Happy New Year!

As a rule, I don’t like making New Year’s resolutions.

I think they are a curse.

I do have goals for the new year, though:

• I want to make great strides on Eye of the Peacock, to the point where maybe Beta Readers are reviewing it by the end of September.
•  Along with this, I want to have the cover for Eye of the Peacock designed and ready. My cover designer, Aaron La Porta, wants to be involved in the process earlier this time. We both learned a lot the first time through. Summer will be a great time to get photos ready for him.
• I want to have had at least three author signings by the end of the year. And as part of that, I want to be able to talk to people, especially kids about writing and publishing.

I have other goals pushing into the back of my mind, but I need to stay focused on the most important ones. So, at least for tonight pull out that pickled herring, hold on to that quarter, and toot your noise maker! Let's see 2016 in in style!

Talkin' Writin'

I love talking with young writers about the craft.

My daughter had some friends over yesterday, and I got to have a short conversation with one girl who has a draft of a book she wants to publish. We chatted about agents versus independent publishing.

Before the holidays, one of my students stopped by after school looking for advice about how she was drafting her story. I took a look at her notebooks, and she’s doing everything right – outlining the story, writing bios for the characters.

This is what it is all about.

Spreading the love of literature, whether it be through reading it or writing it.

As 2015 wanes, think about how you are going to start spending 2016. Find a way to chisel out some time to spend in a creative – or created – world.

 

Merry Christmas!

I got almost everything I wanted this holiday…a wonderful husband; two beautiful, sweet daughters; a comfortable home.

Peace on Earth was still missing, but at least it’s here in my corner of the world. And if we each achieved that, think of the overall effect!

Take some time to revel in your gifts, and of course, get in some writing time while the kiddos sleep in. I know I will be.

I hope you got everything you wanted for the holidays.

Meeting Authors

This weekend I was able to meet and chat with several children’s authors at the WNY Children’s Book Expo hosted by Monkey See, MonkeyDo, a local independent book store.

I must say that the highlight was meeting children’s author Virginia Kroll.

I have waited at least 15 years to meet her ever since reading her picture book Naomi Knows It’s Springtime. Not only is it a beautiful, heart-felt book, but for years I used it to help me teach poetry and imagery. Too many times, writers depend on sight when describing, but this entire book depends on every sense but sight! It’s one of those books, whose lesson has stuck with me.

Virginia Kroll was wonderful enough to share her process for writing this book with me. She told me she wrote index cards for each sense. The sight one filled up fast and full. She threw it out! What was left was the basis for the book.

I’m not going to give the ending away. If you’re looking for wonderful picture books, look to Virginia Kroll. She’s a wonderful person and a wonderful children’s writer!

Work With Your Characters

Writing Tip # 6:  Characters will often take off in directions you, as a writer, don’t intend.

I was writing on Eye of the Peacock this past weekend. Aubrey, my 21^st century protagonist, had just had her first dinner with the owner of the estate that is the 1906 setting of the story. It was a big dinner – big – and she’s a skinny kid.

Aubrey was really battling with me at the start of the next chapter. She wanted to skip the breakfast she was expected to attend and go walking in the gardens. I kept insisting she go to breakfast as planned. The woman was expecting her to be there. She was a guest in the house. It would be rude for her to not show up. Aubrey was insisting it was going to be another big meal. She didn’t eat like that.

As the writer, I had to find a reason for her to go to breakfast. It finally came to me last night. The owner of the estate is going to be reading a newspaper at breakfast, and the piece of history that needs to be woven into the book is going to show up in the headline.

As a writer, your characters are going to disagree with you, challenge you, and want to take on a life of their own. Don’t try to totally control them. Sometimes they have good ideas. But watch it. Make every move work toward your story’s end.

Times are Changing

Sci Fi Author Martin Wilsey
already has his copy!

It has begun!

People are buying Relic!

Until now, this was a personal quest, a private journey. But things have changed. Now it’s about my readers. I always knew it was, but now they’re really there!

I’ve signed my first copies – one purchased by a dear friend and another for an 8-year-old. It is surreal. It is daunting. I am writing for young people, and I feel an obligation not to disappoint them.




Friends have been a wonderful support in Relic's opening days!

I hope they all get to love Sam and root for her as she struggles with all the changes in her life. I hope they giggle at quirky Mrs. Van Dansk, and wonder about the girl with the chestnut hair.

I’m working with three local book stores to arrange book signings and author talks. There are so many stories about the writing of this book that I would love to share.

