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Blood and Loam

Get Ready for the Summer of Indie!

May 15, 2012 by admin

Thanks, Marlene Dotterer, author of The Time Travel Journals: Shipbuilder (a great read, if you haven’t checked it out yet!), for letting me know about the Summer of Indie.

What’s that, you ask?

If you’re a writer or reader or both, you’ll love getting info about great indie books at the Go Indie website. It’s a great way to get to know up-and-coming authors and their books. I’m going to participate. Are you in?

***

A blog note: my editor has just returned Blood & Loam to me with her latest revisions. Although the book is getting closer to completion, it still needs a fair amount of work. It’s a dark tale that takes me to places in my mind that I’m uncomfortable going, so it’s taking additional effort and drafts to get the story to where it needs to go.

In addition, I have started working on a new idea for a novel that has me jazzed! It’s great to be working on books after taking a rather long break, but it does mean that I have to clear my schedule to make room. For that reason, starting next week, I will continue with Wednesday and Thursday posts. I will leave the Tuesday posts as “optional” for now.

Filed Under: books, fiction Tagged With: Blood and Loam, books, fiction, indie fiction, novelist, novels, Summer of Indie, writing

Time for a Blog Recommendation!

January 19, 2012 by admin

It’s Thursday, so it’s that time again to talk about someone else’s blog for a change! I always check my Twitter feed for people who are doing interesting things, and I’m never disappointed.

This week’s recommendation is Aging Abundantly, a great website for the over-50 set. It is so chock-full of information and inspiration that I won’t even try to sort it out here! Suffice to say that if you visit the site, you’ll find anything and everything you want to know about enjoying this stage of our lives!

I’m keeping things short today. I’m finishing the latest revisions to Blood and Loam in hopes of getting it into the Amazon Breakthrough Novel Award Contest, and I have a lot to do! At least I finally know, after a number of rewrites, the way it needs to end. It’s had an ending all along, and that doesn’t change, but my method of getting there is changing — and that’s a good thing. I finally feel satisfied that I am doing my absolute best!

Have a great weekend! I’ll be back on Monday.

Filed Under: blogs, books Tagged With: Aging Abundantly, Amazon Breakthrough Novel Award, Blood and Loam, fiction, good blogs, midlife, novels, women, writing

The War of Art: Winning the Inner Creative Battle by Steven Pressfield

January 10, 2012 by admin

First, I must apologize to the blogger who brought this book to my attention. I read a number of blogs and did not note where this recommendation came from. If you’re out there and happen to read this, let me know and I will give you proper acknowledgement. In the immortal words of Texas Governor and Presidential wannabe Rick Perry, “Oops.”

***

With this blog, I hope to encourage women, especially those of us who are 50+, to go for our dreams. For me, that means writing my books, but yours may be different. When I share information, even if it’s aimed at writers, I think it may work for a broader spectrum of people. I think that The War of Art by Steven Pressfield is one of those books. It even seems natural, after writing last week about my current weight loss journey, to discuss The War of Art next…yes, I think it can help with weight loss, too.

Let’s face it. Regardless of our dream or vision for our lives, we will have challenges. We get on the scale and see a plateau. We work hard on a book and struggle to find a publisher or, if we self-publish, struggle to find readers. My late mother-in-law Jenny, a fine artist, gave up on trying to display her work and ended up making it only for herself.

Steven Pressfield also had his share of disappointments and even disasters as a writer. A film he made with great pride and excitement bombed. He was left in the lobby of an agent who had sent him out to wait, then forgot about him…and that happened when he was in his 40s, after years of having manuscripts go nowhere.

Yet this author of The Legend of Bagger Vance and other novels persevered. Not only did he succeed, but in The War of Art he tells us wannabes how to persevere as well.

The first phase of the book talks about Resistance. Often, when we are working toward a goal, we will find ourselves struggling to meet it. We get busy doing other things. We run out of money. We decide that our work sucks and we shouldn’t bother. Pressfield would argue that whenever we find ourselves straying from that goal, we are encountering our Resistance. Often that resistance gets stronger as we get closer to our goal.

Think of it, ladies. For those of you who have given birth, isn’t there a moment toward the end, just before that beautiful child comes into the world, where you say to yourself something like, “I can’t do this!”? It happened for me as my daughter was starting to move into the birth canal. I announced that I couldn’t give birth, and I was ready right then for the C-section. She came out a few minutes later. Though this metaphor is mine, I think the ultimate creative process — birth — carries within it these elements of resistance that Pressfield writes about.

Writing about weight loss last week, I mentioned my fear of success. Someone asked me recently, “Why do we do that?” What a great question! Pressfield discusses the fear of success at length in his book, a culprit for many a creative person. I cringe at the ways I’ve sabotaged success over the years — sending out queries with typos, not following up on leads, not accepting help that was offered.

So what’s the answer to the question of “Why do we do that?” I have no idea. If we want to handle our resistance and fear, though, what if we tweaked the question? Let’s switch the “why” to “how,” and we may be on to something.

