Capturing Joy

Back in the saddle again...

2010-09-13T15:46:00.000-07:00

My new schedule is a dream.

I'm working at home now and teaching just two days a week.

Get up, make coffee, fix breakfast and brown-bag lunches, kiss the family good-bye and then skip upstairs to my new digs.

Yeah, all is good.

Except that I can only stare at the computer screen for two hours at a time or

(I swear this is true) my eyes start to cross.

It's been an adjustment.

The house is really quiet.

I turned on Good Morning America just so I won't feel so alone.

Heck, I'm used to a flurry of kids for six hours each day.

But I persist.

I create new art lessons.

I work on revisions.

I watch Photoshop tutorials because Isabelle showed me some really cool graphic applications and I want to join in on the fun.

I think about things.

Like how funny it is that an editor requested a full after

a NINE MONTH query letter.

Sheesh.

But then I get excited about my book again and start looking at it with fresh

"are-you-really-ready-yet eyes."

Then I get out my pens and start drawing a scene (even though it's a picture-less novel) because art is really my muse lately.

Then the kids start slamming doors and calling out for food, and even though they can fix their own snacks, I do it anyways because it gives me a chance to talk to them.

I'm not as scrambled as I may sound.

I'm really happy.

I'm living the life I was meant to live.

Creative.

Artful.

Peaceful.

2010-07-02T09:12:00.001-07:00

It has occurred to me lately that writing might not be what I'm meant to do. Even that clumsy sentence is proof that writing is a bit of a struggle for me. But I need to write. Story ideas surface all the time. Most ideas never take root. A few rough chapters, a couple of character and plot exercises and an assessment of how important this story is to me, is usually all it takes to throw an idea away. I keep the drafts, of course, but I never feel guilty for not revisiting them.

A story or better yet, a character, needs to consume me. If it doesn't now, then three or so years working through revisions probably won't go so well.

Summer is my most creative time of the year as far as writing goes. The long, lazy days bring me back to my childhood on Prince Edward Island where all ideas form. I've been dreaming up a plot. A character. An event. A setting. I'll be heading to PEI in a few weeks where one beach walk will yield all the sensory details I need for an entire book. It's been a fun draft to write. I know how the story starts. I know how the story ends. I know the characters.

Now I just need to pour through the draft...let the words come...allow the memories to trickle onto my keyboard.

I'll keep you posted.

Gee's Bend Quilts Art Project

2010-06-17T15:41:00.000-07:00

I picked up a little packet of postcards at an antique store a while back. A small bundle of color, pattern and inspiration. The postcards featured quilts from Gee's Bend, a remote backwater of Alabama. Four generations of African-American women created these quilts from fabric scraps. Personally, I love the striking color arrangements, not typical in Dresden Plates or Baltimore Album Quilts of which I'm more familiar.

The packet sat in my desk drawer until last week when I was searching for an art project inspiration that I could do with my daughter. (We all look in our desks drawers for that, right?)

I found the postcards, zoomed off to Michael's for some 8" x 10" canvases and went to work.

Elly and I picked our favorites (she did the red and white dots and the red stair pattern) and went to work.

It sure helps to have a drawer full of acrylic paints on hand because sorting through our stash to find (and mix) the right colors gave us plenty of time to talk about softball (her current obsession) and how good it feels to be out of school.

Mixing gooey colors together confirmed the reason why I do what I do...it simply feels good. Teaching art to kids might not be the ideal choice for many, but a lazy summer afternoon wading through color choices might change your mind.

The original Gee's Bend Quilt is on the left, and our interpretation is on the right. I love how they turned out. We ended up making six panel, but I think we want to do more.

My List...20 Things I plan to do this summer

2010-05-29T10:01:00.000-07:00

Many have one. Now I do. Here is my short list of the 20 things I intend to do this summer.

Here are a few others that I like...

Things to do before turning 35 by Meg

40 in 40 by Grace

Do you have a list?

Zinnia

2010-05-23T17:40:00.001-07:00

Zinnias are blooming in my garden, but not nearly as brightly as the ones in magazine spreads. I must have been in a tangerine and lime mood yesterday as I picked up a few pots from the thrift store and the colors were an exact match to the picture I pulled from a magazine.

Think the white background is nice. Must get Photoshop installed so I can eliminate the lime!

A study in cross-hatching...

2010-05-21T08:23:00.001-07:00

Dree sneaking into Taylor Hall, originally uploaded by Patty Palmer.

Wanted to experiment with cross-hatching. I'm a bit rusty but it was still fun.
It took a long time.
Spent the hours thinking about my story (not to mention the fact that Dree's neck is too long) and what scenes feel visually dynamic. Thought about the architecture of Greenwood Academy. It has always felt "Edwardian" to me. Love the red brick (reminds me of the red dirt in PEI) and old stone archways.
This is a door that I photographed while at Reed College in Portland last summer. The plaque above the door should read "Doyle" but I changed it to "Taylor".
Not sure why Dree is sneaking into Taylor Hall...perhaps there is something for her to find?

Color sorting my books

2010-05-11T15:08:00.001-07:00

Yes, it's true. I was bored. But don't they look nice? I think everyone should color sort their books. The spines look so lovely. Almost begging me to read them one more time...

My upstairs office, AKA The Retreat, has become my official workspace. For Mother's Day, I received a new iMac. After 10 years of being a PC customer, I've finally made the switch. I'm sure once my files have been transfered, it'll be all worth it. Fun part? Creating an inspirational space. Now that my books are organized, I'm ready to move onto my "boards".

Playing Around with Cartology

2010-05-02T19:09:00.001-07:00

Playing Around with Cartology, originally uploaded by Patty Palmer.

This is my map for my fictional boarding school for teen athletes. I might have made the lettering too small or crammed too much into a tight space. I will try again using a more open style to see what I get.
Elly thought the map would be perfect for inside the front cover. Don't you love books with maps?

Butterflies

2010-04-30T11:51:00.000-07:00

Spent the morning playing with color and line...watercolor and acrylics.
Still experimenting.
Weekday stress is melting away.

Finding inspirations for illustrations

2010-04-26T09:00:00.000-07:00

I'm primarily a figure artist. I've drawn so many fashion illustrations in my day, I'm pretty sure I could draw them blindfolded. Objects are new for me. I've made it a pact to pull and paint one item from my newly created folder of inspirations each day. This pot of succulents was inspired by a clipping in the LA Times last week...
I found this boathouse in a "Coastal Living" magazine. You've already seen the results yesterday of my drawing attempts.

I'm a magazine junkie. Even with my pledge to reduce the amount of paper that arrives in my mailbox, I'm ultimately a sucker for flipping through pages, not screens. I did, however, manage to stack thirty magazines on my table and slice my favorite images from the pile and sort into categories.
I wonder what image will speak to me next?

Experimenting with new (for me!) art techniques

2010-04-25T07:54:00.000-07:00

I've been out of touch with the art scene for quite some time. This is something I've discovered recently. You can scan your drawings into Photoshop and keep on reproducing it. I know. Scary how I've never given this much thought before.
Painted this boat house yesterday. Today I will print out the same drawing onto watercolor paper and try a new colorway. I can fix my mistakes and have some fun.

Living and Writing the Artful Life

2010-04-09T09:06:00.000-07:00

I'm spinning off in a new direction...
Non-Fiction!
Or maybe...
Picture Books!
I'm not sure exactly.
Why?
The illustrating bug hit me!

For the past six years, I've been teaching art to 300 creative kids a week. All that paint and pastel and pretty paper has rubbed off. I'm bringing my sable watercolor brushes out of storage, learning some nifty tricks on photoshop and dreaming of a book that will inspire kids as much as they inspire me.
What about my novels?
They're still there.
Resting.
Wondering.
But a shift in perspective is calling.
I have no idea where this will lead me. I have no idea what to do.
I'm fighting the voice inside my head that is telling me I have given up on my novel.
I hate that voice.
It's making me mad.
I'm choosing to listen to the other voice. The one that says to write and draw about what I really know.
I'll keep you posted...

Fashion Forward

2010-02-15T19:15:00.000-08:00

Put my writing on hold this week to play a major role in my own personal "What Not to Wear". My sister, a fashion editor from Toronto, just launched her own full-time stylist business. Move over Stacy! My sis Tammy, edited my entire closet, explaining in a gentle way why some clothes should just never be there. She made a list, took note of my budget and we hit the stores.
Can I just tell you now how amazing it is to try on clothes you NEVER would have selected and actually say, "Well, whadiya know. This actually looks good."
Five stores and just as many bags later, I unpacked the new me, hung it next to the barely-made-it pieces and gazed longingly at my color sorted, properly fitted wardrobe.
Next step? Tammy will pull the pieces together, accessorize them from top to bottom and get this...will photograph each outfit for my own personalized Look Book. How cool is that?
If you live in the greater Toronto area, seriously consider hiring this time-saving fashion angel.

But not all my time is spent trying on clothes...we've been watching the Olympics with great intensity. Figure Skating is on all week and I'm seriously glued to the tube. LOVE the drama and the color-commentating. Scott and Sandra on NBC are spot on as always and I'm taking lots of notes.
Go Canada!

Girl power! Where does it come from?

2010-01-24T09:31:00.000-08:00

Abby Sunderland. Sixteen-years old. Wants to sail the world in a 40-foot sailboat. Alone. Without stopping. In pirate-infested waters.
Sasha Cohen. Twenty-five, seeks her third trip to the Olympic Games. Without having competed in four years.
Rachael Flatt. Seventeen, always the bridesmaid never the bride. Wins first National Figure Skating Championships and is on her way to Vancouver.

These women are not normal. They belong to a superstar gene pool. Few people understand their motivation, their drive. Including me. I admit, after reading about Sunderland's quest in this morning LA Times, I had my reservations about how sane this kid was and worse yet, what her parents must be thinking. My son is a sailor and I'd be lying if I said I didn't get a bit antsy when he sails in rough seas, even though there are fifty other boats beside him. It's just a natural reaction to being so small in something so big.

I'd love to sit down and ask this teenage sailing sensation what motivates her. What will she miss? Did she ever miss those things? How is her heart connected to the sea? How does that feel, exactly?
I'd ask the same thing of Rachael Flatt, who I personally cheered for last night. What propels her to lace up those skates everyday and go after another championships? Did she know that if she kept on digging, putting in the time, that eventually she'd come out on top? Or does she cross her fingers and hope that everyone else falls? I doubt that.

Maybe Cohen did. I don't think she stood much of a chance of making the Olympic team, but I was rooting for her. Mesmerized by her artistry--which is just another way of saying that this lady can move her body so that the music is her. But every elite athlete knows that performance can only come from practice. It's no fluke Flatt won. She's is a finely-tune skating machine.

That's all these ladies do. Practice. Life is all about the triple lutz, the perfect roll tack (for lack of a better sailing term!), the one performance.

But why? That's what I ask of my characters. What motivates them to get up at 5:30, train the entire morning then go to class, eat poached chicken for dinner, then train again?
Why do they do it, if on the one day, the perfect performance eludes them and they have to wait another year--or four--to prove they are the best? What if you're twenty-five and this is your last chance? What do you do the next day? What if you're a thirteen and have to wait until you're sixteen to being allowed to compete in the Olympics? How do you pace yourself? How do they measure success? With only championship medals or are there smaller rewards along the way?
Don't you want to know what these athletes are really thinking????

That's what writing is all about. Knowing the why's of your character's life. As writers we know this is important. Knowing our characters. I'm convinced that if you don't, your story will not resonate with anyone (editors or readers). But even though we know character motivation is the foundation of every story, it's dang hard to do. Perhaps peeking into the life of real people can bring us closer to our character's true self. What does she really want, even though she might not show it? Why does she work out until her body is broken and bruised? How, at such a young age, do they know this? You think it would be easier to know these questions since we're creating these characters, but it's not.
Want to read a story in which the author has done just that? Marcelo in the Real World by Francisco Stork. Simply perfect.

There's so much thinking involved in writing a novel, don't your think? I'm taking the morning to read the plethora of articles on Flatt and Cohen. I'll be clipping them, studying them and waiting to see if any of the words bring me closer to my character's inner workings.

How do you source your material for inner motivation?

Google Sync Saves the Day

2010-01-17T07:40:00.000-08:00

Last October, a bit harried and frayed around the edges, I called my friend Rachael and begged her to help me streamline my life. A former organizer but now a super woman, Rachael looked at me with a not-so-subtle glint in her eye and asked me what type of calendar system my family used. I had to think about that one. Let's see....there's my work organizer, the family activities white board in the office, the pretty kitchen art calendar and finally, Outlook on my computer. Oh wait, there's another...my hand-drawn, doodle calendar in my art journal (my favorite).
Rachael choked on her cappuccino.
Simplify, she said...with a Blackberry.
No thanks. My un-smart phone is fine.
Okay but just look at what mine can do.
OMG.
I was well aware of email and browser benefits, but did you know that you can sync Google calendar with your Blackberry or Iphone? Of course you did. Everyone in the world knows this. Except me.
Every time you add an event to your computer's Google calendar, it syncs to your phone's calendar. And vice versa. Amazing, right? Now my calendar walks with me. It reminds me, no matter where I am, that I'm late for something. Isn't that fantastic?
I tossed the other time-suckers.

2010 feels very organized so far. Ahhhh....

New on the horizon? A new Art Studio! Okay, family home-office, but I like "workshop" better. New floor to ceiling shelves and cupboards, new built-in desks with task lighting. I love this Pottery Barn workstation for the middle...only on paper at this stage but it'll be fun to plan.

Been hammering away at a new first draft. Took Hip Writer Mama's advice on these super cute, easy-to-manage plot cards and am having a ball.

And yes, I've hand-selected a few...just a few agents and sent out queries. We'll see if my match-making attempts work out. Until then, I have two days off to write until my butt hurts.

New Year Greetings...

2009-12-29T15:59:00.000-08:00

I have no idea what has compelled me to reactivate this blog. It's been five month since my last post and even then, I couldn't quite nail down a solid reason why I felt compelled to perpetuate these sporadic ramblings. But here I am.
I suppose I've missed you all!
I've been very busy. Overwhelmed actually. But I haven't quit writing. In fact, just the opposite. I've been pushing through a whole novel critique with my online critique group. We're almost done. Just the final two chapters. It feels as though I've reworked, tweaked, cut, and revised my novel to death. That sounds bad, except for the fact that it's better than ever. I love the way it has taken on new life, deeper emotions and intriguing sub-plots.
But it has to go.
Off to the scary world of agents and editors.
The last time I took the plunge, I got tremendous feedback. So good, in fact, that it inspired me to start fresh. Rewrite the whole dang thing! I hope I'm not that inspired again.
Can you tell I'm scared?
But it has to go.
For the first time ever, though, I can actually envision my book on a bookstore shelf.
It feels very good.

Wishing you all a year of fulfilled dreams and endless happy moments!

10th Annual Children's Book Conference in Portland

2009-07-23T09:08:00.001-07:00

Wow. (deep breath)I've been home for a few days now and I'm still absorbing all of the fantastic writing nuggets from the Children's Book Conference last week in Portland.
I went not having any expectations. Unsure, actually, of what manuscripts to even take for the critiques. Did I really want to rework my first chapter of Greenwood Girls, again?
Of course, the answer is yes, but this time, I think I got it.

If there was a theme to the critiques, I'd have to say that all of the editors and authors zeroed in on the old stand-by, show, don't tell. Isn't this the first thing we learn as a writer? And isn't it the hardest thing to do as a writer? But they expanded on it by explaining that everything on the page must be from the viewpoint of the character, not the author. (There are exceptions, of course, but I'm not there yet.)
For my manuscript pages, I was CONVINCED that I was showing. It's the one thing I've been focusing a great deal of attention on lately. But still, little telling, author-intrusive sentences continued to sneak into my pages. Arghh!!!
But of course, I'm a positive person and consider the ability to spot these spoilers a HUGE advancement in my writing ability.
Author Linda Urban was a fantastic mentor as she led us through simple, yet effective ways to search for our characters authenticity by delving into the scary world of meaningful and powerful dialog. She also critiqued my first 15 pages and as a result, I've begun to see my manuscript in a whole new light. Meaning, I can see how much improvement is necessary. But I know I'm capable of it. See, that's the good thing!

Author Bonnie Becker delivered the most comprehensive, light-bulb moment talk on plotting. I told her that I'd been to a few plot workshops before, but hers was one that reduced the sometimes complicated components of plot into something, well, easy to understand. It felt like a victory just being able to nod in agreement instead of muddling my characters internal/external/inner desire/external desire/conflict/motivations in my head. I mean, seriously? Why does this stuff have to be hard? Bonnie made it easy. I feel empowered!

All of the attendees were impressed with the nurturing environment, the one-on-one time, and the relaxed nature of the sessions. It was a restful and insightful week. This is my wonderful critique group. We met three times under the superb tutelage of Bonnie (2009 Golden Kite Winner!) Becker

So now, I have my homework outlined. I'm looking for specific things now in my manuscript. I need to delve deeper into a couple of secondary character's plotlines and then do a final "scrub" as my critique group partner, Kimball says. The thing, however, that stuck with me through all the encouragement, praise, comments, nail-biting first page moments was this....

patience

You gotta have it. Revise your manuscript. Delve deeper. Read through the entire thing out loud. If something sounds wrong. Fix it. Don't think an editor will skip over it and give you the benefit of the doubt. They won't. Fix every word. And most of all, love your story. It's the only way to get through all of the above!

Now, I'm off to my beloved Prince Edward Island where I intend to mull over my manuscript, eat lobsters, listen to my hi-fi, float in the warm waters of the Northumberland Straight and beat the pants of my sisters at the Fourth Annual Rice Point Invitational Golf Tournament. (Just had to sneak that one in, ladies.)

Summer Break

2009-06-10T06:17:00.000-07:00

First week of summer vacation. Not so busy anymore. Kids are sleeping. The humming Tivo and computer are the only sounds I hear. It's way too early to be up and I can't help but think that if I don't make a plan--a really good plan--I could end up coffee-breaking my way through summer vacation.

I shouldn't be worried. I'm a productive person. Give me a task and it's done (except paying bills). But there is something strangely unnerving about going cold turkey.

The frenetic pace I was on (I'll admit it) was invigorating. The art shows boosted my confidence as an art teacher. The schools were alive with color, imagination and cheer. I was proud.

I've managed to write while my kids chaotic schedule breached our home's normal tranquility. But seeing my kids grow into teens is a story I don't want to miss.

(My son is in a band for pity sake! That's him in the red.)

I've delved into my artistic side this year and explored blogs of unbelievable creativity, passion and dedication. It inspired me to unearth my own vision and join the party.

So how do I avoid feeling lost and unproductive?

I'm taking my kids to San Francisco next week. Three days of playing tourist. No itinerary, just winging it. And I plan to take lots of pictures with my fabulous new Sony Cybershot which is the best little camera in the world.

I'm attending The Pacific Northwest Children's Writers Conference in July and hope that I get Arthur Levine for my one-on-one critique. But wouldn't it be great to have Linda Urban critique your work?

I'm adding to my list of agents and editors and plan to query Greenwood Girls again. After a year of revisions and touch ups (based on editorial feedback plus critiques from my amazing FarFlung writers group), I'm ready to see what happens.

I plan to take a hiatus from blogging, writing and critiquing when I travel to Prince Edward Island this summer. We'll only spend three weeks there this year (Hey, anyone want to rent a sweet little cottage on the Northumberland Straight for a really good price???). Due to my kid's expanding social and athletic needs, we're required to stay put in Santa Barbara. But how bad could that be?

(This is our little beach. Warm waters, clam digging at low tide...ahhhh...)

There. That should do it.
The neighborhood is waking up. I heard the stop and start of the newspaper man's car. Are their any paperboys left in the world? Hmmm...
Enjoy your summer everyone!

Make Hay while the Sun Shines....

2009-05-21T10:03:00.000-07:00

Lately, much of my energy has been devoted to my art blog Deep Space Sparkle. The response to my little art service blog has been gratifying, not to mention darn exciting. I've begun to generate a little income by offering PDF lesson plans to teachers around the world and I can't say enough how wonderful it is knowing how many teachers are out there introducing children to the joys of creating art.
I figure while the interest is high, I'll put in as much effort I can.

But I've been writing too. My fantastic critique group has kept me on my toes pointing out areas to strengthen and rework my story, drawing attention to character inconsistencies (man, you think you know your characters but yet, after five years, jarring inaccuracies continue to surface) and pointing out areas of low tension or not enough sensory details.