Purchase your copy of Relic by clicking here, or on the cover on the right side of my blog!

Author Talks

I make it a habit to listen to as many author talks as possible. Every time I manage to glean something – maybe a nugget of wisdom, maybe a writing tip, maybe a just a comment that validates a moment in my writing process.

Sometimes I’m lucky enough to hear authors in person. On Saturday November 14, more than 30 authors will be talking and signing books at Kleinhans Music Hall in Buffalo at a gathering hosted by one of my favorite books stores, Monkey See Monkey Do.

Other times, I just catch great interviews on NPR. Just in the last few weeks, I’ve been able to hear interviews with Lauren Groff,  JK Rowling (as Robert Galbraith) and Margaret Atwood. In the interview with Lauren Groff, readers were able to ask the author questions. One reader commented that it seemed she wrote her newest book “like her hands were on fire.” The comment made me chuckle. The prior evening I had spent about a half hour writing. I was laboring over every word. I think, all told, I added nine words to the manuscript. My hands were definitely not on fire!

What If?

Writing Tip #5:  One of the best tools a writer has is the question “What if?”

Sometimes characters in a story fight you as you try to form them, as you try to manipulate their world. When that happens, play What If?  What if she liked him? What if she wasn’t allowed to like him? Or…What if she didn’t like him, but he liked her? What if she liked him but he was in trouble with the law? What if they were fated to meet, fell in loved and were sucked up into a UFO for alien experimentation?

Go crazy! Consider any scenario. What If allows me to break down walls that might be inhibiting my imagination. Somewhere along the way, I’ll often find the situation that will work, and my characters and I will be on our way again.

I am Pleased to Announce...

The publication of Relic, a middle grade supernatural mystery!

It is available on Amazon as a paperback for $8.99.

   For 12-year-old Samantha Whitaker, her parents’ dream of running a country
inn – which she calls “The Ick,” is pure torture.

  After purchasing a strange item in an antique shop just to annoy her mother, Samantha makes a desperate attempt to flee the small village by stealing her parents’ car – only to crash it when an odd village girl darts in front of her…then disappears.

  Despite Samantha’s resistance, a local girl named Twyla befriends her and aids her in looking for the missing girl. Her search leads Samantha to learn about a famous former
occupant – village benefactor, patron of the arts, and suffragette Olivia Ainsley Wagner Roth – who, according to the previous owner, still haunts the inn.

   An unusual relic, a hidden diary, an unfinished letter. Will Samantha’s supernatural sleuthing bring answers to a village mystery that has strange parallels to her own life?

Enjoy!

Vita Sudatio Interrumpitur

Life gets interrupted. Or should I say writing does. At least mine does at this time of year.

The start of the school year is always a hectic time. As a teacher, there are always high expectations, learning 120+ new names and faces, new demands of the profession, plus the stress of transition wear – but that’s an entirely different topic. Then there’s my family. In my house, we balance three different school districts and four different schools, dance, piano and family time.

So where does writing fit in? Fortunately, the start of the school year also means the monthly meetings of my writing group, so I have the welcomed pressure of writing for them.

Relic is also in its final stages, although I am surprised at how long those last few teeny tweaks take. My students are excited for me, and that warms my heart. While I wait for the (hopefully) final proof, I’m scoping out locations for book signings and possibly a book launch party! Stay tuned!

           

Taking My Own Advice!

Eye of the Peacock continues to evolve.

Currently, I am trying to mold several characters. Frankly, they are giving me trouble. Sometimes it takes me a while to realize I need to follow my own advice!

I turned to research.

Many of my writing group collegues are very good a choosing names that give insight into the character. So I visited some name websites. The characters will be imigrants to this country at the turn of the century, so I looked for European names and specifically looked for meanings that fit their role in the story. This won’t mean much to my readers – unless they are looking for hidden meanings, but it will help keep me on track with their personalities.

I also started looking for photographs for inspiration. These characters are working-class men and boys, so that’s what I looked for. I came up with a few that will help me pinpoint facial features and clothing. I even hit pay dirt and found a video of turn-of-the-century workers walking down the street. I can see their movements and their clothing. This will be very helpful!

 

Ready for Proofing!

The final cover of Relic has arrived!

I think it is absolutely fantastic! So many thanks to talented graphic designer Aaron La Porta for capturing the setting and mood of my first middle grade novel.

