Page Added - Delving Deeper

I've been trying to 'smell the roses' as of late. Life is full and complicated. Writing is introspective. I needed to 'get out in the world.' 

I have always been an extremely poor photographer. Most of my photos end up with heads chopped off or one of the group left out (with only an arm to show they were there.) Pictures blur. Frustrating. Especially when they are of my little one. I hate that. 

Now - I do have a trusty rusty camera. But I don't know how to use it. I do have a trusty rusty Droid. I know how to use that. It doesn't matter the piece of equipment, though. The pictures can, and do, turn out horrendous. 

I haven't gotten any better. But I think I'm learning to focus. And take my time. The need to record the beauty of life, to open my eyes to the bigger picture (pun intended), and to rest in the world around me, decided the issue for me.

The other day, my little one was making flower soup. I don't know if any of you have ever had any. I 'taste' occasionally  but never put any in my mouth. It's disgusting. Don't tell the little one. There is mud in it. The water is usually taken from the standing water in teacups and such on the back deck. The flowers are never washed nor are they ones that I know to be edible. *shudder* But the soup is strangely beautiful and her dollies appreciate her efforts.

She picked flowers for me. I stripped them from their stalks and took away the leaves and pieced them together. I liked what I saw. The colors were beautiful, striking, and oddly restful. I took some pictures with the old Droid and - voila - they are on the 'Photography' page on this blog. 

Hope you enjoy them. I can't wait to see what I find on my retreat.

Life is seeing anew. 

Final Edit

I finished 'Nothing But Blue Skies' - all the edits my editor made and then some. I know you're probably like me. Thoughts come in the middle of the night, while driving the car, even during church services. So besides the additions/corrections/things that my editor suggested, I kept getting a boatload from the Muse. Bless her heart.

I did not save the file as 'Final Edit.' I've learned a lot these past years. Nothing is ever final until the book is on the shelf. (even then, I've heard of authors who want to 'fix' things in a published book.) That's what the 'Special Editions' are for. *g*

I am going away for the holiday on an extended writers' retreat. I'll be holed up in a cabin (air-conditioned) with a lake nearby and civilization somewhere to the east. 

I'm adhering to the Four Principles, i.e., I'm not expecting anything but I'm hoping to read the entire MS and seal it. I'll take it to my editor next week and we'll see what happens. I feel I'm still missing a portion of one of my characters. I'll spend this week-end seeing if he really needs more. I'll also complete the character biographies and continue on with the synopsis. Phew!

I printed out the MS to take with me. I'm not sure if I'll have internet while there. I printed off the beginnings of my synopsis, the map, the photos of what my characters look like, my notes, and my character bios. 

One thing I had forgotten - when I print out a large piece of work - to go into print - hit color - and change it to draft. That way, I'm not using as much ink and the job prints one heck of a lot faster. When you've got a large MS, the best thing is fast printing. Also, I've learned that printing only ten pages at a time works best. Otherwise, you get missed pages and such. 

I've saved everything to The Cloud so I can get into and edit stuff if we end up at a wi-fi cafe or a library. 

I'm looking forward to some time away. Hope the bug spray works. Have a blessed holiday, you folks in the US.

Life is retreat.

Compassion II

I had my next 'C' word post all done and ready.... until I went to my writers' class today.

I wrote a blog post about compassion and paying-it-forward. Today I was hit again by something that surprises me. Something that leaves a bad taste in my mouth.

One of the class remarked that she was giving away her secrets by telling us something of her publishing route. I sat, dumbfounded. I've been told hundreds of times that writers are a different breed. They are generous to a fault. I didn't see any generosity today. I am hoping that this is not something SCBWI condones. The woman is an SCBWI member.

I am a neophyte in this business. I suppose once you have an agent or a publisher you want to keep them close. You want to protect the relationship you have. You want them to promote and sell your books. 

Wouldn't your relationship be better if you showed them that you had their interests at heart, too? That if you gave them the name of a prospective client it would make you look good? And help them. Wouldn't they remember your kindness and loyalty and reciprocate? 

I have always lived in the clouds. I suppose this is another down-side of that, but I can't live that way. As you've noticed, I try to share what I can on this insane journey. 

Another classmate won a contest at a conference. I was so happy for her. She wondered how she might use that to get her poetry piece (which was quite good) published. I suggested we all find a publisher or magazine or whatever and share it with her. I reasoned that if each one of us (there are 6 students) found a 'contact' for her, it would be a nice gesture. She is, after all, a classmate, and a friend. The instructor, I thought, looked surprised.

But isn't that what we're supposed to do? Help each other? There are truckloads of books being published yearly by the big publishers and there are truckloads of little publishers needing authors. Are we really shooting ourselves in the foot if we 'share' our fortune? 

I'm still kind of shook by the experience.

Life is a surprise. 

PS - reminds me of the Jackie Deshannon song, Put A Little Love in Your Heart
http://www.poemhunter.com/song/put-a-little-love-in-your-heart-2/

PS - I promise I'll post the next 'C' word tomorrow. Unless something else comes up *g*

Forget The 'C' Words For A Minute

I was reading another blog this morning. It spoke of writing what you know. That was, and probably is, the advise given out by those 'in-the-know.'

I remember, many years ago, thinking that I couldn't write because I knew nothing. My world was small. My family mundane. (I know differently now!) I'd watch 'I Remember Momma' and think, I'd like to write about my mom. She was incredible. But our life seemed so dull and ordinary. Why would anyone want to read about it? 

I think of Jules Verne. Wow. If he'd ever listened to such advise, we'd never have some of the glorious tales (and movies) that I grew up with. The same for Daniel Defoe and 'Robinson Crusoe.' I cut my teeth on the 'Lucky Star' series by Paul French, who it turned out was a nervous Isaac Asimov. 

Late in life, I write. Because it dawned upon me one day -- writing about what I know doesn't mean I can't write about living on the Moons of Jupiter. I know people. I know their wants and needs. I know how they suffer and laugh. These are the important things.These are the attributes that draw us to like or hate a character. 

With the internet, I am no longer hampered by the fact that I haven't seen the mountains of Tibet, or the oceans off New Zealand, or the vast expanses of the South Pole. I'd love to see these places in real life, but I can see them, probably even better, via the internet. Someone has been to these places. Someone has photographed or filmed living through a volcanic eruption. Someone has dove from the top of a waterfall into a crystal-clear, sky-blue lake. 

I can write about anything. I know that now. I've written a children's picture book. I've written an epic adult fantasy. I've written the first book in a three-part series of a Middle Grade fantasy. I'm in the mist of writing an adult science fiction and I've got the beginning (and the plot) for an adult romance novel.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lucky_Starr_series

Life is variety - one way or the other. *g*