Twice a year reset

Seems like twice I year I need to dig my desk out from under the dump-it-here pile and dust off my intentions. I've been coasting lately... With two projects in the early stages of publication I've been nervous? reluctant? superstitious? to start anything new. And for the past month or so both projects were in other hands... soooo what do I do? I watch Netflix if the truth be told :)

Not today. The desk is clear of clutter and my chocolate stash is well organized. I'm going to do some mini-stuff, writing exercises, drawing, creative output with short term or no obligated deadlines so when the big stuff bounces back to me I'll be already running to catch it.

Oh and I'm drinking diet Coke again, blast it. I thought I could sneak a few in on vacation - especially with our loooong drive home - and quit when I got here, but I forgot about how miserable it is when it's cold and snowy and dark and how I typically get sick when I get back from vacay and how, if only momentarily, the neurotoxins in diet Coke make everything seem.... fine.

I might be crazy.

Oh and how distracting are kittens? Com'ON look at that face!

SQUIRREL!

N

Thanksgiving

Happy Thanksgiving from Canada!

I'm at my desk today because deadlines don't have holidays! But I'm happy as a clam sitting here typing away. I'm taking a break between synopsis writing and story rewrites to post here.

It's hard to list what I'm thankful for without sounding trite or cliche. I mean the list is kinda the same isn't it? Good, healthy family and friends, food to eat, warm place to sleep, safe place to play and work and the right to individual thoughts, opinions, identity. Don't get me wrong, I know there are many people around the world without these basic things, even here in Halifax. But listing them at the dinner table becomes repetitive and the repetition kinda takes away from the effect, don't you think?

So yeah, I'm thankful for all of those things too, but here's my list of unique things:

... for colours and light in the fall.
... for my pup who loves me no matter what I do.
... for the time I have to peck at my computer and the ideas that come out.
... for chocolate, especially the kind that doesn't melt in my hands.
... for sticky notes that make me feel more organized and less frantic.
... for sports, especially hockey and basketball and baseball, that let me see my kids feeling passion.
... for books that let me be someone else for a bit.
... for social media that lets me talk to friends I'd lost touch with.
... for sentences that end in prepositions.
... for the 'f' word, because it's so versatile and sometimes it's the only word that works.
... for sparkly things.

:) Happy Thanksgiving, from this Proud Canuck.

N

Happy Writing Friday

I know those titles are getting boring. You'd think that someone who writes would be more creative with titles, but nope... my second story is currently called USB (for untitled second book) and my third story is - wait for it - UTB. You can figure out what it stands for.

Today I have lots of direction.

I'm excited to be contributing to the online magazine, Understorey. It's a great collection of stories and thoughts on motherhood - check it out! I'm not sure when my story is going in, but you should read what's there already. So I have edits to do for that to do.

I've uploaded a part of Game Plan's first chapter to Wattpad. Wattpad is a really great community of writers, take a look. It's free and has a mobile app so you can read on your phone.

After I'm done all those tidily bits, I have to take a serious look at my Big Editing Project. I have edits back on a story that are giving me swirling thoughts and explosive ideas. SO excited to move forward with it until I actually OPEN the document and then I'm  totally daunted. I'm at the point where I'm considering rewriting much of it because it may be easier than changing what's there... we'll see. I'm eating M&Ms in an effort to boost my courage.

N

Writing Process Blog Hop!

Another invite!  I'm not being nearly reclusive enough.

This one has questions I need to answer:

1. What am I working on?

 Egads I don't know!!! I'm running around in circles putting out fires! I'm marketing my first novel as much as I can, I'm still subbing my second novel. My third novel is out being beta-read and I have about 1000 random words that may or may not be the infant heart beat of another story.

2. How is my work different from others of its genre?

I've said a few times, I hate the concept of 'genre'... a story is a story, I don't like that we have to stuff it in a category so it's easily found on a shelf somewhere. I'll use my Pulizter notoriety to change that.

But for real, my work is different just because it's mine :) At the risk of sounding terribly cheesy... I think writing is an art form that is driven by personal experience, emotions, beliefs and opinions - even if you're writing fiction, the truth that is relatable to the reader is built from a foundation of the author's life events and insights. I struggle to sell Game Plan because it's not a 'catchy, action packed' story... it's a soak in and feel story.

3. Why do I write what I do?

I dunno.

Okay okay, I really don't know. I'm actually surprised at how different each of the stories I've written is... the first is a contemporary YA about teen pregnancy, the second a dystopian story about the power of words, creativity and defining love, for the third I'm trying to tame and organize a harrowing experience of four teens in high school and the fourth? The fourth hurts already. Maybe I have multiple personalities.

4. How does my writing process work?

I need quiet. I love the idea of having a soundtrack for a story, but I can't, I need silence from music, from kids, from interruptions. I have my work space that is only for writing with a spot for my diet Coke and M&Ms. My cat likes to jump on and off my knee.

Please check out my Twitterly friends' blogs:

The Magnificent Alison DeLory

The Effervescent J.D. Robinson

The AllWise Marion C. Lanier

The Delusional Ellen Mulholland (She's an A's fan, poor girl)

N

Strange Dream

The other night I had a very detailed dream about a different kind of family and the circumstances they encountered... I was aware enough that it was a dream that I thought to myself "I need to remember this, it would make an awesome book!" but not aware enough to know how rediculous (I'm going with that spelling) the whole thing was, how terrible a book it would make. I woke up excited to make note of the story... but as each detail was remembered I realized just how lame the whole thing was. Silly me.

It's Monday again. I get to spend the early part of the day with my computer, my cats and dog and my M&Ms (though disappointingly they are peanut, not plain or peanut butter). I'm wearing my Fierce Reader tshirt for extra inspiration. Great day ahead!

N

Bad diets make for good writing days?

Ernest Hemmingway was an alcoholic wasn't he? And Fitzgerald. And a quick google search actually resulted in this list of writers who were alcoholics too.

I think you have to be a little bit unstable to allow imaginary voices the power over you to make them real.

I love Smirnoff coolers, but not at dysfunctional quantities. Usually. My vices are Diet Coke and chocolate. I've given up DC several times, a few times for years, but have fallen back off the wagon, especially on my writing days. It helps to keep the voices flowing. And what goes better with DC than chocolate? Specifically an over sized Reese peanut butter cup.

So I may die early of obesity or an aspartame induced brain tumour, but artists are worth more dead, anyway, right?

N