Changes, Announcements and Biff & Mary!

Hello?
Anyone there...?
((crickets))

Well. Can't say I blame you!
I've been absent for months...sorry!

The blog's been on a sort of unplanned hiatus while I've put my efforts into pursuing some writing-related jobs, and I'm happy to say that the time I invested has begun paying off. In addition to book reviews for ForeWord Reviews, I've been busy with several proofreading and copy editing projects for Skyhorse Publishing, a well-established and growing New York publisher. I've had a lot of fun working on a variety of titles for them, including a few cookbooks and memoirs as well as an anthology of really good horror stories.

I'm also happy to say that I've recently accepted a position as a Senior Editor for Entranced Publishing, and I'll be editing primarily for their Mesmerized and Thrills imprints. I'm very excited to become part of their editing team, and I'm impressed by their commitment to the success of the authors they represent.
(**And if you write romance and are ready to publish, check out the submission guidelines on their website, or feel free to contact me through this blog or email jeannine (at) entrancedpublishing.com, and I'll be glad to put you in touch with the right person to get you started.)

So...yeah.
Been a little bit busy! :)
That said, my old friends Biff and Mary have been clamoring for attention so I think I'll have to spend some time with them this weekend. For those still interested in Biff, Mary, Poopsie and friends, I am going to pick up where we left off, hopefully posting a new chapter by Sunday.
I'm also hoping to translate some of the things I've been learning to this blog, specifically with posts about muddling through the writing process, links to sites to help you enhance your skills, and maybe some more Biff and Mary type "projects" to keep things fun.  If you'd like to join in or just share some good links or books or whatever, please do!

Again, apologies for the long absence and I hope you'll stick with me while I try to set this blog on a more focused course!

:)

Get the DIRT: June 7, 2012

It's another Do It Right Thursday!

I've been digging around for informative and fun sites and resources. Hope you find these links helpful! :)

Backspace
Writer's community.  Articles and resources are available to all.
Exclusive to members ($40/year membership) is a discussion forum, critique section, short story contests, video library,

WriteDirections
Another website I stumbled upon, this one run by writer Beth Mende Conny, which offers articles and resources for writers. Includes articles focusing on the writing process with practical tips as well as some articles categorized as "Inspiration," which might be just the thing to help you through a moment of writer's block. :)

Wake Up Writing
Daily writing prompts. Although the site hasn't been updated since April, archives go back to 2002, so there are bound to be prompts that inspire you.

Editorrent
Very popular, so you may already know this one. If not, definitely check it out for all kinds of info from the mechanics of writing to pitching your novel.

Factbites
I haven't tested this one too thoroughly yet, but it seems a valid gateway to legitimate resources. Could be helpful when doing novel research.

"The Snowflake Method"
I've been looking into how to create effective outlines, since I haven't really tried using one since my college days.  Here, author Randy Ingermanson presents an interesting approach to organizing and outlining a novel.

"How to Outline (The Easy Way) Like Janet Evanovich"
From Writer's Knowledge Base, another approach: Writer's Digest explains author Evanovich's outline process, complete with storyboard example.

That's it for this week, but please feel free to add any helpful links you may have in the comments.

And be sure to stop by this weekend -- I'll have a new book review up as well as another installment of Biff and Mary.  :)


Image courtesy of freedigitalphotos.net

Biff and Mary: Chapter Eleven

Welcome to the next chapter of Biff and Mary! 

(please click here for all previous chapters)

Today's installment will include our usual shallow-but-lovable characters, extraneous description, and unnecessary and unfortunate alliteration. It will also serve as an example of  an ill-advised authorial decision to build an entire chapter out of one very brief moment -- but hopefully with a bit of humor as well.  ;)

Hope you enjoy! 

Chapter Eleven:  In Which There Are Screams, Stumbles, and Stubbornly Stuck Posteriors

It occurred to Mary that she had never heard quite such an exceedingly high-pitched tone emanate from Biff’s roguishly handsome lips before. 

The sound that escaped her beloved as Poopsie’s perfectly white, perfectly sharp canines punctured the pad of his thumb reminded her briefly of the piercingly shrill sounds of the first grade playground at Mayfield Elementary, when she and the other six-year-old girls made a game of trying to shriek as loudly as they could. She’d won most of those squealing contests, she recalled, but hearing Biff now she wondered whether she’d overestimated her own elocutionary talents.

As the sound of Biff’s involuntary scream faded, Mary shook herself out of her shock and dismay enough to stumble two steps backward with her suddenly ferocious pup. Regrettably, one of her many unpacked boxes sat approximately one and one half steps behind her and thus the result of her movement caused her to fall unceremoniously backward, and her backside wedged firmly inside the now-broken top of the box, cushioned by the various sheets, towels and fripperies within. She had barely a moment to be grateful that she’d landed in the linens box, rather than the one containing her grandmother’s crystal, before Poopsie darted from her arms.  Mary let out her own startled scream, immediately realizing that it didn’t even come close to the high pitch and duration of Biff’s, but deciding that perhaps it didn’t matter, considering her precious pup’s peril and the precariously perched position of her posterior.