I wish I could say that I've been working on other stories as well, but the truth is, I barely squeeze in time to work on my current book. There have been days when I fall into bed utterly depressed that I haven't been able to write for three days. Art shows, school, softball, sailing regattas, golf, band practice....my kids are the busiest they've ever been. Which means I've been busy as well.

When I get overwhelmed, I read. I picked up Thalia Chaltas debut book, Because I am Furniture and was blown away. The story is compelling and exquisitely written. I read it in one sitting and if I have one complaint, it is that it was over before I wanted it to be.
I keep "Because I am Furniture" next to my computer and open it up, anywhere, to read a page or two. Thalia's use of words is inspiring. When I feel that my sentences are rambling, I look at hers and admire the careful selection of nouns and verbs. I decided this: All writers, in every genre, can benefit from learning a thing or two from poets. The next chance I get, I'm going to a class...I think Thalia is speaking at The Central Coast Writer's Conference in September. Must sign up!

Another highlight lately has been my daughter's sudden interest in books.
She's read Harry Potter along with her classmates who seem to have a contest going on who can read the series the fastest. Elly is struggling to keep up with her friends frenetic reading schedule so one understanding friend suggested another book for her to try. Since my daughter LOVES dogs and her mean parents refuse to get her one, her best friend suggested a hot, new book called Sheep by Val Hobbs. Elly asked me if I would buy her a copy the next time I'm out.
Of course, I happily agreed and added that I know the author and might be able to get it autographed. Elly looked at me in shock. "Seriously? You know her?"
Hee hee.
Moments like these brighten my day!

Oh, and I just signed up to go to the Pacific Northwest Children's Book Conference in July with my dear writing friend, Maggie. After such a busy spring, I feel I owe it to my characters to spend 5 uninterrupted days with them. Not to mention 5 days away from softball, sailing, art shows, golf....

Art and Books...a Creative Combo

2009-04-26T09:24:00.000-07:00

Talk about a marathon mural making session! Last Friday, all 64 sixth grade students at Mountain View School in Goleta, built and painted their clay tiles for the annual mural project.
They had been working on their sketches for a couple of weeks and were well prepared for the clay part of this project.
The photos below are works-in-progress, all yet to be fired and glazed, but I couldn't help show off a few. Aren't they fabulous? All are relief tiles and some like the "Rainbow Fish" below really pop out.
I can't wait until the mural is complete. I'll be sure to post the final image.

"Eragon" "Star Girl" "Charlotte's Web"

"Captain Underpants" "Rainbow Fish"

Bits

2009-03-29T11:22:00.000-07:00

My absence from Capturing Joy is a direct reflection of how busy I am. Of course, I wouldn't have it any other way, but I still felt somewhat compelled to post something!
So here's a wrap-up of my last two weeks:

* I'm a winner! Of the best kind...a fantastic book give-away from Hip Writer Mama. Beth Kephart's Undercover is the prize and I can hardly wait to read it. And while we're on the subject of Beth, if you need a little writing inspiration, pop over to her blog. Her posts are exquisite. Sigh.

*I've been feature on SB Parent.com! Check out the spotlight here.

*You all know that by day I'm an art teacher at two elementary schools and every year the sixth grade class does a ceramic mural project. The theme this year is "Children's Literature." Can you believe it? I'm in art/book nirvana!
I can't wait to post the tiles (they'll be done in a month). On Friday, the kids picked their favorite books from elementary school. Some chose picture books and other chose Twilight. Unfortunately, the Twilight books were off limits, so the kids were encouraged to think about all the books from kindergarten through sixth grade that inspired them.
The selections were great fun for me to read. The Giver, Sisterhood of the Travelling Pants, Series of Unfortunate Events, Diary of a Wimpy Kid, The Very Hungry Caterpillar, The Little Engine That Could, Harry Potter, Flush, Green Eggs and Ham, and yes, even Nancy Drew (I promise, I didn't try to sway her the least.)
Stay tuned for pictures!

*Oh, and I got my little garden in. I planted tomatoes, zucchini and herbs. Simple pleasures are what it's all about.

Reading for Inspiration

2009-03-12T14:21:00.000-07:00

Haven't posted in a while and I suppose that's a good thing. Been furiously revising, editing, cutting, pasting, wondering, thinking and hoping that I'll be done soon.

Picked up a copy of The Underneath by Kathi Appelt.
My daughter and I are reading it together and it is fast becoming our all time favorite read-together book. The writing is simply divine. I can't wait to curl up again tonight and see what happens.

Just finished A Crooked Kind of Perfect by Linda Urban. It's an adorable story, filled with great characters and a simple, yet compelling plot. My daughter loved the short chapters, but strangely enough, the plot wasn't engaging enough for her. Sadly, she didn't finish.

It's always interesting to see what stories will appeal to my kids. My boys, never super into fiction, loved Holes, All Harry Potter books, Mysterious Benedict Society, the Diary of a Wimpy Kid Series, and A Series of Unfortunate Events. It's no mystery to me why these books stand out.

Great action.

My daughter likes similar books. She recently discovered Nancy Drew (the original series) and devoured the first couple immediately. I asked her what kept her reading, and she said, "The story starts on the first page."

There you go.

I better read my first chapter again to make sure my own daughter won't toss it aside.

Organizing my Cluttered Mind

2009-02-25T20:56:00.001-08:00

Lately, I've been all over the place.
Writing, decorating, collage tutorials, painting, art blog obsessing, composting, cooking. Basically, I've been in artistic overload. I blame it on spring time. The roses are pruned, merchandisers are bringing out the poppy reds, kelly greens and yellow papaya and even the wind has lost it's bite.

I get inspired by this transition, and apparently, so do others.

As you've might have noticed, I've been pursuing a great many art/craft/lifestyle blogs out there and have been compelled to share my findings with you. Don't worry, I'll stop. Because the truth is I have a manuscript I need to get out the bloody (yet freshly painted) door.
Yet these creative inspirations are overpowering my need to write. So about a month ago, I decide to create a journal. It's a spiral bound sketch pad actually, but the thing is, it's a place where I can place all my random thoughts.

If I'm inspired by a magazine article or image...rip...out it goes and placed in my book.

If something inspires an art lesson, then I have a blank page to develop it further.

If I'm working on a writing exercise (metaphors is my latest one) then all my random and poorly written ideas go in the journal (in pencil of course).

If I need a calendar to keep track of my ideas, dates and carpool stuff, I draw one. You could
cut and paste one but doodling one is so much more gratifyingly. And it kills two birds with
one stone.

Believe it or not, I actually took a class on creating journals and sketchbook in college. I know. Crazy. But it was fashion design college. The instructor actually graded us on how creative we could make the sketchbook look. We were encouraged to add color samples, fabric swatches, photographs, articles, etc. The more snippets of info we placed inside earned us a higher grade. I never understood what the heck she was talking about. I mean, I got the assemblage part, but what was the purpose and why was she grading us on it? In my mind, she was crazy.

But now, twenty five years later, I get it. Journalling helps de-clutter the mind. I think the brain must sense when we actually do something with our creative impulses, however small, and then lets us move on.
Thats what is happeneing to me. I can satisfy the urge for a few minutes, then get back to the real task at hand. All the while knowing, that my ideas are safely out there.

Totally different topic:

My writing pal, Maggie, blogs on the different writing conference choices you have on the West Coast. She's been to four biggies in the past few years. You can find the link here.

Artful Blogging

2009-02-18T15:48:00.000-08:00

Did you know there is a magazine devoted to the artistic side of blogging? Neither did I until a blog I was reading mentioned Artful Blogging, a magazine devoted to creative blogs. I've been super immersed in craft and art blogs lately and, as a result, been spending a great deal of time posting and redesigning my art blog, Deep Space Sparkle. So, to keep the inspiration at peak levels, I went to Borders and looked for the magazine. I found it quickly, mostly because the cover was extraordinary. Inside, there were endless pages of beautiful blogs, featuring exquisite photos and inspiring stories.
If you've ever wondered why you blog (you know the feeling) then this magazine will help justify your passion. There are helpful tips and nuggets of info that can help make your blog better, more appealing and even reach a bigger audience.
This post wasn't meant to serve as a review of the magazine. If it was, I'd mention that there were too many beautiful photos and not enough nuts 'n bolt instruction.

Just came off a five day weekend and let me tell you, it was exactly what I needed. I literally pounded through my Greenwood Girl revisions. I was on fire. Rain drops pattered against my window. My husband brought me tea. The kids were off with their friends. Nothing like five days of uninterrupted time.
God, I love my life.

I didn't write for the entire weekend. For Valentine's Day, I made individual hazelnut soufflé's for my family. All I can say is that it is the best damn dessert I've ever made. Here is the recipe. It's from the television show, Everyday Italian. I can't recommend it enough. It's a dessert worthy of special occasions but it was incredibly easy. I can still taste the Frangelico....oh, so good.

Another round of revisions....

2009-02-13T14:20:00.000-08:00

My writing pal, Maggie, is a saint. She has spent the last three weekends plowing through Greenwood Girls with red pen in hand. We've been meeting each week to discuss her feelings on how the book is progressing. I've been incorporating her suggestions and I have to say, the book feels ready. Once I get through this round of revisions, that is.
I'm happy with the plot.
I feel satisfied that I have done my best writing.
But is there room to improve?
Absolutely.
It's this knowledge that a manuscript can always be better that makes it so hard to submit.
But I need to bite the bullet, finish this round and then let it go.

Big sigh.

Next Step...Book II???
I've heard many editors say, "Never mention that you have a sequel." Why do they say this exactly? Is it a bad thing to want to write a series? That's exactly what I want to do. I love my characters in Greenwood Girls believe me, they have stories to tell! In fact, I dream about them all the time.I've begun a Greenwood Girls Book II, but used some of the plot lines in Book I, so I'll have to scrap my ideas and come up with new ones. The very idea of beginning another book is so tantalizing, I get giddy.

So to all you series writers out there...
When were you "allowed" to dream up book II?
Did you know it would be a series when you wrote the first one?
Did you intentionally lay down the plot lines in the first book, in hopes there might be a second? Is it expected that the second book be a stand alone?
...so many questions...

Have a great long weekend everyone!

Igniting the Creative Muse Within...

2009-02-07T09:04:00.000-08:00

Most people either claim to be artistic or not. Typical responses include...

"I can't draw."

"There's not a creative bone in my body."

"I never took art in my life."

This mystifies me. As if there is only one element that defines creativity.

To me, creativity reveals itself in many forms; music, cooking, teaching, baking, gardening, painting, decorating, writing, thinking...most everyone does something creative. You just need to find it.

To spark your creative muse, try the following:

Find creative friends...
Some of us have an abundant of creative outlets. My friend, Sara Gehris, is the most creative person I know. I think she deserves a title or something. She owns a terrific shop in Carpinteria, California called Punch Interiors. Sadly, she doesn't have a link, or else I'd be promoting it right now. This gal can make something out of anything. A peek in her back shed and you'll see shelves of paint cans, old picture frames, pine furniture and ceramic works-in-progress. Of course, you can't peek into her shed, but the Internet provides us with this exact opportunity; to be inspired by others. I've enjoy perusing the hundreds of creative,crafty blogs out there and every time I visit one, my inner art muse comes alive. It's really refreshing.

Work with mother nature...try composting
I had an inpromtu dinner with my friend, Caroline, the other night and conversation turned to gardening. She told me about her worm farm (I know, seriously!) and her compost pile. At first, my brained turned off with the mere mention of the word compost. Images came to mind. Big whirly-gig drums, unsightly bins and well, worms. Then she told me how she just plopped her food scraps into a big hole, covered it with soil and that was that. I was intrigued.
Dig a hole? Collect food scarps? Easy peasy. I could do this. So I did. Now I have this cute little bowl beside my chopping block and I put all my organic matter into it. When it gets full, I drop it into a hole and do what Caroline says.

The idea is to get some fertile soil so that when I plant my vegetable garden, I'll stand a fighting chance of actually growing something. This method of composting may not be as official as one would like, so check out this link at How to Compost. I think the whole process is the most creative thing you can do. Turn waste into beautiful flowers and healthful veggies!

The Gardening Bug...

Gardening in Southern California might sound easy, but let me tell you it isn't. In fact, it can be a nightmare. The soil is rock hard, it's perpetually sunny and water is scarce. Best thing I ever did was to hire a landscape architect to design my backyard. She knew what would work for my small patch of heaven. Surprisingly, everything she suggested and planted, is actually still growing. My favorite plants are the day lillies and the roses. They are a sure thing in Santa Barbara. Lately, I got the urge to plant some color in my front yard. Against the homeowner rules, but I didn't care. Everyone needs color. And besides, I had to plant some flowers to match my new door color that I wasn't allowed to paint.

There is nothing so satisfying then digging in soil. I was physically exhausted chipping through the dirt. (Yes, chipping). I think I got the soil fairly well amended and then planted my new climbing rose. I look forward to May when it will greet me as I walk up the path to my front door. Ahhh.

Before growing roses in Santa Barbara, you really should check out The Santa Barbara Rose Society

Of course, reading a good book just about beats all when it comes to inspiring creativity. Just finished reading The Patron Saint of Butterflies by Cecilia Gallante. It's so well-written, engaging and utterly wonderful that I had to write the author to tell her how much I loved her book. I've never done that before. So, if you haven't read it, you really should.

Visualizing your setting...

2009-01-29T07:32:00.000-08:00

Don't you just love opening up a book and discovering a map on the inside cover? This is especially exciting in the case of novels, when the prospect of finding anything visual is on the low side. Most fantasy novels have some sort of orientation map, an invaluable aide for the reader to navigate the often complex journeys the protagonist travels. But it's the other books, the contemporary novels, that offer a promise of slipping into a world that is familiar yet new at the same time.

More specifically, maps appear more in middle grade than Young Adult novels. A few of my favorites are:

The Callahan Cousins by Elizabeth Doyle Carey. The map of Eastport Harbor on Gull Island is charming and sets up this quintessential girls summer adventure story. I mean, who wouldn't want to spend their summer on Gull island with three of your best pals?

Bloomib ility by Sharon Creech has a map. More like a whimsical piece of art. It sets the tone and setting but sadly, is the only illustrated piece in the book. Don't you wish there were more illustrations in middle grade?

Another one that I love is printed on the inside cover of The Secre t Order of the Gumm Street Girls by Elise Primavera. The map is hard to read, even with a magnifying lens, but the impact is perfect.

A few books make it necessary to provide a map, some type of guidance system for the reader. The Diamond of Darkhold by Jeanne DuPrau has two: One on the back jacket flap and another on the first two pages. Both are beautifully illustrated and both are helpful for following the story.

Perhaps the most classic map of all is The Sea of Knowledge Map in The Phantom Tollbooth by Norman Juster. Who wouldn't want to travel to the Foothills of Confusion or The Mountains of Ignorance?

One of my favorite books, Book of a Thousand Days by Shannon Hale, has a map, but it's a bit of a disappointment. It doesn't match the richness of the story or the text. Oh well, at least it makes some sense of the Eight Realms.

Of course, this post is not random. I've been visualizing my own story's map for quite some time now. The aerial view of Greenwood Academy; the equestrian center, the gymnastic and skating complex, the woods where the tragic accident occurred, the maze, etc. I thought I had it locked in my brain, but confusion from my fellow critique partners prompted a closer look.
How do the buildings piece together? How far apart are the complexes? What's the topography like? How are the dorm rooms separated?
I finally took some time the other day to draw something. I've attempted this before, but when logistics crashed with actual descriptions, I threw away the pencil and went back to the keyboard. No will notice, I said. But they did.

Here's what I came up with:
My map of Greenwood Academy

It's rough. And dry. Not a lot of exciting visual elements but it provides a much needed overview of my setting. I even added faculty housing. Never once thought about where the headmistress or Coach Jennings lived. Next task? Doing a detailed drawing of the main building. Addressing issues like how the dorms are connected, where the dining hall is, if a dining hall annex is needed and how far away is the library that connects to the secret passage?
I wish there were a drawing program out there that can could create this for you. Just plug in your needs and poof! A beautiful map of you fictional setting.
Of course, there is. They're called artists.

In Search of Creative Blogs

2009-01-22T10:07:00.001-08:00

Been perusing the internet lately. As research for my school art blog, Deep Space Sparkle, I've been looking for other blogs that share the same art philosophy. In my search, I've come across beautiful blogs filled with energy, creativity and humor. Only a few relate directly to teaching elementary school art, but tons, and I mean TONS are on living a creative life.

Check out these fun but utterly random blogs:
Flat Betty
Gennine's Art Blog
Gourmet Momma
Today's Creative Blog
Kelly Rae: Taking Flight into Art, Love and Life

I know, none of them have anything to do with writing, but I love how the essence of their personality is displayed on the page. And besides, just because we are writers, we can still have artistically exciting blogs.
So, back to being creative...I wanted to redesign my blog header to capture more of who I am. It's been a challenge learning how these blasted things are created. My sensible side tells me to just pay the $50 bucks and have someone who knows what they're doing design my blog, but the creative side in me demands that I at least try.

If you're interested in changing your header, I believe you will need some type of creative photo-editing program like Photoshop. I use Picnik, because it is mostly free ($24 for the year for the advanced version).
All you need to do is download a few photos (Stockxpert has great ones) and start playing. Okay, so it's not quite that easy. I found this great tutorial at Photoshop Support which guided me through the process. I won't even try to explain it the way Jennifer does, so I will bow out now and just say that it helped a great deal.

If all of this makes your head swim, check out Eight Crazy Designs which has great pricing and layouts. This gal is truly creative and I love the variety of designs she has. For the time it takes to figure out how to do it on your own, her pricing makes the prospect of hiring out very appealing.
Note: Here's another great site to help you design your blog: Tip Junkie

Here are a few author blogs that I thought were worthy of a creative pat-on-the-back.
R.L. LaFevers for her new blog that really sets the mood for her books.
Laini Taylor's Grow Wings for her mix of artistry and writing nuts 'n bolts
Barrie Summy's blog for perfectly capturing her audience
CookieBooky for a clean, simple, yet charmingly creative blog

Runner's up:
Read, Imagine, Talk for the simplicity with a shot of Kandinsky!
Pixie Stix Kids Pix for the cool banner

Do you know of any superbly creative writing blogs? If so, i'd love for you to pass them on. A little inspiration always helps.
Have an artful day everyone!

The Best Things: Part III

2009-01-10T08:13:00.000-08:00

In keeping my previous theme, the third best thing I did for myself in 2008 was....

Create an inviting, inspiring, and away-from-the-kids writing space.

I had an office. Downstairs, just off the kitchen, steps from the den. A nice 10' x 12' room with a window and plenty of space for all my books and my computer...and my son's computer and my other son's guitar and two amps...and, oh wait, another computer. More like a TV really, considering the size.

My office was becoming a hang-out. Not exactly conducive for plot layering exercises.
I needed another space. Away from the texting, the gaming, the NOISE.
I knew just the right spot.

The floor plan called it a "retreat". To me it was an awkward nook in my bedroom, that would have been better served as an extra room or closest. For years it was the dumping spot for magazines, books, and furniture. My kids used to sleep on the old couch that found it's way into the space, claiming brothers or nightmares kept them from their own beds.

In a matter of four hours, the useless waste of a space in my bedroom was transformed into my new writing retreat. My desk faces two windows that overlook a beautiful country side with hills and mountains. It's a great perch to view countless birds, watch the runners and those out walking their dog olong the bike path that ambles past the back of our home.
It's a great space and I'm sure I've gotten more writing done in the past two months than all of last year. The difference is really staggering.

Let the words flow....

The Best Things: Part II

2009-01-02T07:17:00.000-08:00

In the spirit of positive thinking, I wish to list a few more things that worked for me this year. Getting right to it, the next Best Thing That I Did For Myself This Year is:

1. Join a Critique Group
I belong to an online critique group and, speckled throughout the year, a local writing class. Both have been indispensable in different ways. My writing class group has met on and off for three years now. It's run by YA/MG author Valerie Hobbs. It's more than a critique group; it's a class, with the first hour focusing on a particular writing technique and the last hour on writer's works. As good as an online critique group is, there really is nothing more valuable than having an experienced, talented author teach you the finer points of writing. On top of this, Val is exceptional at dishing out the appropriate amount of encouragement and criticism. As a somewhat naive, blindly enthusiastic writer like myself, this level of tempering has kept me motivated and learning for quite some time.
Problem: Right around this time last year, I felt ready for more. The writing class was working but each writer is only critiqued a few times in one session. I needed more. I had begun investigating some groups on the SCBWI site and then, around March, one of my blogging friends told me about an opening in her group and soon after, I became one of The Farflung Writers.

