Wednesday Scramble

Upcoming Guests

I'm lucky to have two guests this week.

Tomorrow Carolyn J. Rose will be here with a fun twist on "you are what you eat." You'll enjoy If What You Ate Affected What You Wrote, so be sure to stop by. Carolyn plans to give away a copy of A Place of Forgetting as part of her guest appearance.

And because Saturday, December 3rd, is Take Your Child to a Bookstore Day, my special guest on Friday is Northern Coloradoan Natasha Wing, author of "the night before" books for kids. Natasha is going to share her thoughts on her favorite books that have become classics as well as some newer selections.


Katie Kitten's Close Call

Monday, just as I sat down to begin my big push to the 50,000 word mark for NaNoWriMo, I heard a couple of clicks near the window. Katie had knocked down the cord from the mini blinds which I'd tucked up high out of reach, and she was playing with it.

Before I could hop out of my chair and put the cord back out of reach, Katie jumped or fell, catching one of her back feet in the loop. The most horrible thumping and yowling and hissing and thrashing brought me to my feet in a flash, and I ran to the corner to rescue her. Fearing injury from her teeth and claws, and totally intimidated by her hissing and fighting, I pulled the cord down (and the blinds up) as far as they would go. That created just enough slack for the cat to pull free and race out the door. She moved so fast I didn't see her run, so I didn't know if she was moving on three legs or four.

She was under our bed, and I couldn't coax her out. I decided to go back to my computer and wait for a while to see if she'd come out on her own. About five minutes later, she tiptoes into my room, stretches her neck trying to see into the corner where the invisible monster had attacked her, prowled around the bookcase, and finally went into the corner to sniff the walls, the carpet, even the side of my desk. Convinced the danger was gone, she was fine the rest of the day.

And she's walking and leaping and playing using all four legs. It was a very close call, and another good reminder how dangerous those cords can be for pets as well as kids.


Speaking of NaNoWriMo

And hoping the subject rests in peace until next November (unless I decide to do Camp NaNoWriMo this summer)...I reached 50,172 words Monday evening.


Queries

Here's an interesting post about query letters from Janet Reid at Janet Reid, Literary Agent. It's called Notes from the incoming query holding pen.


And Finally

Be sure to drop by on Monday, December 5th, because I'll be giving away one copy of the 2012 Writing Planner designed by Kerrie Flanagan, writer and director of Northern Colorado Writers, and featuring unique drawings from the pen of writer/artist/food blogger April Moore.

Chiseled in Rock Tuesday: Revisiting the Interview with Literary Agent Rachelle Gardner

That's what I'm doing at Chiseled in Rock today as we wind down during the holidays. If you didn't see this interview when it first ran last May, you may want to stop by and check it out. I've talked to Rachelle now at two different conferences and found her to be one of the nicest and most helpful agents I've had the privilege to meet. And her office is in Denver. You can't beat that.

I Almost Forgot the Good Gifts Gone Bad Link Up

Carolyn at Hooked and Happy came up with this fun idea for a Good Gifts Gone Bad link up in advance of the holidays, perhaps as a warning to everyone to think twice before we shop...and before we receive.

And now for my story. In my case, it was a gift from my mother to be opened at a big family gathering. Mom never bought household appliances, so I thought I was totally safe to say this as I started to unwrap her gift: "I hope this isn't a crock pot. I finally gave mine away because I never used it."

The gift was, of course, a crock pot.

NaNoNaNaNeNe Whatever!

I might just reach that 50,000 words by the end of today, but I have a lot of other stuff to do as well...like getting groceries...like doing laundry...like coming up with something besides leftover lasagna for dinner since we're already eaten that stuff two days in a row.

Nothing against NaNoWriMo though. I'll have at least 50,000 words of first draft quality that actually has enough plot to work with.

I've learned that I don't need blocks of time at least four hours long to write as I've always claimed. A one hour session works just fine.

I've discovered a deadline is a powerful motivator, so I plan to create more of those for myself.