What did matter, she soon realized, was that the moment she tripped, Biff intuitively moved toward her to attempt to break her fall, and Poopsie elected to continue her proactive efforts to protect Mary from the intruder by charging toward Biff’s feet with a ferocious and determined little snarl, clamping onto the hem of his fashionably expensive relaxed vintage blue jeans from Banana Republic.  Much to Mary’s chagrin, Biff instinctively shook her off, and her little Poopsie took flight across the misty green ceramic tiled foyer floor, spinning around in a blur of pastel pink fluff until she came to a stop in the corner by the door, her landing cushioned by the small pile of newspapers Mary had placed there prior to taking them out to the recycling bin.

The brief, sudden silence that ensued was broken by all three of them simultaneously, with Poopsie’s yelp of surprise overshadowed at once by Biff’s horrified exclamation of “Good Heavens! Is she all right?” and Mary’s equally horrified shriek of “Poopsie! My baby!” 

Get the DIRT: May 31, 2012

Welcome to another Do It Right Thursday!

((**By the way, for those who are interested, a new Biff and Mary chapter will be up in the next couple of days, so stay tuned!**))


Today, I have a mix of both writing-related and just-for-fun links.

Please feel free to share your own links in the comments as well.
Enjoy! :)

• Literary agent Rachelle Gardner's site has been bookmarked on my laptop for quite a while now. She offers tons of advice about publishing, finding an agent, marketing your book and much more. Frequent guest bloggers with great advice, too. 

• What Should I Read Next? This is a fun site to try out. Just type in the name of a book or author you like and it generates suggestions for other books you may enjoy. 

• I haven't looked over this one thoroughly yet, but it seems an interesting idea. Their tagline is: "Writing Community for Writers, Readers, Literary Agents. Submit Works, Read & Rate Writing."Webook, where writers submit pages for critique and ratings, and are subsequently elevated through "rounds." They have writing challenges and literary agent input. Does anyone have any experience with this?  If so, did you find it helpful?

• Colleen Lindsay's site, The Swivet, offers lots of worthwhile stuff and though this particular post is a couple of years old, it still acts as a great guide to word counts for novels.

• I always have a hard time finding photos or clipart that I can be sure of using freely, but I've found a good resource in freedigitalphotos.net. You can purchase the photos, but for most purposes they allow you to use them in return for a same-page link wherever the pictures are posted. I've been using them here as well as on my Practical Pen site.

• Regrettably, I have completely forgotten where I first saw this site recommended or I would credit accordingly, but do check out Sporcle for quick, often challenging trivia and word games. Each game is only a few minutes long, so you don't need to feel guilty about "wasting time." ;)

• Maybe it's because it seems so rare these days, but I really love hearing about people and organizations who go out of their way to just do something nice, don't you? I know that this one has been linked to in many places, but if you missed it, be sure to check out this story:  "Blue Ear": Marvel Comics does a good thing...  

• And I included the next one because...well, just because. Trust me - it's fun! :)

Happy Almost-Friday!
Be sure to drop by this weekend to check out a new chapter of Biff and Mary!




Photo courtesy of freedigitalphotos.net

Get the DIRT

Welcome to D.I.R.T!
Or...


Do 
It 
Right 
Thursday!  :)

In my never-ending search for information about writing, editing, publishing, etc., I come across many helpful sites, so I've decided to share a few links that might help all of us "Do It Right"....or at least, learn how to do all this writing stuff better. :)


Preditors & Editors and Absolute Write are among the most well-respected sources of information re: writing and publishing scams. Be sure to check in with these sites before proceeding with any independent publisher or writing-related service.  Both also provide many more helpful links.

Miss Snark's First Victim is a great site to visit for information about querying. The blog owner, "Authoress," also holds periodic "Secret Agent" contests, where manuscript samples can be submitted and often critiqued/viewed by agents.

Query Shark is another informative site focusing on writing your query.

Pick up some really useful tips with Grammar Girl: Quick and Dirty Tips

If, like me, you've found it a little challenging to pull together a resume that showcases your writing rather than your "day jobs," Creating a Freelance Writer's Resume is a nice article with some tips on putting together a resume with an emphasis on writing skills.

The EFA / Editorial Freelancers Association is a great resource to check out when you are looking for a proofreader or editor or, like me, are embarking on your own editorial venture.  A rate chart is provided which offers a range of rates for editorial work and can help you know what to expect when you search for your own proofreader or editor. Lots of other interesting and helpful info, too.