Solution: The group is run on a Google site and as far as I can tell (I'm not the administrator, Kelly is!) the set-up seems moderately easy and the page easy to navigate. There are eight of us; two writers submit 5000 words (about 17-19 pages) each week. At first that seemed excessive, considering my writing class critiqued only 10 pages. I started out having the group critique a new WIP, but with the large chunk to critique and write for the next session, it felt too overwhelming. I had always preached that critiquing a first draft when the first draft is not yet done is a sure way to writer's block and yes, that' exactly what happened.
So I began submitting the rewrite of Greenwood Girls and the feedback couldn't have been better. Each member brings a different flavor of critiquing and there are some critiques that I really just couldn't do without. They are so vital to completing this novel.

Results: This group has brought my writing to new levels. I try hard to show not tell, force myself to look at the character's motivations in each scene and continue to realize that the book is not quite ready...yet. The absolutely best comment I got recently had confirmed a nagging suspicion about an element in the story that I couldn't quite pin down. She nailed it and wasn't afraid to say so. It was like she gift-wrapped her comments and placed them under the tree. They were that welcomed.

I encourage you to take your writing farther by engaging in a critique group...but not until you have your first draft completed. I truly believe that this should be done without any critical eyes.
I love the name of our critique group. It fits us perfectly. We are far flung, residing in the east, west, mid west...everywhere. There is even a wine label called Far Flung and an album...Does your group have a cool critique name?

The Best Things: Part I

2008-12-29T11:09:00.000-08:00

There's one thing I know to be true and that is: if you want to be happy, you, and only you, have the power to make that happen.
I hear some of you saying right now, "Well, not exactly." I'm holding up my hand to all you naysayers! True, I'm an optimist, someone who (annoyingly to some) finds the good in most everything. I can say no easily. I recognize my limits and most importantly, I know what fulfills me. So with all that smugness behind me, I'm letting you know that to achieve happiness, you first have to experience unhappiness, or in my case, restlessness.
So, in the essence of pure self-indulgence...I'm offering a few posts on the best things I did for myself this year....

Number one on my dissatisfaction list was: Losing a Healthful Mindset.

Problem: Last year, at this exact time, I weighed my heaviest. I don't have weight problems, but my caloric indulgences went way over the top. I noticed my pants no longer fit and my knees were developing some issues. On top of that, my generally fit husband had elevated cholesterol levels for the first time in his life. Something was wrong.

Solution: So after watching Bob Greene on Oprah one day, I signed up for his Best Life Diet. Okay, I'm not a fan of diets, but rather subscribe to the mantra that everything is fine in moderation. Having read his book of the same name, I knew of Bob's healthful mindset and so subscribing to his tactics was natural for me. His meal plan, all of which you make yourself (recipes provide) is not one of deprivation, but of elimination. Remove white bread from your diet and replace with whole grain--that type of thing. As you get use to one thing, he takes you a little farther. It's a great education in nutrition. If you don't lose a single pound (which is impossible if you follow his advice) this knowledge alone will improve your life.
But food is only one part.
Exercising is a major part of a healthful lifestyle and this is where The Best Life Diet challenged me most. I'd been spending far too much time with BIC (writer's know this acronym well) and not enough time in the great outdoors. So, with an online record keeping journal, I methodically began to add exercising into my life again.

Results: I lost ten stubborn pounds in three months and have kept it off. I feel very satisfied with my weight, even better with my fitness. I have more energy, my husband lost 15 pounds, and my kids are eating healthier than ever before (even though my fifteen year old claims that I'm starving him to death).
I encourage you to explore Bob Greene's philosophy if you ever wanted to improve your overall well being.

So that's enough for one post. I know the Oprah Show has a show devoted to Bob Greene next week and I encourage you to watch. He is really the most sensible voice in developing and maintaining a healthful mindset.

The End...

2008-12-26T08:07:00.000-08:00

I'm so full. The mere thought of another granule of sugar touching my tongue leaves me queasy. This is a good thing. More sugar means more pounds and more pounds means more working out and of course, more working out means I have less time to write. So you can see the vicious cycle.

It's been a great Christmas, with lots of time being spent with my little darlings, martini's with friends, snuggles with my hubby and the overall satisfaction that I live a good life. But having said that, I can't wait to get back to writing....

I've finished my rewrite. (YIPEE!!!). I've re-organized chapters and even in this late in the game, deleted scenes. I discovered some important elements that had been left out. Finding the right place to slip them in has been a bit challenging. I've added sensory details where there weren't any before; I've added action in place of tags: I've introduced new settings instead of using the same ones over and over. Now, I need to finish my read-through on my computer and then...(drumrolls, please)...it's the BIG PRINTOUT.

The last time I finished a revision and printed out my manuscript, I fell into a state of depression. I felt the story could have been better. I even rejected an offer from an agent (who said he loved the first fifty) to read the whole manuscript. Might have been a bad move, but I couldn't possibly hand him over the rest of the story when I knew in my heart it wasn't strong enough.

It still might not be, but at least I love it.

The story now involves Dree's mom. Where once she was dead, she now lives on as a disgraced, former national champion gymnast. Her reluctance of having her daughter train as an elite gymnast, at the same school where she herself trained, evolves from an an initial maternal fear for her daughter (life ain't pretty as an elite gymnast and she knows it best) to one of self-preservation. Who knew that the secret she held onto all these years would be discovered by her own daughter?

I feel this is my last run-through. The final edit before the crunch. I feel a deep anxiousness (is that a word?) to get this story out. The old adage "You can't win if you don't play" haunt me everyday. I know Greenwood Girls will never be published if I keep revising, but then again, it will never be published if I don't revise. It's a horrible cycle, but the fact that this story is deeply personal, motivates me to push on with what feels right.

So having said that, it's back to my story....
Wishing you all much luck and the ability to persevere with your first draft, rewrite or edits.

Family Parties and Bourbon Egg Nog

2008-12-16T16:21:00.000-08:00

I absolutely adore christmas time. The days off, my kids, the food, the tree and most of all, the smells. I've been grinding gingerbread infused coffee instead the usual french roast, the tree is filling our home with the most nostalgic, woodsy aroma, and everything smells of peanut butter balls.
What could be better?
We never travel. Visiting family has happened once in 16 years (we like them it's just that they're all in Canada!) so establishing our own holiday traditions has been a priority. My favorite one is having my girlfriends and their growing families over for our annual Family Holiday Party.
I don't know exactly how long we've been doing it, but I know I was pregnant for one of them...so at least nine years. We have a gift exchange (more fun now that the kids are older and don't cry if mom steals their gifts) and eat a huge dinner.

The best part? I make Bourbon Spiked Egg Nog and let me tell you, if you've never made your own nog, you're missing out. The difference is HUGE. Like fresh peas compared to canned.
I've found a recipe from Paula Dean that's just fabulous and super easy. The only thing you need is 3 bowls and room in your freezer...read on...

Mama's Egg Nog
6 eggs, separated
3/4 cup sugar
1 pint heavy cream
4 pints milk
1/2 pint Bourbon
1 tablespoon of vanilla
Nutmeg

In a bowl, beat the egg yolks with 1/2 cup of the sugar until thick. In another bowl, beat the egg whites with 1/4 cup of the sugar until thick. In a third bowl, beat the cream until thick (soft peaks). Add the cream to the yolks, fold in the egg whites and add the milk, Bourbon, vanilla and a pinch of nutmeg. Chill in freezer before serving.

Of course, the above recipe is not nearly enough, so I double it. I usually make it the morning of the party and put in the freezer until is very firm. Then I set it out to "thaw" about 30 minutes before everyone arrives. I keep a shaker of nutmeg (or a grater and nut) beside the punchbowl so guests can add extra if they like.
One more tip: throw away those tiny matching punchbowl cups and set out some good sized glasswear. This drink is so impressively good, a small cup is an insult.

Let me know if you make this and tell me what you think.

Hope you all have a wonderful holiday filled with good food, great friends and lots of bourbon...
Cheers!

It's starting to feel alot like Christmas...

2008-12-07T09:28:00.000-08:00

Friday Night: Santa Barbara held it's annual Holiday Parade. We go every year. It's a combination of school bands, dance squads, a few horses and lots of holiday cheer. In past years, my boys rode the 24 wheeler and shouted Christmas greetings aboard the Boy Scout float. This year, Elly, dressed as a fairy, did the same with her girl scout troupe. She claims to have rallied the girls into singing carols the whole length of the parade route. I believe her.

Decided I don't like MyPunchbowl.com. Sent invitations via this recommended site from Oprah magazine and really shouldn't have. Evite is my much preferred method.

Saturday morning: I unpacked the mountain of boxes containing holiday cheer and tried to recreate the magic my mother made last year. My parents visited for Thanksgiving last year and while I attended The Big Sur Writer's workshop, she decorated my house. I walked in late Sunday night and gasped. Was this my house??? This year, I'm on my own. I succeeded, but like my daughter said,"Well, it's nice but you just can't beat Nanny." Who said I was trying for Pete's sake? Oh well. It's done. Now...just the tree.

Saturday Night: Gussied myself up in a sparkly top and waited while Neil caught the first quarter of the OU game against Mizzou. Threw back a Saporro with my friend LynnDee. Departed while OU was up 10-7 and enjoyed a festive evening at Fess Parker's for Neil's annual work party. Home by 9:15. I repeat 9:15. Hmmmm.

Sunday: Big plans for today. Post blog and finish my rewrite on Greenwood Girls. I'm on my FINAL CHAPTER!!!! Ahhhh. It feels so good, especially since I get to reread the whole dang thing next and make notes.
While I work on my weekly critique group critiques, Neil will hopefully fix my dishwasher and put up the outside lights.

Now...back to my rewrite...Happy Holidays!

Showing vs Telling

2008-12-04T10:54:00.000-08:00

It's the number one reason why editors tell us why your manuscript doesn't cut it. It's the first rule we learn when writing fiction, yet in my opinion, it's one of the hardest.
I'm not going to pretend that I'm an authority because truthfully, it's something I struggle with daily. Some of my critique partners are quite skillful in picking out sentences and paragraphs that tell not show. Once the area is pointed out, it should be easy to fix it right? Not necessarily.
I think you need to be in the rhythm. The flow.
Reading works of fiction that "show" well is what really cements it for me.
I've been reading What I Saw and How I lied by Judy Blundell and I have to say that, so far, this lady is a master at showing not telling.

Check this out:
"A breeze ruffled her blonde hair. She stared out into the air and flicked an ash off her cigarette."
and
"She reached over to his pack of cigarettes on the table and extracted one slowly. She tapped it on the table while she gave him a long look. She placed it between her lips and he leaned over to light it, cupping the flame against a nonexistent breeze."

There are many, many books that show really well. Okay, most published books, but this one stood out to me. I'm only on page 60 but so far, every page is chock full of visual details.

Showing not telling has been a particular problem for me. I've been reworking/rewriting my manuscript for a while now, and some parts of it were written a while ago when my show vs tell skills weren't as polished. More often than I care for, the telling areas will sneak back into my manuscript. Kind of like a bad habit in golf. It feels natural, so it's easy to ignore.

Tami Lewis Brown over at Through the Tollbooth wrote about her "secret" which is showing, not telling. It's a great post that might help you see your trouble spots.

Obviously, the rule doesn't apply to all books. Some books excel in telling not showing. On our SCBWI community list-serve in Southern California, the book talk for this month was The Absolutely True Story of a Part-Time Indian by Sherman Alexie. Some readers posted that they were disappointed that Alexie used so much telling when writing his story, feeling that he could have deepen the connection between reader and character more had he "showed" more. Can't disagree yet the story is fantastic.
Still, I'm no Sherman Alexie, so I'm going to stick with the rules.

On a personal note, Thanksgiving in Yosemite Valley was breathtaking as usual. We hiked until my knees gave out, biked until I literally fell over from exhaustion and ate until I gained 3 pounds. The calorie consumption must have been enormous considering all that exercise.
I blame the trail mix.

Todays writers are a lucky bunch...

2008-11-23T08:06:00.000-08:00

Sometimes I can't believe how lucky I am. Five years ago, I tackled my life-long dream of bringing Greenwood Academy to life in the pages of a novel and today I'm almost there. I visualize (embarrassingly almost everyday) what my book might look like on the shelves of bookstores across the country. I even go as far as designing a few book covers myself!
There is still plenty of dreaming left but here's what I know. I wouldn't have been able to do this writing thing without the internet.
Not only have I've been able to research gymnastics and boarding schools, I've been able to research concrete writing tools; plots, outlines, character development, inspirations,and even emotions. It's staggering really.

One of my favorite sites is The Bookshelf Muse. Basically, it's an emotion thesaurus. What a concept. My writing group friend turned me on to this site and I've been forever grateful. The idea is simple. Click on the emotion you're writing about and see what the authors have come up with in terms of the physicality of the emotion. Reading just a few helps trigger my own recollections and viola! No more shrugging, rolling of the eyes and head flicks.

My writing teacher, Valerie Hobbs, is new to the blogging world but already, her blog, Writing For Life, is quickly becoming my favorite. She shares her own struggles with her writing process and offers a writing exercise to think about. Val is really the queen of character. No one I know can identify internal conflict better than her. I look forward to seeing more posts.

Through the Tollbooth has been one of my favorites for a while now. A slew of MFA graduates form Vermont College, gather valuable writing tips, complete with examples, and show you how it's done. Hat's off to these ladies who really provide a wonderful gift to all aspiring writers out there.

Do you have a favorite that helps you in your writing process? There are so many out there that it's impossible to know of them all. Go on...share your favorites!

On a personal note, my family is off to the beautiful Yosemite Valley for another Thanksgiving. This will be our fourth time making the trek and truly it's become more and more enjoyable as the years go on.
Just picked up a copy of Judy Blundell's What I Saw and How I Lied and Wendy Mass's Every Soul a Star. Both look absolutely delicious. Can't wait to read them!

The home stretch...Outlining and revising the final draft

2008-11-16T07:51:00.000-08:00

I'm at the three quarter pole of my rewrite. The words are flowing effortlessly and frankly, I'm in writing nirvana.
I've spent the last two weeks outlining and rewriting the final chapters.
Since I'm a new writer, I try and seek out as much advice as I can. One of my favorite articles on outlining and revision came through Cheryl Klein's blog, Brooklyn Arden. Anita Nolan's "The End" is only the beginning...a step-by-step guide to refining your manuscript has been very helpful in providing concrete advice. I've been using her methods for a few months now.

One of my favorite sections in her approach is to make a list of scenes (within chapters is fine). Number them and write down how many pages in that scene. The idea is to check and make sure the scenes aren't too skimpy. Too many slight scenes can make a chapter too fragmented. I know I was guilty of this. I had proof!
By going over each scene, counting the number of pages it took up and deciding what plot point it was connected to, my scenes went from choppy to (hopefully) fluid.
This was a good thing.

Another strategy Nolan employs is to make good use of your outline. The first revision should ultimately be done within the outline only.
With it, Nolan suggests the following:

add chapter numbers
scene numbers
a list of plot points you are aiming to achieve
starting/ending page numbers
characters involved
setting
time frame
number of pages in scene/chapter
highlight turning points

It seems like a lot, but it's very helpful. Since my novel takes place during a school year (September to June), adding a time frame to my outline is crucial. I can't tell you how many times during critiques, people asked me for a time reference. I knew this important detail well but hadn't been providing that knowledge for my readers.

The setting became rather important as well. With over 35 scenes in Greenwood Girls, variety keeps my readers interested. My first few drafts used the same settings over and over, until one brave reader asked if I could pick another place to have a particular conversation. I did, and found a spot at Greenwood Academy that no one had seen before. How fun is that!

In particular to my story, I wanted to highlight the scenes containing gymnastics sequences. It's important for me to break these scenes up and balance them throughout the book. I do this all on my computer, using the built-in highlighters to color code characters, settings and plot points.
This type of writing is so different from first draft writing. I know where the story must end, I know how my characters will feel at the end and it's just a matter of taking the reader along for the ride.

On a side note, I've been busy turning my downstairs home office into an electric guitar-jumbo computer-gaming station for the teens in my house. In doing so, I've converted a quiet, never used spot in my bedroom for my new writing retreat. It's glorious and quiet! No more Highway to Hell vibrations clashing with my need for concentration.

Back again...

2008-11-08T06:36:00.000-08:00

Laura, this one's for you! Without your last comment, I'd have continued with my self-imposed blog blackout for a little while longer. But what the heck..the end of my rewrite is nowhere in sight so my blogisphere exile really didn't do much good.
Well, not exactly true.

Greenwood Girls has developed into a different story. I worked hard rewriting the front end and with the help of my critique group, been ironing out the inconsistencies and questions about the elite gymnastic world. Have to say, it's great to have fresh eyes!

Now I'm working on the back end, building to the climax and working on a dramatic ending. My writing class friend, Marisa, pointed out a cinematic ending to me that was brilliant. Her interpretation of the summary of my plot points sparked a clear picture of how the book should end. It's perplexing to me how she did this. How can someone, who hasn't spent a thousand hours mulling over your book, be able to see so clearly the ending? I think this is the gift editors posses.

For the record, this was the single biggest highlight of my Fall, besides of course, drinking a $300 bottle of Dom Perignon on my wedding anniversary...but that's another story.

So for the last few days, in between parenting and work, I've been trying to capture Marisa's clear vision and blend it with my own. I think this has given me the legs needed to push on with the rewrite and perhaps, carve out some time for a little joy....

Taking a break...

2008-09-21T14:17:00.000-07:00

September has proven to be a busy time of year. As much as I love my blog, I need to sign off for a while and devote every spare moment I have to completing my re-write of my first novel. I'm anxious to finish it so I can get working on the first draft of my second! So much to write, so little time!
See you in a month!

"Why does this story need to be told?"

2008-09-11T08:04:00.000-07:00

Good question, huh?
Think about it, and I'll get back to it....

I've embarked on my fifth, maybe sixth writing class with Val Hobbs last night. It's an eight week session, then after the holidays, she begins again. And, unless I plan to go to a conference, I usually sign up for another round. I love it. The rituals, the pace, the writers, the discussions and especially Val herself.
The writers in the class are accomplished. Many I have known for quite a few years. Everyone brings a new viewpoint or suggestion to a piece. This is, after all, what we're there for.

With writing, the learning never stops. My husband knows this. Not once in the past four years has he said, "Really? You're taking another class?" I'll admit, at times, that's exactly what I say to myself. But the truth is, you never stop learning. Even Val herself said so last night. She explained that there are only a few things to teach about writing but our filters change as we grows as writers, and so, we hear the same things differently each time.
So true.
How many times have we all heard show, not tell? It's the first piece of advice I read when I was starting out, and it's still challenging to master.

My critique group did a challenging exercise last week. We had to come up with a one sentence premise for our WIP that indicated genre, conflict our MC faces and a hook. Not easy. We also had to list what our MC desired, what her strengths and weaknesses are and what her view of the world is. It was a great exercise. Since I did a lot of groundwork before starting my novel, I felt I knew the answers to these questions.

But...

Last night, Val presented us with two more questions, that in my opinion, were tough. She asked, "Regarding your WIP, who needs to tell this story and why does it need to be told?"
Let me tell you, answering these two questions can leave a writer very depressed. Perhaps it's not enough to know what your characters strengths are...or how she struggles with daily life...there is something deeper that we need to seek out. That something special that makes a promise to our reader that the book will be worth reading.

So that's my current goal. To listen very carefully for the answers to these questions. I've taken the guilt out of it, not feeling too bad that my book isn't earth shattering. In fact, it probably won't ever be, but, it'll be her story...and for that, I need to keep going.

Do you know why the story you're working on needs to be told???

Writing Feverishly and deciding that writing a book IS WAY TOO HARD

2008-08-30T09:32:00.000-07:00

I have one more week of my "official" summer break left. It's been long. Three whole months of no work. Soon, my structure-less days will end. I've been writing like crazy. Rewriting my first novel, making sure the plot lines are threaded throughout the story, and the biggie, ensuring my character's motivation is consistent. That, I have to say, is really freakin' HARD!!! Arggh!

Just when I think I have it right, I'll re-read a chapter and groan. With rewrites, the biggest hazard, as least for me, is eliminating an important piece of information (not intentionally) the reader needs to know. You know, a logistical question that pops up in critique groups, a problem that needs to be mentioned but not elaborated on, then poof. You rewrite and take it out, thinking it's not important because you're going in a new direction. I'm probably not making sense. But that's where I am. Ironing out the consistency's. And it's really difficult.

This is what occurred to me. Writing a novel is painstaking. It really is. Do I sound negative? Good. It's reality smacking me in the face.

But, and there is always a but, I love my story. I believe it has potential. I know I'll rewrite until I'm happy with it.

