endeavor.

3 things of the week/Friday Fill-ins

noreply@blogger.com (Scobberlotcher) — Fri, 23 Oct 2009 11:35:00 +0000

1. FRIDAY FILL-INS

1. The crickets sing, and my dog Abby pounces them.

2. Dream wherever you are.

3. I want to get far away from the laundry.

4. When I opened my in-box, I thought this was a dream. But no! There was a response that said 'yes."

5. But as for me and my house, we praise God.

6. We say howdy, tump, and fixin' to where I come from

7. And as for the weekend, tonight I'm looking forward to movie night with my family, tomorrow my plans include giving a speech about creativity to a women's group and Sunday, I want to go hunt for a pumpkin with my girls!

2. THE MOMMY FILES

I don't know about you, but in my day fairies were a lot happier.

3. HILARITY

Booking Through Thursday: Ask The Author

noreply@blogger.com (Scobberlotcher) — Thu, 22 Oct 2009 12:49:00 +0000

This week's question is good:

If you could ask your favorite author (alive or dead) one question … who would you ask, and what would the question be?

I would ask Ernest Hemingway what he thinks about contemporary writers and the modern book business and how it compares to his experiences. (And, of course, I would ask him to sign my copy of The Old Man and The Sea and we'd discuss it over a nice mojito.)

What about you? What author would you choose to ask a question?

--
Read more BTT responses here - http://btt2.wordpress.com/

Wordless Wednesday: Venice, anyone?

noreply@blogger.com (Scobberlotcher) — Wed, 21 Oct 2009 11:35:00 +0000

"This was Venice, the flattering and suspect beauty - this city, half fairy tale and half tourist trap, in whose insalubrious air the arts once rankly and voluptuously blossomed, where composers have been inspired to lulling tones of somniferous eroticism.” - from Death In Venice by Thomas Mann

A photograph I took on my trip to Venice in May 2007.

Teaser Tuesday: Her Fearful Symmetry

noreply@blogger.com (Scobberlotcher) — Tue, 20 Oct 2009 00:46:00 +0000

"Elspeth died while Robert was standing in front of a vending machine watching tea shoot into a small plastic cup. Later he would remember walking down the hospital corridor with the cup of horrible tea in his hand, alone under the flourescent lights, retracing his steps to the room where Elspeth lay surrounded by machines." - p. 3, Her Fearful Symmetry by Audrey Niffenegger

This teaser is the first sentence of this book. I kept re-reading this first line throughout my time with this book, and continued to be impressed - as a writer and reader - at the brilliant juxtaposition of death and the mundane task of using a vending machine.

Much of the novel - which is part ghost story, part love story - takes place in London's Highgate Cemetery. And I'd been reading this book for more than a week before I thought - DOH! why don't you go look up pictures of the cemetery online! It enhanced the story so much. This is the perfect story to read in October!

ABOUT THE BOOK: When Elspeth Noblin dies of cancer, she leaves her London apartment to her twin nieces, Julia and Valentina. These two American girls never met their English aunt, only knew that their mother, too, was a twin, and Elspeth her sister. Julia and Valentina are semi-normal American teenagers--with seemingly little interest in college, finding jobs, or anything outside their cozy home in the suburbs of Chicago, and with an abnormally intense attachment to one another.

The girls move to Elspeth's flat, which borders Highgate Cemetery in London. They come to know the building's other residents. There is Martin, a brilliant and charming crossword puzzle setter suffering from crippling Obsessive Compulsive Disorder; Marjike, Martin's devoted but trapped wife; and Robert, Elspeth's elusive lover, a scholar of the cemetery. As the girls become embroiled in the fraying lives of their aunt's neighbors, they also discover that much is still alive in Highgate, including--perhaps--their aunt, who can't seem to leave her old apartment and life behind.

On NaNoWriMo & Courting Creativity

noreply@blogger.com (Scobberlotcher) — Mon, 19 Oct 2009 15:01:00 +0000

Today, I'm courting creativity. I am preparing the outline for a new novel to be written for National Novel Writing Month (NaNaWriMo). I'm doing something different this year by writing my own version of a very famous book. It's something I've wanted to do as an experiment for a long time. I'll blog more about this soon.

Beginning a new piece is always so exciting for me. There aren't any mistakes yet, only possibilities. I think that's why I enjoy this event so much. This is probably true for anything creative, don't you think? I have friends who quilt, knit, cook and garden and they seem to relish the beginning/planning stages because they are excited about what's possible. Do you find that's the same for you, whatever creative endeavor you enjoy?