Writer's Digest  has lots of great articles and interviews. A "must visit" for any writer or aspiring writer.


Well, there are a few to get us started.  Hope these links are helpful to you!

Do you know of any great writing-related sites?  Feel free to share in the comment section.

Savvy Authors - thank you to nightsmusic for this addition to the list. A great writers-helping-writers site with  endless information. Definitely worth a look!



 Image courtesy of www.FreeDigitalPhotos.net

Biff and Mary: Chapters 9 and 10

Welcome back for another installment of Biff and Mary!

Sorry for the delay in posting new chapters...
For those who want to start from the beginning, click the "Biff and Mary" tab above, or here: Biff and Mary

As usual, within this next chapter we will be treated to our beloved TSTL heroine’s every vapid thought, Biff’s general buff-ness, and excessive description of every little thing.  You may also notice some really poor transitioning, run-on sentences and unfortunate alliteration.

Enjoy! J

Chapter 9: In Which Brunch is Served and Boxes are Contemplated

When we last left our lovebirds, Biff was professing his affection for Mary over a table at Bart’s Bistro, leaning toward her with obvious intent…

A pale, freckled arm with four silver bracelets clanking at the wrist unceremoniously inserted itself between Biff and Mary, placing a basket of rolls and butter between them and causing Biff to settle back into his seat.

Mary swallowed back her disappointment as well as her annoyance at the timing of the wrist’s owner, their server Lorraine. She smiled at her politely instead.

“Your salads’ll be right up,” Lorraine announced, spinning quickly on her heel to head back toward the kitchen, the damage done.

Biff cleared his throat politely and reached for the basket, holding it out to Mary.  She declined and smiled at him winningly, wondering how to recapture that romantic moment so suddenly and sadly interrupted. She stole another glance at Biff, studiously setting her gaze below his blemished brow in order to fully appreciate the view, then sighed with resignation, unrolled her beige linen napkin and set it on her lap in preparation for her Caesar Salad.

The following morning, Mary woke early and went immediately to the shower to prepare for her unpacking day with her beloved beau, Biff.

She washed her hair with Paul Mitchell Extra Body Daily Shampoo, followed by Paul Mitchell Extra Body Daily Rinse, and sudsed up her loofah with Origins Fresh Waterlily Bodybar, then washed and shaved with her Daisy razor. 

Once finished in the shower, she was toweling off leisurely when she heard a tiny yelp from outside the bathroom door.

Biff and Mary: Chapter 8

Welcome back for more Biff and Mary!

Hope this chapter provides an amusing start to your weekend! J

(For those who'd like to read from the beginning, click the "Biff and Mary" tab above, or click here )


We last left our effusively extravagant and extremely obtuse protagonists at the proverbial cliff’s edge, as Mary – basking in the relief of a Hurricane finally named Bruce – awaits the rest of Biff’s question…

Chapter 8:  In Which Mary and Biff Converse on Very Important Subjects

Mary felt her heart stop.  

It started beating again almost instantly, to her great relief, but before that happened it felt as though it had stopped and dropped directly into her stomach.  Her memories of fourth-grade basic human anatomy studies assured her that this was more than likely not possible, but still it felt that way, and filled her mind momentarily with a curious vision of her heart sharing space next to her forthcoming Caesar Salad and Tiramisu, sloshing around with espresso and mineral water and a dollop of whipped cream, but happily this disturbing image vanished quickly as the reality of Biff’s intriguing words sank into her brain (which luckily hadn’t dropped anywhere, as yet. As far as she knew.).

“Mary?”

Biff’s voice broke into her anatomical meanderings and she shook her head to clear it.

“Uh, yes, Biff.  What was it that you wanted to ask me?” she said, as calmly as she could.

Could this be IT? she wondered.  Could this be the moment she had dreamed of since she’d played with her Barbie and Ken dolls and their Town House, Camper and sporty convertible of undetermined make and model so long ago? Could Biff be asking her THE question?  She glanced down at her nails, vaguely wishing she’d chosen a different color at the salon, because the plum color simply wouldn’t set off the shining grandeur of a…

Her thoughts cut off abruptly once more as Biff cleared his throat nervously, looking uncharacteristically lacking in confidence as he shifted his gaze to the table.

“Well, I wanted to ask you if…er…that is, if you would consider….”

“Yes??”

Biff and Mary: Chapters 6 and 7

For those who'd like to read from the beginning, I've added a separate page which contains the entire story up to this point (check navigation bar, above, or click here).  I will add to it each time I post an update.Again, I feel the need to point out that this is merely my own little humorous exercise in "What Not to Do," shared for mutual laughs, and not meant to be considered Serious Writing by any means! ;)Welcome back for more Biff and Mary!Hope you enjoy today's chapters! :)

Chapter 6: Wherein Biff Befriends Bitsy

Mary leapt up from her seat as her friend drew near, drawing her into a warm hug before turning toward Biff, who had risen in a gentlemanly fashion, as one did when a woman approached one’s table, if one had been raised right. 