You can’t see the back of the cover, but here is the text:

      For twelve-year-old Samantha Whitaker, her parents’ dream of running an inn in the country, which she calls “the Ick,” is pure torture.

     After purchasing a strange item in an antique shop just to annoy her mother, Samantha makes a desperate attempt to flee the small village by stealing her parents’ car—only to crash it when an odd village girl darts in front of her…then disappears.

     Despite Samantha’s resistance, a local girl named Twyla befriends her and aids her in looking for the missing girl. Her search leads Samantha to learn about a famous former occupant—village benefactor, patron of the arts, and suffragette Olivia Ainsley Wagner Roth—who, according to the previous owner, still haunts the inn.

     An unusual relic, a hidden diary, an unfinished letter. Will Samantha’s supernatural sleuthing bring answers to a village mystery that has strange parallels to her own life?

I’m hoping it all piques your interest in Samantha Whitaker and her experiences.

I’m learning it takes time and patience for all the pieces of a book to pull together. The next step is ordering proofs to be red-penned in a final read before publication.

Soon after, Relic will be available on Amazon. Several book signings are already in the planning stage, so stay tuned!

Out and About

While I wait for my final proof of the cover for Relic, and as summer wanes, my family decided to take a day-cation to Letchworth State Park in New York. Located along the Genesee River, there are beautiful vistas of the gorge and three waterfalls.

The hikes in the woods and along the gorge reminded me that there is a calmness of the soul that I experience when I am able to enjoy nature. Maybe it was that clear mind that just made my imagination leap. Everywhere I looked I saw settings for my writing. I was clicking away on my camera recording unusual trees, rocks, buildings and landscapes for future reference.

Nature is important for a writer to experience. Note the lighting at different times of day, the smells, the sounds. The better a writer can describe a setting, the more completely readers will be transported.

Sneak Peek

So much in life is worth waiting for.

I had an awesome surprise Monday morning when I opened my email and found the first draft of my cover for Relic! I am only giving you a sneak peek because it is just a draft, but I am so excited! What you see is only a teeny piece of the whole cover.

It really is more than I could have hoped for. The artwork of the mansion perfectly depicts the setting of the novel. I love the color scheme and the dramatic lighting – and, according to my cover designer, Aaron La Porta, there are possibly more dramatic effects to come if I approve them.

On my end, the map to supplement the text is done, and the floor plans of the mansion are about half done.

This baby may be out by the end of August, yet!

 

More on Writer's Block

Writing Tip #4

I found another reason why I am not a believer in writer’s block:

I am sitting on my back porch. It’s about 85 degrees. At least that’s what it was. It might be cooling off a bit. Storm clouds are creeping across the sky just starting to blot out the pinks and golds of the sun setting behind the trees. A large bird – a Great Blue Heron, now that I look closer – is lumbering westward. I remember someone saying once that birds don’t fly at night. He must be looking for a place to roost for the night. The clouds are a slate blue and turning inky at the edges. I don’t care what the forecasters say, it is going to rain tonight.

Okay? I had nothing to write. But I did.

Look around! Write something! It may not be the something you intended to write, but it might be useful at some point!

I remember seeing a video about Basho once. If you don’t know who he was, he was probably the most revered haikuist ever. He said that if you stood in one place you were supposed to be able to write something like 200 haiku just from looking around yourself. Then, he added, if you ran out of things to write about, you should look down at your feet and write about that!

Find Your Writing Process

As a writer, you have to find your own writing process.

I never knew about the writing process. When I went to school – back in the day -- we outlined and then wrote. My mind didn’t work that way, so I usually wrote and then crafted my outline from what was written. I got As, so it wasn’t a big deal.

Then I became a newspaper reporter. Lead paragraphs had to be a suscinct 20 to 28 words. That was a problem for me. How did I know where I was going until I was there? So I’d sit at the keyboard and type the story – beginning with the second paragraph. Undoubtedly, by the time I was about halfway done with the story, I’d realize what the lead needed to be. I’d go back and add it in – thank Heaven for computers. Unbeknownst to me, I’d taught myself to write using the writing process.

The writing process is described as cyclical – you brainstorm, draft, rewrite, edit, and publish. Some writers believe that any of these steps can be repeated as necessary until the publishing step. I’m one of those writers. I brainstorm, draft, rewrite, draft, rewrite the whole thing, edit, rewrite some more. Then more brainstorming might happen, which results in more drafting and rewriting.

It doesn’t matter how it is done, just do it!