But...

"Don't sit on it too long," people have said.

I seriously don't understand this contradiction. I think the best thing you can do is sit on it (or rewrite it) until it feels right. Maybe it means, don't expect it to be perfect. Believe me, I don't. I just want it to be enjoyable.

To lighten my mood, I visited my favorite bookstore, Chaucer's, and picked up a few tantalizing novels.
Savvy by Ingrid Law, the paperback version of An Abundance of Katherines by John Greene, and The Mysterious Benedict Society and the Perilous Journey by Trenton Lee Stewart.

I plan to write a few more hours today, maybe switch gears and focus on my second novel. My critique group has a fun writing exercise that we're doing next week...looking at plot lines and chapter details to ensure our story is flowing the way it should. Perfect timing, I think.

Ahhh...Back-to-School

2008-08-25T10:20:00.000-07:00

Early morning fog did not dampen my family's back-to-school enthusiasm. I'd love to bottle that first day of school energy and save it for a rainy day in February.
My high school freshman son bounded down the stairs (which I'm sure will never happen again) energized about his "options" for the coming year. And I don't mean academic choices.
Tate hobbled, excited yet reserved, about his first day of junior high on crutches.
Elly drove off with her best friend and most loyal companion, for their first day as fourth graders.
Have to say, it was blissful seeing them all go. I'm sure every parent out there can relate.

I've always considered September my "New Year's Eve". It's the start of a new year for my kids and for me, it's when I reestablish my own goals and consider what I'd like to accomplish for the upcoming year.

PATTY'S FALL GOALS

Most of you know that I ripped apart my first novel. I've spent most of my free time this summer reworking, rewriting and rethinking many parts. In between watching Nastia Liukin absolutely shine at the Olympics, I hammered away mostly at internal and external motivation. I'm thrilled with what I accomplished. But my goal is to finish this rework by the end of the month. I can do it. I'm on a roll...
Work on finishing my first draft of my second. I'll be bringing this novel to my Writing Class with Valerie Hobbs later this month. I like the way this novel has evolved. With the help of my critique group, FarFlung Writer's, and with my writing class critiques, I should have lots to think about with this one.
Chose a weekend writing retreat to attend. Last November, I went to Big Sur Writing Workshop and loved it. I'm considering going again but want to explore others as well. Does anyone know of a great retreat coming up in California this Fall?
Enter the Santa Barbara SCBWI Writer's Day Writing Contest. LOVE attending this event. Great people. Great organizers, Great time.

That's it. Hope I can stay on track. Happy New Year to everyone like me, who considers September a fresh start!

What Brings You Joy?

2008-08-22T06:40:00.000-07:00

Joy. It's kind of an old-fashioned word. A bit hokey. Somewhat idealistic. Still, to me, it describes exactly what I chase everyday. My own personal joy.
And I find it.

Eating my Kashi Autumn Wheat cereal with fresh blueberries and slivered almonds is joyful.
Sitting in my Raspberry Red living room chair watching my kids drag (and lately crutch) their way down to breakfast, brings me joy.
Sipping a Starbucks Latte while talking writing and books with my writing pals, brings me joy.
Breathing in the ocean air laced with the stinging smell of seaweed brings me joy (and peace).
Developing art lessons that will excite hundreds of sweet, freckle-faced, toothless kids brings me unmeasurable joy.
Watching my husband's face as he tells stories to his friends and children, brings me more amusement than joy, but it's still a happy thing.

Lately, I've been interested in quotes. While on the airplane the other day I picked up the September issue of Oprah magazine. As I read through the myriad of articles, quotes exuding a strong happiness vibe kept on popping up. I seemed to be inspired by these lately. Quotes. Of all things.
Even while in Charlottetown, at a cute cafe called "Just Us Girls", I noticed that the walls were covered with inspiring quotes. Things like Eat Live Breathe in big, gigantic letters.
They called it wall art and they had racks of the pre-package rolls for sale. I felt a new decorating project coming on, so I got out of there fast.

My writing pal, Maggie,and I talked about finding our own joys recently. She told me about an Otto Heino, a 94 year old man from Ojai, California who seeks joy in his everyday life. She was alos inspired by a few quotes in the LA Time's article. She and I agreed that it would be fun to put a joy-inspired quote in the blog each week.

So, in honor of my first "What Brings You Joy?" installments, Maggie sent me this...

"Never hurry, never worry," he says describing his attitude toward art and life. "If you're negative you'll never make it." Otto Heino, 94, Ojai, California

Well said, Otto. I think as writers, we could all stand to learn form this. Thanks, Maggie!

If anyone else has a few joy-inspired quotes to share, please do. Ones dedicated to the craft of writing or art in general are especially welcomed.

Every Cloud holds a Bucket

2008-08-15T03:54:00.000-07:00

Famous words from my sister, Tammy, referring to the mystery of our rain-filled summer. I laugh every time I see one of those cotton batten-like clouds hovering, knowing full well that it will, given some time, drop some big rain.
It did last night. Enough to sound the sirens in Baddeck, Nova Scotia and to make the power go off during the Olympic gymnastic AA coverage. I won't say anything else...

Tate had his follow up visit with his surgeon yesterday in Halifax (the bone is healing wonderfully) so we decided to play tourist and hop aboard the Halifax version of the amphibious water boat, the Harbour Hopper. The kids and I got a great historical tour of Halifax, some cool facts about the Halifax explosion that could be felt as far away as PEI. Even my grandmother had memories of this experience.
Yesterday we drove to Cape Breton, Nova Scotia. Never been around the famous Cabot Trail and can't wait to embark on our driving adventure today. The beauty of the topography is unrivaled. In many ways, it feels quite similar to Scotland. Rolling, dark green hills, deep blue lakes and winding roadways. Really lovely.
Today we'll start the journey in historic Fort Louisburg. Tate gets a wheelchair. Must keep him away from big brother.

Oh...did I mention that I won back the coveted Coral Jacket in the Rice Point Invitational Golf Tournament? Hee! Hee! I lucked out Meredith. You're still the best golfer in my eyes!

Greenwood Girls has been rewritten. Between caring for Tate and numerous house guests, I've found time to dig deeper into my story. Still need to do a final run through, but I'm proud of this accomplishment. After this, it's going to an agent who requested to see more, plus an editor or two. Finally.

My wonderful FarFlung Writers group has not heard from me in over a month. I have a lot of terrific stories to catch up on and I'm eager to do it. Reflecting on my past 5 months with this group, I think I've experienced my biggest leap in writing ability. I can't say enough about the power of critiques. Receiving them is great but it's the giving that's been the most valuable to me. Really considering what works and what doesn't work in a story is quite an effective lesson. So to my group...don't write me off...I will be back!

Life will get back to normal on Monday. Have to say this is the first summer that I'm more than eager to get back to a routine. Can't wait to settle in with my writing group, writing class (thanks Val for starting up again!) and coffee talks with Maggie.

Life's not always a beach...

2008-07-27T04:31:00.000-07:00

Summer.
Golf, sand, books, mosquitoes, water skiing...and broken bones. Life can go from this idyllic picture to one in which I'd rather not post. Poor Tate. A wild water ski run landed him in the ER with a broken femur. Serious ouch. Don't ask how we got him out of the water.
But he's okay. He had surgery on Friday and is now resting, although not very comfortably, in the amazing IWK Children's hospital in Halifax, Nova Scotia.

The hospital is like a hotel. It's designed for families. There is a flat screen TV, full bed, comfy linens and get this...high speed internet, all in Tate's private room! Gotta love the Canadian Health Care system. They even have a kitchen stocked with food. Never been in a hospital long enough to appreciate these types of amenities. Oh, and did I mention the really super nurses?

Summer Reading Program: Been reading plenty of good books. Started with The Absolutely True Story of a part-time Indian by Sherman Alexie. Was really enjoying it before my son stole it from me. He was very concerned that this was based on a real story. Discussions about Native Americans ensued. Never got to finish the last chapter.
Harmless by Dana Reinhardt was fantastic. Told by three different characters. Loved them all. Appreciated how individual and unique the three girls voices and internal conflicts were. Learned a lot from this book.

After a visit to a rural library close to my cottage, I spotted a book with an interesting cover and title.
The Corps of the Bare-Boned Plane by Polly Horvath was a lesson in uniqueness. The setting (an island off the coast of Vancouver), cast of characters (none entirely likable but all engaging) and a story line that you really weren't sure where it would end up, provided a nearly continuous read. Loved the writing style. Looking forward to reading Hovarth's The Canning Season when I get a chance.

Summer Writing Program: Been doing relatively well with my rewrite. Three hours a day, five days a week is a terrific goal when I don't have visitors or am not in the hospital, which has consumed most of my vacation. Visitors: good, hospital: bad.
I've deleted entire chapters, created new ones and have a much better sense of my character's driving force. Yeah!
Had to set aside my second novel while in this particular summer mode. Been thinking about Ainsley a lot, though, especially while playing golf or watching the Evian Open on TV.

Summer Olympics! I am SO gearing up! The US Olympic gymnastic team was announced last week. Felt bad that Jana Beiger didn't make the official team but was included as an alternate. Looking forward to seeing how the entire team performs. If you don't think that gymnastics is a team sport (or even a sport at all...you know who you are) then watch the Olympics. I can hardly wait for the drama to unfold.

Signing off from the IWK hospital...

The ocean is calling....

2008-07-08T07:55:00.000-07:00

I'm a day away from my 5-week hiatus to Prince Edward Island. My kids are excited, our home in Goleta is safe from threatening fires and despite random power outages, I'm relatively on track with my novel rewrite.

We've had a full summer already. Tate, my 12 year old, has experienced his first "away" camp, not to mention traveling alone as an unaccompanied minor, to Ann Arbor, Michigan; Newt, the 14 year old, has logged a life time of hours on W.O.W. (don't ask if you don't know) and Elliott, my 9 year old daughter, has survived, and actually enjoyed, the dreaded sailing camp.
Damn lucky kids, if you ask me. When I was twelve, I was loading hay...or picking strawberries...or painting 20 acres of chewed up fencing. Ahh, life on a farm.

My friend Maggie and I exchanged reading material for the summer. Walking into her office was the equivalent of Christmas morning in July. Maggie is a voracious reader and picks up all the good books as they come out.
I snagged a bunch of fantastic titles: Harmless and How to Build a House by Dana Reinhardt, So B. It by Sarah Weeks, Saffy's Angel by Hilary McKay, Absolutely, Positively, Not...by David Larochelle, Allie Finkle's Rules for Girls by Meg Cabot (think Ellie will love this), The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time India by Sherman Alexie and The Earth, My Butt and Other Big Round Things by Carolyn Mackler. Whew!
Since we don't have access to cable television, evenings are spent either playing cards, listening to the hi-fi (yes, very retro) or reading.

Reviews on above books:
Check out Jen Robinson's Book Page for a review of Saffy's Angel here.
Teen reads reviews The Earth, My Butt and other Bog Round Things here.
Big A, Little a reviews Harmless here.
Fuse #8 reviews The Absolutely, True story...here.

Summer Writing program: I'm logging close to 15 hours a week. Last week a little less due to evacuation notices but that's really just an excuse. Mostly, I've been thinking. Thinking of different ways to illustrate my protagonists internal goals and creating a flow to my novel. All I can say is, THIS IS JUST SO DAMN MUCH FUN! Seriously!
Although, it makes it more fun when interest for my novel is brewing.
But now I have some deadlines and no matter how much my dad begs me to play golf, or how much the ocean beckons for one last swim or no matter who drops by for a cold glass of Stella...I will not abandon my writing program. That is my promise.

My friend Laura is also experiencing wild fire hell in Big Sur, California. She's blogging for the LA Times. Check it out. On a personal note, I applaud you, Laura, for your ability to stay calm, focused, cheerful and quite prolific in spite of smoke congested air and evacuation logistics.

Next post will be via Prince Edward Island...CHEERS!

A little hope...

2008-07-01T06:37:00.000-07:00

It has been a big week in the life of my first novel. A couple of months ago, I deemed my book ready (and worthy, I might add) of publication or at least consideration. I compiled a small list of houses, researched the editors, read their books, and committed their submission policy to memory. I made a goal of when I would submit (and posted it on my blog) and felt quite strongly about my research.
(So, you're probably waiting for me to spout the good news. Sorry. No big ones to report just a small one. Read on...)

After making these bold preparations, I hesitated. I had just finished reading a slew of really good books and one night, just before bed, I asked myself if I wrote the story I wanted. Did I do all that I could do to make the story zing? Was it worthy of sitting on the same shelf as the books I just read? I went to bed that night unsure.
The next day, I printed out the entire manuscript and read the whole thing in two sittings. I hadn't read this manuscript in it's entirety for at least a year. Sure, I revised certain chapters brilliantly, but somehow I assumed the whole thing morphed into one big final revision without even checking.
I was disappointed.

There were some definite plot errors, character inconsistencies and a few extraneousness scenes. No big deal. I could fix that. But, the really big issue...the feeling I came away with was that I didn't go deep enough with the story. I left it simmering on the stove when it really needed to be popped in the oven. My character didn't take my breath away like she used to.
To say I felt oddly depressed was an understatement. I knew what I had to do: rework the entire manuscript. Yes, REWRITE the whole bloody thing. New Character GMC. New internal and external goals...the whole shebang.
Those who have traveled this road with me and who have read a certain number of my revisions will surely think I'm crazy. I'm almost positive that I am.
So why am I telling you all this?
Because there's always a little hope that you might have something...

Yesterday ( here's the itty, bitty good news) I went to the mailbox and found a SASE. It was from an editor at Philomel. I submitted the book in question after the LA Writer's Day.
As I held the envelope in my hand, I knew it was a rejection. At this point, I recall thinking that all the joys that come from writing are just not worth this horrible feeling one experiences moments before opening up such a letter.
But I was wrong.
The letter made me cry.
The editor was personal, kind, encouraging, offered helpful feedback and ...get this!...invited me to resubmit. I've never been invited to resubmit so this was HUGE for me.
Happy moment. Sigh.

Okay, so why reboot the entire novel?
See this is the thing that was so wonderful about this timely letter. What the editor said about my novel is essentially what I discovered on my final read through. I agreed with her. But more importantly, she didn't have to tell me. I discovered it on my own. To me, this is what I'm after. A little self-knowledge.

This is an unbearably long post. I know.
Sometimes it feels so easy for writers to whip out fantastic manuscripts, get published and do marvelous things. For the rest of us? I believe we'll get there, especially if we have a story that lives in our hearts and needs to be told.

Internal Conflict

2008-06-23T09:44:00.000-07:00

I've been busy massacring the first draft of my YA novel. Literally deleting, changing, rearranging and rewriting the entire story. Since I only had 20K words written so far, it really wasn't too tragic.
I've been submitting it to my critique group for the last few months. I've gotten a variety of comments that made it clear to me that I had NO IDEA what my character wanted. I'd been taking the organic approach to writing the first draft. Of course, this method is great but only if you have one thing understood. Internal motivation. This differs from External motivation. This is the sequence of events that make up the plot. But I shouldn't try and explain. I'm terrible at that. I'll leave that to someone who really knows what she's talking about.
Robin LaFevers has been posting on this for a few weeks now and in my opinion, speaks very well on the subject. Check out her generous lessons and you'll know what I'm talking about.

The internal conflict has to be clear. When writing Greenwood Girls, I knew I wanted to write about a gymnast who attends a boarding school that trains Olympic caliber athletes. I knew her mom had attended the same school years before and I knew the road to becoming a champion was going to be tough.
It seemed that was all that was needed to fuel my first draft. And it was. I wrote 220 pages of what I thought was fantastic stuff. It had a slew of interesting characters specializing in different sports. The story offered a peek into the world of competitive gymnastics, boarding school life and homesickness. To amp up the conflict, I added a mysterious journal, a secret society and a tragic cover-up. But it wasn't enough.
To really make the story matter to the reader, I had to fully understand what it was that my main character wanted. Her internal goals, motivation and conflict needed to be as important as the external conflict.
As a writer, I'm understanding this more and more. Dree, the main character in Greenwood Girls, desires to become a champion. This is fueled by her desire to be like her late mother, to carry on her legacy of greatness. In the end, Dree realizes that she needs to want it for herself but everything she does up to this point is fueled by her desire to ensure that her mother's legacy lives on.

In my new YA, I've had to really think about what Ainsley wants. What fuels her to do the things she does? She can't be passive in the story, letting events unfold around her. She has to cause them to happen based on what is burring inside her. This hasn't been easy. I've tried a few different scenarios and deleted each one. I might have found a compelling one but we'll see how it pans out.
Have you found your protagonist's internal G/M/C? Do you struggle with it?

I'm a Winner!

2008-06-11T09:15:00.000-07:00

Mother Reader randomly selected me as a winner in the participation category of the recent Book Challenge!
I'm one lucky gal as there were many committed book reader/reviewers/bloggers out there. Check out Mother Reader's Blog to get a sense for how committed these readers were.
Also, click on some of the participants entries for some fantastic reviews of new kid books out there. In particular, I love Jen Robinson's Book Page. She has a great book review format making it easy to search for great titles and I love her review style. I use her site often when deciding what to read next.

The 6th grade mural that I have been working on is finished! Note: Not to be confused with the fundraising mural that has also consumed much of my free time lately. This one will be installed over the summer.
I'm very proud of the kids (especially my son, Tate!) and their enthusiasm. Check out pictures over at Deep Space Sparkle.

Summer Writing Program: I'm pleased to say that so far I have logged over 8 hours of writing time in the last two days. Although in word count, let's just say I'm losing words fast.
I've decided to reboot my manuscript, start from scratch and spend as much time as necessary to get a handle on the story I want to tell.
To do this, I referred back to a fabulous Saturday afternoon, when I was lucky enough to drive twenty minutes to be in the presence of Robin LaFevers. She was giving a Plot Workshop for our Santa Barbara/Ventura SCBWI group. She took us through a detailed explanation and exercises of creating and evaluating your protagonist's goals, motivations and conflicts. And she didn't just let us think about it, she made us write it down and read it out loud so she could help us.
So the group got busy and tried to answer in one simple sentence:

What does your protagonist want?
Why does she want it?
Who or what is getting in her way?

Sounds simple, but it's not. Go ahead, try it. The writers got busy and started belting out their sentences. Robin said so what a lot.
I realized after I read mine that I had a goal and a motivation but no conflict. Sounds familiar.
So this is what I've been hammering out. Testing out different inciting incidents, thinking about who can do my character wrong, plotting via The Hero's Journey ( of which Robin had us do) and basically getting my characters goals, motivations and conflicts down...both internal and external.
This takes mucho concentration for me. It's hard mental work. But fun!

Call my dad in Prince Edward Island last night. He told me that he just got WIRELESS HI-SPEED INTERNET!!! I know, it's hard to imagine not having it, but now he does. Now, I'll be able to keep up with emails, my blog, my critique group...wait a minute. This might interfere with cocktails and golf. I'll have to think about this one....

Weekend Reading Wrap-up!

2008-06-09T07:18:00.000-07:00

Like I said before, I'm not the fastest reader nor the best reviewer but it was fun to participate in Mother Reader's 24 hour Book Challenge.
I read for approximately 8 hours, ingested over 900 pages, stuck in a trip to Target for 3 hours and blogged about it for 1 hour.
Thanks Mother Reader for the challenge!

Book Challenge...Book #2

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

Of course, I changed my mind. The original list of books I planned to read for the Book Challenge changed. First off, I couldn't wait to read Evolution, Me and Other Freaks of Nature. I finished it before the book challenge began, so it couldn't count towards my "official" numbers. Have to say though, I LOVED this book. It's the kind of book I wished I had written. I loved the subject: Christian teens battle religious beliefs. Any book that argues religion is bound to be a good read for me. The ultimate source of conflict for most people. It didn't disappoint. Aside from the Science vs. Faith arguments, what I loved most were the characters. So true and never wavering. It's a must read in my opinion.
So, after Feed, the next book on my original list was Diary of a Wimpy Kid by Jeff Kinney. My son and I picked up Book One and Book Two (Roderick Rules) and read them in less than an hour. We both had random bouts of laughter and all we had to do was hold up the book to see what made us laugh. The illustrations are pretty darn funny. The text is pretty darn funny.
If you have a boy in your house anywhere from age 10 to 14, this is sure bet.
(Page count: 217)

When I was at Chaucer's the other day, I noticed Susan Pfeffer's The Dead and the Gone. I read, Life as We Knew It, the first book in the series with great interest. I loved the Apocalyptic theme. So I began reading book 2 last night and so far have been disappointed. The book is not a sequel. It's the parallel story of how a boy in New York deals with the same world-altering event. Oh well. I'll keep reading and I'm sure I'll be swept up with this story as I was with the first. I just needed to get over the disappointment first.
(Insertion Monday, June 9th...Not a bad read. Certainly, the author used similar scenes in creating the hysteria surrounding this cataclysmic event but it didn't have as much as an impact as the first time around. What was missing was the lead up. The answer to why food was in short supply, why were people leaving NYC. We get that in the first book, but not so much in this one. Still an intriguing read.
Page count: 321)

So I think after reading The Dead and The Gone this will be it for my Book Challenge. I decided that since 1) I'm a pathetically slow reader 2) I have too many competing weekend interests 3) my butt is too sore from sitting and finally 4) I hate rushing a good book, that I'm not a very good Book Challenge participant.