“Biff, meet Bitsy Buffington, my best friend from Buffalo!”

She turned to Bitsy.  “Bitsy, my beau, Biff!”

Biff grasped Bitsy’s hand with a firm-but-definitely-not-too-firm amount of pressure, as was appropriate when a man was introduced to a woman.  “A pleasure, Miss Buffington.”

“Oh, please call me Bitsy!” she said, “Everyone does!”

Bitsy was petite and poised, and enveloped in a tasteful ensemble consisting of a pink and white pinstriped linen skirt with four one-inch rose-colored buttons at the side, its hem approximately two and one-half inches above her knees, topped by a lightweight cashmere sweater set in Powder Pink, purchased at Prudence’s Practical Petites Boutique in Poughkeepsie, finished with two-inch heeled matching pumps and tasteful teardrop pearl earrings. 

Biff and Mary, Chapters 4 and 5

Welcome back for another episode of "The Amorous Adventures of Biff and Mary"!

(Note:  As much of this is already written, I will be updating frequently, as time allows, though not on a regular schedule. Please feel free to check back or subscribe for new posts!

Need to catch up?  Previous chapters:

Introducing Biff and Mary

Biff and Mary, Chapters 2 and 3

Hope to bring a smile to your face today! :)

Chapter 4: Mary’s Journey Toward the Bistro Continues…

When we last checked in with our devoted and descriptive duo, poor blemished Biff was preparing for brunch and our exceptionally ensembled Mary was breathlessly awaiting his response to her enigmatic statement about unpacking boxes…

Mary switched her cell phone to her right hand and used her left to push the button on her door, closing her windows to block out the cacophony of blowing horns emanating from the Toyota, the Chrysler, the GMC and the Volkswagon, which had now been joined by a Mustang and a Prius. She was determined to stay right where she was, knowing that her beloved beau, Biff, deserved her undivided attention and certain that if she had a moment (or two…or possibly three) to devote to explaining her various dilemmas to the crowd of motorists behind her, they would surely understand and would very happily wait until she was ready to drive again.  This thought brought about an overall feeling of solidarity and companionship with her new friends in the post office parking lot and she spared a moment to look over her shoulder at the line of cars behind her to offer them her most grateful and dazzling Crest White Strips smile, perfectly set off by the careful outlining of her lips in Cover Girl Long Wear Lipstick in Coquettish Coral and finished off with a precisely choreographed wave, flawlessly emulating that of Her Majesty The Queen, who had waved so beautifully to the crowds of well-wishers at the wedding of her grandson, Prince William, to the lovely and fashionable Kate Middleton.

Biff and Mary: Chapters 2 and 3

Welcome back for more adventures in the shallow-yet-extremely-well-detailed lives of Biff and Mary!

(Catch up on previous chapter first: Biff and Mary, Chapter 1)

Please note:  "The Amorous Adventures of Biff and Mary" are written for fun and as an extreme exaggeration of certain tropes and habits in over-thought and overly-descriptive writing.  I am in no way serious, nor am I basing any of this on anything or anyone.  Just hoping to give you a laugh today!  :)

Chapter 2: Wherein Mary Makes Her Way to Her Car and Enters It:

When we last saw Mary, our blonde heroine in a polyester/cotton blend periwinkle dress with matching shoes and earrings was contemplating lawn slugs, dings in her Honda Civic, and the horrific possibility of her beau, Biff, soon becoming known as Balding Hurricane Biff with a Blighting Blemish...we join her now, on the front walk, approximately one minute and twelve seconds after we left her...

Mary turned 142 degrees to her left before proceeding down the sidewalk, which had several weeds growing in between at least twenty-four of the one hundred and two bricks of which it was made. As she walked she noticed a bird flying above her. She squinted in order to discern its type, and found that it was a robin, though she could not tell whether or not it was male or female. She paused to consider following the bird, because of course knowing whether or not the bird she'd glanced at was a male or a female was of the utmost importance today, as she was due to meet Biff for brunch at Bart's Bistro and if she should decide to relate the occurrence to Biff, he was sure to want all of the details....She watched the bird alight and then hop from branch to branch on the large oak tree in the yard but soon shrugged her slender, periwinkle-clad shoulders and decided that like her, Biff would likely be too preoccupied with possibility of the "B" hurricane, as well as the unfortunate blemish between his perfectly groomed, thick, blonde-but-not-light-brown eyebrows, to want to hear about the bird of unknown gender at all. A frown, which at this stage in her hitherto un-Botoxed life consisted of merely three two-inch creases and one 3/4 inch wrinkle near the bridge of her nose, appeared slightly above her sculpted, light brown-but-not-blond-and-certainly-not-red eyebrows as she momentarily contemplated the calamities that had befallen both her and her beau Biff in so short a span of time, what with the blemish, the hurricane, the lawn slugs and the car ding, all seeming to overwhelm them at once and thus threatening their otherwise flawless and surely fated love.

