ok, this time it's for real...

So that last post was on the galley...this time the post is on the FINAL galley. When I send this bad boy in (ok, good boy..), my editor says I'll get my release date. I think that means almost showtime, huh?

It's odd to think that all this time I've wanted to be published in fiction has come to (almost) fruition and now I'm a little afraid. What if someone doesn't like my story? What if only my mom buys a copy? What if it's the worst seller in company history?

What if?
What if?
What if?

It's enough to make a girl crazy. Guess the only place I really can go to escape is the fictional world I've recently created for this newest story. It's a vicious cycle...lol.

the galley is done...

woohoo! Just finished up and send my (sparse...I think there were only like 10 max) galley edit changes back to the editor. Not bad, since I promised them no later than today. I actually did them yesterday while working at the yoga studio but couldn't stay awake to type them up.

I remember hearing an author once say that even though you send in a final proof of a story (novel, in her case, I believe), you never feel like it's really, completely, 100% finished--I'm finding that. I had the urge to send a note to the effect of "oh, and if I can keep it another week, I can make all kinds of descriptive changes...." but I resisted. Guess that's what I shoulda done before submission, right?!

Anyway, it's a relief (a good one) to have gotten the story back in such a fast time frame. Now I have time to work on that letter to the editor I mentioned...

..but before I let you go...

I'm hot.
And bothered.

No, no. Not like that. (That's another post for a different blog, anyway).

I try (oh, so hard) not to read editorial letters in the Columbus Dispatch. Really, I do. And I try equally hard to maintain a level head when anyone insults my Buckeyes. I've been hit by frozen marshmallows and pennies in Michigan Stadium (God's cereal bowl), pennies at Camp Randall in Wisconsin (thank heaven college kids don't make much money..quarters would hurt), been the recipient of a littany of rhyming words at Penn State (we are the BUCK-eyes..use your imagination here), have endured the annoying biting shadow hand-puppet of the Wolfpack (hey, you had Chuck Amato...I understand your need for simple entertainment), to name a few.

Even when the ex-president (affectionately referred to as Karen AHole Brook by my 15 year old son) of a university makes a sweeping statement that the entire college population of said university is a "riotous culture", I bit my tongue. But as usual, some idiot in C-bus had to validate AHole's assumption that just because there were isolated riots by idiots a few years ago, we're all a bunch of rabblerousers, and I couldn't hold back.

I read the letter to the editor this afternoon and just had to share that I crafted what might possibly be the a)fastest, b) most alliterative and c)best quality piece of writing I've done in a long time to send to the Dispatch. Don't worry--it has all that trademark sarcasm my editorial fan club (see: When it Rains) has come to expect in my pithy editorials.

Like I didn't have enough to do with making cookies for tomorrow's tailgate or proofing the galley...but if you've learned anything from me, you better learn never to hack me off about the Buckeyes...or piss off a smart-alec writer. Forget sticks and stones...I'm about to level someone with words.

Fingers crossed the editors calls to confirm my details (with a snicker in her voice)...

Yay..the galley is here!

I feel like when I say "galley", I'm aboard a pirate ship cooking fresh-caught fish...haha...but not so.

For those non-writers of you in the audience, galleys are the final copy for proofreading a story or book before it goes into actual publication...kind of like that final draft you dreaded when your 8th grade English teacher assigned it for homework over the weekend. Yeah, so I'm a geek...I'm more excited about my galleys than I am about an upcoming birthday party for a friend...ah well!

My galley arrived today in my email...a sight for the weary as the day job has really worn me down this week. I only had time to print and glance at the cover (on my website if you wanna check it out...I love it...) but will snuggle in with it tonight, along with my trusty red pen. (Old classroom habits die hard).

I'm still tossing around the mental disbelief that someday soon, those words on my page will be out in the public eye. Now that's scarier than any red-pen-marked-up-assignment...as any writer will tell you. I think having the courage to put out your babies (writing babies) before the public is the ultimate form of soul-baring (or sadomasochism, in some ways). We'll see how it goes....

and if you don't believe me...

On and off this summer, I've been reading two books. One is The Secret, an interesting book focusing on how the power of direct, intentional thought can bring things into your life. The other is The Circle, which is a more detailed interpretation of the same theory.

I've always held the belief that intentionally visualizing something in your life will bring things to fruition in your life in due time. Now, before you think I'm visualizing holding a million dollars and lifetime Ohio State football tickets in my hand (hey, this is MY visualization), I don't think it just *poof* magically appears. I believe you still have to work for it, but if you just take the time to notice things around you, to become aware of your surroundings, you just might get a little something to help you or point you in the right direction.

Some of my friends ascribe to this thought to some degree, some think I'm crazy. (a little from column A, a little from b...). More than once, this theory has come into play in different ways, this last time (today) in direct relation to my writing. So in case you don't believe me...

I was contemplating how I really am missing writing nonfiction and freelancing for magazines right now. (Writing begets writing, remember?). One area I've wanted to get into is using my background in language acquisition to help inform school administration. As luck had it, I visited a school this week and while waiting for a meeting with the principal, found a brand new issue of an administrative magazine on the waiting table. Checked their website on a whim and found they were looking for new writers. Called up the editor to ask about their editorial calendar yesterday and had a very nice conversation so hopefully she'll remember my submission.

Problem was, I didn't have any ideas (at the time). They're looking for more local and state level type stories, and I was stuck more in the mode of teaching strategies. I gave up on the idea mill this morning while at a meeting and thought I'd get back to it when I got home.

When I least expected it (as I discussed lunch with the girls in the office), I found I'd been invited to a meeting I hadn't known about. I wasn't too thrilled but went anyway...only to be presented with a district-level story so amazing I outlined an entire article five minutes after the meeting ended.

I missed lunch but remembered one of the unwritten rules of being an author: keep the faith. If you wish it long enough, it will come...now if only the assignment from the editor would come I'd be all set!

Been a while...

Yeah, yeah. It's been a while since I've blogged but I find it hard to believe anyone has noticed! If you have, then you should be spending more time outside in the beautiful sunlight while it lasts (at least here in soon-to-be-chilly-cold-dark-wintery-Ohio). Blogs can wait. Life cannot.

Anyway, while you're here, I may as well entertain you with a little writerly update. Let's see...where to start?

The good news is that I'm still writing. The writing slowed down drastically over the summer, partly because I knew I'd be doing tons of stuff (four weddings, a fun family vacation, a few Cleveland Indians games, summer camp, floating around the pool like a lazy bum) and didn't really find any freelancing gigs that drew my interest enough to worry. Not that I didn't think about writing every day, and not that I didn't write...I did, just not anything with great coherence. I'm glad to say I'm hard at work on my second short story to be (hopfully) submitted after the release of my first, which brings me to the REALLY good news...

I got my first fiction cover yesterday via email. It's so way cool and absolutely beautiful I put it on my webpage so I can narcistically look at it (and show it off) when I feel the urge. I have to admit, getting the first TWINS magazine with my title on the cover was way, way neat but seeing my name on the cover of an (e)book with a beautiful setting (romance set in the office) was amazing. Just imagine when it's a full-blown paperback cover I get to autograph for readers..woohoo!!

Not sure when the story will be released yet. I'm still awaiting the galleys to proof, but that's one step closer..which reminds me I need to have another story to submit, so I need to get back to writing.

Getting out the pieces/parts

I once heard (or maybe read...it all blends together after a while) that it's important for writers to get the story pieces & parts out of their heads and on paper, no matter how small or inconsequential or irrelevant we think they are at the time because when we get rid of the stuff running circles (think mouse on a treadmill) in our minds, we free up all that creative space for the really good stuff to come hit us. If we're still thinking about the old stuff, the new stuff doesn't have anywhere to plop in.

I didn't really buy this at the time because I'm a mental "chewer". Depending on the issue, idea or thought I get (not necessarily just from writing), it can literally be weeks that the same idea is floating around my brain for me to "chew" on during those quiet times. This is how I've often worked on stories in the past...just let it keep floating and fermenting.

But writing now the way I've written in the past isn't working, so I decided to give this a try. I've got the notebook with me everywhere and every time something strikes me about the story I jot it down (or scribe it into the Palm for later use).

Talk about a flood of stuff coming out (yeah, I know I'm a writer and should use more description than "stuff" but it's working for me). Every day --literally-- something new is showing up in the brain radar about the story. Enough to keep me excited and focused on the multiple plotlines. In weird ways, I'm also sort of discovering solutions to problems I anticipated in the story. Like..as long as my brain keeps firing across those synaptic connections (Doc, that one is for YOU...lol), the story will solve itself.

Now, if I could just get it to WRITE itself I'd be rich...

have paper, will travel

The new goal of writing every day is finding me writing in some interesting places. Today I worked on internal motivation of my heroine at the doctor's office and the external plot of my hero while working the desk at the yoga studio.

Even cooler, most of the really good breakthrough ideas came at the yoga studio desk. Maybe I should write there every day....

longhand or typed?

What is it about writing longhand that helps me think through my story at a deeper level than typing on the PC?

It's almost like my story (only two pages old) took a massive twist down a different highway when I was too lazy to come get my laptop last night to write and instead wrote in my fave notebook. Scrawled out several pages, and when I opened it today to write (which includes reading over the previous day's work), I was struck with how different the story now feels (in a better, deeper way) than it did on the laptop.

I wonder if we use different parts of the brain (and different kinds of creativity) when we write with different modalities (handwritten vs. typed). I'd be curious to see if other writers think this happens too or if I'm just floating around in Bethieworld again...