Starting tomorrow, I will be launching my Summer Writing Program. Yeah! I'm officially done of work (at least until September) and will embark on my new career as very determined would-be author. Three hours of writing per day, Five days a week. Ahhh. My butt is never too sore to write.

Book Challenge...

2008-06-07T17:04:00.000-07:00

My first book review in this weekend's book challenge is Feed by M.T.Anderson. I hadn't planned on reading it, but a trip to my local Independent bookstore, Chaucer's, changed my mind. This book was on my local SCBWI list serve this month as part of our monthly book discussions. It was through this group's comments that I knew I had to read it. Not my typical kind of book, but I'd heard that it was a good one for teen boys. Got one of those, so thought I'd give it a little test run. (The book, not the teen.)

First off, I don't consider myself a great reviewer of books, I only know what I like and don't like. Having said this, I'm not quite sure if I liked this book or not. Clearly, it was masterfully written. The futuristic setting, the snipped, slang-ridden dialog, the identifiable characters, all made me jealous, that as a writer, I'd never be able to pull this off. But enough about me...M.T. Anderson rules.
I'm amazed at the author's creativity in establishing setting. The World has gone to pot. It barely contains living organisms anymore and American consumerism is at it's peak. Pretty darn bleak. Pretty darn powerful, especially for a teen audience.
Ultimately though, it's a story about teen friendship and the power of peer pressure. That alone made it worthy of ignoring the kids and skipping breakfast.
(300 pages)

Book Challenge 2006

2008-06-04T09:46:00.000-07:00

I've signed up for Mother Reader's Book Challenge this June 6th-8th. It should be a great way to spend the weekend. The idea is to read and blog about as many books as you can. Since I am a seriously slow reader, I will not win the prize for most pages read, but I will have committed myself to reading. Which is a prize in itself.

Here are the books I plan to read:
Me, Evolution and other Freaks of Nature, by Robin Brande.
So Totally Emily Ebers by Lisa Yee
Diary of a Wimpy Kid by Jeff Kinney
The Swan Maiden by Heather Tomlinson

I plan to start at 7am on Saturday and go to 7am on Monday.

Here are the basic guidelines:

The weekend is June 6–8, 2008. Read and blog for any 48-hour period within the Friday-to-Monday-morning window. Start no sooner than 7:00 a.m. on Friday the sixth and end no later than 7:00 a.m. Monday. So, go from 7:00 p.m. Friday to 7:00 p.m. on Sunday... or maybe 7:00 a.m. Saturday to 7:00 a.m. Monday works better for you. But the 48 hours do need to be in a row.
The books should be about fifth-grade level and up. Adult books are fine, especially if any adult book bloggers want to play. If you are generally a picture book blogger, consider this a good time to get caught up on all those wonderful books you’ve been hearing about. No graphic novels. I’m not trying to discriminate, I’m just trying to make sure that the number of books and page counts mean the same thing to everyone.
It’s your call as to how much you want to put into it. If you want to skip sleep and showers to do this, go for it. If you want to be a bit more laid back, fine. But you have to put something into it or it’s not a challenge.
The length of the reviews are not an issue. You can write a sentence, paragraph, or a full-length review. The time spend reviewing counts in your total time.
For promotion/solidarity purposes, let your readers know when you are starting the challenge with a specific entry on that day. Write your final summary on Monday, and for one day, we’ll all be on the same page, so to speak.
Your final summary needs to clearly include the number of books read, the approximate hours you spent reading/reviewing, and any other comments you want to make on the experience. It needs to be posted no later than noon on Monday, June 9th.

2008-05-31T10:31:00.000-07:00

Beautiful colors....sea-inspired stamps....
Here's a little taste of how my weekend will be spent. The deadline for the fundraising mural at my children's school was Friday. The Brandon School community really pulled together and supported this project which will (eventually) beautify the school and add much needed funds to support our specialists program.
But as a result, I have over 50 tiles to stamp, paint and personalize before Monday. Eeek!

But this hasn't stopped me from reading. I just read The Host by Stephenie Meyer. Not so great. Cool concept--aliens taking over human bodies--but unfortunately, Meyer didn't pull it off. Too bad.

So to rejuvenate my "must-read" stack, I popped down to my local bookstore and picked up a copy of Evolution, Me and Other Freaks of Nature by Robin Brande. Check out the author interview by Hip Writer Mama. Can't wait to dive in and read this well received novel.

Now an update on my Summer Writing Program. Spent three mornings working on my YA. Got in about 9 hours. Yeah! Worked on the sequencing of some chapters, spent some time working through the Goal/Motivation/Conflict for my protagonist (based on my critique groups recommendations...they rock!) and basically just wrote. So fun.

2008-05-24T07:47:00.000-07:00

My head is spinning with the many exciting events happening in the next few months.
On a personal note: Graduations. My boys are graduating from elementary school and junior high. My daughter will move onto upper elementary. How did this happen so fast? Next September, I will officially be a mother with children in the three school systems. According to certain friends, this is no easy task.

My year of teaching is coming to an end. I made the decision to leave one of my current schools and teach at my daughter's elementary school. This has been a dream for many, many years. I'm going from a fairly wealthy school to one which has, let's say, bigger challenges. To some, the move might seem crazy. But for me, exposing kids to the joy of creating art is worth any challenges that will surely pop up.

Next, is the US Gymnastic Championships. Really important this year. The top two athletes will automatically be placed on the upcoming Olympic Team. The remaining athletes will need to duke it out at the training camp. High drama, politics and serious dream-busting ensue. I'll be interested in the media-frenzy pitting "rivals" Shawn Johnson and Nastia Liukin. Should be a super-fun summer for gymnastic fans!
You can bet I'll be taking notes for possible sequels to Greenwood Girls.

In 2 weeks, I'll officially begin "My Summer Writing Program."
This is my plan: Reserve three hours a day to writing at least five days per week. For all of you "real" writer's out there, this might seem fairly simple. And indeed it is. I just love putting it down on paper (so to speak).
I'm working on my YA novel about two rival sisters. It's an organic piece. Not sure where it's going. I have an idea of where I'd like it to go, but the thrill of allowing my characters to tell the story is just too strong. This is a first draft after all. Why not just go for it?
Thanks to my critique group, FarFlung Writers, I've gotten great feedback on the beginning of the story. This has really helped me cement in my mind my character's motivations, how and what perspective to use, plot lines, etc.

I'm really getting into the story, and after three years of William and Dree, I never thought I'd feel the same sort of creative passion for any other characters. I LOVE writing!
My goal is to have a completed first draft by the end of the summer. Strictly numbers: 50-60K words by September 1st.
(I'll keep my updates in the sidebar of my blog, in caes anyone wants to keep me on track.)

Finally, summer means traveling back home to Canada. Only five weeks this year, but it's five weeks of no internet, emails, working telephones, long lazy days for writing, swimming to the raft, water-skiing, copious amounts of red wine and Stella Artois, Rice Point Invitational Golf Tournament (have to defend my coral jacket), reunion with high school friends, lobster on the deck, and finally READING!

Mass carnage and a dry writing week.

2008-05-18T08:22:00.000-07:00

I opened up the kiln on Friday and received a little surprise. Twenty carefully crafted, painstakingly assembled dinosaurs and dragons met their doom sometime during the night. It's unsure what happened; bad clay, air pockets, steam..who knows...I sure don't. Tomorrow, I have to tell them. Them, being the twenty fifth graders who created the now extinct herd.

Have to say, I'm a bit nervous.

Oh well. Life isn't always perfect is it? It was a crazy week of ceramic projects. I think I have over two hundred little pieces to fire and glaze, so I guess losing twenty isn't so bad. Strictly in a number sense.

Didn't have any free time to write.

It pains me to say that. In the five years that I have been working on my craft, I've always found the time to at least dabble. It was bound to happen, I suppose. But I don't like it. I miss my characters. I need my fix.

It's 90 degrees in Santa Barbara today. Beautiful. Clear. Crisp. The roses are fantastic. Perfect beach day. But I think I'll stay inside and write. No dinosaurs legs or dragon wings on my mind today...just my characters.

But before I do, Jen over at Jen Robinson's Book Page tagged me for a Meme. I did this meme not long ago, but thought it would be fun to tagged more people. (Not sure if this is against Meme rules!)

The questions are similar, so I'll only fill in the ones that I didn't answer before. Scroll down to "I've been tagged" to get the rest of my answers...

The rules, once again, are:

1. The rules of the game get posted at the beginning.
2. Each player answers the questions about themselves.
3. At the end of the post, the player then tags 5-6 people and posts their names, then goes to their blogs and leaves them a comment, letting them know they’ve been tagged and asking them to read the player’s blog.
4. Let the person who tagged you know when you’ve posted your answer.

What were you doing ten years ago?

What are five things on your to-do list for today (not in any particular order):

1. Buy a bouquet of flowers for my daughters Brownie Leader, then pick up my daughter from Brownie Camp and ask her how her tummy feels after hurling in said Brownie Leader's car on route to first ever camp out.
2. Pop in my Kathy Smith's "Lose Weight with Weights Vol II" DVD and exercise for the first time in a week.
3. Drive home the two fourteen year old boys who have taken up residence in my home.
4. Print out the fantastic critiques from my online critique group and rework my chapters on my YA novel.
5. Look at my family's master calendar and organize the week, organize my own week and work on my fundraising mural project.

What are some snacks you enjoy?

I said chips before, but right now I'm loving sugar snap peas. Tey are so plump and sweet right now.

What would you do if you were a billionaire?

What are three of your bad habits?

I'm going to change this to good habits!
1. I eat three balanced/healthy meals a day.
2. I exercise at least three times a week (mostly!).
3. I'm very efficient and therefore, get alot done in a day.

What are five places where you have lived?

What are five jobs you have had?

What five people do you want to tag?

Writing pal Laura over at Laura's Magic Day, my new critique partner, Sarah Rettger at Archimedes Forgets, super-skilled critique partner Christine at The Simple and the Ordinary, an author with the best blog title out there(and her last name isn't bad either) Robin Palmer at Keep your glass slipper...I'd rather wear slippers, and finally, super interviewer/illustrator/ writer from my SCBWI region, Tina at Tales from the Rushmore Kid.

Living a Creative Life

2008-05-09T08:14:00.001-07:00

I have a few extra minutes this morning to take a breath and sip some coffee.
The past month has been busy, as will be the next month. But nothing makes me happier. See, the difference in being busy and happy and being busy and stressed, lies in what you're doing. Over the past decade, I've gotten pretty good at deciding what I like to do (what I'm good at) and what I hate doing (what I'm lousy at).
I know if I chose to take on a project, it's because I know, with a good amount of certainty, that it will be rewarding. I love creating things, inspiring creativity in other people/children and generally leading a creative life. Creativity is the key word.
All the things I chose to do with my life revolve around this word: writing (and revising: major creative skills needed here), teaching, entertaining, mural making, reading, fundraising, mothering (perhaps the most creative undertaking of them all!).
Oh, I know, life is filled with things we hate to do. Sure, I get that. But we still have a lot of choice in what and how we chose to live our days.
What is your key word? What inspires you to chose projects or careers? What are you fantastic at? What do you suck at? It would be fun to read about what makes you tick.

Spent last night showing my mural samples to parents at Brandon School. The response was gratifying. It's a joy for me to help beautify our school with this sea-inspired mural. Can't wait to post pictures when it's all done. Thanks Brandon!

On never assuming it's a "no"....received an email from an agent yesterday wondering if I ever received her response from a query I sent back in February. This discerning agent actually followed up with me! Of course, I hadn't received her earlier email so I was more than happy to send along a submission packet. You never know.

Just finished reading The Disreputable History of Frankie Landau-Banks. Another book where I would love to paste my title over hers. Love the cover! The book was fantastic. Jen Robinson recommended this. Very interesting 3rd person narrative. Great main character. Terrific voice. Great read, what more can I say?

This weeks goals...

2008-04-30T19:35:00.000-07:00

Tricia over at Roots in Myth does a cool thing. I've noticed it for a while now. She begins her week with a list of goals. Maybe not every week, but enough times to get me to notice. She also seems to do them. So, in honor of my critique friend, I am now creating a list of my weekly goals.
So what? you say. Truthfully, I'm not sure why anyone would care what my goals are, but reading what other people's goals are is actually inspiring to me. Makes me feel normal. Kind of like listening to Cecil Castellucci's speech at the SCBWI LA Writer's day. Hearing about her road to publication was fantastic stuff. It wasn't easy and I'm sure she made lists.
So here it goes:

Research two dream publishers and two small publishers. Then, submit my MG manuscript.
Add critique members comments to my YA novel. Rewrite chapters.
Check out the SCBWI calendar and circle interesting events.
Send cottage deck plans to contractor in PEI.
Finish reading Queen of Cool.
Paint more tiles for fundraising mural.

There. Done. My list of goals. Of course, I didn't add things like getting my kids through STAR testing week, or vowing to write down all school events on our family calendar so that maybe, just once, I won't forget things like the Mother's Day Tea or when the lunch money is due.

Hmmm. Feels pretty good. Hopefully I'll be able to cross a few of these off my list.
In the meantime, I'm going to curl up on my couch and work on #6.

The Notebook

2008-04-24T07:29:00.000-07:00

With the chaos of art shows behind me, I can now pursue writing again. I love how being forced away from your novel makes the heart grow fonder, or at least inspired. I've been getting random--and quite frequent--bouts of inspiration. While mindlessly cropping the sides of a Van Gogh inspired sunflower painting or demonstrating to kinders how to cut out a circle, they come to me. Perfect little tidbits that will surely make my novel better. Some are general. Some are character specific. These are the edits in my mind.
Now that I have two novels that I'm working on, the inspirations can sometimes get muddled. While in the moment, I'm certain that I'll remember them. After all, they're so brilliant. Ha! But as soon as I make it back to the keyboard, they vanish.
My friend, Laura, AKA BlackJack Super Babe, carries a cute little notepad with her at all times. The last time we had coffee, she pulled it out a few times to scribble down notes. Genius, I thought. "Sheesh," she said. "Just go buy one".
I think I will.

My stack of unread books on my bedside table is low. I need another fix. Think I might pop over to Chaucer's and pick up a couple of the new 2k8 novels. Not sure which one. It'll be fun to browse but does anyone have any recommendations?
I've never read Stargirl but after Patricia Gauch raved about it at the Los Angeles Writer's day, I haven't been able to get it out of my mind. The climax scene with Stargirl leading a line of congo dancers through the fields in her yellow buttercup dress. Love it.

I've been tagged...

2008-04-14T16:03:00.000-07:00

It has been a crazy week. I confessed to another teacher that I thought I was losing my mind. The school's art show that I assumed was next week was actually this week. I guess it wouldn't hurt to check the school calendar every now and then. Good thing that I at least had some parts organized. My son's high school registration required a battery of applications that I knew nothing about and they had a deadline. My children's school had their open house this week and I was unveiling my ideas for my fundraising mural. Yikes.

I was behind the eight ball, flustered and even slightly giddy at times. I wanted the week to end.

And it did.

The art show was lovely. Energetic bursts of color exploded from Mountain View School's multi-purpose room. Parents, students and teachers loved it. I sat down before the show on Thursday and selected my favorite twenty five pieces that will move onto the district show. For each piece, I wrote out a few sentences explaining why I picked that particular piece. As I wrote what I hoped to be encouraging words, I was filled with gratitude. Imagine being able to provide children with the opportunity to be expressive and creative? It puts everything into perspective.

My son confessed to me that his whole life has been building towards this moment. Becoming an engineer. I'm not worried that his application or interview or grades or course selection will be enough. He is enough and he is fabulous.

Critiques are due for my fabulous writing group and I haven't gotten to them yet. Today. Yes, today will be my day. I plan to sit at my computer all day--no all weekend!-- and write, critique and brainstorm.

But first, I just had to catch up on my blogging fix!

My blogging friend, Kim, tagged me. Actually, I think she said "meme." Not sure what it meant, but after visiting her blog, I decided that it would be fun.

OK, here we go:

Rules for the game:

1. Put these rules at the beginning of your post.

2. Then answer each question (see below) in your post.

3. Tag five people at the end, then post a comment on each of their blogs letting them know you've tagged them, and ask them to check your blog for details.

What was I doing 10 years ago?

Cutting and croppin' my way as a Creative Memories Unit Manager while bribing my two preschool-age boys with tubs of ice cream while taking orders phone orders.

Five Snacks I Enjoy:

Potato chips, Potato chips, Potato chips... oh, and steamed artichoke hearts with grated Parmesan cheese, sea salt and olive oil. Yummy.

Five things I would do if I were a billionaire:

Wow. That's too much money....hmmm. I think I'd give most of it away. Oh wait. I'd buy my hubby a boat that didn't break down at sea.

Five jobs that I have had:

Strawberry picker, Red Cross swimming/safety instructor, factory owner/beachwear designer, sales clerk and underpaid babysitter.

Three of my habits:

I'm assuming only bad habits here, right? Hmmm. Obsessive blogging, telling my kids to brush their teeth fifty times a day, drinking way too much coffee.

Five places I have lived:

1. Bunbury, Prince Edward Island 2. Montreal, Quebec 3.Toronto, Ontario 4. Pictou, Nova Scotia and 5. Santa Barbara, CA

Five people I want to get to know better (i.e) TAG!

Tricia at Roots in Myth (Tricia is in my critique group)

Jim at Haunts of a Children's Writer (Another critique group member)

Maggie at Oh, Margaret! (best writing pal)

Terry at Terry Pierce: Children's Author (a prolific writer in my SCBWI region)

Jen at Jen Robinson's Book Page (someone who's blog I read and enjoy)

Have a great weekend!

Los Angeles Writer's Day.

2008-04-13T08:57:00.000-07:00

Spent the day at the beautiful Clairbourne school in San Marino yesterday for the SCBWI Los Angeles Writer's Day.
On the drive down, I confessed to my writing friend, Maggie, that my goal for the day was to get inspired. Lately, I've been slightly anxious due to this horrendous submitting phase I'm in. I wasn't disappointed.
Patricia Gauch from Philomel gave the most wonderful, inspiring talk about writing. She let us know that over 80% of the submissions she receives don't make the emotional cut. So her talk on "Heart of a Writer" began.
She asked us to not only write about what we see, but how we interpret what it is that we see. She said that this is one of the most important factors in writing. And that telling is needed as much as showing. (Have to admit it, I've never heard that before.)
She quoted Kate DiCamillo, Laura Halse Anderson and Jerry Spinelli and spoke of their passion for their characters. She spoke of how they didn't flinch (a word she used many times) when writing the truth about their characters. In her kind, yet commanding way, Mrs. Gauch, encouraged us to go bigger, dig deeper, be sassy, and don't flinch. Give your characters values even if they don't realize they have them.
In short, I got what I wanted. Thank you Mrs. Gauch!
I could go on, but I won't because I want to get to the most exciting part of the day....
...my friend Laura won an honorable mention for her sci-fi, YA fantasy novel, Transfer Student. We were so excited! Not as much as Laura, but we were right up there with her! We've been attending these events for years now, honing our craft, working hard on revising and networking as much as we can. She deserves this so much!
It was a year ago that I won an honorable mention for my MG novel and let me tell you, I stare at my certificate every day. It's not often you get kudo's in this industry...so hates off to you Laura! Yahoo!
It felt like a long ride home. Clairbourne school has some air conditioning problems, so we were a bit drained from the heat. Maggie and I spoke about our novels, the different phases we are in and the personal struggles that come from every stage. We both decided that it's hard. Writing fiction can be taxing on your psyche. I shared with her that listening to Cecil Castellucci was both hysterical and liberating. She spoke about her publishing realities, the length of time it took her to get published and about the frustrating set backs she encountered. It felt good to know that we're not alone.
Another year...sigh.