Introducing Biff and Mary: Chapter 1

Quite some time ago, a good friend and I were discussing writing and the subject of adjective overuse came up. This led to a light-hearted chat about some common mistakes we all tend to make when we first begin writing creatively, specifically the prevalence of excess description, too-perfect heroes and heroines, and just basic "over-writing."

Just for fun, I started a mini story about a couple named Biff and Mary, whose new romance is often sadly overshadowed by extraneous detail.  Their mutual shallowness is only rivaled by the abundance of unnecessary drama in their lives...not to mention the superfluous ellipses.

I thought it would be fun to share Biff and Mary's romance with all of you and so, without further ado (though I might warn you that this will be the last time anything having to do with Biff and Mary will be done without any further ado), I introduce to you the pleasantly perfect, perfectly matched and excessively exhaustive Biff and Mary:

Chapter 1:  Mary Steps Through the Door

Mary ran a hand through the ends of her shoulder-length, pale blonde hair, which she had just had tinted by her stylist last Tuesday, and had run a brush through twenty minutes earlier, before pulling it back into a purple and yellow scrunchy approximately three inches up from the nape of her neck. She shut the dark green, painted pine front door with two scratches on the brass knob, which matched the oval-shaped brass door knocker (which did not have any scratches that she knew of), and stepped off the brick step onto the grass, which was a mixture of Kentucky bluegrass and weeds, and had a few bald spots caused by slugs, for which she'd called the Loversville Landscape Company, who were due to arrive the following day at precisely 8:15 am, barring traffic caused by any unforseen traffic events or delays in line at the coffee shop.

Her thoughts wandered to the evening before, when Biff had kissed her. His hair, which was a lovely sun-kissed blond with approximately 23 darker streaks mixed in, which she had yet to determine were natural or the result of an expert colorist, had blown around slightly in the breeze caused by the cold front coming in from the south, which they both hoped wouldn't turn into a hurricane force wind, because the next hurricane was due to be named with a "B" and for all Mary knew it would be named "Biff" and she would forever associate the love of her life and his perfectly-shaded hair with a devastating windstorm...

And when Biff had grasped her deeply moisturized and expertly-blushed-by-Maybelline face between his well-manicured hands and kissed her in the possibly-soon-to-become-a-hurricane breeze, his breath had evoked memories of the finely-aged red wine they’d had with dinner, as well as the breaded pork chop, marinated asparagus and slightly overcooked rice pilaf, with a slight aftertaste of cherry cheesecake....he had pressed his lips to hers with precisely the right amount of passion-inducing pressure, and she’d felt the scratchy friction of his stubbly beard, which had grown in slightly despite (he had assured her in his ever-so-gallant reassuringly manly way) his efforts of shaving it that morning at 7:32 with a Bic razor and Barbasol shave cream, rinsed with warm water and followed by a splash of Old Spice. He’d leaned his forehead against hers, and she was drawn back in time to the evening before, when she’d noted the blemish there, just between his thick, dark-blond-but-not-to-be-confused-with-light-brown brows, and she had suggested he use some Clearasil cream, but he'd insisted that Neosporin would do the trick.  He had apparently been mistaken because the blemish had remained, casting a skin-reddened taint upon their near-perfect romantic moment just as she had begun to appreciate the thoroughly masculine aroma of his thirty-nine-dollar cologne.

Mary smoothed the knee-length skirt of her periwinkle, 80% cotton/20% polyester dress, which matched her leather heels with the astonishingly adorable little buckles, as well as her sensible-yet-sexy hoop earrings with hypoallergenic posts, and sighed. It wasn't a quiet sigh, nor was it a heavy sigh...it was the type of sigh that you can hear if you are sitting within three feet of the other person, but not from across the room...anyhoo, she smoothed her periwinkle polyester/cotton blend skirt and sighed as she stood looking at the bald spots on the lawn and thought once more of Biff, hoping against hope that such bald spots would never mar that beautiful head of perfectly nuanced hair, as the unfortunate blemish had marred his forehead. Yes, her beloved Biff, who she also wished would not soon become forevermore known as Hurricane Biff, and whose blemished pate still drew her like Lyle Lovett’s warbling scarecrow sounds had once drawn Pretty Woman Julia Roberts.  

