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!