Happy Fourth of July - and random-ness

©DJL Photography

I don't wish to be remiss in celebrating our Independence! I hope you celebrate the 4th of July safely and take a moment to thank the people who continue to fight for our freedom. My hope is that our government hearkens back to its beginnings and remembers that they are there by the people, for the people, and not for their own interests or the interests of people who are willing to throw some extra money in their direction.

Remember when being the wrong religion was against the law? Remember when black people weren't allowed to vote? Uh huh. This whole issue of gay marriage has been a puzzle to me. The government has no place telling people they don't have equal rights. Well done, Supreme Court, for taking themselves out of it. Maybe my religion doesn't condone gay marriage, but my religion also doesn't shun people. It's God's place to judge, not mine. We are taught to love one another. Period. 

Okay, off my soap box.

Like Spring cleaning, every now and then you have to take some time away from the everyday to update and freshen your space. I’ve finished doing just that with my author website, and I hope you’ll take a minute to stop by and tell me what you think!

I’ve included a page for cookies, since I have never been able to overcome my addiction to them. I’m doing much better, mind you, but it remains a struggle! With so many delectable treats and so many fun pictures on Pinterest, I felt it was my duty to share.

For those souls willing to share their favorite cookie recipes, I will select a winner on August 1, 2013, to receive an electronic copy of one of my novels (your choice).

The cookie page is still under construction – or rather, I view it as a work in progress. Click here to visit the new website!

© DJL Photography

Writing is Work

For those of you following along, you may know that I've been working on a new story. The creative part is fun, letting loose my imagination to create something that I hope will resonate with someone else and give  that someone a few hours of escape into a different place and another person's head.  The hard part is making it readable.

I tend to be a slap/dash kind of writer. I've tried to neaten up my style, to write "cleanly" through the process, but that doesn't work for me. I start with the kernel of an idea and go forward. Usually, that kernel of an idea barely resembles the finished product. To keep with the analogy, think of popcorn - before and after.

When I begin, I can see the story clearly in my mind, but on my first draft, I don't convey everything that needs to be said. This is where my critique group is invaluable. They point out my missing plot points and my character flaws, which I know intuitively, but which I haven't shown to the reader. Let me take this opportunity to thank them, because they stick with my stories through the "what the heck? That doesn't make sense or even remotely work," phase and quite often don't see the finished product.

My writing progress has slowed, largely due to the fact that as I near the end, I have to clean up some of that mess along the way so that the story makes sense. I still have lots of holes to spackle and paint over. That's the point where writing becomes work rather than fun. It also slows down the forward momentum, knowing that once you reach "the end," you have to start over and fix all the sloppy work that brought you to that point. I did revamp some of my beginning chapters while I was stalled out, and I've been procrastinating by  consulting authoritative guidance for some of my plot points. A part of me is anxious to finish so that I can go back and tend to the messy spots, while the common sense part of me knows that once I begin that process, it will be slow and laborious.

The original inspiration of The Shoemaker and the Elves has long since fallen by the wayside, although it did help me to name my characters. I have no concept for a title at the moment, and yet with a little luck, this book  will be finished by the fall. I am anxious to finish, with two story ideas pushing it forward.

Which brings me to my final question. Which story comes next?  Cinda's story (from Living Canvas), or Kundigerin 2 (part 2 of Mist on the Meadow)?

Back to work . . .

When Do You "Not" Leave a Review?

I'm always on the lookout for the next book to read, and there are frequently good reasons to choose the ones that I ultimately select. In this world of highly competitive authors, I'm starting to feel a little like I do when I go shopping: you can't buy anything unless it's on sale. While that might always have been true (or at least close), these days it's much more attractive to take that book that is "free for a limited time," or at an "introductory price." Granted, I will still pay regular price for the books that I know I want to read, authors I know and trust, or recommendations from friends whose opinions I trust.

The last few books that I've read were disappointing. One author I'd read before and thoroughly enjoyed, so expectations were high. Realization was low. Hoping it was a fluke, I've downloaded another book by her with my fingers crossed. Another was by an author I know personally. Those are probably the hardest, because when you like that author as a person, again, you have high hopes. Again, I was disappointed. The story was excellent, but the writing was a struggle. I almost put it down after the first couple of chapters, but I'm a compulsive finisher, and so I finished it.

I have a hard time reading stories in the "omniscient" point of view. Too often it feels like "head hopping" and you lose track of who's saying what or who's doing what. The last book I read also did a lot of "telling" of the story rather than "showing." And not only did it "tell," it repeated itself. The author had some excellent foreshadowing of events that drew me in, some nice characterizations. There was a lot of positive going on in that book. As a reader, I like to be drawn into the plot, though, and not hit over the head with it. Repeatedly.