She sighed again, a bit louder than before but certainly not audibly enough to be heard from farther than four feet away, and she glanced at her car. It was a pearl white Honda Civic with 62,421 miles on it, freshly washed the morning before by the cheerleaders at the Loversville High School Car Wash Fundraiser for Perfectly Pink Pom-Poms,  and it shone brightly in the sun that had broken through the possible hurricane clouds.  The Civic had last had its oil changed on November 23rd at 10:02 am, and that was when she had first noticed the ding on one side that she had never had repaired, and which of course haunted her still each and every day. Between the lawn slugs, the hurricane, the dismaying door ding and her beloved Biff and his blemish (not to mention his possible future baldness and tragic association with potential storm damage which could lead to the necessity of naming any future offspring "Gale" or "Windy") .... Well. Mary feared it was bound to be an emotionally trying day... 

(To Be Continued.....)

Procrastination

I am procrastinating.

Again.

Does everyone do this, I wonder?

Sure, I've been procrastinating about the usual things I get tired of doing, like cleaning and laundry and filing paperwork.
The monotony of those things automatically make them perfect for the Perpetual Waiting List, and quite honestly, I don't feel all that guilty about putting off any of them.

But it's not as if I'm just putting off things I don't want to do.

I am also dragging my feet about reading a book I need to review, which is something I usually enjoy.
And I am putting off doing other reading and writing-related things, all of which I have been anxious to get to.

Now that I've given up one of my three part-time jobs/activities, I had hoped to feel a bit rejuvenated, or at least less burnt out and more raring-to-go.
But, no, apparently it's not so easy.
I am still tempted to spend my evening site-hopping or tv watching, when I should be working on either of my works-in-progress, or writing an essay or a review, or...(ahem) composing a more meaningful blog post.

I don't know why I am so unproductive, when I have every reason and desire to be more productive right now...

What do you do when you feel unmotivated?
When you know you can make the time for things, and you really do want to, but you just...don't.
How do you pull yourself out of it and get going again?
If you have any suggestions, I would welcome them!

Meanwhile, I suppose I will continue to procrastinate while simultaneously wallowing in self-pity over my procrastinating ways.

;)

"But...weren't you an English major?"

I've actually heard those words, generally in reference to some novel or poetry collection I've admitted to not having read.  Those who ask the question clearly imply that there must have been some massive book list requirement for all English majors, and that if I've not read something like War and Peace (which, by the way, I haven't), then I don't really belong in the club.

I do have a degree in English.  I am also the daughter of a college English professor.  My love of books and reading and writing is undeniably ingrained in my heart and soul, possibly even engineered into my genetic makeup.

The truth is that while I've probably read countless books in most every genre, there are so many classics which I have to confess I have not read.

I can definitely say that I've read nearly every novel published by a Bronte sister (thank you, Dr. Heineman and my beloved Victorian Lit class!)...

But...as much as I've loved every movie adaptation of Jane Austen's works, I have to admit I've not yet gotten around to reading many of her novels.

I've read Homer, Shakespeare, Twain, Poe, Swift, Kafka and so many more, for both assignment and pleasure.

But... I've never read Anna Karenina. 
Or the aforementioned War and Peace. 
Or even The Count of Monte Christo or Les Miserables.
Even (brace yourself!) Oliver Twist.

I am currently reading a book for review which is loosely based on a less well-known work of a very well-known author.  When I realized that the referenced book is one I have not read, I had a fleeting moment of shame, as if I should have somehow known that one day, it would be important to read that obscure title, and what kind of English major do I think I am, anyway?

Because aren't people who have English degrees, by virtue of their very existence, expected to have read pretty much all of the classics?  To know each and every Important Author and their particular contributions?

Maybe.
But then again, maybe not...

Realistically, even the most dedicated of readers cannot possibly read everything.

And while I know I can't realistically read it all, I am thrilled that there will always, always be a book to be read, something new (even if it's only new to me).

I've already got a huge list of books in my TBR pile, some literally piled on a bookshelf and some sitting in my Nook, waiting.

But I've also got Project Gutenberg bookmarked, because so many of these wonderful gifts of classic literature are there, free for the downloading now that their copyrights have expired.  Many of these are available directly through Amazon for the Kindle and through Barnes and Noble for the Nook.

I don't believe I ever did see that monumental list of required classics for English majors, and regardless of those silly, fleeting moments of guilt over not reading what I "should have" read by now, I am so glad that there will always be a way to read those I missed, and that there is still plenty of time to catch up.

The only hard part is choosing what to read next, isn't it? :)

I'm thinking that I'll start with everything Austen, and maybe, one day, I will work my way toward War and Peace...

Maybe.  :)


Are there any classics that you've always wished you'd read?
Are there any that you plan to read soon?  Or re-read?