“How do we do that?” We stop writing. We eat the whole darn pie and give up on our diets. We fill our lives with food/drink/sex/work and all other manner of methods to avoid doing what our souls would have us do. Then we can move on to, “How do we NOT do that?” This is what Pressfield’s second section is about.

The second section is a blueprint for professionalism. For a writer who deals with periodic discouragement such as myself, it means getting butt in chair and writing, even if we think it sucks, and especially if we think it sucks. If we’re going back to school, signing up for the next semester can give us a moment of peace. If we want to lose weight, then taking a walk or preparing a lovely but healthful meal helps us stay on track. We listen to our fears, our pain, and our desire for self-sabotage, but we make a decision to do the opposite. In other words, we, in the words of Dr. Phil, behave our way to success. When we do the work that our soul needs, we feel nourished inside. Easy? Hell, no. But I think of a song by Tim McGraw in which he sings, “Temptations may come, that ain’t no sin. You get stronger every time that you don’t give in.”

In part three, Pressfield gets more spiritual. He points out the mysterious thing that happens when we do what our soul longs for. Something happens. The story we struggle with starts to open up and characters start telling US what they’re going to do. After several weeks of a plateau, our body’s metabolism suddenly kicks into gear and we start losing weight. We want to sign up for that conference that we can’t afford, and we end up getting a scholarship or benefactor to help us pay for it.  Our wishful thinking alone doesn’t bring about change, but our longing combined with action creates opportunities.

I read The War of Art during a time of deep self-doubt. As I’ve worked on Blood and Loam, a novel that pushes every button I have inside of me, I wanted to quit. Pressfield reminded me that it’s just my resistance, and the more powerful the resistance, the more I need to finish. Oh, yeah, that again! So I sat down and went back to work…and I will finish the novel. If I need a little help, I’ll just go read The War of Art one more time.

Filed Under: books, writing Tagged With: Blood and Loam, books, dreams, fear of success, resistance, resolutions, self-sabotage, Steven Pressfield, The War of Art, weight loss, writing

I’m Buried in Books — What a Way to Go!

January 9, 2012 by admin

I’m buried in books today. Surrounding me are piles of The Foreign Language of Friends as I ready them for book contests. Entry forms are accompanied by stacks of one, two, or three copies, depending on the requirements of the contest. It’s a busy time of year, with plenty of deadlines early on. I also got the crazy notion a few days ago to enter Blood & Loam into Amazon’s Breakthrough Novel Award contest. That means getting all the polishing done in the next few weeks, all while I have to leave my home periodically to let possible buyers parade through. I tell myself I must be crazy, but I have made it a rule to follow my intuition at all times, so I’m up for the challenge!

On my iPad, via Kindle, I’m reading Twin-Bred by Karen Wyle, a wonderful sci-fi book. In Wyle’s fictional world, humans are cohabiting a planet with a species called Tofa, and prejudice and miscommunication abound. In a special project, human and Tofa babies are gestated in host mothers as twins, in the hopes that the special twin bond will help the two species learn how to bridge their differences. It’s a good read, and I especially love the scenes of the little kids as they start to grow up and play, acting like the little kids they are, and not the world saviors they’re expected to become.

Karen is part of my online writing group, the Blooming Late gals of She Writes. If you’re a woman over 40, come on over and visit if you get a chance. There’s a lot of talent in this group!

In addition, Julia Cameron’s new book, The Prosperous Heart, came out last week. Like her masterwork The Artist’s Way, the new book offers simple exercises to unblock us, this time from blocks to prosperity. Though the use of money is examined, this is more a book about feeling that sense of having “enough” in our lives.

I bought it mainly because I want Julia to keep doing what she’s doing, but I didn’t think there would be much for me. I was wrong. These gentle but powerful exercises are already starting to unlock parts of my brain, giving me new and surprising ideas for marketing my work as well as the work of other writers who deserve to have readers find them. Though Cameron’s process is spiritual, it is also practical, which appeals to my active left brain. The book does NOT promote positive thinking, but rather positive action. As I go along, I’ll keep you posted on my progress with this 12-week program.

Speaking of positive thinking, Barbara Ehrenreich, author of the laudable Nickel and Dimed, has written some not-so-positive things about the positive thinking movement that now pervades our workplaces, churches, and financial institutions in her book Bright-Sided: How the Relentless Promotion of Positive Thinking is Undermining America. In coming days, I’ll write more about this book, which I’m still “chewing” on. I don’t agree with all of it, but she makes some excellent points that are worth examining.

Finally, as I promised last week, I’ll write more about Steven Pressfield’s The War of Art: Break Through the Blocks and Win Your Inner Creative Battles. Last week, when I wrote about my weight loss intentions for the year, some readers resonated with my fear of success. “Why do we do that?” a reader asked. Well, maybe we can figure that out. Pressfield’s book provides a great foundation for examining this block, which seems particularly difficult for women. Whether we’re losing weight, writing books, or have other goals, Pressfield’s advice can help us move beyond self-sabotage.

At any rate, these and other books that I’m reading should make for some lively discussion. What are you reading?