Only two pages?

I know I've been away ...from blogging...from writing...for a while, but I haven't been *that* far away. Physically, maybe, but not mentally.

Fiction writers will understand why. I've been battling the idea of a particular story for about two years. Maybe longer, but a solid two years I can say with certainty. The idea has hounded me off and on, through fiction stories and nonfiction assignments, through my thesis and monthly columns for different publications...in my sleep, in my waking hours...on vacations and in the shower....

Ok, you get the point. I've just been waiting this long for that perfect first line, that opener that will never, ever need changed and will light the way for the rest of my story. No, I'm not on drugs...I'm a perfectionistic writers and can't stand the thought of starting and restarting.

Til now. I started the story today. I've plugged out two pages of decent stuff but am still missing the hero's external journey and the mystery to keep the reader reading (never written anything with a mystery/suspense element before...that's scary!) but I've done enough character mapping, brainstorming and outlining to write, well, a book, and these two pages feel satisfying at the same time they feel tenunous. Most important, they're in the light of day so there's no going back...

Who knew two pages could be so scary?!

Good Stuff

So much good stuff going on in the writing world lately...where to start?

Well, most importantly, the first edits for the short story have been sent to the editor with the requested changes. For everything my pubbed author friends have said about the editing process being harrowing, I've found it to be challenging but fun. It's funny that several of the places in the story where my writer's intuition said something like, "That's not clear enough" or "you need to add detail" or "you need to flesh out this scene better", my editor highlighted it for change. Living with the mind of a writer, I often spend hours, days, weeks, even years hashing out the same scenes to the same story again and again to the point that I know the underwear color of my characters, but when pen meets paper for that rough draft, I leave out key things that I know but my readers need to know. Interesting how that workd.

Other cool stuff...let's see.

I've signed up to attend Lori Foster and Dianne Castell's Readers and Writers Get Together in Cincinnati on June 1 & 2. I debated on this one--no way will my story be out but I do have a story to promote, and there's no time like the pre-publishing to get the word out. I'm actually getting really excited. It'll be my very first outing as a published (almost) writer. I'll be attending with tons of my great author friends and am really looking forward to hanging out with readers. In the vein of promotion, I even ordered some promo cards with my story info on it. And they arrived today! They're cute. I designed them myself and aside from a tiny spacing problem in the blurb, I think they're adorable. I'm going to share them with the girls at work tomorrow--only one of whom knows I've contracted a short story (sounds like I have mono or something). And I can't wait to tell mom!

Hmm....what else?

I don't think I've mentioned it but I might have another writing gig later in the summer doing some pharma research reports. Thanks to connections through an interview, I was contacted out of the blue to consider working with a company to research some really interesting stuff and put together reports. I had to turn down immediate work--one quality of a good writer is that they know their limits, and with signing that fiction contract and having an upcoming deadline (May 15) along with teaching the fiction to freelance course (June 11-22) I knew I'd not have time to devote to doing a proper job in a field I'm just learning. Ah well...soon!

Ok, that's enough for now. I have a rough draft demanding my attention and outlining skills...get back to your own desk and start writing!

Beth

Why Is This So HAAAAAAARD??!

I know, I know. That title may have been a bit misleading, and if you're thinking you're gonna find something a little dark, steamy and erotic, you're way wrong.

I'm talking about writing my author bio.

I mean it!

I'm working on finishing up the author info packet for the marketing department of the publishing house who just sent me the contract for the short story, and I have to submit a short bio. I'm thinking three paragraphs at most.

Why is this so hard? I have no idea. I've written six novels of 55,000-60,000 words, countless articles, monthly columns and a graduate thesis on kids from another country and their educational issues, and I can't come up with three stinking paragraphs about my writing career? This is just wrong.

I could go with the bio on my website but that needs updated, too. I like humor in the bio--otherwise it's just boring drivvel in my opinion. Unfortunately, funny isn't happening for me at the moment.

Nothing is happening for me at the moment. I think I need a little more chocolate to help me through...

Anyone who knows me & my writing--I'm open for suggestions. Just don't include anything that would embarass me. You know, the stories of the headlight dance, anything remotely related to OSU tailgates, Camp Hamwi antics or tequila.

On second thought, I'd better do this myself...

Off to bio myself,

Beth

What We Don't Know...

You know, sometimes I just wonder about this writing gig. In a good way, of course.

Last year on my birthday, I had, for all intents and purposes, decided to go with nonfiction and freelance writing. I'm not setting any landspeed records in getting published (my original 2007 New Year's "goal" was to have an article pubbed every month...not quite there yet) but the important thing, to me, is that I AM getting published (the kind of published that results in nice paychecks) after being a writer since the second grade. Time to put my money where my mouth was, and I think I have.

But I digress, of course.

Last year on my birthday I made an unwritten creed to myself that if I wasn't published (or hadn't had a hit of interest from an editor) in fiction by this year's birthday, I vowed I was giving up fiction forever. Harsh, yes, but despite my initial claims to writing friends, writing fiction and nonfiction/freelance at the same time requires a hell of a lot more brain power and usage than the normal sane person can do (and I mean writing both in the same day, not "fiction this week, freelance next"---I'm a fiction in the morning, freelancing at night kinda gal) and still have brainpower left over to teach and, well, basically function.

So, as I've blogged, I did manage to catch the interest of an editor with one of my sappy short stories earlier this year. Cool, huh? I finished the requested edits, submitted, and she said it might be a bit of time before she'd get to look over my second submission, but promised she would (believe me, I know time flies...).

Well, yesterday in my as-of-late-kinda-empty writing email box, what did I get? Lo and behold, a contract for my story and all the goodies for author info and promo that come along with it. How way cool is that! (a Rachael Ray line I usually hate but feel like using this morning).

And none too soon. Guess who's birthday is tomorrow? I keep wondering if I knew it all along or if I really was on the verge of giving up and that sparked me into better writing/more submitting/being fictionally active mode. Who knows? All I know is that now I have a reason to get author photos done...!

Tomorrow's pink frosted cake will be a little extra sweet...

Beth

Me? A plotter? You must have mistaken me for....

Finally received the promised edits for the short story the editor wanted to see in Jaunary. Time got away from her, I absolutely understand....

At the moment I'm smack-dab in the middle of editing the story per her suggestions (how did we ever efficiently edit without the little bubbles in Word from track changes? Geez) but am taking a quick brain break to share something I just realized.

In her note to me, she said..."The story has nice bones. It just needs a little work."

I'm not hung up on the "it just needs a little work" part. That much is obvious--it's my first fiction story in a few years and the first to make it past a slush pile onto an editor's (real!) desk.

What shocks me is the "nice bones" part. Bones, here, to me, suggests "plot" or "structure"--which is something I've never considered myself good at. In fact, it's the reason I've often quit writing stories--because I don't have the structure to know what comes next. I've always fancied myself a character-driven writer (which plays somewhat in a posting I've been wanting to do for several weeks on the merits of character vs. plot-driven stories. Sometime...)

Me? A plotter not a pantser? Oh, come on...!

Anyways, all for now. I've got edits to finish....

Beth

my advice? be nice.

A writing colleague emailed last week to get my feedback and some quotes for an ebook she's working on (on how to freelance...imagine that!), and I was more than happy to help. I truly enjoy working with her--not just because she also serves as editor for one of the publications I write for regularly but because I've found that writers are the most friendly, most accomodating group of wonderful people in the world.

She liked my comments (I commented on how to find assignments, working with editors and something else that escapes me now) but I want to tell her one more little piece of info I forgot to mention in the section on how to find assignments/markets:

Be Nice.

Yes, in caps. Mom said (says) it never hurts to be nice and when it comes to writing, it can get you in doors you didn't even think were doors...LOL. I've gotten more than one assignment by just sending a note to the editor about something I've enjoyed in their publication--an article, the way the theme was rounded out, the type of magazine they put out, etc--and casually mentioning I'm also a freelance writer (sometimes I mention ideas, sometimes not) then they contact me about my ideas or if I'd be willing to write something for them.

I love it when that happens--because those notes go to editors of publications I'd really like to write for (Sports Illustrated, are you reading this??!)

And, lucky me, it happened again yesterday. In working toward my serious goals for the serious writing girls (new goal set yesterday: ten circulating queries in the (e)mail at all times), I sent a nice note/query to an editor of a magazine I just picked up and really liked a bunch. I thought one of the ideas I've been toying with for like, five years (hey, writers, don't deny you've had ideas that continue circling in your head for more years than you might own a pair of underwear...), might be a good fit for her publication--which resulted in her emailing back that she liked the idea and wants to talk about it.

So, Cheryl, if you're reading, :), copy my "be nice" comment from the "working with editors" section to the "how to find markets" section. Not that we have to tell writers that--but it never helps to try it in places you might not suspect!

beth

oh, and I forgot...

In my excitedness (yes, a word...remember the english teacher's permission to create new words)about the fiction story, I forgot to mention the editor from the RWR emailed the me the contract for the April article. Already faxed it back and am working on a few more ideas to propose with the thank you note.

Should be out in the April issue. Tentatively: From Ficiton to Freelance In 5 Easy Steps (she was really excited about how good it looked in layout when she emailed, which only increased my own excitedness)

Test on new words Friday.

Beth

happy-trot

just a little happy dance (maybe more like a happy-trot...lol).