I guess this is more or less my review of that book, since I don't intend to leave one for her on the book sites. I find it difficult to recommend, and because I like the author on a personal level, I don't want to dis her on a public level. I'm normally not shy about leaving reviews. Authors want them, need them. The good and the bad. A lot of hard work goes into writing a novel, and I always take that into consideration.

As an author, you learn to take the good with the bad. I'm very excited that I'm getting good reviews for Mist on the Meadow! But I don't expect the story to resonate with everyone. I had one review that was 2 of 5 stars, and yet the reviewer said some very kind things that, to my eye, still recommended it. As I was chatting with one of my other author buddies the other day, we joked about fragile egos and shoring ourselves up for that negative review that you know is just moments away from being posted. Books are subjective. You can't please everyone.

My friend wrote/writes a series of books, and she pointed out that someone had left reviews on every one of the series that were basically identical. And negative. Which begs the question, why did they read every book in the series if they didn't like it? As an example, I read the first several Diana Gabaldon books and was enraptured by the first two. From that point, they seemed to go downhill, and my apologies to Ms. Gabaldon, but I will not be reading any more of her books. I stuck with her through her last one, but the last three have been a struggle, and the last one just plain made me angry at having wasted my time. I'm afraid I've lost interest in the characters.

So to the point - when do you not leave a review? For me, the only time is when I know the author personally and that "nice person" part of me doesn't want to bruise a fragile author ego (which we all have). Reading a negative review from a random reader doesn't phase you nearly as much as one from a peer, and in this case, that author had an endorsement from a well-known peer. So maybe I missed something. Maybe it was that subjective part of my brain that didn't engage in her story. The self-important part of me would argue that the well-known peer didn't actually read it, or was given a synopsis.  The humbler side of me argues that the story was good.

My advice to you - always leave a review after reading a book. The next best thing to word of mouth advertising is a review, and in this highly competitive world, we need all the promoting we can get. If you are compelled to leave a negative review, take into consideration whether this book is "not for me" or "a piece of crap." Balance the good with the bad. Be honest, but be constructive, not destructive.

Hasta

Raindrops on Roses...

I'm officially stuck. I have to admit the hardest parts of writing are those moments when my characters are in mortal danger. On the plus side, once I get past this speed bump, it'll be clear sailing to the end. In the meantime, I want to share some of my favorite things, those thing that make me smile when I'm having a tough day. I hope one of these photos makes you smile, too.

Because we should all have our own castle

My assistant

Waiting for a star 

When I see you Smile . . .

Lil' Rae of Sunshine

Writing with International Flair

Do authors do anything with feedback? The answer is absolutely yes!

I've been receiving feedback for Mist on the Meadow (for which I am truly grateful!). A common comment has been a request to translate the German that was used and/or provide translation tools.

When an author drifts into foreign language, generally it is repeated in English immediately, or by the next character speaking. I tried to do that with MOTM, although I admit I did not translate the German folk song that is referenced. I also did not translate Uncle Balt's term of endearment for Marissa, Liebling.

I have always had a flair for languages, but I do not have a strong grasp of German. I do have German heritage, so there are some phrases and terms that I grew up with (I think it was the great-grands that came over). French is the language I would claim to maybe be able to speak as an alternate to English, and I studied Italian while I was writing Touched by the Sun (The Treasure of St. Paul). I also studied Spanish and have a passable grasp of that language. The thing about French and Italian and Spanish is that because they are all Latin derivatives, once you know one of those languages, the others aren't as difficult to comprehend/learn. I also studied Scottish Gaelic when I went to Scotland, not because I had a need for it, but because of my linguisitic interests. Let me tell you, that was the most difficult to grasp, and I only managed to master a handful of words.

As requested, I'm going to cover the German I used briefly now, and I promise that when I write the second in the Kundigerin series, I will include a guide. Here's the quick, easy, short version, and since I'm not good at transcribing the appropriate pronunciation symbols, where they haven't been provided, I will direct you to Google Translate to "speak" the pronunciation for you.

Liebling is similar to "sweetie, or darling, or honey." In German, when "i" and "e" are together, you pronounce the second one, so in this instance, you would pronounce it "lēb-ling." Meine is "my" and pronounced with the long "i" (since it is the second letter), or mī-na.

Kundigerin is the feminine form of Kundiger, which translates as an expert or "one who possesses specialized knowledge." In its plural form, Germans add "-en."

Eine, translates as "a" or "an."

The German folk song, “Du, du, liegst mir am Herzen” translates "you, are deep in my heart." (I'd be happy to translate the whole song for anyone who wants to know the lyrics).

Dumkoff, well it's pretty much how it sounds (i.e., dummy).

Gut Deutschish stock, this means she comes from good German breeding.

Sprechen nicht, this translates to "I don't speak any (German)." "Ch" is pronounced with a "k" sound.

Fröhliche Geburtstag. Happy Birthday!

