Deborah and Bonnie - Friends Since 1965

2008

 

 

 

 

2011

 

 

 

 

 

2012

The Writer's Life: Interruptions

When I first started writing, way back in fourth grade, I worked on one story at a time. It never occurred to me that it was possible to have multiple writing projects in different stages. As I got older, the pile of stories begun and then abandoned grew, too. I noticed how rare it was for me to return to a story once I’d run out of steam. I either wrote it all the way through or it ended up on the Pile of Doom. Through high school and college (summers), I completed more of what I began. My gift to myself after graduating college was to write a novella, and after graduated school, I finished my first novel. (All of these were utterly unpublishable, but they had beginnings, middles, and most importantly, endings.) I was still at the stage of On/Off writing.

Shortly after my first child brought joy and unanticipated chaos to my life, my writing career shifted into a new gear, with both fanzine publications and my first professional short story sale. Over the next decade or so, I had to learn a new mode of writing: On/Off/On/Off/On…. For one thing, I often had only very short periods of time in which to madly type out the scenes I had been rehearsing in my head (see my article, “How I Write When There Is No Time” in Book View Café’s Brewing Fine Fiction.) For another, I was writing both novels and short fiction. Sometimes I’d stick the shorter works in between drafts of the novels, which was helpful in terms of “clearing my head” so that I could return to the novel with fresh eyes. Sometimes, I had a specific market and deadline for the short story and had to set aside the novel in whatever stage it was in. I would do just that, with no special preparation, and then re-read what I had written to “come up to speed.” Most of the time, that would be sufficient to jog my memory about what I intended to come next. Occasionally I’d be left with the vague and disquieting feeling that I’d forgotten some brilliant plot twist or other element. Such are the risks of being a “pantser” (writing “by the seat of the pants”) instead of using outlines.

Gradually I made more sales, novels as well as short stories, and improved my skill at alternating projects in different stages (Project 1 first draft – Project 2 – outline – Project 1 revise – Project 2 first draft… revise). I experimented with sequential leapfrogging and with handling different projects at different times of day (mornings for revision, afternoons for first drafts, or vice versa). So far, so good.

A Moment of Authorial Glee

Some moments are true high points in a writer's life. Holding a copy of your first book (or an anthology containing your first published short story). Your first fan mail. The first time a reader comes up to you at a convention and says how much they enjoyed your work (even if you secretly fear no one has read it!)

Some moments never become blase -- or shouldn't. Seeing the cover painting for an upcoming release is always fraught with uncertainty. Did the artist "get" it (did the artiste even have a copy of the manuscript to work from?) Did sales glitz triumph over good taste? Did the gender, age, or race of the main character get altered?

I just saw the final cover painting for Shannivar, the second volume of The Seven-Petaled Shield, and am so filled with delight that I'm practically bouncing up and down. Alas, I cannot show it to you because it's not a real cover yet. It needs title, etc., which should be coming along shortly. I just needed to tell someone how right the folks at DAW and my amazing cover artist, Matt Stawicki, got it.

Shannivar is an Azkhantian warrior, that people being based partly on the Scythians and the Mongols. She's Asian, not white, and she's seriously kick-ass. The cover shows her beautiful honey-dark skin, black hair, and slanted eyes. She's wearing warm, colorful clothing that she can actually ride and fight in (as the cover shows!) Matt even got some wonderful details, like the wings on her vest, symbolizing her Golden Eagle clan, and the red hue of the horse her cousin is riding in the background.

Stay tuned for a peek at the real thing!

The "Middle Book" of a Trilogy

I’m in the process of proofreading  Shannivar, the second volume of a fantasy trilogy (The Seven-Petaled Shield). As is typical, I swing between elation at what I’ve accomplished (“This is brilliant!” “I nailed it!”) and wishing I could take the whole thing apart and put it back together right. I’m also reflecting on the challenges and joys of “middle books.”

Middle books present particular challenges that reflect whether they are truly the second of three parts or whether they are “the continuing adventures” of a successful-but-complete first book. A trilogy is like a three-act structure, only on steroids. The whole work gets fractal, if I’m using that term correctly. Overall, you have three books, but each book has a three-act or four-act architecture within it. And each scene has its own buildup and partial resolution of tension, etc.

In a successful trilogy, the second book soars. It takes off like a rocket from the firm foundation that has been established in the first book, using the unresolved or partially-resolved tension to get a running start. There’s a great freedom in middle books because the “problem” – the threat or goal – has already been established. It may be clarified or elaborated or modified, but we’re not starting from scratch. Now we have the freedom to ratchet up the tension, increase the stakes, have a gazillion things go wrong wrong OMG DISASTER. I wonder if many middle books have a soggy quality because they limit themselves to “getting from here to there” instead of “swamp-malaria-alligators-sinkhole-hurricane-ALIENS FROM SPACE-PLANET GO SPLODY!” Middle books work when every turn makes the situation exponentially worse and our characters have to work that much harder and suffer that much more.

Puppy and House Rules

Darcy is almost 12 weeks old, and well on his way to figuring out that our house has Rules. The learning process is faster for some things and slower for others, depending on how rewarding the undesirable behavior is and what the natural consequences are. He'll be about 85 lbs when full grown, so he has no "puppy license" indulgence. It's essential that he learn manners.

First, a few Rules:

• Sit nicely for attention
• Dogs are not allowed in the kitchen
• Dogs get fed only from their bowl and only at mealtimes (except for training treats)
• No paws on furniture or people
• No chewing on anything but dog toys
• Respect the cats
• Crate is a fun and safe place to hang out

In addition, we have a few rules that pertain to walkies: walk on loose leash, sit when car, people or other dogs approach and wait for the release signal before moving on, that sort of thing. He's doing quite well with the sit/check-in. We always walk with a bag of tiny liver treats. Good behavior gets marked with "Yes!" and a tasty treat. Interestingly, the first part of this he "got" was the sit-when-car-approaches. He already had the idea of "when in doubt, sit." From there, it wasn't hard to watch for the slightest lowering-of-butt and reinforce it. From there, a full sit. We're in transition from sit-staring-at-car to sit-watching-Mom. Breaking the fixed stare is an important aspect of manners with a high-prey-drive dog like Darcy.