Got a note from the editor yesterday who's had my short story since January. She likes it (she likes it!). Says the premise is "fresh", but that she'd like to work with me to make it "sparkle" before they offer me a contract.

Way cool. Especially since I *love* sparkly things.

On another good/bad note, I didn't meet the goals with the seriouswriter girls for this three weeks. Yeah, I know. Fork over the money, honey! Just got hit with one of those mid-winter depressions from the weather (the snow is melting...I see the shingles of my neighbor's roof!)

The good part of that is that the new goal is to have, in three weeks' time, 10 queries in the (e)mail. Ten, whoa! That means I actually have to SEND the queries I write, huh? LOL. Cheated a little. I sent one out this morning (official new goals don't go into effect til tonight). I think the girls will cut me some slack!

Get back to writing...
Beth

joking..but seriously...cut a girl a break...

One question I frequently get from non-writers when I introduce myself to them as a writer (amazing conversations that spawns, by the way) is "where do you get your ideas?"

I wish the question were "where don't you get ideas?" Of course, I couldn't answer that in a proper-english-grammar-kinda-way, because it sounds illiterate to say "i don't not get ideas anywhere."

Ok, so more simply, I say "Everywhere." Literally. I read the newspaper, I get ideas. I watch Superbowl commercials, I get ideas. I listen to Barry Manilow songs, I get ideas. (Yeah, those kind of ideas too). There used to be a few sacred places in my life where ideas for articles and stories didn't hound me around every corner...yoga class (defeats the purpose), doing dishes (ever wondered the proper way to load a dishwasher? There's an article in that), emptying trashcans (which breed bacteria like my empty mind breeds article topics) and, the most sacred of spaces to everyone the world over: the bathroom.

Yeah, well, that was last week. Over the weekend, I went to the bathroom (just the thing you want to share in a blog, right?!) and after washing my hands, thought I'd put away the clutter on my sink. Toothbrushes, a few scrunchies, a jar of eye cream and two tubes of toothpaste. Not that one isn't good enough for my family, but one was a travel-size I hadn't yet put away from my recent weekend out west. Naturally, the colors on the front of each tube, drastically different mind you, caught my eye. I started reading and discovered that one guaranteed less plaque while one guaranteed whiter teeth...when they're both basically the same. Kick in the writer's brain, who demanded research on which five toothpastes actually whiten best and which five toothpastes actually clean better.

I know there's a market somewhere, but honestly. Can't a girl get a little peace for a few minutes a day? It's like the toddler knocking on the door...never a moment alone. (I actually kinda like it!)

Beth

what's the word....?

I think this is a rhetorical question, but I want to know the word that defines that specific period of time between the moment you send your article, book, short story--any piece of writing you're hoping to get published--to the editor and the time they get back with you. You know, the span of infinite waiting that seems to drag on longer than an episode of Friends where all we get to do is watch Rachael whine? The duration of time where we ask ourselves "Will she like it? Will she buy it? Did I use periods? Did I write in English?" like a mantra?

I want to know the name for that period of time. If anyone knows or is able to create something creative, I'm all for it. Being an English teacher, I do have the default ability to create new words, so if you've got a suggestion, bring it on.

Just sent in the article yesterday to the RWR. My lag time (?!) wasn't long--the editor--a wonderful lady I enjoy working with--sent back a quick note of approval within the same day. That's writing karma for you.

Not so much karma on the workshop end of things. Got two (when one just isn't enough) rejection letters from RWA stating that they're not interested in my freelance workshop (solo) or my dialogue interaction workshop (with soon-to-be-published friend Donna MacMeans). Ah, well. Just means I'll have to sell more freelancing to be able to afford the conference fee. I'm not passing up Dallas...

Back to the writing. A day off school...queries call!

Beth

a day away

With that self-imposed deadline of Friday for the article due on Monday, you'd think I spent last night slaving over punctuation and tearing apart sentences, but you'd be wrong.

I did nothing.

Well, not exactly nothing. I conducted my first phone interview ever (as a writer) with an entertaining guy who conducts the most fascinating research on gender-specific marketing (to support the article idea brewing in my mind), but I didn't do a tootin' thing with the freelance article. Not that I needed a break. I just think fresh eyes (as fresh as two days can be) will give me better perspective. I won't get to it tonight, either, as I've got a new yoga class til nine. Three days should be better than two, right?

Actually, I'm not that far away from it. There's one sentence driving my mind batty (transitions from the intro don't usually suck this bad) and I'm playing with it in infinite directions so this is my time to nail that baby down.

A writer's mind never stops, does it?

Beth

Draft #2

Finished the second draft last night of the article due Feb. 5th. For all intents and purposes it's complete--my second drafts are for adding quotes, transitions, making sure all names and author information is correct. Yesterday I received responses from two more fiction/freelance authors, so I added in a quote from each. I think it's 98% done. Just need that fine-toothed editing comb to tighten and activate my words...the funnest part of writing. (Yeah, I know. I'm allowed to use "funnest").

Even cooler is that, unlike every day of my past three years, I don't have to put my writing on a shelf to get back to the grad research--I get to write again! Next up is a short (comparatively, anyway--1500 vs. 3000 words) article on female spies in the Civil War. Due Feb. 15th. I could really dig this freelance writing stuff...learning about things I didn't know existed.

And speaking of fiction, still awaiting editorial word if the short short was accepted. We'll see.

Beth

How Rough is the rough draft?

Pretty rough, but more importantly...DONE.

I've had a weird relationship with this article (on helping fiction writers transition into freelancing). I love the idea--I've had so many people ask how to get into freelancing and I love helping them get started that idea really created itself. I was psyched when the editor requested it, and I get wound up each time I think about the info in the article.

But for some reason, putting my butt in the chair to write this one was an adventure in procrastination--something I've battled, slayed and thought I'd overcome. I used to be the world's #1 procrastinator but grad school taught me the value of planning ahead. I don't like the feeling of procrastinating now (obviously not enough) but this piece didn't listen to that. It's due on the 5th of February and, well, it's obvious how long I've put it off.

Luckily, it's done. Longhand, 15 pages or so. Ready to be typed tomorrow. As I said...
DONE!

Beth

Mystical Alignment

I don't know if it's the alignment of the planets or what, but the writing is going so well lately it almost scares me.

I've been toying with a few queries, editing a short story I've had for about a month, and gathering together interviews to write an article due on Feb 5th. All nicely writing related, going at an even pace. Got an unexpected gift yesterday when school was canceled, and decided to pretend to be a writer all day.

Finished the short story, sent off a query and synopsis only to have the full requested by the afternoon. Haven't had fiction requested in eight years (well, haven't submitted fiction in eight years, either). Sent it in pronto.

Just waiting, now, to get the verdict. Isn't waiting the worst part of writing? Some say it's brainstorming, other say editing. I say waiting. I'm impatient.

Beth

In the groove...

It's true I've been gone a while. And it's also true I've not been on top of my game with the whole writing thing. Life intervenes, saps energy, drains creativity, sucks away precious time.

Yeah, you get the point. After finishing my thesis three days before it was due, I happily claimed my diploma in December with grand plans of jumping right back into writing where I left off. I didn't count on the fact that I needed to get myself back into prime writing condition. Takes time to start waking up at 4:30 on a regular basis (even with the impatient whining of my lovable dog Omar demanding her morning walk).

I'm glad to say--I think I'm back in the groove. None too soon, either. I've got a major deadline coming up--Feb. 5th for an April article--and haven't started yet. I've brainstormed and have a working outline which, for all intents and purposes, serves as my first draft. (Maybe I should translate that to my fiction writing...hmm....). Planned to put BICHOK into action yesterday but it just didn't get done. No worries...my self-imposed deadline isn't for another week and a few days.

One cool note is that I'll be teaching an online course at the Hearts Through History RWA site this summer. Entitled "From Fiction to Freelance in 8.2 Seconds", it's meant to help give fiction writers a solid foundation for using all that acquired knowledge to break into the freelance market. I'm really excited and looking forward to it.

Hearts Through History offers some killer workshops for writers. Took one last year on sensuality in writing and it was a gem. If you're interested, here's their main class list:
http://www.heartsthroughhistory.com/class.htm

and here's mine:
http://www.heartsthroughhistory.com/freelance.htm

Here's to meeting all those lofty 2007 writing goals...
Beth

Feedback, Or Why I Love To Write

With feedback like this, who wouldn't want to be a writer?
(I edited out the non-pertinent stuff)
==========

Dear Beth:

I just read you review of THE FRUGAL BOOK PROMOTER, and needless to say, I was thrilled. But what I really want to say is that after dozens of reviews, yours is absolutely the most creative, the most original. Not that one thinks of reviews as a contest for originality (-; , but how could anyone want not to check it out and pass it on.

I must send you big thanks and hugs.

This is quite an amazing review--quite unlike anything I've ever received or seen! (-:

Carolyn Howard-Johnson
Author USA Book News' Best Professional Book and Book Publicists of Southern California's Irwin Award Winner, THE FRUGAL BOOK PROMOTER: HOW TO DO WHAT YOUR PUBLISHER WON'T

============

Wanna see the review for yourself? (amazing book!): (yeah, shameless self-promo--too bad!)

http://www.writer2writer.com/frugal.htm

Ahhh...I love writing for writers. They always get it.

Beth

End in sight...

Thesis is due next week (at least the final presentation is due, so the project should probably be due, too). I've set my own personal deadline of being done by Weds this week. So far, so good. Keep your fingers crossed.