 

The Mythical Writer's Block

Writing Tip #3:  I truly don't mean to brag, but I rarely suffer from writer’s block.

Maybe I don’t understand writer’s block. I feel like it's a myth -- I always have something to say.

Sometimes I don’t know how to get from this point of the story to that point of the story, but eventually it happens. I usually just concentrate on the part of the story I can see at that moment. I end up with lots of pieces I then put into an order. Then I work to bridge the pieces. Sometimes the pieces don’t fit, and I reorganize. Sometimes pieces don’t fit, and I either ditch them or rewrite them.

Some writers don’t write this way – they write straight through from beginning to end. But this is the process that works for me.

You have to find your own process.

Tentative August Release

I am anticipating an August debut of Relic.

There is a multi-pronged effort at this point:

·         My marketing team is working on back cover copy.

·         A graphic designer is creating the cover.

·         I am crafting the map and floor plan to augment the story.

·         My application for a Library of Congress number is being completed.

Although it makes me crazy to have nothing finished, all of these things have to be happening at once. They all hinge on one another. The back cover copy has to be completed before the cover can  be completed. The cover needs to be completed before I can order a proof. The map and floor plan need to be added to the manuscript so that I can tweak the final layout. A proof has to exist before the Library of Congress number can be assigned, but the number and information has to be added to the back of the title page before the book can be released for final printing.

And some people think that writer’s block is a problem!

Author Page Photo

With only a day or two until the layout of  Relic is complete, I thought it about time to consider a photograph of myself for the “About the Author” blurb.

I have always been one who is more comfortable behind the camera taking the photos than in front of the camera. While on assignment as a newspaper reporter, I often had to take my own photos of news events.

Over the past several years, my husband and I have noticed that our oldest daughter has quite an eye for photos. So, Saturday morning, since I was feeling in a relatively photographic mood, I asked her to take some photos of me. The one here is the one we chose. Normally, a very unhappy  photo subject, I'm relatively happy with this one!

 

Thanks sweetie!

 

Summer Reading

With summer upon us, there is plenty of time for reading. Since this time last year, I kept tabs of what titles I read for the year. As would be expected, I read a lot of young adult and middle grade, but I do turn to adult books every now and then. Here are the titles, in no particular order.

For young people:

Deep Blue by Jennifer Donnelly
Rogue Wave by Jennifer Donnelly
Amber House by Kelly Moore, Tucker Reed and Larkin Reed
The Family Romanov by Candace Fleming
The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman
Museum of Thieves by Lian Tanner
Something Upstairs by Avi
Lily Dale Awakening by Wendy Corsi Staub
Lily Dale Believing by Wendy Corsi Staub
Lily Dale Connecting by Wendy Corsi Staub
Lily Dale Discovering by Wendy Corsi Staub
The Search for Wandla by Tony DeTerlizzi
The Battle for Wandla by Tony DeTerlizzi

A Hero for Wandla by Tony DiTerlizzi
The Giver by Lois Lowry
Gathering Blue  by Lois Lowry
House of Secrets by Chris Columbus and Ned Vizzini
Chinese Cinderella: Secret Dragon Society by Adeline Yen Mah
The One and Only Ivan by Katherine Applegate
Grace, Gold & Glory by Gabrielle Douglas
The Ghosts of Tupelo Landing by Sheila Turnage
Shaking the Foundation: Charles Darwin and the Theory of       Evolution  by Sylvia Johnson
Messanger by Lois Lowry
Son by Lois Lowry
Ender’s Game by Orson Scott Card
Seraphina by Rachel Hartman

For Adults:

The Silkworm by Robert Galbraith
Still Falling by Martin Wilsey

I am currently reading the sequel to Seraphina – Shadow Scale, and I am eagerly awaiting the third in the Jennifer Donnelly series, and the next Robert Galbraith (aka JK Rowling) detective mystery.

It’s summer! Kick back and read a good tale. What is your favorite this season?

 

So Many Decisions

"It’s never too late to be what you might have been."

                                             -       George Eliot

 

I’m sorry that I haven’t been around, but remember my first job is teaching. The end of the year is a busy time.

I have squeezed in some time to play with the page layout of

Relic – just enough to make me anxious and excited to get rolling full speed. I’ve had time to play with font styles for chapter numbers, chapter titles, and possible drop caps.

I’ve realized my paragraph indents are too big for a small page. I’ll have to hand adjust each one unless I can find a quicker fail-safe way. I’ve also started to drop in photos at the beginning of each chapter, but that has only impressed upon me how many more photos I have to take.

