The Portrait of Josephine

The Challenges of Writing Full Time

2008-10-25T10:21:00.002-06:00

Every writer fantasies about being able to write full time. They dream of waking up, shuffling down the hall in the pj’s with their coffee, their cat in tow, and settling into a fruitful encounter with their computer. At the end of the morning, they will be amazed at how brilliant they were that day. They will be proud of the clever way their characters behaved and congratulate themselves on their precise word choices.

That is a lovely dream.

But the writing life, despite the characters one creates, can be a lonely one. The writer intentionally removes distractions from their own life but then finds themselves craving an interesting external encounter.

Can I add spice to my life without getting distracted?

Validation for the work done that day becomes important. Did I spend the entire day writing gibberish? Or, I haven’t been able to focus on my writing for weeks, does it mean I am lazy.
Writing is a long term project. Validation from others is slow coming. There are many days a writer wonders what in the hell they are doing. Did I fall down Alice’s rabbit hole or am I just sinking?

How to Start a Novel

2008-09-24T06:59:00.003-06:00

I am beginning this story without knowing the end. Like any great adventure, we do not know what lies beyond the portal discovered in the back of a wardrobe. All it takes is courage or naiveté or ambition to take the first step, then "poof" your world changes. I welcome you to join me as I confront "rodents of unusual size," and other high-flying adventures of an aspiring novelist, including: deadlines, dialogue repartee, sleepless nights, agent pitches, publisher rejections, characters emerging from out-of-nowhere, ten page synopses, looming blank pages, and perhaps – publication, book club talks, critic reviews, and book signings.

If you are reading this you've probably decided you want to write a book, novel or otherwise. I started writing just as soon as I could read which was when I was four. I've always had a mad obsession with books, with at least one always at my side. I suspect you, dear reader, suffer from a similar disease. I've met two kinds of writers so far.

The first group is those who love to tell a story. They are entrapped in their own magical representation of events – who did what, when, and why. English creator of Peter Rabbit, Beatrix Potter was just such a person. She was always telling adventurous stories to her younger brother and anyone else who would listen. The tenacious fictitious character, Kit Kittridge (recently featured in a fun, though a bit campy, movie Kit Kittredge: An American Girl) was the same way. As a budding journalist, she was always interviewing people and investigating motives then turning them into a story. I have never been this kind of writer.

The second kind of writer is one who writes from a compulsion for self-expression. I fall into this category. This person writes because they have no other choice. They will write on anything, napkins, hands, in other books, and when available, paper. I do not know who else feels this way. Perhaps you can make suggestions but I suspect there are many expulsive tendencies.

In this blog I will share with you how I came to write "A Portrait of Josephine." How did the novel develop? How did I get started? Why did I get started? What were the challenges with writing a novel? What techniques did I employ to overcome the challenges of writing a novel?
Lastly, I'll provide tips on how to procrastinate in writing your novel – which is exactly what I am doing by writing this blog.

So, step one to procrastination, I mean, opening your mind so you can write freely – start a blog.

Allison Frederick is the author of the upcoming novel, A Portrait of Josephine - a classic tale of mentor and apprentice with a twist. A timid graduate student finds herself in the middle of an international art fraud spanning two centuries and two continents. To help her navigate these unchartered waters, she turns to an unlikely mentor - a 150 year old painting. Get your free autographed copy, click here or go to www.PortraitofJosephine.com

This novel is based on the tenacious spirits of artists Georgia O’Keeffe and Eva Hesse.

Prologue - A Portrait of Josephine

2008-09-06T13:05:00.008-06:00

Galena
Cliffside in Somerhaven, the British Isles
Late 1800's

It might sound strange that I knew her immediately. Her body swollen like a sausage, her black hair caked with sand and seaweed. But her eyes were wide open, and those eyes could escape me no more. I would know them anywhere. Galena stopped, pulling a strand of hair from her chapped thin lips. The wind, unruly in its usual way thrust the hair back with haste.

She paused, and took a long, steady breath. Her grey woolen shawl beat in rhythm along with her hair in the wind but the rest of her was unmoved, almost indistinguishable from the fog and lichen stones. With her head held high, more out of habit than any present sense of confidence, she watched the ocean waves loll into Somerhaven.

There are times in life when something happens, something unexpected, and suddenly everything is changed. I still draw and paint, to that I’ll always be true for I could be nothing else. But the rhythm of our lives was brutally interrupted when she washed ashore. It was not just the end for her but also the end of a way of life for the few who knew her: my son Simon, my husband Kellen - Master Ruther.

The ocean waves pulsed with life far below the eroding cliff where Galena sat. The insistent clang of ship bells mingled with the muted voices of men unloading new cargo. Their vitality was lost on Galena. The events in her mind raced and bobbed to the surface for air as if breath would make sense of it all.

