And a Happy New Year

I'm hoping that everyone reading this enjoyed the first holiday of the season and was able to spend some time with family and/or friends.  Now on to New Year's.

Some years back, I learned about the Scottish celebration of Hogmanay.  It's one of those odd holidays where they can't tell you exactly how it started or what it means, but one of my favorite definitions is that the word is a derivation of "hug me now."  There are many customs, both national and local, associated with Hogmanay. The most widespread national custom is the practice of 'first-footing' which starts immediately after midnight. This involves being the first person to cross the threshold of a friend or neighbour and often involves the giving of symbolic gifts such as salt (less common today), coal, shortbread, whisky, and black bun (a rich fruit cake) intended to bring different kinds of luck to the householder. Food and drink (as the gifts) are then given to the guests. This may go on throughout the early hours of the morning and well into the next day (although modern days see people visiting houses well into the middle of January). The first-foot is supposed to set the luck for the rest of the year. Traditionally, tall dark men are preferred as the first-foot.  One of these days that might just make a good setting for a story, eh? I have friends who have spent hogmanay in Scotland - sounds like a good enough reason to go back (as if I need a good reason).

Meanwhile, I'm making excellent progress with Living Canvas. It should be ready in time for the Chicago writer's conference.  And in case I haven't mentioned it lately {G} the tenth anniversary edition of The Treasure of St. Paul, retitled Touched by the Sun, is available for e-readers (Kindle, Nook, Sony, etc.) and a hard copy will be available by the first of the year (if not sooner). I've included links below . . .

Click here if you have a Kindle.

Click here if you have a Nook.

And click here if you have another e-reader.

To purchase a paperback copy, click here

(this concludes the commercial portion of this post).


Happy New Year!

Merry Christmas!

It's here!  Touched by the Sun - the 10th Anniversary Edition of The Treasure of St. Paul is now available for e-readers.  You can find it at BN.com (click here) or at the Kindle Store, and also available for Sony Readers and in other formats (including downloadable PDF) at Smashwords (click here).  The paperback version should be available at Amazon after the first of the year.  Spread the news, tell all your friends and for those folks that get an e-reader for Christmas (or are giving an ereader for Christmas), make sure you download a copy!

Now it's full speed ahead with Living Canvas.  I'm grateful for the editor who is working with me, and there will obviously be some delay through the holidays as we all take time to spend with our loved ones, but I'm excited to be moving forward once more. 

I'd like to take this opportunity to wish everyone a Merry Christmas, Happy Hannukah (Today!), Happy Holidays, Happy New Year.  May our lives be filled with peace, love and joy in the upcoming year. 

Forward ho!

Progress!  And on many fronts at once.  When it rains it pours, and in this case, the rain is warm and cleansing!  No, not literally raining . . . although it is literally raining.  Am I rambling?

To clarify, the weather outside is frightful - sound like a Christmas carol yet?  But the writing is so delightful.  Edits to St. Paul are significantly finished and the file is reformatted to submit for ebook distribution.  All that remains is one last look-see from me to make sure I haven't misspelled any more words or unintentionally omitted something, etc.  Woo Hoo!

Additionally, I'm moving forward with the edits on Living Canvas.  I'm working with an editor who keeps saying nice things about it, so the extra shot in the arm is motivating me to get that story done.  The end still needs significant improvement, but knowing what's going to happen will move that along fairly easily, I'm thinking.

Christmas shopping is done.  DH is back from his extended business trip - he was able to come home early.  Counting my blessings, I am.  All too soon the pace of life is going to speed up again, but until then, I'm going to enjoy this moment.

Enjoy your Christmas "present".

Ho-ho-holidays

I was given a gift of free time, and what happened? 

I got sick.

However, I'm on the mend and I did not squander all the time.  St. Paul is significantly updated and pending one last round of comments from a fellow critiquer, hoping to get the conversion to e-book started shortly.

Living Canvas has survived it's own round of rewrites, and I'm a full 2/3 the way through that and chugging forward.  I'm excited to have made contact with an editor who will hopefully help me make that one saleable shortly, and with that completed and "off the shelf," I'm looking forward to starting one of two new stories that I've outlined (but first things first).  That's the exciting news on the writing front.

On the homefront, as my friends know, I normally like watching holiday movies, etc., and this year I'm sorely disappointed by some of the really bad quality of the newer holiday movies.  I watched one last night that felt like a train wreck.  The plot was implausible, the actors were not talented or even terribly attractive, the story line didn't flow . . . and yet I watched to the bitter end.  ICK.  That's all I can say.  The themes don't vary much, and I don't imagine they can, although I saw a different take on the "It's a Wonderful Life" tack by taking a woman and fast forwarding her ten years instead of showing her how her life had impacted people in the past.  I didn't finish that one but will later tonight (DVR is a wonderful thing).

This has been a year of growth and revelations for me.  Life changing in some ways (without being too dramatic).  In line with that, the Christmas story I've been wanting to write forever has finally taken on a solid outline.  It comes as a culmination of life events this year and movies I've seen this year that I liked, maybe identified with just a little, but hoped for a more realistic angle.  It's a different kind of happily ever after - and I'm actually pretty stoked to put it to paper.  Again, first things first.  The story isn't going anywhere, and I'm pretty confident I can get it done for next year Christmas even with the speedbumps that slow me down over the course of a year (including getting Living Canvas into publication!).