Plus I have to find time to finalize the map of Willowbend and the floor plan of Hydrangea Hall. I’m spending a lot of mental time trying to figure out what style I want them to be. Should they look like a young person drew them? Should they be a pencil sketch? Marker and water color? Should they be child-like, or drawn by a person with some artistic talent?

So many decisions to be made….

I can’t wait!

Next Steps

Now that Relic is written, I fear the real work has begun!

I’m working on a final edit. After that I plan to read the entire manuscript aloud to check for any final tweeks. Then it’s all about laying out the inside pages with my photography at the start of each chapter. I’m going to use a marketing person to write a blurb for the back cover. I need to worry about ISBN numbers and Library of Congress numbers and dedications and acknowledgements.

While I work on preparing the inside of the book, I’ve engaged the services of graphic artist Aaron LaPorta to design the cover. I’ve sent him a summary and my author’s notes for an initial direction. He’s great at the work he does for the Buffalo Bills, so I’m sure he’ll do a terrific job. I’m really excited about how he’ll imagine my book for me.

I’d love Relic to hit the market by August, but I don’t know if that’s realistic!

 

The Quest Begins

I spent Friday on a quest – to begin compiling the art work for Relic. I knew what I needed. I’ve pictured this book in my head for a long time. I needed a photo for each chapter. Some I knew I could stage closer to home, but others needed the authenticity of a small village. I also needed a map of Samantha’s new village for the front inside cover and a floor plan of a house for the back inside cover.

Armed with my shot list, my camera, a sketch pad, a pencil and my manuscript, I headed out early for the village that inspired the setting of Relic. I started at the historian’s office – the one that actually inspired the historian’s office that Sam and Twyla visit. Historians have got to be some of the best people out there. A major shout out to local historians Doris Bannister and Doug Norton, who went out of their way to help me fill in gaps in my memory and may have even given me a idea for book number three!

After gathering information from Doris's files, I continued to the center of the village that inspired the setting of Relic. This is where the bulk of my work would have to be done. I drove through and sketched the village, took a couple photos of the village including the Middlebury Academy and some nice gingerbread houses.

Now, combined with some other photos in my files and a few more to be taken locally, I’m ready to start preparing the manuscript for publishing!

 

The Adventure Continues

Several months ago, author Wendy Corsi Staub advised me to independently publish Relic. Stubbornly, I continued to query agents. I had given myself an unofficial deadlne – summer. Now summer is a few weeks away, so I am mentally preparing. I think there is a lot of work ahead.

I have always imagined how I want Relic to look. I’ve always wanted small line drawings at the start of every chapter. I have prepared a shot list – photographs that I am going to turn into line drawings. And I’ve scheduled a day next week to go on an adventure and get the photos done. I plan to use the tools available to me in Word to turn the photos into line drawings.

Included in the adventure is also a quest to complete floor plans and a village map for the inside jackets – two things I’ve always imagined for my book.

I’m excited again!

Notebooks

Although I love writing on my computer, I always have at least one notebook on hand.

Writing Tip #2: I keep a medium-sized spiral at my bedside. I use it for a lot of things. Sometimes, I try out passages of description. I drafted a great description of my new character Ida, who had been giving me trouble until she finally took form one night before I fell asleep. I like drafting poetry in this notebook, too. Often I want to be able to see the multiple words I am considering as I write the poem. I want to see the evolution, be able to go back if I want. Sometimes, I’ll simply write lists of things I need to do or buy.

I have a wonderful tiny green notebook with an engraved tree on its leather cover. This notebook I save for short jottings. In it I gather thoughts. It is a repository for funny things I hear, websites or physical places that might help me with research, ideas for stories or poems, one-liners. I try to keep this one with me on a regular basis so that I can write in it as I hear things, but I find this difficult. My writing friend Paul carries his in his shirt pocket – men’s clothing is so much more efficient than women’s. And since I don’t carry any one bag all the time, my little green notebook is usually somewhere other than where I need it to be. Instead, more often than not, I am scrambling for a scrap of paper in the car console. Every so often, I gather up the scraps and add them to my green notebook.

Going Back is Hell!

Writing Tip #1:  Last month, Jeff S., one of my fellow writers in my writing group declared, “Going back is hell!”

He was going back through his project and changing the story. “Didn’t you go all the way back through yours, Roberta?” he asked.