2008-04-10T08:12:00.001-07:00

You'd think with two weeks off work that I'd have time for one measly blog post, but no such luck. My two week break went fast. It was filled with writing, researching, critiquing, kid time, house time and the biggest one of all, art show organizing.
April is art show month. The art shows are held on the same night as the Open Houses. This is when parents view an onslaught of kid-made wonders: paper mache volcano's, hand-made Egyptian artifacts, Chumash Indians dioramas and for being an interested parent, be treated to melted ice cream sundaes. Ahh, the life of a mom and dad.

But the best part, is visiting the art gallery. I chose one piece of art from the student's portfolio, dedicated parent volunteers mount the work, then it's all displayed in the multi purpose room. Walking into the sea of brightly colored masterpieces truly lifts my heart.

I often wonder when I'll be inspired to write about the journey of an art teacher, or the life of an art student. It's such a metaphor for life, really. The process of creating something, whether it be art or writing, is rejuvenating. Emotions are expressed through art, and no one does it better than kindergarten kids. As the kids get older, I stress the importance of enjoying the process and that if you do, the end result will be pleasing.

That transfers into everything in life. Especially writing. I have loved every stage of writing Greenwood Girls. It has been a passion for so long. Now that I'm in the submission stage, I can't say that I love the process, but it's part of the journey. Right?

So after a recent post about whether to critique or not to critique before a first draft is finished, I've decide that I'm absolutely on the fence. I know, so not me. Greenwood Girls was written before I offered it up for a critique, but my second novel "What Guys Want" (working title!) went straight to critique group before I was half way through. I decided that the help I received on the first few chapters resulted in decisions that will affect the entire book. I'm pretty sure this will save me from deleting hundreds of pages down the line. A very good thing!

So now, it's off to organize my art show....

Looking forward to...

2008-03-30T09:00:00.000-07:00

Took a creative break yesterday. Spent a few hours designing a new deck for our cottage in Prince Edward Island. The planning and dreaming process is the best part. I love the anticipation of going back home. Our spot is perfect for us; simple and so cottage-y. I love the white wooden walls, the screen door and the lack of technology. My cell phone doesn't work--coverage is so sparse that the battery wears down just searching for a connection.
I love resurrecting old bed sheets, colorful curtains and down-filled pillows from my current home--things that don't quite fit in with my current decor. I put it all in a box and save it for the cottage.
I traveled down to Burbank yesterday to the IKEA store. Bought some colorful duvet covers and pillows for the cottage. And a super perfect print. It reminds me so much of home. Can almost smell the salt air.

Spent another couple of hours planning and designing a ceramic tile mural that will adorn the front of my kid's elementary school. I'm organizing the fundraiser for our PTA. It's my hope that families (past, present and future) will purchase a tile and chose a design, so that it can be added to one large mural. It will be their legacy to the school. Can't wait to post some pictures of the finished project.

Creativity, fulfilled. Daydreaming, in check. Now, onto my writing....

Spring Break...

2008-03-23T07:59:00.000-07:00

The start of spring break! So much promise! I plan to catch up on my reading, which has been sidelined lately, and of course, write every day. My kids said no to camps and are looking forward to 2 weeks of down time. Couldn't be happier. I plan to see how many days go by before I have to drive my car.
To start off my reading crusade, I hopped down to Chaucer's bookstore in Santa Barbara and picked up Maggie's recommended read, Write Away, by Elizabeth George. Then, over to the children's section to browse. First stop: chapter book series. My daughter loved the first book in the series, Ivy and Bean, so I picked up book 2 and 3.
I stumbled upon a middle grade book, The Mysterious Case of the Allbright Academy by Diane Stanley. I have to admit, I buy anything with "academy" written in the title. It helps me visualize what my first book might look like. The cover of this book is quite appealing too. I might just cut and paste "Greenwood Academy" on the cover, set the book up in front of my computer and visualize the release of my first book!
Next, I picked up The Rules of Survival by Nancy Werlin. Heard much about this book and looking forward to a good, hearty read.
Finally, I picked up my copy of Opposite of Invisible by Liz Gallagher. Liz is one of the contributers to Through the Tollbooth, the great writing for kids blog. I've been waiting to read this and so far, have not been disappointed. The writing is beautiful. It's not a big book, so I suspect I'll be finished tonight. It's good.

Neil arrives home today after an eight day trip to Israel. He was able to finish his work duties early enough to tour Jerusalem. Can't wait to hear all about it.

Spring has been kind to us in sunny, Southern California. Took the kids to the beach yesterday (Campus Point) and was shocked to see the sand had all been washed away. It's amazing what a winter can do to our beaches. More amazing is how much sand is actually needed to cover the boulders that had been unearthed. And I'm sure there was a dead animal somewhere, because the place stunk. So for all of you still suffering through winter, the grass is not always greener!
(although, I know some of you would prefer rotting carnage to slush and ripping winds.)

To Critique or Not to Critique....

2008-03-20T08:29:00.000-07:00

I'm curious. Does it make sense to critique a work-in-progress novel chapter by chapter? Or should the writer hunker down and pound out that first draft without any outside influence?

I've done it both ways. Greenwood Girls was written in about a year. 55K words with little characterization, few atmospheric details and a sketchy plot. But when I typed "The End", I seriously thought it was a masterpiece. I printed it and hauled it to my first writer's retreat. Three lovely people read it and guided me through my first critique session. I soaked up everything. I was absolutely astounded how complete strangers (how did they get inside my head?) could actually think up better plot problems than me. I mean, I was the author! A year later, after rewriting and more critiquing , my novel got better. Three years later, I actually love my novel again but know, with a fair amount of certainty, that revisions might never end.
My next novel, The Susannah Summer did not have the luxury of being written from beginning to end. After the first chapter was written, I passed it in for a critique. The comments were awesome, but for some reason, I haven't made it past chapter 5. The comments made me questions things prematurely. I didn't know how to fix things because the story wasn't developed yet.
I suspect that as an artist, one must create before one can analyze.
I have a few writer friends who I know think along the same lines. We prefer to type away organically and let the characters speak to us. Some prefer to map things out and get feedback every step of the way.
I tried this approach with my third work-in-progress, What Guys Want. I mapped out my plot, did some characterization, had an idea of how I wanted to write it, and so far, it's been fun. And frustrating. I'm half way through the book and just recently received comments for my first three chapters. At first, I was thinking that i might never get through the first draft, but the critiques helped me think of better ways the story might be told. Maybe this way, I will have to revise the final first draft less.
Now that would be fun!
I would love your opinions. Obviously, either way is right if it's right for the author. but, just curious!

A Tale of Two Manuscripts...

2008-03-13T07:54:00.000-07:00

My friend Maggie has been struggling lately. I don't think it's writer's block but she has definitely been blocked by something. Motivation? Maybe. Time? Possibly. We talk about it over coffee at Strabucks. She narrows down the possible problems. Plot heads the list.
I love her story. It has great possibilities but I finally know what Maggie is going through.
You all know that I'm in the last phases of revisions with my novel Greenwood Girls. I love this story. It's everything I've ever wanted to read. I think tween girls everywhere will like it. (So maybe I'm a bit delusional but it keeps me going!) It's been nothing but a thrill every time I sit down at my computer and hammer out a new scene, or a tweaked scene or even delete a scene. It's fun.
But I can honestly say, I don't quite have the same zest for my work-in-progress novel. I use the same motivational tools for this novel as I did for Greenwood Girls; the display boards, the notebooks on back story and character sketches, etc. But it's not the same.
I submitted the first chapter to my new critique group. Let's just say they were kind. Just like Maggie had done in some past revisions, I got stuck on tenses. Some parts of the chapter were written in first person present, some not. Man! I swear this has been the most difficult thing to overcome. I've never suffered from tense confusion before so why now?
I can still see Maggie, her head lowered and, in a quite eloquent way, said that she felt like an idiot for slipping in and out of 1st person. I feel your pain, Mags.
Anyways, I think it's because I haven't decided how to tell my story. The Great Val Hobbs, my esteemed writing teacher, says this is something that needs to be decided straight off. I think she's right. Do I want Ainsley to tell the story as if it already happened? Do I tell the story as Ainsley experiences it? I think I need to step back and figure it out. Any suggestions?

My friend just dropped off the most beautiful invitation to the 1st Annual Literary Ball sponsored by The Junior League of Santa Barbara. My good friend, Rachael Steidl, of SBParent.com is being honored as Woman of the Year for her philanthropic contributions to our community. Way to go Rachael! If you want to attend, check out the JLSB website for more info.
Just a bit of back story on what the JLSB did last year. The provisional group (the JL newbies) rallied together and solicited manpower and funds to completely renovate a downtown library, focusing on establishing a children's and young adult section. Most certainly something to celebrate.

On a personal note...remember the shoes? Okay. Not such a great idea. By 11pm (way early in Vegas time) my feet had a thousand blisters. Man, they were sore. I think I'm wearing too many flip flops and running shoes. My mother would cringe.

Vegas, though, was fantastic. Strange land, I must say. I had no idea the entire city was meant to be enjoyed inside. I was expecting a Palm Springs setting with palms trees and lush gardens but instead found cars, concrete and lots of strangely decorated hotels. We had a blast and it was fun celebrating Darcy's 40th in grand style.

Now that my blog entry is done, I can sit back and read my critique groups comments in depth. Isn't it an amazing feeling to know someone is giving their time for your benefit? I love the children's lit circle!

Busy Days

2008-03-05T20:03:00.000-08:00

Any other year, this week would have been reserved as a writing week. It's a "half-day" week at the schools where I teach (parent-teacher conferences). This gives the specialists a mini vacation. But instead of writing away, I accepted an offer to teach art classes at my son and daughter's elementary school. It's been so fun! I took a ton of pictures and plan on uploading them onto my art blog Deep Space Sparkle ... after I get home from Las Vegas...

...so that's another thing. My husband and I are flying to Vegas on Friday to celebrate my friends 40th. We'll be attending a cocktail party at The Bellagio then we'll slip in to see Cirque du Soliel's "O". So much fun I can hardly stand it. I even bought a swanky pair of shoes to wear! Cute, huh?
My writing pal, Laura, is making a stop in Santa Barbara tomorrow. We go to many of the SCBWI workshops together and love the time we get to chat up books and writing. Laura is also a coordinator for the SCBWI Santa Barbara/Ventura chapter. Cool, busy gal!

Tomorrow I'll be making my first submission to my new online critique group. I've never participated in a critique online but can't wait to jump in. I've been reading some of my new critique partners websites and blogs. They all sound like amazing folks. I feel very lucky to be a part of this group! Thanks guys!

It feels like March is off to a rocky writing start...I wanted to have 25K words of my new novel finished. I only have 15K. But the month is not over yet, is it? Looking forward to a spring break...two weeks of solid writing. No trips, shoes, art classes. Just me and my characters.

Revisions: How much is too much?

2008-03-02T08:58:00.000-08:00

I just read something in a blog about revisions. The discussion was aimed at how much can you revise your manuscript before you suck the life out of your story. I'm starting to feel that way. I've revised the beginning third of my book so much that every time I read it, it feels like a new story. I continue to love my story but thankfully, I'm aware that the insanity must stop. At least until an editor suggests something new....
So now that I've put the first third of my book to bed, so to speak, I'm onto the next parts.
Now I'm focusing on the middle and the ending. Oh, it's been revised before, but not the detailed revisions that include sentence structure, elimination of words and the biggest one for me, emotional consistency.
I love this part of the revision process. Love the tweaking and feel pretty good about the story. But now I need a good critique. This is the time when I start thinking about workshops. I missed Robin LaFever's Plot workshop in San Luis Obispo yesterday due to well, having three kids all in need of mom time. Working on my plot unfortunately had to take back seat to Girl Scout cookies, science projects and camp packing lists. It's hard writing while working and raising a family. Never said that before, but there it is. I find it hard to juggle sometimes. Whew. That felt good.
Anyway...back to workshops. The discussion on our local SCBWI list serve has been Chautauqua. It's a week long (and pricey) workshop that focuses on quality time with distinguished authors, editors, etc. I'd love to go. I heard they offered scholarships.
My friend, Maggie has been to a workshop in Oregon. She had pretty good things to say about it and even got a request from an agent (or an editor?) to submit work once she's ready. I think that's why we all go to these workshops. To hopefully catch someone's eye.
I went to Big Sur last November and loved it. I was lucky enough to be in one of Ellen Hopkin's group. She gave me a 5 minute critique and I swear, everything she said, I heard. Really thought about. The following week, I applied her suggestions to my novel.
Next week, I'm teaching art at my daughter and son's school. Because it's parent conference week, I don't teach at my other schools. I'm looking forward to it but requires some planning. I'll be stepping into an empty classroom with no art supplies or even drying racks. Yikes.
Then at the end of the week, I'm off to Vegas. Yup. I've been a Vegas Virgin up until this point and always thought that I'd go through life without going there. But friendship rules. One of my best gal pals is turning 40 and she's celebrating with a posh cocktail party at Bellagio for 12 of her best couple friends. We're going to have FUN! I am quite certain that'll they'll be no revision time next weekend.

Feeling good...thanks to Mom

2008-02-21T07:51:00.000-08:00

Both my mother and my mother-in-law were women wise beyond their nutritional years. Both were aware of the dangers of food additives, had daily vitamin regimes, and fed their children spoonfuls of cod liver oil. My mom practiced yoga in the early 1970's (Kareem Zebroff, anyone?). I grew up watching her move from down dog to eagle pose in front of our 12" black and white TV. She made blueberry muffins with wheat germ and whole wheat flour when no one in our community had ever seen or heard of muffins before.
My husband's mother was similar. She was a huge follower of Adelle Davis's books and practiced vitamin enrichment whenever she could. My husband fondly remembers slurping down the tiger shake his mother would whip up before he and his 5 siblings would go off to school. If contained stuff that would make today's kids gag. Homemade yoghurt, breads and an never-ending supply of fresh vegetables would adorn her table. His dad raised pigs. Not his primary job, but it was a good side business. Did you know that fresh bacon is grey not pink. I didn't either. Yummy.
These ladies knew the importance of diet. Not just any diet but a diet chock full of root veggies, whole grain products, non-animal proteins, etc. They raised us well. This is what I think of every time I feed my kids something from a box. This is what I think of every time I contemplate ordering take-out instead of boiling up a pot of carrots and potatoes.
I usually keep these thoughts to myself. My friends would argue that mothers are much busier today than in our mother's time. To that, I say...well, let's just say I don't agree. I believe my primary job as a mom, is to establish good eating habits for my kids now. To keep their taste buds innocent and free from the dark side that is fried foods, high fructose corn syrup and soft, mushy starches. Have I suceeded? No way.
Last month I signed up for Bob Greene's Best Life diet. My initial motivation was to lose a few pounds. I really got into the plan. I began to exercise more, switched out potato chips in favor of unsalted raw almonds, and started to measure my food portions. The longer I stayed on the food plan, the more I realized how far I strayed from my mom's vision.
Now, whole grains are back on my family's daily menu, meats are consumed once or twice a week, chicken has been rediscovered and sweets are an occasional treat. (Treat, being the important word here.)
I'm feeling great. I've lost weight. My kids are not complaining. I think mom would be pleased.
It only takes a little planning each day. The trappings of fast foods and frozen meals from Costco only happen because we don't know what else to do. I've been there.
My mom always said, "As long as you have porridge in the house (hot oatmeal for you Americans), you'll never go hungry."

New York '07

2008-02-14T08:19:00.000-08:00

It was a year ago that I packed up my warmest coat/sweater and headed east...to New York City and to my first SCBWI Winter Conference. (Here is my blog post from that conference. )I remember being a bundle of nerves. Not sure if spending a $1000 for the development of my writing career was worth it. The writing intensive on Friday was the reason why I went. It was the first time it was held. 150 writers of picture books, middle grade and young adult fiction met in groups of 8 to read 500 words of their manuscript. Each group was facilitated by either an agent or an editor. It wasn't clearly defined what 500 words to bring...either a synopsis, 1st two pages, or somewhere in the middle. After beginning the sessions, it was clear that only the first 500 words of your story mattered. Selecting something from the middle raised too many questions and then, poof, your fifteen minutes were gone, spent explaining what the hell your story was about.
For my first session, I read my first 2 pages. The writers in my group were kind (and talented) and offered the same high caliber critiques I was used to getting from my writing group. Many liked the premise. Some pointed out strangely worded sentences. The editor didn't have too much to say (she was very sweet and I think somewhat nervous of hurting our feelings). But she did say something that stuck with me. She said in a high-concept novel like mine, I had to be careful that my main character didn't get lost.
I thought about this comment for a long time. I agreed with her right away. I knew it was my weakness. Developing my novel about a small town gymnast navigating her way through a boarding school for aspiring Olympians took many years. Plot, pacing, secondary characters, internal and external motivation, etc, took time. Left: This picture is hysterical! I found it on the SCBWI website...it was taken during my first session. To say I had a slight case of anxiety is an understatement.

But since the conference a year ago, I have focused my energies on learning how to get more of my character into the novel. It hasn't been easy for me. I've struggled a bit with my third person POV choice, but felt very strongly that the novel had to be written this way. It has since developed into close third, which is something I'm still refining. Most of all, I've been looking for ways to layer in brush strokes and character nuances. It's not easy especially since I just finished Book of a Thousand Days and absolutely loved the main character. What a role model! What a girl! I cheered for her from day one. It is very hard to do what Shannon Hale has done...not that I think I should be at her level. I'm so not. But I can try.
I think back to my session with Jennifer Hunt, when she spoke about Twilight, Story of a Girl and Diary of a Part-Time Indian. She certainly has the ability to pick successful books! She invited us to submit, which I never did. I still can. The invitation expires this month. But I'm not sure of my book is a match for her list.
I would love to go back to the New York conference. Maybe next year. The Los Angeles Summer Convention occurs during a time when I'm lounging on my cottage deck in PEI. There is no way, I'm hopping on a plane back to LA then. Not when there's lobsters to eat and golf to be played.
So Greenwood Girls continues to be revised, even as agents consider it. (Yes! I've done it...started the submission process!).
So maybe next year. New York City. Anyone in?

Working my way through the agonizing submission process

2008-02-07T06:06:00.000-08:00

Most of the time, I consider myself a fairly motivated person. When I want something done, I do it. If I want to lose weight, I do it (although, I really have to want too). If something isn't making me happy, I change it. You get the idea.

Writing shouldn't be any different. And for a while it wasn't. When I decided to write a novel, I did. When it came time to revise , I signed up for classes, retreats and workshops and revised. I loved critiques and valued the imput. But now that I have a completed novel, I'm lost.

I've dabbled with a few agent requests, mailed off a partial to maybe one editor and participated in SCBWI contests (received an HM in one, which was a HUGE thrill). All good things, but something is holding me back. It's so hard to take the next step.

So, in honor of my go-getter attitude, I've compiled a list of what motivates me.

Reading the Verla Kay message boards (Good News! posts only, otherwise I get bogged down with doubt).

Reading any book on writing. They always make it sounds so easy. My favorites: On Writing by Stephen King, Writing the Breakout Novel (workbook) by Donald Maass, Crafting Stories for Children by Nancy Lamb, and Story by Robert McKee.
Reading about the recent sales of middle grade and young adult novels (J.E. Who me? does a monthly compilation in her Livejournal blog). There is nothing that gets me fired up more than learning who has sold a novel.
Staring at my visual boards and browsing through my notebooks. I create visual for my stories and although the purpose is to aid in my writing, they also inspire me. Puts me straight into my character's head. Here is the link to my previous post on how to make one for your story.

Critique groups. I love critiques, especially when an idea is presented and I immediatly see how I can incorporate it into the novel. I try most everything I understand. The ones I don't understand requires a great deal of thought, research, reading and analysis. Usually in the end, I get it and my story is better for it. My current critique group has been dormant the last few months. Maybe that's one of my problems...I need my critique group! Val? Laura? Maggie? Where are you?

Reading blogs about other writers in the same boat. My favorites are listed on the side panel. We all struggle with something. My writing pal, Maggie struggles with plot. I struggle with creating emotional depth in my characters. Others struggle with word count...just getting the damn story down. Some writers I know struggle with revisions and not wanting to do them. We all have something and there is comfort in that.

Reading great books. I'm reading Book of a Thousand Days by Shannon Hale right now. I love it and I'm only on the third chapter. Reading Speak by Laurie Halse Anderson was literally a treat. Seriously, as good as a huge bowl of french vanilla ice cream with home-made hot fudge sauce.