Just because I've not been posting (and have had my head buried in research, tables and the APA Style Manual) doesn't mean I've not been working on writing. One of the coolest things I've got going is that I"ll be teaching an online course this summer through an RWA group who offers online courses. I think it's June (it's in my agenda) and it'll focus on how to help fiction writers (especially romance writers) use all their knowledge & research to break into freelancing. Just another facet of my proposed presentation to RWA National and the RWR article due in Feb (that I've not yet started).

I've also had a request for an article on goal setting for a local newsletter so I'll be cranking that out soon, too.

As for NaNoWriMo, at least I did more than procrastinate this year. Didn't get anywhere past those 8 pages I mentioned earlier but small steps are good steps.

Here's to keeping the sanity through the holidays by writing...

Beth

Of fiction & freelance

Let's see...an update.

Well, I've not freelanced much lately. Putting together my thesis has sapped my logical, informational brain center and I find it difficult to string together words that explain. I'm still coming up with ideas, not as compulsively as usual, but any idea is a good one--proof that the old noggin is still kicking.

What I have been writing is fiction. Signed up for NaNoWriMo and challenged myself not to the full novel-length work in 30 days but to hit at least 50 pages. I should be there now, shouldn't I...but not yet. I think I managed 8 pages in the last week or so--nothing to sneeze at, especially when I think the beginning of the story (the one set amongst the Mayan pyramids at Chichen Itza in the Yucatan jungle of Mexico) is a keeper. Dynamic and my heroine comes to life.

I need to get my act together and start gathering research for the next RWR article (if you're a published romance writer and you've been published in nonfiction/freelancing, drop me a note...I'm always looking for quotes....). It's chomping away in the back of my mind...and with the holidays right around the corner (and the article due in Feb though I want to turn it in in Jan), it's never too late...

Ok. Back to the fiction writing. Maybe.

Beth

Fingers

Do your fingers ever do bad things while you just watch?

 

I had a week like that last week. Finished proofing the anthology article (sent it off Friday) and thought I'd have a few days to catch my breath before starting the research for the next RWR article. Cracked open an issue of a writer's ezine I've been reading for some time only to find a note that their internet resource columnist is moving on and the position is open. Before I could remind myself that I have far too many things I want to write myself, I'd whipped up a letter of interest and copy/pasted a sample article. (Reminds me of one of my favorite songs...John Mayer's "My Stupid Mouth" except in this case it's "My Stupid Fingers") And sent it.

 

Oh, but that wasn't enough. In the midst of reading another great ezine and saw they had--even better--an opening for a volunteer editor. Now--this zine is by far and away one I admire greatly. Since I consider myself qualified, I zipped off another note of interest, got the job specs and sent in my name for consideration.

 

It's like the synaptic connection between my brain's logical center and my fingers has either disconnected or taken on a Frankenstein-like connection where I"m just an innocent bystander. I just hope I have all the words (and stamina, but that's greatly helped by caffeine) to keep up with what my fingers think I'm capable of.

 

Happy Writing...

Beth

First Conference Goodie

No notes yet--haven't had time. Finishing two articles requested for the anthology and wrapping up the proposal for the RWA conference next year in Dallas, but my friends Lori & Tony Karayianni (who write as Tori Carrington) posted some wonderful photos from the conference on their site (they're just sooooooo fun!) and I wanna share.

 

Visit the photos in the blog on their site at: http://www.toricarrington.net/indexblog.htm

 

(I'm in the one titled "A shot of our conference table". Third row, middle photo. That's me in the Buckeye cardigan. (I'm insanely superstitious. And it worked. We beat Michigan State...)

 

Anyway..check out all the good-looking writers there.

 

More soon.

 

Back to writing....

 

Beth

Follow Ups

....doing a (quick) happy dance...

 

Just got a reply from the RWR editor and she likes one of my (two) proposal ideas I sent along with the thank-you note after receiving the contract (You send those follow up ideas, right? Strike while the iron's hot my friends...)

 

This time it's for the April issue. I can make that, just hoping I can target the topic as she wants. Gonna email her and find out...will let you know....

 

Beth

Refilling the Creative Well

Something mystical about the way writing conferences refill your creative well.

 

I don't know if it's the people, the topics, the invisible karma generated when a bunch of creative-types gather, but after returning from my writer's group annual conference (Central Ohio Ficiton Writers) I'm full of the belief that I can--no---will! be back working on fiction (and simultaneously freelancing) in no time.

 

So many excellent speakers with such good advice and ideas....I took lots of notes and plan to post some of them here for those who don't have the luxury of getting to a conference soon. Great advice from great authors (Jenny Crusie & Bob Mayer, Tori Carrington (aka Tony & Lori),) excellent agents and editors...I'm inspired.

 

So what am I doing here and not writing?!

 

Notes soon...

 

Beth

Relapse, Part II

Is there a word for a second relapse of larger proportions than the first relapse? Because, if so--that's me.

 

First fall off the freelancing wagon all I did was write a little fiction. Honest. A paragraph or two, a few first lines, a couple of character names and plot twists...easy enough to scoop myself up and get tough the next day, leaving my notebook in the dust.

 

But that little taste sparked a big idea that woke me at 4:30 am the next morning and had me not just writing a few notes but a damn short story. (it's my blog, I can curse). Yeah, no lie. Started at 4:30, had it done by 6. About 1,000 words but the entire story came pourrrrrrrrrring out. Beginning, middle, end, structure, character, plot, details...wow. Almost in publishable form, too. Did some market research and have three places to submit. Hey, that's bringing it full circle back to freelancing, right?.......

 

Beth

Relapse

Ok, I admit it. I'd planned to keep it hush-hush but I might as well update the blog with the truth:

 

I wrote fiction.

 

Yeah, it's true. Not a bunch--just about two pages of brainstorming for a story that's been nagging from the back of my mind. Happened at that one weak moment of the day, right before bedtime when I was exhausted after a day of presenting a workshop and didn't have the willpower to put down the notebook and fountain pen. Notebook is still on the floor as a reminder of my downfall.

 

Strangely, I don't feel the need to overindulge myself (like with chocolate) or obsess over it (like with a query letter). I really feel relief. Like I got stuff out, my creative, fiction brain still works but isn't on overdrive with the guilt that accompanies a fiction story I can't finish fast enough for my own high standards. Just a nice, fiction-inspired peace.

 

Even more strange is that it inspired me to finish a proposal for RWA's national conference next year and an anthology submission I've been dragging my feet on. As Stephen King so masterfully says: Writing begets writing..(no matter what kind it is).

 

Back to the story..erm...article....

 

Beth

Proof

Quick story to those of you who believe editors don't reply to your submissions (fiction or freelance) out of spite or because they don't like you personally

 

(you do know that's an excuse on your part, right? Editors are wonderful--the reason we're published).

 

My friend Katy--one of the Serious girls--received a rejection today for a submission she'd sent some time ago--January of 2002, to be exact.

 

You read that right. Coming close to five years and she just received a reply.

 

That's an award-winner. Can anyone top that?

 

Here's hoping my recent queries get accepted (or rejected, but we must think positively) by 2010....

 

Back to the writing....

Beth

Finally....

Yay...it's here!

 

Got my RWR in the mail Saturday. A little late because I didn't (as I thought) update them with my new address (so no one to blame but me).

 

But--it looks fantastic. Kathleen (the editor) was right--I love the layout. Great graphic. It's so cool when you see your articles put together with the layout and art the editor chooses (knock wood--I've always had good ones but like authors who cringe at their book covers, I'm sure there are less than perfect ones out there) and it mirrors what you've imagined.

 

Gives a little spark to the current articles and queries I'm working on, too. Now to get busy on those....

 

Happy Writing...

 

Beth

Making a Name

One of the hardest things about being a writer is that occasionally it's easy to slip into doubt about whether your writing is making a difference to others. Whether fiction (providing a much-needed, entertaining escape from reality) or freelancing (giving information someone must need to know somewhere), even NYT authors have to question themselves at times.

 

Not that I've been in that funk lately--I'm soooo wound up for this RWR article to come out (and it has--I've received wonderful notes from writing friends who love it--but I'm still awaiting my copy...but I digress...), so I'm still riding high on that. But in checking my email, I've recently received two cool notes about my writing that give me that sense of external success.

 

THe first is from an author I reviewed earlier in the year. His book on punctuation for writers was just stellar--even invited him to speak to my local RWA group. He emailed to ask if I'd review his collection of poetry. True, it's been out a while but it's still need to be sought out for my opinion. Like it's really worth a dime...lol.

 

The second is from my outstanding web designer who just overhauled my site with the vision I've had forever for the site (if you're here, isn't it just gorgeous?). She read my articles for writers and, once she gets her online review/book magazine revamped (get busy, Jo!) she's interested in featuring me and one of my articles. Way cool.

 

But the coolest is the RWR article, which as I said, is out. Nothing beats that moment of opening the mailbox and seeing the article with your byline--not even the check. The wait is killing me...

 

Beth

Oh, those darned ideas....

What makes ideas so darned elusive when you're looking for them--but they pop their heads up at the weirdest, most inappropriate times?

 

Spent the other morning working on an article for a writer's anthology I was invited to submit to. Had my slant, bullet points (yes, I outline rough drafts) and the draft in my mind ready to be forced onto paper.

 

However, the article had other ideas. It refused to come out in a neat and orderly fashion, so I had to squeeze it out. Like fresh orange juice, it splattered all over my paper, but I took what I could get.