Filed Under: books, fiction, women Tagged With: Amazon Breakthrough Novel Award, Barbara Ehrenreich, Blood and Loam, books, fiction, Foreign Language of Friends, Julia Cameron, Karen Wyle, novels, positive thinking, Steven Pressfield, Twin-Bred, women, women's fiction, writing

Thursday Books & Blogs

December 1, 2011 by admin

Good morning! As we prepare for another visit to our future hometown, we are also in the midst of listing our Houston house for sale. This morning the photographer comes, so the house is eerily tidy. The new house deal remains alive at this time — yay! Yeah, I’ve made peace with whatever happens, as I mentioned yesterday, but I won’t kid you. It’s a cool house, and I really hope it works out. We’ll see!

This coming weekend is my birthday weekend (Sunday is the day!), and I’ve given myself the present of taking a yoga workshop with the legendary Angela Farmer. Angela, now over 70, has been a dynamic force in expanding “feminine” yoga, yoga that expands on ancient traditions taught primarily by males for males. I took a class from her back in 2004 during a conference, and I treasure several moments from that class. I also thought it would be a great way to meet some people in the community in an intimate setting.

By the way, if you like yoga and haven’t seen the Yogawoman DVD, I highly recommend it. Angela Farmer appears in this video as one of many female yoga pioneers.

In books, this past week I finished The Time Travel Journals: Shipbuilder by Marleen Dotterer. The shipbuilder refers to Thomas Andrews, who oversaw the building of the Titanic. In this captivating tale, Sam Altair, a scientist experimenting with time travel, accidentally sends himself back to 19o6. Worse, he unwittingly takes with him Casey Wilson, a university student. I won’t go into how they connect to Andrews, but I will tell you that Dotterer handles time travel in a way I haven’t seen before. Altair and Wilson, rather than trying to avoid changing history, actively work to do so. The tension builds gradually to a powerful climax, and there’s a sweet love story, too! I loved it, and I hope you will, too.

Here’s another treat for you: The Art of an Improbable Life, a blog by Becky Green Aaronson and her husband, Jeffrey, who have created for themselves a unique, rich life that spans the globe. In this blog, you’ll find gorgeous photos and interesting essays. This week’s post shares the story of Lori Robinson, “Africa’s Beautiful Bag Lady,” and it’s a good one. Check it out if you get a chance.

I’m going to suspend Friday Fiction for now, but it will  return sometime after the holiday season. I’m currently revising Blood and Loam and will start posting it once I feel that it’s ready for viewing. Unfortunately, it’s been taking me longer than I expected! This has been a difficult, challenging novel to write, requiring more research than what I’m used to and punching all my personal buttons. If I can pull it off, it will be a fascinating book, but it’s demanding more of me as a writer than anything I’ve ever done.

Have a great weekend! Next week I’ll be sharing adventures from Washington State — I’ll try to include plenty of pics.

Filed Under: blogs, books, women, Yoga Tagged With: Angela Farmer, Art of an Improbable Life, Becky Green Aaronson, Blood and Loam, books, good blogs, Lori Robinson, Marlene Dotterer, novels, The Time Travel Journals: Shipbuilder, women, Yogawoman

Writing and the EEWWW Factor

May 6, 2011 by admin

The year is 1970, and Stella Kellar has just returned home, traumatized, from Kent State. She wants that sense of peace that comes from being “home,” but finds that no one escapes the war. Her parents barely notice her; her father, Luke, a traumatized veteran, struggles with a whopping case of PTSD. Her mother, Ruth, spends most of her time trying to help him and has no energy left for anyone else. A charismatic stranger will come between mother and daughter, both vulnerable and weary from the effects of war. A loving grandmother, the only stable individual in the lives of this battered family, tries to hold the family together while facing the possible loss of her farm. This is Blood and Loam, a dark tale of war, love, trauma, betrayal, and…corn.

As a writer, I have to allow my characters to get into difficult situations, but I have struggled with this story, as I have written previously on several occasions. I can no longer tell if it’s good or bad. I suspect I’m having problems with it because it’s not a “nice” story. My women’s fiction has drama, but it doesn’t take the reader to such difficult, dark places. Blood and Loam, no matter how I write it, is, well, bloody. Horrible things happen to people, including situations that I find personally repugnant. This book has, to a large degree, exceeded my “eewww” factor, and I don’t know what to make of that. Does it mean I pull back, or do I jump in and challenge myself?

This morning I decided on the latter. I took a deep breath and posted it to my She Writes critique group. They’re a competent bunch, honest but kind, and I’m impressed with many of them as writers. My cover note was perhaps a bit too apologetic as I asked for someone willing to look at my “twisted little story.”  Part of me says to let this story go and to focus on the new work that has been fun and much easier to write. Heck, in those I’m only dealing with suicide, heart attacks, Alzheimer’s, internet stalkers, and the like. Another part of me says this could be my best writing ever, and that it’s time to show some courage. So, we’ll see what the gang says!

Filed Under: Uncategorized, writing Tagged With: Blood and Loam, books, nadine feldman, nadine galinsky, novelist, novels, rough drafts, writing

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