Just before a disaster struck, have you ever felt as though you were living in a dream? It is as if you never thought the worst could find its way to your door; as if what was happening before would never change. It was in this way my husband and I built our lives. It was in this way we thought our children would grow, just as we did, without consequence. What difference does knowing make if you are the only one who knows and the knowing changes nothing? I used to be so certain. Certain about what I wanted and what would happen. Certain about my life. But since the day Josephine washed onto the shore, I haven’t wanted to know anything. I am tired. My legs, they don’t want to walk; my arms, they are so heavy they can barely hold my paintbrush.

Galena inhaled sharply. The air, crisp and damp, seemed to awaken her a bit. Ah, the sea, it delivers and it takes away. It is like love, I suppose. It rushes forward, then quickly retreats. Some say the young cannot truly know love, but I’ve seen them. I’ve seen my son and Josephine, I know of their love for each other. They were free. Free from consequence. Free from failure. So free from fear. Foolish, they were. It pains me now. Yes. But they did love.
She looked down at her hands, and felt her mind grow numb; the sounds swirling around her became muffled. She sat that way for some time. So accustomed to the mist and fog skewing her vision, she wasn’t aware her sight was blurred from tears she dare not let fall.Words finally began forming in her mind, words she’d been afraid to let in. Kellen doesn’t say much, but he’s a good man. Sometimes life makes a good man do what he wouldn’t do otherwise. Sometimes justice must be served.

End of Prologue

Please help us get The Portrait of Josephine published!

Now that you've read the beginning of A Portrait of Josephine, we would love your vote. Your vote could help us attract the attention of an agent and a publisher.
To vote, please visit: A Portrait of Josephine, a novel.

Thank you for your support, it really makes a difference.

What is The Portrait of Josephine about?

2008-08-31T10:34:00.013-06:00

Abby Archer, a trepid modern day 25-year old graduate student from San Francisco, accidentally stumbles upon a multi-million dollar, international art fraud spanning two centuries while on a summer internship at the Smithsonian Institute in Washington, DC.

Abby soon finds herself trapped within a complex labyrinth of human greed that threatens her emerging professional career and possibly even her life. Yet, even as her world closes around her, Abby manages to forge within herself a strength of character, a sense of identity, and a profound personal confidence through the most unlikely of mentors – a 150 year old painting!

One hundred fifty years earlier, on the other side of the Atlantic in a small British Isle town, that very same painting is witness to a young boy’s discovery of love and a murderous scandal of its own.

The Portrait of Josephine is a story of personal transcendence, self-discovery, and justice that nearly every woman of any generation can deeply connect with.

Please help us get The Portrait of Josephine published!
Read the beginning of A Portrait of Josephine.
Then place your vote. To read and vote, please visit: A Portrait of Josephine, a novel.

Thank you for your support, it really makes a difference.

Abby Archer's MySpace page

2008-07-28T07:18:00.012-06:00

Abby Archer is one of the main characters in A Portrait of Josephine. She is about to finish graduate school. She attends
San Francisco State University.

Abby is a modern mid-western American girl who spends her adult life living in progressive, professional big cities. She is also an artist, a painter, and she is excellent but there is a hesitancy to Abby. She feels awkward doing anything other than painting. She second guesses herself and is quick to look to others for encouragement but even worse – validation.

Her eagerness and her youthfulness makes her a good apprentice but will it make her a great artist and a strong woman? Abby could definitely follow healer and author Louise L. Hay when she says, "Remember, you have been criticizing yourself for years and it hasn't worked. Try approving of yourself and see what happens." Abby Archer is inspired by a wonderful sculptor who died too young – Eva Hesse (this is her image above)

Although Eva was incredibly talented and enjoyed professional esteem, she always seemed to doubt herself, to subvert herself. She didn't seem to completely trust herself. Abby Archer is an example of a woman who lets her doubts and insecurities over-power her, keep her small. But there is hope for Abby.

Abby accepts an internship at the Smithsonian Museum in Washington D.C. It is there, in an archive room, faced with the task of organizing a large art collection, that she is forced to challenge herself in a field outside of drawing producing paintings – her area of expertise. It is through this task that she must learn to adapt her experience to solve new problems. She is faced with opportunities she didn’t anticipate and challenges she underestimated. Will she overcome these challenges? Or will she succumb?

To learn more about Abby Archer, visit her MySpace page. She would love to have you join her friends list on her myspace page.

Please help us get The Portrait of Josephine published!

Read the beginning of A Portrait of Josephine.
Then place your vote. To read and vote, please visit: A Portrait of Josephine, a novel.

Thank you for your support, it really makes a difference.