 

Later that morning, at a massively important meeting with the boss and girls at the office, the entire, full-blown article idea that'd been on the tip of my brain came rushing full speed. It had no sympathy for the fact that I was trying to keep up with program changes at work, thinking of the methodology section for my thesis, mentally proofreading something else for work--it just jumped out.

 

I frantically scribbled in my own, unique shorthand way everything flying at me, and it all made sense later in the day when I went back over the notes. Beautiful. Emailed some editors for quotes and fleshed out the rest of the article over lunch.

 

Moral of the story: If the idea ain't there when you want it, just wait. It'll come. And if it doesn't, well, I can't help--but maybe it wasn't the right idea for you.

 

Happy Writing...

Beth

A Perk of Freelancing

As you might know, I'm still having fictional writing withdrawals. I have those moments of weakness where I'm tempted to grab a notebook and start in on a character stalking my thoughts or a plot that won't quit peeking at me from around every corner.

 

But I'm being strong and sticking to what I've decided. Not that it's been tough--I'm a huge believer of the life theory that if you set your intentions, you'll draw those things to you that help your intentions come to fruition, (Ok, so I'm still working on that intention to get Tom Brady to stop by for dinner after practice) and the possible writing assignments have started seeking me out since I made the switch (a profile of a Fulbright scholar for a big local magazine, a national teaching magazine looking for expertise on teaching ESL students, a request from an anthology on how I got one particular article published...).

 

Anyway, I digress (as usual).

 

In working on the article for the teaching magazine all day yesterday (the outline basically wrote itself last week), I couldn't get the opening paragraph to work for me. It didn't want to be about a student and it didn't want to be a spotlight on my school. I wrote both, then just plain dove into the meat of the article. Before I went to bed, I felt a little defeated that the article didn't come as smooth as the outline. I felt like giving up on it.

 

This morning, bright and early, as I looked at what I did yesterday then at the schedule deadline I'd given myself for writing the rough draft, I realized I have another entire week to finish the rough draft. Woohoo. I couldn't do that with my fiction--there is no light at the end of the tunnel (unless you're pubbed and on deadline)--but with the nonfiction, it's a little grease on the gears to know that meeting the deadline is the real challenge. With the fiction, I'd have just given up and started a new story.

 

Don't tell me, fiction writers, that you haven't done that...

 

Beth

The smell of contracts

There are so many cool things in the writing process that get me excited (easy feat, I've been told). When an idea comes together, when a query snaps along, when an editor loves an idea and asks for more, more, more....

 

and when the contract comes.

 

There's something satisfying about the contract that puts the whole process in stone for me. I've sold to small ezines and small magazines that don't offer contracts but do offer some small token of payment...maybe $5, maybe $10, but they let you keep all your rights for those two paragraphs. Ain't nothin' wrong with that either--those little gems are the ones you can sell and resell, marketing your name and writing talent while picking up a little more dough along the way.

 

But there's something I just really dig about signing a contract and faxing it back. I received mine from the RWR yesterday afternoon. Didn't have a chance to fax it back yet but it's #1 on my to-do list. Surprised it didn't take more rights, but that's a good thing...resell potential along with tweaking ideas for targeting the same idea to a new publication in the future.

 

And the note from the editor was nice too. She told me I'll love the layout and that she can't wait for me to see it. Of course I will. It's one of the plusses of freelance vs. fiction publishing--I don't get bad covers ...lol...

 

So now the funnest (yes, it's a word) part of the entire writing process is about to come to fruition....getting the magazine with my article inside....

 

Back to writing....

 

Beth

Smart choice or giving up?

The more I think about it, the more freelancing seems the smart choice. I just got two new market leads today in my mailbox at school that sound viable. Ideas are hounding me around every corner--so how about I just shake up my entire world and vision of myself (you know, the one sitting at the table eating chocolate, drinking champagne and smiling coyly as Barry Manilow asks me to sign 'just one more' of my romance novels for him?) and dive headfirst into freelancing?

 

They're still words, I'm still published and forces outside myself seem to think I"m good at it.

 

We'll see. Fleshing out ideas tonight.

 

Beth

a book and writing life review

Just finished reading an interesting book for a book review column I write each month for a writing ezine.

 

While I had to read it twice for it to stick, there's lots of good advice in it for thinking of your plots and scenes in a different way. I always think reading books on plotting will help my plotting--and they would, if only I would finish writing the damn story in the first place.

 

The book is Martha Alderson's Blockbuster Plots: Pure & Simple. She gives two charts for us visual learners out there--a scene tracker and a plot planner. The plot planner is pretty similar to the "W" plotting chart, something I'm intimately familiar with thanks to my Serious Writing friend (and now Golden Heart winner--WOOOO HOOOO!!) Donna, so I didn't figure I"d learn much.

 

Of course I did. I learn more when I think I don't have anything to learn. Weird how that works.

 

Anyway, the scene tracker is a really cool tool I'm thinking of trying on the first scene of the third draft of the last short story I finished. Starting little is nothing to sneeze at when some people can't start at all :) If so, I'll let you know how it goes.

 

Not sure I want to venture back into ficiton, anyway. Still debating the merits of sticking to nonfiction for a while. Found two new, really cool freelance markets yesterday and already have two articles outlined. Starting back to school this afternoon, so I'm trying to not load up the plate **too** much.

 

Oh, and if you're interested, I'll post the review link when it comes out (for Blockbuster Plots). It's the writer2writer.com ezine--good stuff Cheryl puts out each month--sign up for free on her site.

 

Back to writing....

Beth

This month in the writing life...

So for those who've missed the last month or so of my writing life (myself included)...

 

I sent off the article on male-female speech patterns to the editor on July 15th. Not due til August 5th, but I left on July 20th to volunteer for two weeks working at a summer camp for diabetic teenagers (the best part of my summer.)

 

Hoped the editor would hold off to making any changes til after August 7th, since we moved to a new house on the 5th. (What can I say? Even summer time spent not teaching is insane in my life).

 

The bad news? I couldn't check email til the 5th.

 

The good news? She loved the article! The only thing she requested after I sent it was my bio-byline (which I'd conveniently forgotten because I hate writing those things). Sent it off maybe two weeks ago and am looking forward to it coming out in October (the last date the editor mentioned) issue (which normally comes out in September.

 

So I'm holding my breath til the RWR (Romance Writer's Report) shows up in my mailbox (I did change my address with them, didn't I?).

 

I could have mentioned the name of the magazine sooner (or maybe I did and forgot, who knows?) but I'm terribly superstitious about things like that.

 

I'd sound pretty stupid to say I didn't do it for the money (not much--flat fee) but there have to be a few of you in the audience who secretly get an unbelievable thrill you can't get from anything else in life when you get that magazine (or book cover or article, etc.) with your name on it. Ain't nothing sweeter, I'll tell you. Except maybe booksignings, but I haven't made it there yet.

 

Which brings me to the thought of the week (ok, month) I've been grappling with...since it seems my nonfiction is meeting with more favor publishing-wise than my fiction, should I just throw in the fiction towel and concentrate on non-fiction? Maybe get my schedule to resemble that of a freelancer, with lots and lots of deadlines spaced over the next twelve months to the point that I don't feel guilty not working on the fiction? Or just keep trying to maintain that happy fiction/nonfiction balance? Fiction in the mornings (soon to be back at 4:30 am) and nonfiction after I come home?

 

Anyone have a crystal ball or magic 8 Ball I can consult? I'll pay.....

 

Get back to the writing!

Beth

*Really* done

WOOOO HOOOOO...it's done.

 

No, I mean *really* done.

 

Finished the article and had an editor friend proofread. Giving it a day's rest before fine-tooth combing for spelling & grammar...then sending it to the editor.

 

Interesting process in working with my friend, M, in editing. As a true-blue editing mind, she really made me think long and hard about stuff in my article--mostly structure. I write with A LOT of emdashes. You know---like this---to offset my thoughts. While I know perfectly well how to use commas, I prefer emdashes. I even told her (a dirty little secret) that I honestly THINK in dashes. When I see words in my mind, I see dashes, too. Always have.

 

WEll, she broke me of that habit right quick. The final article has only two dashes, and those were direct quotes from an author. Reads so much smoother...amazing.

 

What's really amazing is that I managed to get this article done, finish a research paper for my graduate class, pack to move into a new house and pack for two weeks at summer camp with teenagers in 3.5 days. Tomorrow I"m planning to spend the day trying to relax since I leave for camp Friday morning.

 

yeah, right.

 

I'll share the details on the article once I hear from the editor.

 

Til then, happy writing...

 

:)Beth

And now for the truth....

Ok, the truth.

I didn't have the whole rough draft done when I posted last time. I had 99.50% done. I'm just horrible when it comes to conclusions--fiction, nonfiction, letters, articles, stories...you name it, I can't finish it on the first go-round.

But now I really did. And I'm excited.

 

Even more excited because I sent emails to a bunch of my published-author friends with a questionnaire on dialogue and I got back some AMAZING responses that will make my article sparkle.

 

Just gotta get to the second (and probably third) drafts....I have til Thursday....but the hard part is done.

 

Honest.

Good news, good news...and OK news

I thought summer was for sipping lemonade under an umbrella by a beach....yeah, right.

 

Instead I find myself loading up on the caffeine to beat deadlines and stay sane in this rush I'm calling "life".

 

First the good news...

The rough draft of the article on male-female speech patterns is done! WOO HOO!! Not that it was tough, just had to finish researching and find a time to sit down and put it all together. Not bad, either. It's due to the editor by August 5th, but I'll be out of town (working at a summer camp for diabetic teenagers) then and wanted to zip it off to the editor by July 21st (the day I leave).