Yes, I did. Relic was originally written in third person. I was very close to the end of the manuscript when I realized the view point had been wasted. I could see inside my protagonist’s head, but so what? If she was telling the story, we’d be able to see inside her thoughts, too. So why not just tell the story in first person?

It was a daunting task, but as soon as I started, I knew I had made the correct decision. With first person, Samantha could tell her story and her personality could come out. When I took those first revisions back to group, everyone agreed.

Even now, in the first draft of my new project, I had parallel time lines. By about 20 pages in, I realized getting to the good part seemed to be taking too long, and I was going to give too much away. I went back and revised. I think it sounds much better.

So yes, going back is hell. But is it worth it? Most of the time, I think so. Like I tell my students: Writing doesn't come out right the first time.

Rejection Happy!

I’ve queried 8 or 9 agents about Relic at this point. I could give an exact number because I have all the email queries and a paper file with the agent information, but I am purposefully being vague – even with myself. I am almost trying not to put too much emphasis on it so that I don’t become discouraged. I think it’s easy to become discouraged at this point. But I want to give Relic a fair chance with this route.

Yesterday, I received a marvelous rejection! I know that sounds rediculous, but it actually made me really happy. I won’t mention the agent’s name, but the email didn’t sound as form-letter-ish as some have. She said, “Thank you so much for writing to me!” (It was the exclamation point that seemed so wonderful.) And she added, “I would definitely encourage you to keep trying.”

Just goes to show you, even a rejection can be encouraging!

Great Sci Fi Read

I must give a long-overdue shout out to friend and fellow writer Martin Wilsey.

Martin's first novel, Still Falling, which has only been on the market since late March, has already received eight extremely positive reviews on Amazon. An adult science fiction story, Still Falling is the first in what is expected to be the Solstice 31 Saga trilogy.

As one of his beta readers, I know first-hand what a great read it is. His characters Barcus and Po are facinating, well-rounded characters, and there are some great secondary characters as well. Martin has done this neat thing where he combines futuristic technology in a medieval setting. If you know Martin, these are two of the things he loves most.

I am really proud of him!
 

If you check out his blog wilseymc@blogspot.com you’ll find all his other links.

 

The Inspiration for Relic

The setting for Relic was inspired by a home in Wyoming, NY, a tiny rural village, which boasts that it still has gas street lights.  Another of the village’s pride and joys is Hillside. The home has seen many incarnations, first as a “water cure,” then as a private home, then as a B&B through several owners.

I have known about Hillside since my reporter days. It has so many cool features that one just wouldn’t imagine in a house of that age. I remember there being lights in the closets that automatically lit when the doors opened. Bedrooms shared bathrooms, Jack and Jill style, but then there were also doors between adjacent rooms, so that not only could a person move down the length of the upstairs via the hallway, but also from room to room. I remember a beautiful spiral staircase on the outside of the house that led from the owner’s bedroom porch to the buttlerfly garden.

It’s been a while since I’ve seen all of Hillside. I have some photos that help my memories. But then, like a lot of memories, truth and fiction blur. When you’re a writer, that’s okay. It’s where imagination takes over.

Empowerment

Early Tuesday morning, before the sun was up, I was waving a placard and walking a picket line with parents, teachers and support staff for a local school district. (That's me in the middle!) It was a peaceful protest of the educational policies in New York State. Lately, educators in the state are feeling as if they are losing control of their classes, their curriculum, and the school budgets. They are losing their voice. The protest allowed us to take back some of that control. We felt we were doing something.

Our chant was, “This is what democracy looks like.” And it was. It was a show of Americans using their constitutional right to voice their opinion. I don’t mean to get political here. I'm writing about it because the experience lit a fire under me. I felt empowered. Sometimes when we feel like we lack control of a situation, we need to find a way – any way -- to make something happen.

Two things dawned on me that day.

First, I prefer to write about young female protagonists, and this is how I want them to feel. I want my characters to be empowered, to find the strength to make a difference. I don’t like reading books where I have to suffer through a plot where things keep happening to the female character and she is given no ability to change things. In Relic, my protagonist gains the courage to speak for someone who doesn't have a voice.

Secondly, I have always been a person who likes to find ways to make things happen. A writer friend of mine is self-publishing, and I am pretty impressed with the product. As I wait for agents to respond to queries, and as I line up more agents, I have a nagging thought. I believe in Relic. I want it to be read. Perhaps self-publishing is a road I will travel as well. I refuse to be a female character who waits for things to happen!