Hüter des Geheimnisses. Translate: keeper of the secret. I'm going to send you to Google translate to figure out how this is pronounced!

Ofenschlupfer. There is a direct translation for this, but it is idiomatic, so this should be translated to be understood as apple bread pudding.

Gesundheit. Commonly used when someone sneezes. It translates as "health," or "bless you."

Das ist die Liechtensteiner Polka mein Schatz! Polka mein Schatz! From the Liechtensteiner Polka, the line says "this is the Liechtensteiner Polka, my darling."

mein Schatz - my darling/sweetie/honey.

So that is your German class for the day. There is a phrase that I grew up with that I got a lot of backlash on, so I didn't incorporate it. Evidently, it is more localized, so it isn't widely used/known, and my German checkers suggested I bounce it from the book. It was more for my personal enjoyment anyway (didn't add anything to the story).

All of this being said, does it annoy you to see foreign language used in a story? Would love to hear more opinions!

Writing, or playing with dolls?

As I've been working on my latest, I realized about 2/3 the way through that it was missing "something." That's usually the way I work, though. I let the story flow and at some point I take a breath and look over my shoulder at what I've written. Then I pick up all the threads that I've dropped along the way.

I took a walk with the Big Guy last night and mulled over what was missing. One of my kind reviewers described my work as "the perfect blend of romance and mystery," and indeed, that is what I strive to write. This story was missing a tangible mystery. And then it came to me.

The fun part (and when you're developing a story, it is almost always fun) is envisioning scenarios, dialog, settings. Once that missing link fell into place, I was excited to know that I've already created the framework for where I need to go, it only required a little rearranging to make it take that mysterious turn that would make the story more interesting. I laid in bed last night, playing scenes, moving my characters around, and had a sudden flashback to my childhood. This is what I did when I played with dolls. I made up stories for them, put them into situations they had to find a way out of, gave them words to say to one another.

Does this mean writing puts me in touch with my inner child? Does this make me a child at heart? Writing characters in the book is a lot like a grown up version of Barbie and Ken.

I have yet to finish the first draft, although it is in sight. The title I started with, which was more the inspiration, isn't going to work, so I have to keep that thought process bubbling on the back burner. Some of the original impetus has fallen by the wayside (that happens as you write your way through a story) in favor of stronger themes and plots/subplots, and yet this is the exciting part about writing--seeing where the story will take you. What starts out as a small kernel begins with a starting point that almost ALWAYS gets cut later in favor of a "stronger" beginning and morphs into something that rarely resembles the original idea. And you know what? That's okay.

The downside is that the forward momentum has stopped in favor of backtracking.  I'm making negative progress at the moment, and yet it is positive progress.

And last - thanks to everyone who took advantage of the "free" offer. I hope you'll take the time to leave a review at your favorite book sight! (Authors love feedback!)

Reading is like . . . chocolate?

Mood of the day - whimsical.

I'm on the home stretch on the novel I'm currently writing. The words are flowing like a waterfall, although I have to admit, the closer you get to that last page, the less water is falling. There's something about reaching "the end" that makes you pull back so that you can savor those last, final moments with your characters, before you wave them on to their happily ever after.

I wish I had the same problem when I read. I recently received an advanced reading copy of Jude Deveraux's next book in her Nantucket Bride's series titled True Love. The book was in the neighborhood of 450 pages and I started it on a Sunday. 300 pages later, my dear husband looks at me and says, "why are you reading it all in one day? Don't you want to make it last if you're enjoying it?" The obvious answer is yes, I do. The real answer? Reading is like chocolate. When it's good chocolate, you want to eat it all at once. Binge eating.When it's not so good, that's when I struggle to keep going. I put the book down when my husband pointed out to me that I'd been bingeing, but I kept reaching for it. "It'll taste better if I savor it." Yeah, well. I have a 70 minute commute on an express train into the city and when I rode in on Monday, the book didn't stand a chance.

As an author, writing the end of a book is less like eating chocolate and more like sending your child off to college. The longer you can delay that parting, the better, and yet, your child has to make their own way in the world. I still have a ways to go before I reach, "the end," but I'm getting close. I have been making the most of my time off from the day job to put the story down, between visiting family and tending to chores that have been ignored during busy season. The good/bad news is that even after I finish the story, there will be much work to do. This story has been flowing so fast that I'm making a mess of it just to get it down. Good news is that I will be spending more time with my characters before I have to let them go for real, cleaning up the mess. Bad news is that this is the grunt work part of writing.

In case you missed my barrage of posts and tweets, Mist on the Meadow is free for download for a limited time at select online book sellers. Please take advantage of the Memorial Day offer, share this steal-of-a-deal with your friends, and when you finish reading it, leave a review at your favorite book site (authors love feedback). Details are in the previous post.

Time to finish writing.