"The creative act was like being given an undeveloped film. All I had to do was develop it." - Vladmir Nabokov

"One does not choose one's subject matter, one submits to it." - Gustave Flaubert

"Childhood is a writer's bank balance." - Graham Greene

20 Things To Say

noreply@blogger.com (Scobberlotcher) — Thu, 15 Oct 2009 13:22:00 +0000

I found this meme somewhere out there on the interwebs and thought it would be fun. It’s 20 things I want to say to different people. Maybe you'll create your own list??

1. It's possible you are searching for peace in all the wrong places.
2. I knew the moment you presented that gift that I should not take it and I'm sorry I did.
3. Please do not buy ANOTHER black shirt.
4. You are at risk of being stuck for life if you don’t open your mind.
5. I had to tell because I couldn’t stand by and let you be hurt.
6. When I’m around you, I can’t help thinking about how much I’ll miss you when you’re not here.
7. I had a dream about you and then you sent me an email, which was weird because we hadn’t talked in years.
8. I want to see life the way you do.
9. If I could spy on your life for one day, I would, just to see what you eat for breakfast.
10. Before they invented caller i.d., I called you so many times just to hear your voice that it’s embarrassing.
11. I wish you’d told me about eye-brow grooming much earlier in life.
12. When I feel blue, your belief in me lifts me up.
13. I was so stupid to do that and I'm sorry.
14. I miss having a cubicle next to you because I've never laughed that much at work since.
15. I gave you the wrong number so you couldn’t call me back.
16. God really does care about YOU and no, I’m not naïve to think so.
17. I felt relief when you moved away.
18. I wish I’d asked you more questions about your life when I had the chance.
19. You shouldn’t stay with him just because you think it's your last chance. It's not.
20. Sometimes I wish you didn't know me this well.

Wordless Wednesday: The Records of History

noreply@blogger.com (Scobberlotcher) — Wed, 14 Oct 2009 13:02:00 +0000

"To be ignorant of what occurred before you were born is to remain perpetually a child. For what is the worth of a human life unless it is woven into the life of our ancestors by the records of history?" - Marcus Tullius Cicero, 106-43 B.C.

My grandmother holding my mother, November 1938

Oh yes, as the mom of a 4 year-old I relate to this all too well

noreply@blogger.com (Scobberlotcher) — Tue, 13 Oct 2009 20:57:00 +0000

5 Things My Day Job Taught Me About Fiction Writing

noreply@blogger.com (Scobberlotcher) — Mon, 12 Oct 2009 14:16:00 +0000

Once upon a time, I was a corporate speechwriter. This was a job I loved (and hope to return to one day if this novelist gig doesn’t pan out). I didn’t realize it at the time, but this job was the best training ground I would ever receive for developing the discipline to write fiction. Here are a few lessons I still draw from:

1. Write an outline. As a speechwriter, many of the execs I supported didn’t know what they wanted to say until they read an outline – which often was NOT what they wanted to say. (When I hear Don Draper say to his Mad Men minions "Go make up more ideas for me to reject!" I know what they feel like.) But the outline always launched a productive discussion of what we could say, what our message would be and how we could make it memorable. In speechwriting, there's a basic, 3 step template that all good speakers follow - Tell the audience what you're going to tell them; Tell them; Tell them what you told them. I still do this when writing fiction. I write Beginning, Middle, End – then start writing two or three points under each. Just as you want a person in the audience to leave a speech with some feeling or idea, you also want a reader to have a reaction to a piece of fiction after they read the last page. It's often when I really question the totality of feeling I want a story to convey that I generate a flood of ideas. If there's a certain writer or style you'd like to emulate, jot down some notes about how that story made you feel at the conclusion. Ask yourself what mood you were in when you completed it. Ask yourself at what point in the story were you hooked and why? You will find that these answers will help you shape the mood and tone of your own story. Most of the time, a finished work departs from that first outline, but you must do it if you are going to begin. Which leads me to…

2. Train yourself to write in ANY environment. In any creative discipline, there is the myth of inspiration. It is wonderful when muse appears, but fickle as she is, she rarely shows up on cue. As a corporate speechwriter, I had to write 45 minute keynote speeches in two days. It took some growing pains to be able to do this, but once I developed the muscle, I turned this habit into a skill I still use today. For example, instead of writing with a shouting (but lovable) executive pacing in the background, I now have loud (but lovable) toddlers nearby. When I'm working on a novel, I sit down and make myself write something, anything, just to get some words on the page. While that day’s work may be awful, it’s important to do it anyway. It’s about developing the muscle through practice in the same way a pianist practices her notes at her keyboard everyday.