Oprah. I love the features of living your best life. I watch her while making dinner for my family. I was so motivated by her recent Best Life Challenge that I, of course, took it. I logged on to Bob Greene's Bestlife website and committed $60 to the pursuit of living my best life. Sure, I had a few pounds to lose but more importantly my goal was to increase my physical fitness and reduce my dependancy on ice cream and chips. As a writer, my free time is spent sitting down. I have been using that excuse not to exercise. Bestlife encourages me to exercise even when I don't think I have the time. It's fanatastic and I've steadily lost weight, been eating very well and really do have more energy. That's how I got up a 5am to write in this blog.

There you have my list of all-time goal boosters. Things that focus me. Inspire me. Will help me get my manuscruipt out....scary.

On the flip side, however, there is only one thing that is a complete downer for me. One measly question. So, how's your book coming?

What motivates you? Or not?

Films and Books...Same Rules Apply

2008-02-03T10:11:00.000-08:00

I had the opportunity to attend a few events and films at the recent Santa Barbara Film Festival. My friend Rachael, founder/President/superwoman of SBParent.com was a sponsor, so as a friend in good standing, I lucked out. We went to the Virtuoso Award night and sat in the audience listening to Casey Affleck, Amy Ryan, Ellen Page, Marion Cotillard and James McAvoy talk about their roles in this year's hot movies.
Neil and I had planned on attending the screenwriters presentation but unfortunately, the panel (including Juno's Diablo Cody) fell sick and thus had to cancel. Instead of heading home, we ran down State Street just in time to catch the opening of one of The Counterfeiters. The film transported the viewers to Nazi-era Germany. I had planned on analyzing the film for character development, plot lines, etc. but soon forgot my mission. I was completely immersed into the story (almost reluctantly, due to the mere setting). Neil and I walked out of the theater a bit traumatized. Exactly what the director wanted, I'm sure.

A bit later in the week, I hauled my 14 year old son out of school (a first) to see three short films about teenagers. One was a documentary but the other two were shorts. The differences in the two were striking. One told a story simply, without fuss. It was powerful. The other used gimics, had strained dialog and strayed from the story. Although it had a compelling story, the delivery was distracting. Watching these two different styles of film making got me thinking about my own manuscript and novels I love to read.

The ones I love stick to the story. I don't remember where I heard this recently, but someone said it's only about the story. Period. Even Stephen King spoke about dressing dialogs up too much in his book On Writing. Sometimes I struggle with word choices, dialog and sentence structure. I worry too much whether someone will think the writing good enough. Do I have any cool metaphors? What about interested, non-cliche similes? My book should be packed with these, right? I'm not sure. When I start to worry, my writing becomes worse. Although at the time I think it's wonderful. Usually it all gets deleted in the end.

So from now on, keeping the less than stellar short film in mind, I will now carry forth by using plain, simple, real language. I say it like it's easy. But I'll try.

Countdown to Beijing!

2008-01-29T21:07:00.000-08:00

Talking about figure skating has got me thinking about the upcoming Beijing Olympics in August. I still can't believe that it was four years ago that I watched Carly Patterson win the gold in Athens. I remember wishing at the time that my book was published. I thought the Olympic tie-in would be very timely. Four years later, I'm still thinking the same thing.
It used to be that television was the best place to watch gymnastics, but today, it seems like the computer is. I watched the entire World Gymnastic Championships via my home computer last Fall. It was fantastic not only seeing gold medalist Shawn Johnson win the title but lesser known gymnasts as well. I watched the competition relatively unedited. Always a beef when watching the Olympics.
I've been watching Olympic gymnastics since 1976. And no, it wasn't Nadia that I connected with but Karen Kelsall from Canada. She was just 13 when she competed in Montreal. The age requirements have changed significantly since then. Now gymnasts (and figure skaters) have to turn 16 in the year of the Olympics.
I don't remember much of Karen's routines, but I do remember what she looked like the moment she began her bar routine. She was running around, adjusting the mats, talking with her coach and generally looking like it was just another training day and not the all-around finals at the Olympics.
She seemed to be having so much fun.
I wanted to have that much fun, too. So, the next day, I retrieved a fairly large 2" x 6" from the wood pile, placed it between two sawhorses and began my life long love of gymnastic.
I've been a huge fan ever since and every four years, I find myself glued to the television watching great Olympic moments.
Best moment ever? 1992 Barcelona Olympics. All-Around finals. Shannon Miller's fabulous 9.975 vault securing the silver medal in the closest second place finished in Olympic history. I literally jumped from my chair when she stuck her landing. I loved her. She embodied great gymnastics. Dedication. Grace. Style. Power. technique. Hitting it when it counts.
Such a great sport.

Fourteen and too young for Worlds

2008-01-27T08:04:00.001-08:00

What's the world coming too? Or at least the world of figure skating? Being a 14 year old national champion doesn't get you a trip to Worlds anymore. Well, they haven't for a couple of years now, but I can still complain, right? Take little Marai Nagasu, who took home the top prize in last night's senior ladies competition. She floated through her dance elements like a polished ballerina--of the quality usually reserved for more experienced skaters. She flew through her jumps, torquing her twists at such a speed that it was hard to tell she ever left the ice. Truth is, there's not much gravity holding her back. At 4' 11' (the height of my protagonist Dree, my fourteen year old gymnast) it might seem easy, but I bet it's hard to gain that much speed when your legs are only as big as twigs. But this is what impressed me the most. She fell in her opening double axle, then rebounded and skated her remaining program without a mistake. Flawless. Beautiful. Exquisite. The qualities of a much older competitor. Afterwards, in the kiss and cry area, she confessed that she was a bit perturbed that she fell and thought it "stupid" so she "attacked" the rest of her program. Good for her! What a star! That's what William (my fourteen year old junior skating champion) would have said in the same situation. "That was bloody stupid!".
It was fun seeing Charlene Wong as Marai's coach. Charlene was the perpetual silver medalist in Canadian figure skating circuit for most of the eighties. I loved her tenacity and always wanted her to break through a take the title, but it didn't happen. Now, she coaches champions. Good for her.
If you missed any of the action last night, check out the ice network for great videos of the competition.
I'll be busy with my manuscript trying to sneak in a scene of William training. Now THAT should be fun!

Speak and Skating...two current obessions.

2008-01-24T08:11:00.001-08:00

Been heavy on the writing and reading lately. Went to the book store to find one of the books I was planning to read (Opposite of Invisible) but had to order it. Instead, picked up Speak by well, everyone knows who. Read it in a couple of sittings. Good lord. How did she do that? What a fantastic book.
I went back over it many times, re-reading my favorite parts. I particularly loved the art teacher's role. As an artist, I understand the healing powers of working through a piece of art. Starting it, reworking it, changing colors, switching mediums, tearing it up and starting again. Maybe that's why revisions aren't that scary for me. Nothing can be created in just one sitting.
I loved the annoying friendship with Heather...we all have met these girls. It got me thinking about how my own characters are defined in Greenwood Girls. I think they're all unique, different, talented, etc. but how different are they really. Are they stereotypes? I'm not sure I've done all I can to really develop these characters, especially since they are athletes-and good ones at that.
So, I'm back to revising Greenwood Girls. Changing up dialog, creating tension, deepening the emotional responses. Will it ever be done?

The US Figure Skating Championships are on this weekend. I'm looking forward to catching some new skating stars. Haven't seen any new faces in a while, so I'm anxious to see what this year holds.

Alissa Czisny is one of my current favorites. Maybe it's because she looks so much like my character, William Spenser. Except Alyssa looks very sweet. William is a little edgier.
I'm sure we'll see her in this weeks Nationals.

2008 Book List Part II

2008-01-17T08:39:00.001-08:00

I just finished reading Storky by Debra Garfinkle. Great book. It's written from a fourteen year old boy's perspective and it is surprisingly similar to the manuscript I'm working on now. Really. It is written in diary form (so is mine), has an elderly mentor (so does mine) and the situations feel surprisingly familiar. I guess high school drama unites those who write for teens. Pick it up!

The next book on my bedside table is Theodosia and the Serpent of Chaos, Robin La Fevers. Great title and great book (visually speaking). My mother-daughter book club was planning on reading this but then I had to drop out because my 13 year old son was requiring a great deal of support in his first year of junior high (AKA Year from Hell). So, it's been sitting on my bookshelf waiting for the perfect moment to read it to my daughter. Since she's heavy into Magic Tree House right now, I've decided to move on and read this book myself.

Now onto a newbie. The Opposite of Invisible by debut author Liz Gallagher. She's also a blogger on Through the Tollhouse, a great writing blog for those pursuing writing for kids/teens. It's one of my favorite blogs because of all of the fantastic writing nuts and bolts. I think the contributors are all Vermont College MFA graduates. The book looks great and I love reading what's new out there.

So there are my next three books. The first three didn't disappoint and I'm sure these won't either!

Santa Barbara, teens and golf...

2008-01-13T11:31:00.000-08:00

Santa Barbara is the setting of my latest novel, What Guys Want (working title). It tells the story of Ainsley, who is desperately trying to get out from under her disgraced golf phenom sister's shadow. The fun thing is that it's based in Santa Barbara, featuring courses I've played on and schools my kids attend (or will attend Dos Pueblos!).

Originally based on my junior high diary while growing up in Prince Edward island, the novel has been somewhat difficult to envision. When writing about golf as a teen, my memory bank thinks summer. In California, golf means any time of the year. Writing about the winter carnival dance, my memory serves up a slice of slush-filled mules instead of open-toes sandals.

So why didn't I make PEI the setting? It has something to do with being too familiar and unless I want to make an historical fiction novel of growing up in the 70's, I needed a little distance. Already, the first draft has left me weeping in places. Grade nine and ten were painful years for me, filled with lots of anguish over friends and boys. Remembering some of the events left me scrambling. Did it really happen the way my diary said it did? Could that really have happened to me?

At times, I've had to stop because the memories left me feeling a bit down. And any of you who know me, know that's not a desired state of being for me. I'm all about capturing the joy in life, right? Well, this story has alot of that but lots of anguish, too. I'm really loving the creative, totally organic nature of writing a first draft. There's nothing you can do wrong. Just write and see where the characters take you. fun.

Motivation in the face of distraction

2008-01-10T09:55:00.000-08:00

After two weeks of writing heaven, I'm back at work. Not that teaching 400 kids the beauty of art is bad, but it means I must be very efficient with my free time.

My kids are great. We all arrive home around 3pm, catch up for a few minutes, then scatter. This leaves me about two hours of free time before dinner prep begins.
Oh, what to do?
I write. Or blog surf. Or download pictures onto my art blog. Of course, the first one is what I should be doing. Especially if my goal of landing an agent or editor is achieved this year. But sometimes it's hard to focus. I've come up with a strategy for eliminating the distractions.
Visuals.
Sounds simple, but here's the thing. I'm a visual person. I like perusing blogs and downloading art pictures because the images inspire me. So I try to make my writing projects visual. No, I don't write picture books, nor illustrate them. So how do I make my projects visual?
Character boards. I posted a link a while ago showing my boards. Check them out. Here's how to make one:

Decide whether you want a notebook or a poster that hangs on your wall. If you want a poster, go to your local craft store and buy a piece of foam core (that stuff that kids use for science projects). It's great because not only can you tape and glue pictures onto it, you can also tack them on. Trim it to the appropriate size with an exacto knife or hack away with scissors. Neatness doesn't count here.

Thumb through the latest Teen Vogue, Girls Life or even American Girl Magazine for images that capture your protagonist and her slew of friends. (Don't have any recommendations for Boys...even though I have boys. Sad, I know.) Paste them in a notebook along with clippings of clothes your character might wear, jewelry, what their bedroom looks like, favorite quotes, favorite snacks, etc.

Get colorful. Nothing is more boring than black and white. Get out highlighters, markers and even those fancy stickers and have fun!

Ultimately, your characters should be treated like your children and everyone has scrapbooks of their children, right???

My second project, Ainsley Archer/What Boys Want/Hopelessly Untitled, is the story about a sister of a disgraced junior golf phenom who is desperately trying to get out from under her sister's mega dark shadow. This is story that will appeal to hip, boy crazy teens as well as provide a glimpse into the world of high school golf. So for my "Ainsley" scrapbook, I've also searched for articles in golf magazines. Part research/part inspiration, I compiled teen golf interviews, pictures of beautiful golf courses, etc.
This is what motivates me. Flipping through my scrapbooks or glancing at my posters immediately places me in the book. I want to know what happens next. I can't wait to write about it. Even if I have thirty minutes, I'll do the same thing. Thirty minutes is better than nothing.

Book list for 2008

2008-01-05T09:24:00.000-08:00

I just finished reading "Atonement" by Ian McEwan. Wow. It's been a while since I read an actual adult novel as most of my reading usually is from the middle grade/young adult genre. I enjoyed the beauty of this book, the stringing together of the characters lives--their conflicts and desires. The scenes capturing England's battle against the Germans transported me instantly. The sensory details, as you can imagine when writing about war, were raw, powerful and in many cases, just plain sad. It's been a while since I shed a few tears over a novel. The ending of this book, had me sitting in silence, weeping, for about five minutes. Read it.

So, Atonement begins my 2008 reading list. Luxe by Anna Godbersen is next. If that captures my attention, and I finish it, then it's onto Storky by Debra Garfinkle (She was a guest author at the 2007 Big Sur Writing Conference, and lucky for me, my one-on-one consultant. She was quite nice and helpful BTW).

I have a whole shelf of novels waiting to be read. Some I've already started and can't quite get into. I remember Lisa Yee at the 2007 Los Angeles Writer's Day saying that she gives herself permission to put down a book she's not interested in. I silently cheered, because I do it all the time. But I don't want to. I want to give the author the time and respect they deserve and read the whole dang thing. I also try to remember that the books I read are meant for a much younger audience. So by keeping this in mind, I vow to read every book I commit to cover-to-cover. We'll see if that works.

Crochet and Guitar Hero III...who knew?

2007-12-30T12:06:00.000-08:00

After wishing them well, my husband and boys headed to Sierra Summit for their annual Christmas ski trip. That meant "girls-only" weekend with my daughter. What to do first???
Well, after returning a few gifts, dining out and getting our nails done, we were bored.
We returned home, stared at each other for a while then had a random thought. "Let's try that guitar thing Tate got for Christmas." Elly groaned. We had already "tried" it under Tate's tutorial but bombed. Neither one of us could get one freakin' note. Deciding that we hated it forever, we didn't think it would be much better this time around. But we were game to try.
But, alas, I struck a few notes and was hooked. Mind you I'm still on the beginner set, but I couldn't get off. The songs are from my rock and roll days...not that I ever had one, but you know, Pat Benatar, Kiss, etc.
Unfortunately, I rocked a bit too hard, scaring Elly with my strong vocals in "Hit me with your best shot". I gave it a rest...only to pick up something new Saturday morning.
Elly and I headed over to our craft store, picked up a few skeins of yarn. It was time to teach my daughter how to crochet. Not that I knew how. A quick google got me what I needed. Beginner crochet lessons. Memories of my grandmother teaching me how to make granny squares flooded back, and soon I was making my chain stitch, double crochet stitch and even a round thingy. Yoo-hew! I was on fire. Step back a bit. The Elly part of this equation was frustrated to no end. So after a few teary sessions, we got out her knitting needles and she started on a scarf.
So here we were, Saturday evening, crochet-ing and knitting wildly. We even had dinner, finger food style. Two rockin', knittin' chicks.
Can't say that they will be my new hobbies, but it was great learning something new, taxing my brain (in the guitar hero sense) and having fun with my daughter.
As with every year, no New Years Eve mantras or resolutions for me. I plan to keep doing what I'm doing, adding the occasional splash of color from a new yarn or belting out a new song.

Kicking around on Shutterfly

2007-12-27T10:40:00.000-08:00

I love photobooks. The digital equivalent to scrapbooking, minus the decorative stickers and 3-D memorabilia. I used to love scrapbooking (was a unit manager for Creative Memories and even spoke at the National Convention one year...now that was FUN. Seriously.) But the ease of downloading pictures from your camera to a photo site and then uploading them to an album is just to delicious to ever go back to the momentous job/undertaking/herculean feat of creating the old bulky heirlooms.
I've been creating my 2007 family album between my revision spurts, and let me say, we had a great year. Our cottage in Prince Edward Island is truly the best thing that has ever happened to me. Just thinking about it makes me smile and reminisce. I love the squeak of the screen door and how it bangs shut, the smell of wild strawberries on the path to the beach and above all, the gentle lapping of the sea. Someday, I'll write a story set on The Island. And her name won't be Anne.

Early mornings

2007-12-22T08:13:00.000-08:00

I've been getting up early these past few weeks. Spending an hour or so taking in the smell and beauty of my Christmas tree while writing. I've accumulated my notes from the Big Sur weekend and have begun sorting, thinking and adjusting my manuscript. I get so dang pumped during these revisions. I love this story and it's just getting better. I'm adding more brush strokes; wonderful characterization details and simplifying my dialog (I had a few comments at Big Sur suggesting the girls' dialogue sounded too formal). It's been fun although, after this round of revisions, I need to get it out there.
This is the worst part of writing a novel...heeding editors advice by not sending out the manuscript until it's ready. That's a bit hard for a writer to judge...at least objectively. We have to listen carefully to the comments we receive from our critique groups, workshop participants and friends and weed out the compliments. We need to search for the truly valuable comments, fix what is really posing problems in the novel then, yikes, decide for ourselves.
My plan is to continue to rise early, take in the beauty of my house and rewrite until it feels right.
And for the realistic side of me, I intend to give myself a deadline and get this story off to a couple of editors who will love it.
Happy Christmas to all my two dozen blog readers....I'll be back after the big day!

Writing in third person

2007-12-15T09:40:00.000-08:00

I have a little over 150 books on my shelf. They are the middle grade and young adult books I have read in the last couple of years. Out of all of them, only 1/3 are written in third person.
Not surprising. Most of the writers I know chose first person as their choice POV. At the Big Sur Writing Workshop, most of the participants had first person stories. and the list goes on.
I don't think it's easier to write first person. Your character is right out there in the open, nothing to hide behind, so she better be appealing. With third person, there's a slight buffer. I chose third person to write my story, Greenwood Girls. Mind you, I tried first person once but it was suffocating. My protagonist was everywhere. I felt I needed distance. Third person was a perfect solution. GG's is about a athletic boarding school, like today's national training centers, but this school has secrets. It's another character in the book, and in many ways acts like the antagonist.
So why am I struggling?
Mostly, I have it down. The setting and the cast of characters are both good. But I still need work on my main character. I've had many critiques and most say the same thing. Or at least I think I hear the same thing; great concept but they want to see Dree a bit more.
It's not easy. Achieving the prefect balance between interior monologue (that is actually useful to the story) and dialog/action is tough. I refer to books to help me with this; Chicks with Sticks is the latest 3rd person book that I'm reading. Olive's Ocean and The Callahan Cousins are two others that I refer to. The Sisterhood of the Travelling pants is another. I look for how the author balances the quiet spaces between dialogue and action.

Editor Cheryl Klein often speaks about the art of writing in her blog Brooklyn Arden. Last week, she wrote this:
Also something I was thinking of reading a couple recent submissions: If your manuscript is in third-person limited POV, take one chapter, cut out all of the internal monologue, and stick it in a drawer for a week. Then go back and see how much of that monologue really absolutely HAS to be in the scene for said scene to make sense. The reason I say this is because internal monologue very, very easily slides into redundancy or telling, and it can also very easily slow up a scene (especially a dialogue scene, if the narrator thinks something after every line).

Good advice. I try most everything writers, editors, writing friends request. I still look for tips on hope to make my third person voice stronger. Any other advice out there?

Seizing the Day...

2007-12-10T10:56:00.000-08:00

My daughter came down with a wicked case of stomach flu...fever, aches, constant upset stomach...all makings for a horrible day. I kept her home from school and cancelled my art classes (a bit bummed...I was planning on doing my Gustav Klimt lesson!). The day was cold, windy and generally unseasonable for Santa Barbara.

Elly was quite depressed because she was supposed to have been in the Christmas Parade later on. It would have been her first time and after many years of seeing her brothers in the parade , she was looking forward to her turn. She settled on the couch and began watching Tivo'd episodes of Hannah Montana.

Since I had planned on going to work that day, I didn't feel pressed to get anything done. So I grabbed three books off my shelf and sat next to Elly. I turned off the TV and read the first chapter from each novel. I asked her to chose which one was her favorite. She chose "Ella Enchanted". I was glad. I had read this book years ago and loved Gail Carson Levine's retelling of Cinderella.

I turned on our fireplace and began reading. The book has a great realoud quality and before I knew it, Elly snuggled next to me. She was like a little hot water bottle pressing up against me, keeping us both toasty warm and utterly happy.