**DID YOU KNOW??

Did you know that you can help Project Gutenberg?
Volunteer to proofread one page a day!
I just registered -- maybe you want to give it a try, too?
See the link on the Project Gutenberg site, or go straight to the Distributed Proofreaders website, here.   :)

Never Too Late

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

~ George Eliot (1819-1880)

The above quote is one of my favorites.  Not only does it originate with a woman who certainly knew how to go after whatever she wanted, whenever she wanted, it also serves as a reminder that my tardiness in entering the world of writing is far from uncommon. 

Now that I've reached my mid-forties, I confess to having moments of slight regret over what I have not yet accomplished.  On particularly bad days, I beat myself up a little for not following the "writing bug" back when it first bit, which was...well, so long ago I can't even really say!  Books and reading and writing have been a part of my life for so long that I can't pinpoint the genesis of my love for it all.  It's just always been there, like the air I breathe.  My mother tells stories of peeking at me in my crib when she thought I was asleep, only to find me quietly flipping pages of a cloth baby book, so maybe it started that long ago.

Whenever it began, it's never ended, and in the last few years the need to put pen to paper has only grown stronger, even as my time has seemingly grown shorter.  And on those bad, woe-is-me, why-didn't-I days, I've found it helps to remind myself of all of those other people who started following dreams late in life and managed to find success and (one presumes) contentment.  For those of you out there who, like me, find themselves regretting time not spent pursuing writing or something else you've always wanted to do, here are a few others who didn't have it all figured out by twenty-one either! :)

• George Eliot -  she was forty when her first novel was published (Adam Bede, 1859, followed by The Mill on the Floss in 1860 and Silas Marner in 1861).
• Laura Ingalls Wilder - her Little House books were published when she was in her sixties.
• Kenneth Grahame - The Wind in the Willows was published in 1908, when he was forty-nine.
• Richard Adams - he was in his fifties when Watership Down was published.
• Maya Angelou - I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings was published in 1969, when she was forty-one.

This is just a small list pulled quickly from Wikipedia, so it's by no means exhaustive.  There are dozens of artists, musicians, filmmakers, entrepreneurs and writers who didn't settle into following their dreams until later in their lives.

And if we think about it, it makes a good deal of sense.  What do we really know at twenty or twenty-five?  How much richer and deeper might our books or stories or paintings be once we've had a chance to live a little, lose a little, experience more?  

So I'm choosing to see my late start as a good thing, and hope that by waiting until now I've given myself a chance to grow wiser and, with any luck, it will all give my future work more depth and meaning. I may not be able to reach my goals in the next year, or even two, but I'll keep going, knowing the trail has been blazed by the likes of Maya, Laura and George, and that being late to the party may turn out to be a good thing after all.

Showered with Ideas

I get most of my story ideas in the shower.
No, really.

I don't know why that it is so, but it is.  I think that it's probably because time in the shower is my only true "alone time."  Even when no one else is home, I can't always concentrate for all the distractions -- laundry to be done, things to be picked up, dishes to be washed, dinners to be prepared.  I think my mind is just always too full of things to do.  But in the shower, somehow it all seems to fall away long enough that I am able to really think about story ideas, or the review I'm trying to write.  I suppose it's the lack of any real noise, with no phone ringing, no television blaring Nickelodeon, no one asking me if I saw this or did that...just the peaceful sound of the water gurgling down the drain

So, all of that to say that I had an unexpected idea for a scene in my long-suffering story while I was in the shower today, and for once I actually made the time to write it down.  It seems that so often I come up with something and don't take that next step of actually jotting down the idea before it leaves my head.  Which it inevitably does...and then later, I wrack my brain trying to remember the amazing, life-changing, story-saving, sure-to-one-day-wow-a-New York-publisher idea. But it's gone. *sigh*

I don't often make New Year Resolutions; it's just much too easy to break them and feel like a failure, and really, who needs that?  But I do plan to make at least one this year:  to take that moment or two every time I think of something to do with my writing and actually write it down before it's forgotten in the overcrowded recesses of my brain, lost among hockey schedules, band concert dates, and endless things-to-do lists.  If I truly want to be a writer, and perhaps one day an Actual Published Author, I know that I need to start acting on these seeds of ideas, plant them somewhere and see if anything grows. I won't be able to do that if I let them disappear into the abyss...or down the shower drain. 

Where do you get your ideas?  In the shower?  While driving? 
How do you keep it all organized?
Are you making any writing resolutions this year?

Friendship and Perseverance

It's been a long week.

There have been unanticipated challenges, deadlines, and worries...and the end result is that it's been days since I've opened my story file.  I'm fairly certain I will not reach my 50K word goal by November 30th.  I still plan to write, whenever I can, right up through the end and beyond, because I find I am no longer willing to simply throw in the towel when it comes to writing.