3. If something doesn’t work, accept it and move on…fast. One of my first speechwriting gigs was for a data processing company. We were on the cutting edge of new technologies. Once, we did a massive multi-media show along with the speech. Part of the presentation failed during the speech. Instead of looking off-stage to the minions he could fire, the speaker quickly seized upon this moment, incorporating the faux pas into his message and made light of technology, sounding very intelligent and charming at the same time. It could have been a bomb if he had been silent until the problem was fixed, but he changed directions fast, never losing his audience. Another time, I traveled with my execs to a sales leadership meeting in Hawaii. One of the themed nights was called MASH night, in an homage to the TV show. We had a horrible, unexpected rain that sent everything – presentations and all – inside. This put the execs and the audience in a dour mood. I quickly changed the speaker’s opening to “Welcome to MUSH night.” That little tweak started turning things around. Today, I find that this attitude helps me be adaptable when a story just isn’t working. We fiction writers get very attached to the thousands of words we’ve produced. But if the story isn’t working, no amount of forced laboring and cursing is going to make it work. A new perspective is needed when you reach a writing dead-end. Sometimes this can mean setting a piece aside for a month. Other times, it means deleting ten thousand words. No writing is ever wasted. It always makes you better even if you do drag it to your Trash Can icon. The main idea here is to heed the instinctive voice that tells you that the square peg will never fit into the round hole no matter how much pounding you do. Better to open a fresh page or start a new scene.

4. Embrace Your Outlandish Ideas. During the preparations for the same leadership meeting I mentioned in #3, I experienced another great lesson. It was 1994 and the “Copier Guy” was a recent hit character on Saturday Night Live. (Remember this character created by comedian Rob Schneider?) I generated a pitch to our CEO, suggesting that "some" employee would imitate the Copier Guy and make fun of the executive staff. Guess what? The CEO asked me to do the Copier Guy skit in his office. Me? Insulting the CEO? Fun times, I tell ya. I saw my career flash before my eyes with each subsequent joke. But, it inspired the CEO so much that he went out and HIRED Rob Schneider for the event. The result was that yours truly got to work with Mr. Schneider on a very funny roast of our execs – and it was one of the most memorable events in my career as a speechwriter. (There we are, right, making copies!)

5. “Don Up!” My speechwriting mentor, Donald Phillips, showed me that belief in one's work separates those who succeed from those who take their pens and go home. If he doubted himself, he never showed it. He’d show up at speech pitch sessions and hit the ball out of the park every time. How? He always began with, “This is a great idea. It’s going to be very well received. Let's work on it some more and see how it turns out!” His confidence imparted confidence to the speaker, and to me by association. He had a belief in himself I rarely find in other people, which is probably the reason he is the best-selling author of more than 10 books. Basically, he didn't need anyone else's validation about an idea that excited him. If he thought it was worthy, it was worthy. If it interested him, it was going interest the audience. End of discussion. I think new fiction writers tend to load up on doubt, especially when we compare ourselves to other authors. But it's so very important to remember that if some idea clings to your brain and won't let go, it's probably quite good! Isn't it a story that YOU'D like to read? You just need to keep working on it, fleshing it out and work on it one piece at a time. So now, when doubt comes to my room and sits down next to me, I say, "You need to Don, Up! and get started! Don't you want to know how it turns out?" And doubt will take his friend, criticism, and go find someplace else to haunt so I can work on the story that I, too, would like to read.

Happy Writing!

TSS: Introducing the Espresso Book Machine (Plus a giveaway)

noreply@blogger.com (Scobberlotcher) — Sun, 11 Oct 2009 12:00:00 +0000

Two Things.

Thing One

It seems you can now make a book as quickly as an espresso via the (wait for it) Espresso Instant Book Machine. It promises to produce a library quality paperback in just 4 minutes.

To celebrate this event the Harvard Book Store hosted a "name our machine" contest. The winning entry? Paige M. Gutenborg. (I can't BELIEVE they didn't like my Kraft-O-Matic InstaBook entry.)

Thing Two

This week, my daughter reminded me that I haven't given away a copy of my novel lately. (She draws the name from a hat and wants to perform this service yet again!) And I recently noticed that I have 49 reviews of the book on Amazon and I'd love to get that nice round number of 50. So, if you'd like to read and review JANEOLOGY and don't mind posting your review on Amazon, please leave me a comment and your name shall be entered. Open to U.S. and Canadian residents only. Leave your comment by midnight, Sunday Oct. 11, 2009. Your comment can be about anything! Please leave your email address, too.

Wordless Wednesday

noreply@blogger.com (Scobberlotcher) — Wed, 07 Oct 2009 13:17:00 +0000

Swine flu protection brought to you by Tamiflu Ken & Barbie. (Now that this flu has visited my daughter's class, I just can't be too careful.)

Inspiring Authors

noreply@blogger.com (Scobberlotcher) — Mon, 05 Oct 2009 13:25:00 +0000

The advice of these authors will inspire you! Enjoy.