I used to read novels to my kids all the time. They were like magic when the kids were irritable, soothing them with the sound of my voice. I still remember my little boys draped across my lap like little puppies. We read "Charlotte's Web" and later, "Charlie and the Chocolate Factory" and then "The Series of Unfortunate Events" when it wasn't quite a series yet and many, many others.

Elly and I read many books for our Mother/Daughter Book Club but lately, we hadn't indulged.

Hannah Montana her biggest interest.

But after chapter four, my daughter looked up at me and said "This is the best sick day ever."

I couldn't have agreed more.

We read for most of the day, stopping only to discuss the differences between book and film...how Ella seemed much younger in the book and how the book is much, much better (yeah!).

For the next two days, Elly's condition worsen and she couldn't concentrate on my voice. We read the book in bits, page by page until she fell asleep.

Today is Monday and Elly is better. Still home from school but she is on the mend. The first thing she said this morning was "Can we read Ella?"

You betcha!

Books still have the magic....

Big Sur Writing Workshop

2007-12-04T16:48:00.000-08:00

Marisa was right. Big Sur was wonderful. As a last year attendee, Marisa encouraged me to take the plunge; spend the money, take off work and indulge in 3 days of writing pleasure.
Writing aside, it felt good leaving home to indulge in a little creative thought. Lately, Greenwood Girls has taken a backseat to pumpkin pies, golf tournaments and red wine, so thinking about sentence structure, POV, and realistic dialog was a welcomed change.
The weekend got off to great start with a critique session geared towards our first 5-6 pages of our manuscript. I was totally impressed with the quality of writing from my other group members. Maybe even intimidated. But I pushed on and read my pages. They were received well with lots of comments for improvements. It's quite a thrill when someone hears your story cold and can sum up what's wrong/missing/needs tweaking in just a few minutes. I listened and hoped I could remember the suggestions. Our group leader, Laura Rennert, gave us homework with the expectation to revise come Sunday.
(Photo left: Maggie franticaly helps me proofread...Lynn, Eve, Jenny and me on Sunday)
The next day was intense.
First a morning session with Author Ellen Hopkins. Again, fabo writers in my group. Wanted to read their whole manuscripts, not just a few pages. Felt quite cheated! I focused on a special section of my manuscript this time. One that included gymnastic terms and action. My goal was to see how well the reader followed the lingo. I also asked for help. I have been having problems lately with telling not showing. I know...gasp!!!
After writing for three years, I too, can't believe this pesky problem still has a way of appearing in my manuscript. But boy, I was in the right group. The Queens of Showing, Jenny and Carolyn each gave great examples to help me on my way.
Shortly after, I had a private 20 minute session with author Debra Garfinkle. We discussed the first twenty pages of my novel (she pre-read). Her insight was quite valuable. We discussed the characters age and let it be said now, that Dree is fourteen not twelve.
Later, I met with Julie Strauss-Gabel, the amazing editor from Dutton. She gave me lots to think about including the question as to why were there only three sports at Greenwood Academy. My answer because the outfits were really pretty didn't cut it, so we (the group) talked about the possibility of adding more. Juliet, ex-boarding school gal from England, had plenty of suggestions. My head was swimming with the creative possibilities. Field hockey players mingling with tiny gymnasts?? Hmmm.
That ended our Saturday critique session and not a moment too soon. My head was spinning.
Maggie and I decided to go on a walk through the beautiful redwood groves. It helped clear our minds and focus on the task at hand: rewriting for tomorrow's revision session.
On Sunday, the group that met on Friday met again to critique our revision of our first 5 pages. We all did a great job and after taking a group shot, vowed to keep in touch.
(Bottom photo: me, Julie, Juliet, Nikki and Barbara)

The day after...

2007-11-24T19:36:00.001-08:00

We're all sitting here on my microfibre suede couch feeling quite done with pumpkin pie. I'm teaching my parents all about how to blog so we decided to create our own blog post.
My mother's first entry into the blogosphere:
I'm realizing how brilliant my daughter Patricia is (author note "yeah mom!"). She was ALWAYS very creative and brilliant. We're very happy to be in wonderful Santa Barbara enjoying the sun and the shopping and our wonderful grandchildren. Oh and I forgot to mention how gorgeous my son-in-law is...not gorgeous, how handsome. Excuse me.
Dad: "No, I'm sorry. I'm not going to contribute to this."
Newt: "I'm very happy and probably fifteen pounds heavier...two boxes of cat cookies, three hot pockets, three turkeys. I hope I don't have to do the mile run on Monday."
Tate: "Hi. My mom is wonderful. She takes me golfing."
Elliott: "I think my mom is very creative."
Neil: "If any of you have seen my power scrwe driver, please give me a call."

Another first chapter...

2007-11-24T08:27:00.000-08:00

Just letting you all know that I've re-done my first chapter of Greenwood Girls...again. It feels like a confesion of sorts. For those in my writing group, this must sound insane. I mean, how many have I done so far? At last count, perhaps 6. Maybe 7.

But this one is different. Haven't changed the context of the story only the characters age. Ah. Age. I've struggled with this. First the protagonists was 12, then 14, then 11, then back to 12. Now she's 14. Why the change? Well, I've wanted this book to be a middle grade. Something 5th graders and up could and would read. I was fearful of treading into 14 year old waters...think Gossip Girls. Not for me.

Twelve seemed like the perfect age. But sending a twelve year old off to a boarding school fifteen hundred miles away from home was a stretch for most readers. They felt she acted more mature than a twelve year old would. Perhaps she should miss her family more...but for me that meant writing about family situations. Didn't want that to be the basis of my story. I've always envision the book to be about girls, the trouble they can get themselves into, the drama, the control issues, etc. Soooo, I reconsidered making Dree 14 again.

But here's the twist. She's arriving at Greenwood Academy for ninth grade where as most girls begin their training in seventh grade. She's entering into an established social hierarchy. She's the new girl...fresh from a small town and hungry for success.

I don't have to change many plot lines. The story is there, but I get to change what she sees and how she views her new world. I get to change the reactions of those around her. Why is Cameron so eager to befriend Dree on the first day? Why does everyone tread lightly around William? And what about Zoe? How does she become Dree's nemesis? Instead of Cameron, William and Zoe beginning Greenwood Academy alongside Dree, they have two years under their belts. Dree is really the new kid at school. Changes a lot.

And totally more fun.

What I'm thankful for...

2007-11-14T13:19:00.000-08:00

I tend to get gushy this time of year. Become a bit over-thankful for the life I have. But I have a great life. I really do. Healthy family, comfortable lifestyle, loving husband. These all play key roles in my life. Some are because of good plain luck (great genes), and some because of good sense (married the best guy ever). But having said that, it's the passions in life that I'm most thankful for.
I love being a creative person...to be able to look at something and feel joy just because I can see it. To tackle most anything because I know there is a creative solution lurking behind every daunting task. To never be bored because there is always some creative project waiting to be mastered. (Note turkey cake picture: My next creative endeavor!)
Not a whole lot scares me...except driving our big monster RV at night up windy Sierra mountain roads. Never done it mind you because it's just too scary. And besides, Neil handles the big rig just fine and looks pretty cute doing so.
I've always been creative. As a kid, I drew. Constantly. Spent hours at my desk with my typewriter tablet drawing scenes from the books I most recently read. I loved it. During geography class at Stonepark Junior High, I dreamed up William, best known as my protagonist's best friend in Greenwood Girls. I loved the idea of a girl having a boy's name. It wasn't my idea. My then next door neighbor named her second daughter, Laura William Burke. William must have been a family surname, but I thought it was meant to be a regular middle name like my Joan, or my sister's Jane. I was intoxicated with the possibilities. I revised many names in my Greenwood Academy Books to reflect this new trend.
Lately, I've been passionate about writing. There is nothing that gives me more joy than seeing my progress in the seemingly never-ending journey of writing a novel. It's hard and quite possibly the hardest creative task I'll ever do. There are times when I feel like a fool.
To stop all this book writing nonsense and get back to doing what I'm good at. But then I think what I'm good at is seeing what I can be good at. Basically, I love trying.
I'm thankful that I tried and that I finished the novel (and a thousand pages of revisions).
I'm thankful that agents and editors take the time to blog, visit conferences and generally impart as much knowledge as they can to help fledging novelists like me break in.
I'm thankful that there are organizations like SCBWI that take you under their wing and offer guidance through conferences, retreats and critiques.
I'm thankful that children's book writers are quite possibly the most giving group on earth. Well, that may be a bit grandiose, but I'm on a roll.
I'm thankful that my husband quietly supports my freaky writing goals especially when he feels that I'm inept at articulating things like where I put his power screwdriver or the insurance papers.
I say all this because I'm at an stage in my writing career where I feel doubt creeping in. The little voice that says "work harder or give up." Since I can't give up, I need to work harder and in order to work harder, I have to rely on all those people whom I'm thankful for.
And while I think about all this thankful stuff, I think I'll go make a turkey cake.

Psychic Distance

2007-11-10T08:43:00.000-08:00

It was a strange phrase for me. It popped up at a recent critique with my writing group. Basically, it is the emotional space the author puts between character and reader.
Sounds simple, right? It's what most writers call getting inside the character's head--and staying there.
I thought I was handling this concept fairly well but then, during one critique session, the comments came. "Author intrusion", "Lets' stay with Dree a little longer" then, "Psychic distance."
What?
Erik (great critique friend) told me about psychic distance and suggested I might want to brush up. So I did.
I searched the internet and found a few articles on the subject, but none better than Vicki Hinze's article. (Check it out here.)
After reading what she had to say, I decided to analyze my chapters. Vicki suggested watching out for words like realized, considered, wondered, etc. All words that potentially take the reader out of the characters head.
I started with searching the word considered. Not bad. Only found 2. Next up, realized. Yikes. 19. Now thought. Ouch! 94!
Actually, I'm not surprised. I love this word. Makes it easy but perhaps a little too easy. I make a promise to look at every one to see if they really belong there or if I need to eliminate. Most likely, it'll be the latter. But here's the thing. I'm glad. It's another area of writing that I've become aware of. It'll make Dree's voice stronger and ultimately the book.
Now, back to revisions...

Life's To-Do Lists

2007-11-04T08:04:00.000-08:00

Just finished reading my friend Maggie's blog. We are writing friends, silently agreeing to travel the road of publication together. Thoughtful listening, much laughter and critical analysis of our manuscripts have been the basis of our mutual support but now the blog world has been added to our connection. I find myself waiting for Sunday mornings (the day Maggie posts) to see what inspiration she will unveil.
I love her post today. Life Lists. We all have them, whether we write them down or not. They change, of course. When I was nineteen, one of the biggie's on my list was to drive on the 401 freeway in Toronto. Reference needed. Had my license but only used public transport like most college kids. For some strange reason, driving as a passenger on the six lane freeway caused much anxiety. Coming from Prince Edward Island, where there are only single lane highways, this was a new experience for me. I'm not exactly sure where my fascination came from. My college roommate, Heather, drove on the 401 like it was a trip to the grocery store. She seemed so cool and capable.
A few years later, I drove my younger sister to college. We packed up my Mazda 323 and drove from PEI to Toronto. Pretty much single lane divided highways until Trois-Rivieres. Easy riding so far, but I knew they were coming. The big ones. The bulking expanse of concrete and lanes and cars.
Strange thing is, after finding myself in the middle of rush hour traffic in Oshawa, it didn't feel so hard. Easy, in fact. I was cool and capable! My little sister slept in the passenger seat while I mentally crossed off one of my life's to-do list items.
I still have my life's to-do list tucked away in the farthest reaches of my brain. The biggest one, and has always been, is to have my Greenwood Academy story told. When it happens, it will be unlikely that I'll simply cross it off my list. There will be baby to-do's spawning off the big one.
That's what makes life great.

New Art Blog!

2007-11-01T15:51:00.001-07:00

Introducing Deep Space Sparkle! No, it's not a blog about astronomy but rather my brand new Art Blog. This is my absolute favorite name for a crayon so thus the blog name. And besides, my budding little Picasso's deserved a place to view their fabulous works of art without being hindered with all that stuff about writing a novel.
So anyone who visits this blog for art lessons or updates from the schools where I teach, you now have a new place to go.
Please visit me at www.deepspacesparkle.blogspot.com
The artist is signing off...

Happy Halloween

2007-10-31T07:32:00.000-07:00

Halloween is big in Goleta...schools host Fall parades or just plain old costume parades, parties abound and my kids are amped.
Brandon School goes the Fall Parade route and let me just say how thankful I am that I don't have to get a costume on my two kids twice in one day. It's quite creative, too. Elly was very proud of being an ancient stone, but I couldn't quite get what Tate was. Something about a verb. The Dos Pueblos Band came out to help parents and kids get in a festive mood. I love this community...we even knew a few band members!
Newt is at a Halloween cross roads. Dressing up? Not so fun. He has no idea what he'll wear tonight and neither do I. Beautiful.
Elly has been planning her costume for over a month...a devilish groovy girl type of thing complete with sparkly cape, glittery horns and a sassy, flippy thing around her waist. Ever the designer. Gone are the fairy princess days, I guess. Tate was a sad looking thing in his poor man's costume. I liked the sign, however, and think it will serve him well this evening.

Best news of the day, my good writing friend, Laura Elliott made her debut as an official journalist...and in the LA Times, no less. Congrats Laura on a great article...A Visit to Count Dracula's Castle in Romania. Check it out here.

Santa Barbara's Writer's Day

2007-10-28T08:07:00.000-07:00

After picking up a grande latte from Starbucks, Maggie and I hit the road for another Writer's Conference. The annual SCBWI Writer's day was held at Cal Lutheran, which is practically in our own backyard, making the drive short and very easy to tolerate.
Oh, I love the feeling of anticipation, hope and impending inspiration that one gets enroute to an event like this. You never really know what the quality of the speakers will be. Expectations are always high and you hope that part of their message might resonate with you. I wasn't disappointed.
The five spotlighted new authors each delivered a unique perspective of what their road to publication was like. Although halfway through most of them, I couldn't help but dream about what I would say when I'm given the opportunity to do the same...the powerpoint show of my old Greenwood yearbooks, pathetic pictures of the piles of revised drafts, the endless rejections slips...oh, I can hardly wait.
I was really impressed by all of these highly articulate, passionate writer's who persevered their way to published glory. My hats off to you Heather Tomlinson, Jay Asher, Rene Colato Lainez, Barbara Jean Hicks and Denise Gruska. You were all fabulous!

I got to see my fabulous writing teacher, Val Hobbs who is a faculty member of the SCBWI/V/SB chapter and author of Sheep and Defiance and like a thousand other books; Greg Trine, author of The Melvin Beederman Series and winner of the Most Promising Young Adult manuscript contest (yeah, Greg!); Newbery author Susan Patrone who delivered a very funny account of her winning the big honor; Alexis O'Neill, the unflappable organizer who brings it all together and countless other writing friends from past conferences and writing groups. It's a great crowd and it feels good to be a part of it.

Thanks to all who made the event great. Until next year.

Headline: Parents foiled by Tooth Fairy Trick

2007-10-24T08:25:00.000-07:00

She looked so innocent. Breath smelling like peppermint toothpaste, hair flowing over her pink floral pillowcase. "Good night, mama," she said. I kissed her on her lips. They were a bit gooey from the lip gloss she had recently applied in practicing her Halloween night costume routine. I said my own good night, and went back to my room. After I had settled into a good book, Neil called me into Elly's room.
"Elly has been hiding something," he said.
I thought for a moment. "It's the lip gloss."
They both shake their heads. I was stumped. I looked around and finally remembered.
"Your tooth!" I said. Elly's tooth has been loose for about a week. The hanging-from-a-thread kind. Mind you, this was not her first loose tooth, more likely her 6th.
At this point, I was expecting her to flash her gummy smile and I'd give her a hug and say all the typical parental things. Things that are getting rather stale after three kids. Instead, Elly sits up, whips her hand under her pillow and produces her toothfairy box with her tooth inside.
"She lost it three days ago," Neil said.
Oh.
This was one of those moments when your heart aches for your child. Looking into Elly's dear little eyes, once so full of innocence and hope, now were filled with reality. Neil, of course, handled it better than I did. He went on about how she's grown up now and how proud he was that she was smart enough to fool her parents. I was thinking similar things but leaning more towards the if-she's-fooling-us-now...sort of thing. Still, there she was. A worried look (that she inherited from her aunt Meredith) plastered over her sweet little face. I didn't know how to respond.
Looking back, there were a number of questions involving the truth of the tooth fairy. On the way to the grocery store just the other night, she tested her theory by asking me direct questions about Miss Fairy herself. What does she looked like and Does she know about loose tooths right away? Typical stuff that most parents are used to dodging. Little did I know that my little Nancy Drew was uncovering her own little mystery.
I still can't believe that I was tricked. I wonder if this could have happened with my first born? I doubt it. I practically watched his teeth grow and fall out. On the bright side, I'm relieved that the whole tooth fairy episode is behind us...I mean, forever. You definitely get to a point as a parent when you're ready to move on. But Elly wasn't ready to move on. She held out her little hand and asked her dad to cough up the big bucks, citing she earned it. He obliged then she struck again.
"What about Santa? Is he real?"
I hoped she wouldn't see me squirm. "Of course, he's real, I said and kissed her goodnight. Again.
Will the lies ever end? I have a feeling she might test out that theory.

Brushstrokes

2007-10-19T16:47:00.000-07:00

I've hit a rut. A deep, muddy groove. Greenwood Girls, or rather my protagonist, Dree Henderson has failed to impress. Lately, I've been in a sort of funk with the book. I've felt there was something missing but couldn't quite put my finger on it. My writing teacher and critique group have hinted at my problem for quite some time. But more recently, an agent flat out said that the voice of Dree could be stronger.
I'm kind of a direct person, so the direct approach worked for me. Now I need to fix the problem. I've talked to my writing pal, Maggie about this, and we both agree that I need to focus on adding brushstrokes to my characters and possibly (gasp!) eliminating a supporting character. Maybe the supporting character is stealing away precious screen time from Dree? It's entirely possible.
I decided to take everyones advice and breakdown into steps what I need to do. So far my list looks like this:

Write out each scene on an index card. Okay, not easy. If you work on a Mac, a friend of mine suggested the program Scrivener to help you sort scenes out. I wanted to do this so I could really identify what a scene was supposed to do and who should be in the scene. This would be my way to see if one or more characters could be eliminated or reduced in importance. I guess the idea is to give as many great lines as possible to Dree. After all, she's worked hard for them.
Rewrite the first chapter. This might be the tenth time I've done so but I'm prepared to do it again. I plan to keep the basic scene structure but this time add a new dimension to my MC. I've already done this and love how it's turned out. To prepare for a different mind set, I researched some of my favorite and not-so-favorite gymnasts and got some new ideas on how Dree might react to certain ideas, events. Not done though. I'm still working on her characterization.
Add brush strokes. This has become somewhat of a buzz word in our writing class. But it's a powerful concept. Instead of walking on the surface of a scene, I need to dip in deeper--add a few brushstrokes, so we say. This part requires that every sentence be analyzed and adjusted. Yikes.

So, I have my work cut out for me. Writing a novel is all about revisions. Best part? Finally understanding what needs fine tuning and what needs an overhaul.

I think I'm becoming a writer.

What I'm reading.

2007-10-14T10:27:00.000-07:00

I reorganized my bookcase yesterday. It seemed like the perfect task while I waited to download all 428 sumer pictures to my Shutterfly album. My bookcase sits right next to my desk where I write. All my favorite books are within easy reach. They contain inspiration, direction, and even a place to rest my eyes when the computer screen grows weary.

I took all the books from the shelf and categorized them into "have read" and "have not read".
Then I arranged them alphabetically. Unfortunately, the "have not read" category takes up more shelves than the "have reads". Not a good sign. Although, it's not exactly a true representation of what I have read. For most of the books, I started out with every intention of finishing them but put down after another book stole my attention. I'm starting to feel like I have the shortest attention span ever.

Elsewhere, by Gabrielle Zevin sits eye level. I love this book. I read it while in Puerto Penasco, Mexico two Thanksgiving's ago. This fact might contribute to the wonderful feeling I get when I look at the cover. I decided to pick up her latest novel, Portrait of a Teenage Amnesiac. I read it in one sitting and loved it. Here is a review of the book.

There is something about the way Zevin's characters have qualities that are both honorable and undesirable. There is something about how her scenes float from one to the other. Such great writing. I guess I'm an official fan now!

Next on my reading agenda is "Esperanza Rising" by Pam Munoz Ryan and "So Totally Emily Ebers" by Lisa Yee.