Blocking out my whole month's schedule and marking writing times with a bright pink marker was a useful tool to avoid procrastination.

Here's the big question. Can I carry the almost daily writing habit and the momentum forward? If I fail to do that, I'll be reporting for Camp NaNoWriMo this summer for a refresher course in commitment. Or maybe I'll just go to camp for the fun of it. Can't hurt.

How I'm Spending my Black Friday

Don't even think for a minute I was up all night, trying to beat the competition in keeping the most ridiculous shopping schedule and spending the most money on Black Friday (which included a lot of Thursday in many stores). I just don't do that.

There are three things on my agenda today.

One is to drop in at the Holiday Artisan Mart at the Fort Collins Senior Center. This annual event is a shopper's paradise for those who want to support artists and crafty sorts, most of them from Northern Colorado.

My second stop will be the Northern Colorado Writers Holiday Mart. There I'll be looking for yummies from the bake sale and books by local authors.

And the third thing on my plan is to hurry home and add a bunch to my NaNoWriMo word count. My goal is to finish on Tuesday...or even Monday.

Have a great weekend.

Wednesday Scramble

Thanksgiving and Gratitude

I wish you all a wonderful Thanksgiving Day doing whatever makes you and your loved ones happy.

In addition to my sweet family and treasured friends, I'm so grateful for all who drop by this blog from time to time, for the wonderful writers who share their experiences and successes with us as guests, and for the writing life.


Good Gifts Gone Bad Blogfest

Here's a fun opportunity to enter a giveaway for a $25.00 gift card from amazon.com. Carolyn at Hooked and Happy Blog is hosting a blogfest on Monday, November 28th, for bloggers to post about great gifts given or received that didn't work out as well as the giver hoped. All the rules for participation and entry are contained in Carolyn's November 21st post.


Resources for Writers at Suite 101

Here's another site with a lot of very helpful information for writers. Check out Small Presses Publishing Hardcover Books for Unagented Writers.


Spring Writers Conferences in Colorado

Registration is open early for the Pikes Peak Writers Conference in Colorado Springs scheduled for April 20-22,2012

Registration will be open early in December for the Northern Colorado Writers Conference March 30-31, 2012.


And now, back to NaNoWriMo

See you Friday.

Chiseled in Rock Tuesday: The NaNoWriMo Experience

My week three report on NaNoWriMo is posted at Chiseled in Rock. As of last night, I had 35,299 words in the NaNo bank. I've progressed from "I think I can" to "I know I can," but I still have nine days to go. You'll get my final report on Wednesday, November 30th. I'm so confident I've scheduled a massage on the 30th to celebrate. I can't mess up now.

Book Giveaway: Letters from Katrina

When I attended the five year birthday party for Reader's Cove bookstore in Fort Collins, Colorado, I received two copies of this wonderful book of photos and letters from Colorado kids to the children from communities devastated by Hurricane Katrina, Letters from Katrina: Stories of Hope and Inspiration. These books were donated to Reader's Cove for the event by the author, Mark Hoog.



You can find out more about the project, the book, and the author, Mark Hoog, at the Growing Field Website.

To be eligible to win one of the two copies, you must be a resident of the U.S. or Canada. Leave a comment on today's post by noon Mountain Time, Friday, November 25th. Make sure your e-mail address is in the comment or easily obtained from your profile.

Saturday Surprise (The Glow Giveaway)

You all know I don't post on Saturday unless I have something cool to report. Today I do.

Amy Kathleen Ryan is a wonderful YA author from Northern Colorado, and she has debuted the first novel in a new series. The intro for the Glow synopsis says "What if you were bound for a new world, about to pledge your life to someone you'd been promised to since birth, and one unexpected violent attack made survival—not love—the issue?"

There's a buzz going on about Glow with all kinds of starred reviews. The whole series is going to be a winner for the YA audience as well as adult readers like me (I already have my copy).

So when I saw that another writer from Northern Colorado, Carolyn of the popular Hooked and Happy blog, was giving away an advance reading copy (ARC) of Glow, I wanted to pass on the news.