It's only recently that I began writing again, but I have a long history of wanting to.  In high school, I wrote a short story that everyone oohed and aahed over, which was essentially a regurgitation of a book I'd read (in other words:  completely unoriginal!).  In college, I lived for researching and writing all those papers.  In those pre-computer days, I'd spend evenings in the library, with my box of index cards and notebooks, writing everything out longhand before pulling together a final draft on my new electric typewriter.  I still remember those nerve-wracking but proud moments of handing in papers I just knew were good.

I interviewed for jobs in writing or editing, but my lack of an internship (I'd worked a secretarial job through college) knocked me out of the game.  I ended up taking a full-time position as a secretary/administrative assistant.  And then another.  And another.  A few of them allowed me the opportunity to do a small amount of writing or editing of company newsletters and such, but nothing truly fulfilling in a "writerly" sense.

And when the jobs ended, the parenting began.  I made time to be a wife, a mother, a homemaker, a bookkeeper...everything but a writer.

And so I stopped.  And along the way, it seems I lost my confidence, pushed back the desire until it barely registered.

I no longer identified myself as a writer.

As my children have grown, I've felt myself growing, too.  Coming out from behind all that Mom Stuff I'd needed in the early years, reaching out for something I knew was missing, but I didn't know what it was.

And then fate led me to a new friend I'd never expected, who reignited a passion for reading and soon, for writing.  She shared her own fantastic work, encouraged mine, introduced me to another writer friend who shared her journey, too, and helped me find an audience for some of the thoughts in my head.  And now, I can claim at least one published essay, a freelance job as a book reviewer, and perhaps even the title of  "aspiring author."  And if not for that one friend reaching out and recognizing something in me that I'd pushed so far back I no longer saw it myself, I would never have taken those first hesitant steps on the path I should have followed all along.

How far we can come when we open our hearts to friendship, and how unexpected the gifts can be...

The road to here has been a long one, but I'm hoping I've only just begun the journey.  I'm blessed with many friends and family who support me in all that I do, who encourage my efforts to continue becoming.  While I may not have learned how to juggle it all yet, I've discovered I don't need to stop being me in order to be Mom, Wife, Employee, or anything else that I need to be.  I can keep writing, keep trying, even if half of what I write today is garbage and even if I won't be able to grab that title of "NaNo Winner." 

After all, there's always next year. 
And I know I'll still be writing...

Making Time for NaNoWriMo

Time.

Time is always the problem, isn't it?

Finding enough time for the things we really want to do. For me, this November, that would be NaNoWriMo. Like last year, I am trying to meet the NaNo challenge to write a 50,000 word novel in 30 days. And, like last year, it seems I am unlikely to succeed.

I certainly don't do my best writing under the limitations required for participation; namely, quantity over quality. It seems I am a hopelessly determined editor. Spelling errors haunt me, awkward prose nags at me, and dreary dialogue pounds away at my temples, screaming for rewrite. I find it nearly impossible to forge ahead, letting my last poorly-rendered sentence fade away, forgotten as I move on to the next. The words beg for deletion, plead for reworking, and it's all I can do to put them out of my mind and forge ahead, telling myself I'll revisit them again, sometime in December.

Choosing historical romance as my genre requires a huge amount of research, and I realize that I should have spent the month of October locating all of the information I needed, outlining my novel, and organizing myself for the frantic month ahead. Alas, I didn't. Historical inaccuracies abound, I'm certain, and all I can do is hope that my basic premise doesn't balance on some fatal flaw that will ultimately bring the entire thing crashing down.
If only there were more time.

Time that is free of concerns, worries, and every other thing unrelated to the story currently whispering to life in my head?

That kind of time, I know, will never be mine. Nor anyone else's, I'm quite sure. Women, especially, seem to have the ability to juggle so many things at once, and it's hard to realize sometimes that we can't always "do it all," that often we can only do, well, enough. And sometimes we need to make time for ourselves, for the things we want most to do, even if other things need to be set aside for awhile.

And maybe that's the whole point with NaNoWriMo. Trying to meet the challenge is a training exercise of sorts. I am learning that despite whatever is happening in my life, I can make time for writing, even if it's not the recommended 1667 words per day. Some days I can't write a word, for one reason or another, and that's okay. That's life. But other days, I can surprise myself by writing 2k words in one sitting, and that can be pretty okay, too.

I may not make it to 50,000 by the end of this month. And I definitely won't have a decent novel by then, either. But maybe I'll have the bare bones of an idea, a few scenes to work with in the future. And regardless, I will know that I have the fortitude to keep writing through all the personal challenges, to work toward a goal that may not be met on a certain timeline, but has the potential to be met someday. I'll know that I have it in me to keep going. And maybe, for a writer, that's enough.