So time to break out the Christmas carols, sip some eggnog and enjoy some quiet time.  I think I'll stick with the old classics when it comes to the movies - Christmas in Connecticut, White Christmas, maybe even a While You Were Sleeping for something a little more au courant.

How do you get in the holiday mood?

The Joy of Writing

There are times when writing is exceptionally frustrating.  This is especially true when you hit a plot hole or a snag, or you get overwhelmed following dead-end tangential plotlines.  It can be downright fatal to a story in process.

And then there are the other moments.  The moments when you read what you've written and it feels like magic.  "This is the story I wanted to write!"

I have been taking full advantage of some spare time that fell into my lap to tie up loose ends and revisit old stories that desparately need to be "shopped."  The rewrite/10th anniversary edition of St. Paul is all but done and I'm still expecting to get that out there for people to load onto their new Christmas Kindles. :-) 

I've also picked up Living Canvas again, which has been sitting idly by while I got lost in those aforementioned tangents and plot holes. I have a clearer vision of what forward progress looks like with that story.  I've contacted an editor to check me (of course, I have to complete my edits first) and then I can decide if I want to keep pulling out the "resting" stories on my shelf or move ahead with something fresh.

And speaking of the a new story - I'm anxious to get to it, but I have an overdeveloped sense of order.  Compulsive finisher.  This might work to my disadvantage, not that I'm worried I'll lose my inspiration, but as I wrote a year ago, I've always wanted to write a Christmas kind of story.  My concern is that if I don't get started on it now, while the season is bright and inspiring, I might lose the Christmas angle that might fit in with this one.  Waiting for the new year could potentially lead to post-Christmas burnout, kind of like how the first snowfall is awe inspiring, but after a couple of months of persistent snow, it becomes tiresome.  Don't get me wrong, I LOVE Christmas.  Christmas Crazy.  I'm listening to carols now, and it isn't quite December.  But would Christmas feel as special if we celebrated it 365 days a year?  Too much of a good thing, doncha know.

I digress.  My point today is that in all things there is both joy and disappointment.  Even the moon waxes and wanes.  I'm in a waxing period now where my writing brings me joy and feels a little less like work.  Fortunately, right now I have the time to put into it while this feeling it is on the rise, because too soon, it will be over and the waning will begin.  These phases help maintain a sense of balance, and it reminds me that through it all, writing is always one of the joys in my life.

Focus pocus

Yes, I know I'm behind in blogging again.  Sorry.  I'm very focused on finishing St. Paul again - I love the way the story still pulls me in!  It WILL be available by Christmas, so all those folks that get new Kindle Fires or some other e-reader for the holidays, be ready to buy the updated version! 

I'm also excited to start a new story, although I'd still like to dust the cobwebs off the work I haven't queried/submitted yet, so the next few weeks I'm planning a flurry of activity sending out queries and outlining the new work.  My creativity has been a little low with the "life events" that have been going on the second half of this year, but as I get back into routine and "everyday" things, the creativity is tapping me on the shoulder again, reminding me that's it's still there, right where I left it.  I'm thinking it's not necessarily a bad thing that the juices have been a little thick and not free flowing - it helps with the editing to be more objective and not try to free associate into a new story arc on something that works fine as it is.

I've added new books to my TBR pile - it's helpful to move forward when you read something you enjoy.  As a writer, reading someone else's work reminds you of those lessons easily forgotten, and it also reminds ME that you can't please all the people all the time, so stay true to your own writing.  I just read two books by one of my favorite authors, and then I went back and read the reviews on those books.  I enjoyed them - flawed though they may have been - but I read some very unfavorable reviews.  Still, this author knocks out new stories and has a loyal following (me included). 

Okay, feeling a little rusty here.  The creativity needs a little tuning to get back into clear focus.  Will try to get back to regular weekly posting - thanks for sticking with me!

Anon

Plugging away

Wow! has it really been that long since my last post? This is a case of work/life balance, with work winning the battle.

I'm still plugging away on the 10th anniversary edition of St. Paul and still editing Living Canvas. In the course of my normal routine, a friend of mine also inspired me with a new story idea, but until I can shift my focus solidly back to my writing, it will have to wait. It is an excellent story arc though! It would be so much easier to maintain my writing focus with a new publishing contract (just sayin' . . .). More query letters need to be written, however.

Along that thought, I just read an interesting blog from an agent that said the query letter is often more compelling to them than the proposal itself. It tells them all they need to know, and while it's a completely different skill set, it's important to note that many different skill sets are required in any job that you do - not just one narrowly focused ability. This is true in any job we do. I can apply it to my full-time, day job. With the changes in the economy and conditions on the job, people are being asked to do more, to expand their skill sets. For some folks, they say "that's so not fair!" and for others, they accept that if they want to continue in the jobs they have, it's a necessary step to survival - being able to increase their value by extending the things they can do. Certainly we all have multiple facets to every job that we do - even before the downturn in the economy, and writing query letters - as painful as it is (and yes, it IS painful!) - is a necessary supplemental skill to our primary function as an author.

My apologies for the length of time between posts. I'm working on rebalancing, which is always stomping on my end of the teeter totter to get it to drop back down. Back soon!