 

What, you don't turn in articles early? I can't believe I, the princess of procrastination, do now but I've learned it really helps out the editor. If they can count on me to be on time for one article, they can count on me again when they're pressed for time and need something put together on a whim (at least I'm hoping for that...).

 

Anyway, the article is still really rough draft (long hand by fountain pen--the only way I can compose rough drafts). I have lots of excellent feedback from a questionnaire I sent out to several of my romance-novelist friends to incorporate, and that's the game plan for tonight...second draft.

 

I even had a dream last night about the final article layout. I can see it now.....

 

And other good news....

I've wanted to redesign my website for some time. I like what I have content-wise (did it all myself) but wanted a new design...something clean, fresh, pretty and professional....so I approached a designer who several friends have recommended and she sent me her first ideas on the design this morning.

 

They're awesome! Really. She took ideas I didn't even know I had and made them come alive through pixels. It's a totally rough-draft phase--but she wanted my opinion on the stuff before she went further. I'm sooooo excited. I'm hoping to have the new site up and running by the time the article comes out. Neat-O!

 

The OK news:

We've managed to sell the house (no small feat, and we did it in less than a month with the help of our wonderful real-estate agent-friend) but are still up in the air about the house we're moving to. We made a bid on a house we like (well, the DH and DT (teenager) love it more than me but I think it'll grow on me) and are waiting for the acceptance or counter offer--which we should have today.

 

I'm mostly worried about a good kitchen (I'm a cook & bake-a-holic) and a peaceful place for writing. I've established the spare room here as my writing refuge (no one enters when I'm in there unless there are severed limbs) and am having anxiety attacks about moving to a new spot and disrupting the writing karma. Ah well...such is the life.

 

At any rate--hope you're still writing. I found a great exercise on creating characters in a recent issue of Writer's Digest, so maybe I'll share that next post.

 

Til then....

 

Beth

Schedule? Or Not?

The writing went well today. This morning, actually.

 

Why is it when summer rolls around I think I can write so much more--since I don't have lesson plans to create or papers to grade--but I spend significant time NOT writing.

 

I think it's the schedule thing. When I don't have to go in to school, I don't have any reason to try and get things done in a timely fashion. I can set my own schedule, work on my own time and luxuriate over one perfect word for an hour.

 

Not realistic if I want to become a full-time writer, is it?

 

Ah, well. I'll work on it. I'm about five pages away from finishing another short story, and next week I'm participating in an online write-all-you-can-in-one-week challenge hosted by my local RWA group. Gotta get this short done so I can work on the time travel I started a few years ago. I know, I should be working on the contemporary I challenged myself to finish by the end of this year but I'm still struggling with the heroine.

 

Off to write...

Beth

Fan mail

While enjoying my lunch (over a messy desk full of reports that need to be finished by the end of the school year, which happens to be today), I realized I'd not posted in some time. Mostly because the writing is going so well in the mornings (working on a short story as a reprieve from my novella-in-progress for another reason to maybe be discussed later).

 

So I logged on to send a post via email and found a note from a fellow writer who read one of my online articles on romance writing (Help! I Want to Be A Romance Writer at www.dabblingmum.com) and had, what appeared at first glance, to be a question on a query letter (as she wrote in the subject line), but instead had several other questions embedded.

 

One of the cool things about being a freelancer and choosing to write about (at least at this point in my life...I might change sometime) only things I really like/love/care about is that when I get these emails from readers asking advice, I feel smart. True, I'm not published in novel-length fiction yet, but I do know a little about writing (it would fill a thimble). And I love sharing whatever I know with whomever cares to ask.

 

And for the record, I really, really love writing query letters. I know--I'm insane (queries for nonfiction. Have only written one for fiction & that was some time ago) but that should come as no real surprise. I like it that way!

 

I'll do my best to stop by here more often. But when the writing flows, the last thing I want to do is take myself out of that fantasy of word flow.

 

New Blogs

Because my *&@*@!! internet connection/Blogger account is acting up, I'm listing two fun new blogs I found today and will soon add to my list ------> over there, but before I forget them...

http://renegadewriterblog.blogspot.com/
The Renegade Writer Blog--just started but I love the book and the authors

and


http://deadlinehellions.blogspot.com/
Deadline Hellions blog--lots of cool romance writers over there.

Writing's going well. Here's to an upcoming post....

Flyin' Ideas

Ever hit those spaces of time in life where the writing and ideas are just insane and come at you from all directions? (I know, enormous run-on sentence. Deal with it).

 

I've been doing great at the WIP. Wrote through chapter 1, chapter 2 and the first 2/3 of chapter three before checking out chapter 2 to rework for a contest entry. Almost gave into the evil notion of changing the entire story and plot because I couldn't wrap my mind around it. But instead, I just spent some quality brainstorming time with my idea, characters and premise, and discovered my hero & heroine are much more sarcastic and snappy than I'm writing them.

 

Everything else, after that, has been flowin' like wine. Exciting me enough to resume my waking-up-at-4:50 am to walk the dog, shower and write cycle. Amazing how good the entire day goes when I get that writing in. Finished chapter 2 yesterday, and starting with chapter three tonight or tomorrow. In the rewrite of chapter 2, I managed to get the story moving enough to jump to the second scene of chapter 3 as the introduction. I love it when that happens. But enough on that.

 

Everywhere I look is a story idea. Three crosses on the side of the interstate where three young men I knew died on Christmas Eve a few years ago gave me an idea. An erotica writer's website gave me another. A traffic snafu gave another. Don't worry, I'm getting them all down in my handy-dandy writer's notebook for future stories. (You do have one of those, don't you?). But there just ain't enuff hours in the day to do all the writing I want. Sometimes being a hermit is soooooooooooooo appealing.....

 

B

Funny Commercials

Funny Commercials Blog

Yeah. So during my "writing time" this morning, I'm out visiting blogs at Blogger (don't we all?) and came across this interesting site.

Well, not sure if the site is interesting but the video commercial clip for April 7th is funny--maybe a story starter for a writer or two. Visit yourself....

funnycommercials.blogspot.com

And I'm heading back to the fiction writing. Honest.

Settled

Not that I've forgotten the blog, but hey, life gets the best of us at times. Two grad classes in one semester and, well, just life has overwhelmed me since Xmas.

 

Now that I've got my priorities straight (writing, family, blog), I'll be back more often.

 

Couple new gigs--quarterly columnist on advocacy for a state teacher's newsletter. Article in the Feb. issue of Kappa Delta Pi's New Teacher Advocate on ESL students. Oh, and I nailed an assignment for one of my dream magazines, rough draft due in August. More on that later.

 

I think I should have included work and life in parenthesis above....hmmm.

 

 

Follow up

Darn, it's been quite some time. But I'm still here and still kicking, so I may as well post.

Some good news on the writing front...

I found a magazine looking for articles on a specific topic I know a lot about and wanted to know more about their needs. I called up the editor (in October), chatted with her for some time, and sent off an article based on what she'd told me they were looking for.

I figured it was a shoo-in. But when I hadn't heard anything by December (she sounded like the type to send a "sorry, this doesn't fit our needs at this time" email), I emailed her in early January to make sure she'd gotten it.

She hadn't.

Along with a nice note, I immediately resent my submission to have her email me at the end of the week to let me know they'd selected my article for the spring issue, due out in February. National publishing credit and all I had to do was ask.

I like it.

Never forget, young writers: write, submit, followup. Maybe a margarita in the process doesn't help, but it never hurts to ask....

New blog to check out

Just found a new, really great blog for reading in those times when you
a) are at work and just can't take more paperwork
b) need to waste time but can't take another popup ad
c) need to waste writing time but think you should read something about writing.

Romancing the Blog blog: http://www.romancingtheblog.com/blog/

(in case you can't find the link on the right side)...

Be brave, young writers

For the day job, I went to a day-long workshop on how to make people better thinkers, therefore better able to solve their own problems. Interesting premise and I've tried it on a few colleagues with a bit of success. But I digress...

As the presenter was making her case for why we should spend eight wonderful hours plastered in the same uncomfortable vinyl chair through mulitple power outages, a fire drill and a lunch that ran out twenty people short (no kidding...don't you love public education funding?), she explains the training we're going to learn about in terms of being a way to think out loud through problems in search of solutions.

At that moment, I had a huge "aha!" moment. (If you've had one, you know what I mean. If not, keep working on it). This strategy, complete with hardbook, textbook and mounds of research data, was nothing more than talking out loud (like I do in the tape recorder in the car) to solve problems (like why my heroine's plot line is NOT working for me).

Discussing this with my group for the alloted seven minutes of discussion, (all my dear department friends who know my eccentricities), I mentioned how similar this was to my individual writing process, and how it does work for me so maybe it might have merit. I didn't intend to go global with my insight, just keep it low-key with my tablemates.

Not so. When the presenter asked for our thoughts and opinions on the process we were about to learn, no one raised a hand. Either the coffee hadn't kicked in or everyone was in that hazy place where teachers go when their brains shut down at the start of any new strategy being heralded as the world's best. Feeling bad for the presenter, I almost told her about the similarities with writing, but bit back my comment.

Admit I was a writer? In front of a group of strangers? Before they'd had coffee? Made me almost as nervous as the second overtime in the 2002 Fiesta Bowl...the pressing feeling of nerve-induced throwing up included. And Ruth Ann whispering, "Go on, Beth, tell your cute writing story!" in my ear didn't help. So I did what any good writer would do.

