Don't know much, but wait, yes I do.

The first time I read those words, I about panicked. What I know, I can hold in the palm of my hand. I'm a literal person. Abstract ideas are doable, but they're not the easiest things to eek out for me. So when I read, "Write what you know" you can imagine.

Here's what I know: Sunsets; how they make me feel. Burlap; how it feels next to my skin, the way the fibers overlap, it's thickness, the color. Talcum powder; deja vu, Johnson and Johnson, babies. The smell of popcorn, the sound of a train whistle in the distance. Where haven't I lived where I couldn't hear one somewhere. Rain; how it makes my hair go straight.

You get the picture. I know so, so much. Things you know have to do with your five senses and the images and feelings you get from them. Write those things, look into your heart, your memory, re-experience them, then put them on paper. So many times I forget and have to go back and add imagery. In fact, the first draft is usually void of such things. Just get the story on paper, right? But there are those things we know that come so natural that, even on the first draft, they flow onto the paper from memory. I'm talking like this is a new revelation. I know we all know this stuff, but we forget--I forget.

Sometimes I have to stop and close my eyes. When I'm writing a scene, I try and imagine the things around me. Getting out of an old, worn out car, for instance. The door probably sticks and squeaks--now that's a really old car. The musky, old smell that mingles with the fresh air for a single instant. The difference in attmosphere, like stepping from air conditioning to stifling, breath-eating swelter. Easy, right?
Not so much. How does it look, feel, smell, even taste? Of course, one can get carried away with this, I suppose.

That's my words of wisdom for the week. Hope you all have wonderful weekends. I'll shout at you again real soon. God bless.

I need an expert on teens

I get so inspired by some of your guys' blogs. It makes me want to drop everything and write. But when I go to write, I'm stumped, not writer's block, writer's ignorance.

I'm on my second novel. It's going to be a YA book with the teen character from my first novel. If I can't sell the first one, I'll have to change some things, but it will still work.

I'm not on fire about it yet. I think one of the reasons is because I've been away from that age group for so long. I've got a book of teenage slang coming from Amazon, but that's just part of my problem. The whole mentality of teenagers has changed. It was so easy being a teenager back in the dark ages. These days it's like a war out there--teen bullies, teens with guns, teens who have no respect, and those are the nice ones. Now that I think about it, I've just described a lot of adults, especially the ones in politics. I don't want to open that can of snakes.

Regardless, I'm out of touch. I know most teens are decent kids, but even the decent ones are still teens. It comes with a certain amount of giving and getting pain, at least the mental kind. So I'm reading a lot of YA books, or would be if I'd get my hiney in gear. If anyone can recommend any good high school YA books with mean girls, I'd be most thankful for the titles and authors. I need some inspiration I can get my wrap my mind around.

Thank you so much and God bless.

Under the Radar

Ive noticed in my reading that some literary agents want a book proposal in which you describe things like how you plan to promote your book. One even suggested starting in advance to the finished manuscript. Websites, interviews, even TV appearances. They suggest going to writing conferences and online social networks. One or two of them suggested including a website or blog address on the query letter. The agent then goes out and looks at how many comments you get to your posts.

It looks like I'm a bit behind on my promotional work. The other thing that interests me is the previous experience garnered throughout one's writing experience. I have none. I've never written a short story or entered a contest, so I'll be leaving that blank. I encourage everyone who thinks they may want to write a book, to start at a young age so they have time to incorporate this in their time spent away from work. Well, live and learn. It's an interesting road we travel as writiers.

Workin' Hard

It's about time I posted something, huh. Did you miss me?

I've been updating and updating and editing and editing. Do you suppose it's done? You know what? I think authors, like actors or athletes, though with the reputations these two professions garner, do I want to compare myself to them? Sorry, Anyway, I think we earn our bucks big time. It's all perfection and to the individual whose work it is, perfection is never, ever achieved. I mean, I can get obsessed on stupid space that's not in alignment. You know how when your word processor keeps fighting back?