The giveaway is open to US and Canadian residents only, and the deadline is 7:00 PM Mountain Time on Wednesday, November 23rd.

To enter, go to Carolyn's Nov. 16th post at Hooked and Happy which is called My 2012 To-Read List {and GLOW Giveaway!}. And if you don't win the ARC for this fine novel, here's the link to amazon.com.

The Writing Road Trip by Joanne Kennedy, Guest Blogger

According to the bio on Joanne Kennedy's website, she ran away from home to the West at the advanced age of 32 and was delighted to discover that cowboys still walk the streets of Cheyenne. Her fascination with Wyoming’s unique blend of past and present leads her to write contemporary Western romances with traditional ranch settings.

I love cowboys (and just the idea of cowboys) so when I find another author who writes in the Western romance genre, I have to pay attention (especially when their books have such delightful cover art).

Welcome to my blog, Joanne.

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The Writing Road Trip by Joanne Kennedy, Guest Blogger


Writing a book is like taking a road trip. It takes planning—but if you map out every move in advance and time everything down to the last second, the lack of spontaneity will take all the fun out it. I’d rather just pile the kids in the car and start driving, hoping for a grand adventure and wondering where the heck we’ll end up.

So when I start a book, I basically toss my characters out onto the page, which is a relief because they’ve usually been with me for a while, chattering in my ear and generally being annoying so I’ll take them somewhere. I have a rough idea of where we’re going, but mostly I just follow the road as it unfolds.

My characters usually cooperate with this process better than kids deal with road trips, but eventually they start squabbling and sulking and poking each other. Then it’s time to step out of the story and look at it from the outside so you can find them something constructive to do. This corresponds to the part of the road trip where you get out of the car, stretch, and take a look at the map while the kids run around decimating wildflower beds and filling the back seat with rocks.

Even now, you don’t want your plan to be too detailed. You need to stay loose and let your instincts carry you forward. It’s those impulsive side-trips to Reptile Kingdom and the spontaneous stop at the World’s Largest Prairie Dog Town that make the best memories on a road trip, and it’s the same way with a story. Unexpected destinations are what make a book memorable, too.

Of course, this can all go terribly wrong. Characters can dash off on useless tangents, pursuing some elusive purpose that never really gels. Reptile Kingdom can turn out to be smelly and sort of pathetic. Prairie dogs can hide in their holes and refuse to come out. Plot threads can tangle and wander off in the wrong direction.

That’s where you need to hang onto hope and a whole lot of faith. You have to hope your instinctive sense of story will see you through, and have faith that you had that instinct in the first place.

Losing that hope and faith corresponds to the part of the trip where you decide you’re a terrible mother who never does anything right. You bang your head on the steering wheel, berate yourself for not planning better and try not to let the kids see you cry. In writing and in road trips, this is a good time to stop at a Mini-Mart and get some powdered sugar donuts. Snacks are great sources of faith and hope.

The sugar donuts will help for a while, although they might be the reason the kids are squabbling and poking each other again. And eventually you’re liable to come to an intersection and discover that you’ve been off course for the past fifty miles. Or maybe somebody left their precious stuffed bunny back at the Reptile Kingdom cafeteria. You’re going to have to backtrack to your last turning point and start again. You’ve probably wasted a couple of hours going in the wrong direction, but that’s okay. You’re on track now.

It’s been a long trip, though, and there comes a point where your characters finally stop misbehaving. The problem is, they’re not doing anything else, either. They’re asleep in the back seat with Precious Bunny, and you’re going to have to stop for the night and recharge. This will give you more time to look at the map and figure out how you ended up in Indiana instead of Illinois and what road will get you the heck out of there.

Okay, maybe that’s not the best way to take a road trip. But it’s okay to write a book that way, because unlike a road trip, you can go over it when you’re done and fix everything that went off-course. Did you take a wrong turn in Chapter 8? You can rewrite it. Did your characters misbehave in Chapter 12? Go back and make them do what you want.