I caved in. I explained, in slow sentences, how I'm a published author, and that I think this method might have some validity because it's the way I write my novels. "If I can write a 40,000 word book by plotting verbally, we can teach people to solve their problems verbally," I said.

When the room didn't sink into a hole, I breathed. Wow. I'd just admitted I was a writer and nothing bad happened. What's funny is that I've only admitted that maybe twice before to strangers but in much, much smaller venues.

Later in the day, I actually had a few nice conversations with two other writers who mystically ended up in my group and were in awe that I'd done what neither had done with THEIR colleagues: share their passion and interest in writing. Geez. I felt like Lewis (or Clark) or Mr. Spock: I boldly ventured where those two writers had never been before. And I liked it.

A lot.

Moral: Tell 'em you're a writer. If you're afraid, do it before they have coffee. But don't hide your love of writing. Who knows what you might inspire?

Truth is...

The truth is, since I had a fit of creative genius on my current WIP on Sunday (or was it Monday?) I haven't done much writing.

Sure, I wrung out the last article or two for the school department newsletter, have posted daily at my blogs (one other in addition to here) and am seriously considering putting a proposal together for that online book review class, but as far as fiction, ain't nothin' doin'. (Don't worry, the grammar isn't going).

I have lofty aspirations, though. My three week goal for the serious writing girls (now two weeks left) is to finish the first chapter of this WIP (contemporary erotica) for a contest I want to enter in January. It started as a category contemporary but after a few days of brainstorming the story (longhand, only way that works for me), I realized I had two stories, not one really long, complex one. So I set aside the category (needs more fleshing out--no pun intended) and started chugging on the erotica.

It went well. Finished four pages in one day. Then nothing. Makes me wonder what the heck I'm doing posting here instead of writing on it. Being a writer isn't always easy but it's guaranteed to make you crazier than the average person...

Door close, window open...

You know, the writing universe has a way of balancing out. Creator's karma, maybe.

I've been writing a monthly column on small press, independent publishers and self-published works for an upstart ezine for the last, oh, about five months. Really did enjoy it, even if the covers of the ezines were a touch raunchy for my taste. The editor was a nice fellow who did a good job returning emails and eventually paid me for my first three trial columns. Always had something nice to say about my reviews which goes a long way for the ego.

Two months ago I agreed to a six month extension of the original contract but as the days moved on, I had an inkling that there were more things I wanted to do writing-wise--and being tied to a column like that wasn't really one of those things. Nevertheless, I'd given my word and stuck to it.

So imagine my surprise when the editor didn't respond to my last column submission and I checked out his site to find he'd folded up shop. Interesting. Part of me was disappointed--I'm in the throes of interviewing an award-winning, multi-published, super-talented erotica author who's also a long-time, dear friend. But part of me was relieved. I could give up the column with no regrets. (well, other than not being paid for two months' interviews).

But that wasn't the cool part. That was the door closing, which wasn't all that bad.

Another writing friend and colleague who I write a monthly book review for (on writer's books, no less) forwarded me an ezine this very morning because the editors were looking for someone to teach an ecourse on book reviewing on their website. My friend thought of me and sent the info to me for consideration. I, in turn, emailed the editor, mentioned my credentials and that I wanted more info.

Received a reply later this afternoon that she was very interested and that, after reading the info she'd sent, would I check out the course listings already on the site and consider submitting a course proposal to her. Would I? I'm looking at the details as I type this. I'm a teacher by day, a writer by night (and day, somtimes). Talk about a dream job. Wouldn't be raking in the dough but I'd be making some.

I'll keep you updated. In the meantime, quit reading and start writing.

I just knew it...

In October, I sent off a submission to an education magazine after reading their upcoming issue themes from their website. It's a topic I know a lot about and write a lot about (my day job, in other words).

I called the editor, before submitting, to narrow my topic focus. We had a wonderful conversation as she mistakenly thought I was someone else and answered the phone with --not hell0--but "What do you want now?" I capitalized on this error (hey, we're all human), and frankly it helped me get over those editor jitters in my gut. One thing was for sure after that--she wasn't going to forget me after our laugh and conversation.

So, after I sent off the submission, I didn't hear anything at all back from her. In talking to her, I gleaned that she acknowledged submissions, even ones she rejected. But being the polite midwestern girl I am, I didn't want to call again and say ..hey...did you get the emailed submission? I held myself in check for as long as I could handle and over a month later (but before her publishing deadline of January) sent her a nice followup note just to make sure she'd received it.

She hadn't. I just knew it. But even cooler, she invited me to resend (long after the deadline) the article, which I did promptly, and she assured me it would be read by the editorial board and considered for publication in the Spring issue.

I'm still waiting to hear back but the lesson is this: if you've got something nagging your writer's brain, listen to it. Caveat: don't use this as an excuse to be a pest to every editor you submit to. To harass the editors is to commit career suicide. But if there's just something whispering in the back of your mind that something isn't right, trust yourself. Be courteous, be professional and be sure to keep trying.

Really, I have...but...

been looking forward to posting here for...well, since the last post. two book reviews, an interview, a rough draft and an article outline requested by a major editor have kept me away.

and this post will be shortened due to an apple peeler incident last night...which is best forgotten...at least once the skin on the top of my ring finger regenerates. for those of you thinking i'm copying ee cummings', it's a comfort thing.

so, at least until i get back from the outlaws'...erm...inlaws' thanksgiving gala (alcohol helps but it slows the writing), this will have to do.

found a funny new blog i've listed...the smart bitches. funny stuff.

Good News/Bad News

Good news: I found the rough draft of the article I wrote over two years ago that the editor requested last week

Bad news: It really sucks worse than I remembered. Way too many words, some unrelated ideas, scattered structure (if you call that structure)...as a writer, do you ever look back on the stuff you've written in the past, after a passage of significant time and say...thank God they didn't publish this? LOL.

The ideas are good, even worthy of some research. But the presentation...well, that's what I should be doing now instead of blogging.

I think I will.

When It Rains...

It sure pours.

In good ways.

Two posts in one day is something for me. Two posts in one day because of good news is even better.

After going to school on cloud 9 from the "send more" request, I checked my school email and found a note from the co-editor of a state educational newsletter who thinks my idea for an article is great--and even suggested it might work as a quarterly column.

Just as I finished reading the email, our secretary stopped by to see me and asked "When are you going to write for us again?"

"Write for you?" I questioned.

"Yeah. You know, one of those great letters to the editor [of the Columbus Dispatch]. We need someone to show the good things that go on in public education again. Too much negative press".

Wow. I'd forgotten my scathing, sarcastic yet popular letter to the editor last year. I sure loved writing that letter. I was so pissed off with the Dispatch's George Bushian-boohiss- views on public education I had to light into someone after the report that teachers take too many sick days (aren't they in our contract?) and too many Fridays off (yeah, I'm sure no downtown execs EVER take off Fridays). That letter was awesome. I think I had it written, drafted, proofed, edited and emailed within an hour. That's passionate, quality writing, my friends.

There are some issues I've been mentally tackling lately. Especially charter schools. But Bill's nice reflection on a piece of writing I'd somewhat forgotten was a damn good indicator of success to me. Something I wrote stuck with him and came back to me full circle.

Like success.

Life is good. Writing is better. And sending out that requested draft in time? Priceless.

The Pleasure of Rejection

And speaking of success, here's reason #1 to always send a thank you when you've been rejected and to never let an open-ended conversation (even via email) end...

I think I mentioned the query I sent to the RWR--the monthly magazine of the Romance Writers of America--proposing an article on opening lines--ten ways to improve your opening lines.

Last week, I received a wonderful rejection. Actually, I view all rejections as wonderful (no, my middle name isn't Pollyanna) because to me, it's a sign that I'm writing and that someone has taken the time to tell me--hey, this isn't what we want/need but at least there's merit. But anyways--the editor sent along a rejection of my initial idea but said some really flattering things about my writing--and invited me to propose something else. Being the good, midwestern girl I am, I knew I had to send a thank you but instead of sending it alone, I tacked on two more ideas: one that I'm currently researching for my own interest and another that I've been thinking about for a few years now.

Long story short: she liked them both. The second idea I already have something written up on, albeit still rudimentary and basic in form, and she wants to see that first to get a feel for my writing style. (My writing style...do we ever really recognize our own writing style?). On the first idea, she wants to know how long I envision the article. Now--maybe it's just me, but that's a pretty sweet request. Knowing my strengths as a writer, I can usually nail a word count within twenty words and say what I need to. Ten words? No problem. Fifty thousand words? No problem.

Needless to say I'm really excited today. I guess this means I'll have to change my goals with the Serious Writer girls--but I think they'll happily understand. Maybe the fiction will have to be on hold for a little while. Again.

But you should see Pollyanna grin.

There's success...and then...success

So, as a writer, what's your definition of success?

I've been thinking on this one a little more lately because while it seems I'm having more success with my writing, it's success in a different way than I envisioned.

See, originally, when I started writing fiction years ago (high school), my idea of success was to have people like my stuff. Easy enough. What teenage girl doesn't love a story where the handsome guy falls in love with her and lets her wear his class ring and varsity jacket? (thanks to Julie for making me feel like that story was much, much better than it ever had hopes to be...LOL)

Then my notion of success involved winning something. As fate had it, I was allowed as a freshman to take upper level creative writing at my first (and true love) college, worked on a story all semester, submitted it to the campus literary magazine and voila--won first place.