I finally learned how to master Microsoft Word, and I learned it the hard way--after everything was done and it ALL had to be fixed. I had to go through over 3,000 paragraphs and take out the little dots before and after. Good news is, I learned how to use styles and it is slick. Will they ever come up with one that can correctly correct punctuation and spelling?

Well, that's all I have for today. My hubby is taking me out to dinner. I'm going to make an effort to post more, just as soon as I get the query letter, cover letter, and synopsis completed. You may never see my smiling face again.

Have a great week everyone. Maybe I'll be back before it's over.

When you're done, you're not

Ugh, I just got my MS back from my proofing friend and I'm having to make thousands of corrections, mostly missing commas. I went out on the internet and looked up comma rules. I'm incapable of learning them. What made me think my brain would change the way I think, or, rather, learn. All in all, I didn't do a horrible job, and there aren't really thousands of corrections, though it seems like it. Wading through them one-by-one is painful.

Writing a novel is a process that involves a lot of work. The writing is bad enough, but when you're done, you're not. When I get rich and famous, I can afford to have someone else do this work, but until then, it's all me.

Going into a four day weekend, but have no plans. It takes a bomb to get me out of the house anymore, but I may force myself out because I'm running out of clothes. What I mean is, I have extra hangers.

Have fun and be safe on this July fourth, everyone, and God Bless

A Rose by any other name still has thorns

How do I come up with character names? Thanks for asking. My protagonist in Bum's Rush, Jack Troy slid out of the tips of my fingers without slowing my pace on the keyboard. Jack is actually an overused name, but it's honest and easy to remember. Troy, I don't know where that came from.

Other names like Cole Sigaphoos is a misspelling of a real name, really. Penelope, Cole's wife was my sister's name. She died in 1995. I hope she doesn't mind sharing her name with a slightly devious person. My brother's name, William, is in here too. He's the real villion. I had a time with Jack's love interest, Kelli. She's had three last names.

Where did I come up with Skip Reynolds? I wish I knew. He used to be a sub-story in my first book, which was complete, then it wasn't, then it was, then I re-wrote it and now it's incomplete. Anyway, that novel was 100,000 words plus, so I took Skip's portion out of that book and it bloomed into Bum's Rush. But where did the name come from? To tell you the truth, I think it arose the same way Jack's name did, from my fingertips.

I know when my characters approve of their names, because they don't give me any grief about it. With Kelli's first and second last names, she screamed at me every time I wrote it. I think she likes her knew one.

I guess we need to listen to our characters and our fingers. I got the best names out of thin air.

An Interview With Your Characters

I don't do it. It's a waste of time and I'll never look at the form again. Really, who cares what your hero wanted, but didn't get for his last birthday? What their favorite food is, What they dreamed last night, unless it drives the story or is, at least, relevant. Granted, it's a good way to get to know your character, but I prefer seeing those things as they unfold in the story.

I've tried to do interviews. When I first heard about the concept, I got excited. Then I saw the questions: What is your biggest strength, Achilles heel. These are questions that when asked of me, I hyperventilate. When I tried answering for my character, I had the same reaction.

Things that will always come up at one time or another in a story: What kind of car does he/she drive, quirks, idiosyncratic, friends, acquaintances, occupation. How they look, the clothes they wear, are they wealthy or poor, etc. Things that define the character for the purpose of the story.

What matters most, in my humble opinion, is what happened to get them to where they are. Why they react the way they do. Did they have mommy or daddy issues, was there unfinished business that they need to resolve.

How much of the hero is the author? I'd say we, as authors, give some of our views to our characters and we, or I should say, I, bestow on them traits I would like to have myself. The most fun characters I write are those with quirky personalities. But that's another subject.

If interviews help you get to know your characters, then that's great. Some people love to fill out forms. That's not me. I feel like I'm going to break out in hives. I wish I could be organized like that, but organization is something my characters might have, that's not me. If it were, my novel would have, not only a character interview, but an outline, a pre-synopsis, proper formating from the get-go, correct punctuation, T's crossed, i's dotted.

Suffice it to say, we/I end up deferring to type.

Have a great weekend and God bless