As an aside, everyone in that class hated my story. I was the only romance writer, no one was killed or died a slow, agonizing, allegorical death, and there were no guns or death rays. Still, I won first place--and still, I firmly believe I was the only entrant in the contest.

As I've grown and written, my successful wishes morphed into a "rule the world through fiction" thought. Quitting the day job would be nice...to be able to stay home and write full time...sure, who doesn't want to give it up to live life in their pajamas eating bonbons and dictating to servants? (oh, you misguided non-writers...)

But that fell by the wayside too, as I reached a success goal in a way I had never, ever anticipated. After all that time dying for fiction publication, I was published nationally on my first attempt. Not bad, but then I gave up fiction for nonfiction since I had so much more luck getting my nonfiction in the door.

And now I'm back to fiction (in the mornings) and nonfiction (in the evenings). The NF comes out like water. Sometimes impossible to turn off the ideas and words. And the fiction, in the rough draft form, did too. I think I managed about 80 pages in one week (longhand). But I'm trying to redefine my notion of success when it comes to being a fiction-writer-in-progress.

I've finished the first three chapters of fiction and am starting the revision process with chapter one (an interesting concept I've never tried before but works well for my friend JC--prolifically published in fiction--why not try something new?) but man, is it ever slow. It's taken me two weeks to come up with two pages. I have to admit--those two pages feel like the best, most solid fiction writing I've ever done in my life to this point. I don't see myself changing them. Maybe adding a layer of description or setting, but sticking with the structure itself.

But it's dreadfully slow. And part of my idea of success is writing, writing fast and writing a lot. Maybe I need to define success for myself for all aspects of my writing process...ten pages a day in drafting, one page a week in revision, one published article a month in nonfiction...? It's a lot to remember....

The Fog Has Lifted...

And not just because it's colder here in Ohio in the mornings.

After a long, dreary, rainy-wet day spent asking those good, old, everybody-wants-to-know questions on life, I managed to get back to writing yesterday. I haven't forgotten Jamie and Fatima, but one of the best gifts I can give both of them is to live a happy life doing what I love...

Writing.

Yesterday I managed to finish the final draft of an article I'm sending to a national education market on Friday (just working on the query now...is there anything worse?!). This morning I sat down with my fiction pad and cranked out almost all of chapter 2. Only thing left is the final scene to catapault me and my characters into the adventure (for all you Vogler fans).

And it feels good. Really, really good.

What I still want to know is how non-writers get through the day.

Writing and Life

For all you philosophizers/writers, here's a question I think on often, and in the last two weeks of my life, have thought on almost hourly:

How do non-writing people get through life?

More specifically, how do they think and function without a pen and paper? I sometimes try to fathom myself lost on a desert island (especially when the weather here in Ohio sucks something awful) and that old question of ...what would you take and who would you take?

After the fun of whatever current singer or movie star I'm in the mood for would wear off, I'd still be sitting beside my notebook with an endless supply of fountain pens. I just can't imagine NOT writing. My mind doesn't wrap around that notion.

And here's why I'm thinking about it so much.

Last week one of my oldest friends passed away at the age of 31. He'd have been 32 the day after his funeral, but for some reason he wasn't supposed to hit that mark. Now, Jamie and I haven't seen each other since we were probably 12 years old, but as our parents spent a lot of time together in our early years, so too did we, with my sister and his brother. Jamie had a laugh that you could not resist laughing with, no matter how hard you tried. He also had more freckles than the country sky has stars and the biggest, silliest smile to make you feel happy even when he was up to his rotten tricks of getting us kids into trouble. (I was the oldest and usually willingly took the brunt).

Though Jamie and I hadn't spoken in so long, I wondered why his death hit me so hard. This is where the non-writer thoughts came in. In order to understand my feelings, I journaled half a notebook, wrote two poems and a story and am still trying to answer questions I can't understand. How do non-writers get through these times? And what is it about these deep, emotional moments of our lives that just fill our minds with words and our hands with energy?

Jamie's death was an interesting contradiction to Fatima's death, however. Fatima was one of my students a few years ago in middle school. She was curious, extremely intelligent but at times unmotivated, with a silly grin and a huge heart for anyone smaller than her. She couldn't read (English or Somali) when she came to me, and I figured half the problem was her dyslexia--undiagnosed, of course. With that taken care of, she still had trouble reading. I managed to get her glasses, which she faithfully wore only to my class. In the hallway I had to always, always remind Fatima that if she couldn't see, she couldn't read. She would always smile at me, pull out her glasses, and magnify the eyes I knew loved me for being someone who loved her back.

I left the classroom a few years ago, and Fatima moved on to another school. Just this morning as I was leaving for school, I caught Fatima's photo on the morning television news. I didn't notice her blinding smile from last year's (her freshman year) school photo or the totalled car and the word "fatality" in tiny type in the background of her photo. All I registered in my mind was that she wasn't wearing her glasses.

And that's all I've been able to think of all day every time I mention Fatima's untimely death to teachers who shared the priviledge of educating Fatima her short time here. Her glasses.

But Fatima's death has had the opposite effect on me from Jamie's death. I can't write. I tried pushing the pen against the paper today and only squeaked out three pages of fiction which I know don't make sense. I couldn't edit the article I wanted to send off for the Friday deadline to a major publication that would be a big break for me. I couldn't do anything but sit and wish I'd hugged Fatima one more time instead of reminding her about her glasses.

And now I'm here. Even when I don't think I can write or have the heart, I'm writing. See what I mean? How do non-writers get through the day?

Thanks for being in my life, Jamie and Fatima.

Absence Makes The Heart Grow...Crazy

Yeah. So much for that epiphany. Worked out well for the first week or so, but the more time I spent working on my book proposal, the more time I found myself hearing snippets of dialogue and getting flashes of characters from (one of) the fiction pieces I started this summer.

In order to appease whichever muse decided to play head games with me, I grabbed a pen on Saturday morning, started writing the second draft of the blessed story and by Saturday night found myself twenty pages (and three empty fountain pen cartridges) deep in fiction I'd given up.

Again.

Anyone else have this problem? When you make up your mind to stop writing on something, whether it's brochure copy or a historical family saga set over three centuries, then start working on something else, does the original start working for you? Or am I losing my marbles? I haven't been able to think of anything else but this fiction story now--although I managed to pump out a good, bare-bones rough draft of an article that's due on Friday. I'm itching to write. I even brought my fiction notebook to school with me--something I rarely(if ever) do anymore.

Maybe that's the secret to writing: ignore what you want to write in order to write what you have to write and what you want will come find you.

That's enough for today---I have an exciting fiction story to get home to.

Oh, yeah. One more thing.

And the other thing I forgot to mention was that I had to hack up $5 for my serious-writers group because, during the past three weeks, I was unable to cough up 5 pages of fiction.

Insane, isn't it?

Well, the goals have changed. I'm on my way to post now. And they are...(drumroll, please):
*finish Chapter 2 in the fiction WIP
*submit the ELL article to KDP by the 10th
*finish rough draft of introduction to nonfiction WIP

So help me, if that muse starts buzzing around my head again...

Epiphany

I've had an epiphany. At least I think it's an epiphany. Since I don't have them all that often, I'm not sure if it's an epiphany or just a wildly random thought...or maybe even just good, old-fashioned common sense rearing its head.

For so many years I've written fiction. I've loved every moment, every word, every character speaking in the middle of the night in my mind, begging me to get up and write their latest revelation. Honest. But there's been something in the fiction that's held me back. If I could publish just the beginnings of fiction stories I've started I'd have several anthologies. Don't get me wrong--I completely love writing fiction.

But just over a year ago, the opportunity to write nonfiction--for a national publication--fell into my lap--or onto my desk--quite literally. Being the always-up-for-something-new person that I am, I jumped right in. Who would have thought my first stint with nonfiction would have reached a national audience not once but twice? Surely not me. Heck, I'd never even considered nonfiction at the time.

But I loved it, too. For different reasons than I loved fiction.

Nonfiction is structured. I know where I'm going (most times) before I begin. The research or interviews or outline guides me exactly where I'm going. I have a word count, a theme, a tone and a built-in audience willing and ready to read my composition. Like fiction, I get nonfiction ideas around every corner (and that, at times, is no joke!) but the difference is I can sit down and pound out a 3,000 word first draft of an article in the time it takes me to go back into my fiction and remember where my characters are. With every piece of nonfiction I work on, I learn stuff. I certainly never thought I'd be able to tell you the psychological factors that typically affect premature twins and not singles or what makes a small publisher different from an independent publisher...but I can now.

Now back to your regularly-scheduled epiphany...
I know these things may not make sense, but to make a long story short (which is something any good fiction writer needs to be able to do), I (think) I've decided to switch gears and start writing more nonfiction than fiction. Wow. I never, ever thought I'd say that and mean it but I do. The epiphany was...if I am continually told how excellent my nonfiction is...and many people comment to tell me how much they enjoy it and how much they've learned from it (gratifying the English teacher in me), then why am I not doing more of it? I've had two terrific nonfiction book ideas I've put on the backburner in this need to be fiction-published and think of how much fun it will be to work on a book where I can see the light at the end of the tunnel before I get there. (Of course, they're both books for writers).

I don't really have anything to lose. The discipline and skill I learned writing fiction will serve me well as I cross into the realm of nonfiction...and I won't totally leave it behind...but I won't feel so guilty about it!