And maybe that’s why hope lives through even the worst writing experience. If you work hard enough, you can turn even the bumpiest road trip into one heck of a story.

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Thanks again for being my guest today, Joanne.

Joanne Kennedy is the author of Cowboy Trouble, Cowboy Fever, and 2010 RITA® nominee One Fine Cowboy, all published by Sourcebooks Casablanca. Her latest release, Tall, Dark & Cowboy, was released November 1st and is available online and in bookstores nationwide.

TALL, DARK AND COWBOY
ISBN 978-1-4022-5144-3 $6.99
Available in paperback and ebook editions

In the wake of a nasty divorce, Lacey Bradford is on the run from her ex-husband’s criminal cronies. Swearing off her ex’s ill-gotten gains, she runs to her old friend Chase Caldwell for help. But the boy she once knew has changed. Embittered by the loss of his family farm due to Lacey’s ex-husband’s machinations, Chase is hardly thrilled to see the girl who broke his heart.

As Lacey begins to create a new life for herself, a new, surprising attraction ignites from the ruins of their former friendship. And when danger comes to Grady, Wyoming, Chase learns that this delicate Southern flower just might turn out to be a steel magnolia.

You can learn more about Joanne and her books at her website.

The Unnamed Step--The Rest That Isn't Restful by Susan Oleksiw, Guest Blogger

My guest today is mystery writer, Susan Oleksiw, who was published in hardcover by Five Star/Cengage and now in paperback by Harlequin Worldwide Mystery. Under the Eye of Kali is set at the cozy seaside Hotel Delite in southern India.

According to her website bio, before turning to crime fiction, Susan received a Ph.D. in Sanskrit from the University of Pennsylvania, and lived and traveled extensively in India as part of her studies.

Welcome, Susan. And congratulations on having Harlequin pick up Under the Eye of Kali for their mass market paperback edition.


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The Unnamed Step--The Rest That Isn't Restful by Susan Oleksiw, Guest Blogger


Writers have habits and practices that we rely on to help us complete the manuscript we're working on, and some of them are quirky and some are just good practices. Others seem too obvious to mention, but these can be crucial. I am in the middle of one of them right now that is especially frustrating but necessary.

After I've finished a major first draft, which means I've been over it twice and made changes to the plot, modified or added characters, and started on serious revisions, I set it aside and send it out for a critical reading by two people I trust. This means I send out two hard copies and then I sit and wait. I do no rereading, revising, editing, or rewriting. I try to let my mind move to other things, to let myself get some distance on what I've basically been immersed in for weeks and months. I force myself to wait. This drives me crazy but I do this with everything I write.

During this waiting period I might try writing a review or doing research into a related topic for another writing project, work on some promotional efforts, work on a short story, or dust my bookshelves. I weed through the paper in my files, or make plans for research trips. But I won't let myself start on anything major, and I won't pick up the mss that is being reviewed.

My restlessness while waiting is something I just have to live with because I think this set-aside period is extremely important for the finished book. For writers like me who work by getting into the story and living it as I write it, it is hard to pull back and see the story and how it's written with any objectivity. And yet if I don't change gears, I'll never be able to bring a truly critical eye to the work. I have to move on myself enough to see and think differently or I will never see the mistakes and gaffes and omissions in my work. I have to feel differently from when I was writing, and that takes time. This can mean three weeks or three months.

Given enough time, I become objective about my own work, able to judge it clearly, and do the hard work of finishing and polishing. This often means I have to cut scenes or characters without hesitation, and tighten passages that I originally thought were absolutely crucial. With enough distance, I can see at once that a particular character is unnecessary and her contribution to the plot can be handled by another character. Or I can see that the setting I once thought contributed great atmosphere is just a muddle of cliches.

I hate the waiting because I don't want to do anything else (impatience is a weakness I confess to) except finish the book, but I know I can't really finish the book until I can see it as an editor and not as a creator. Waiting patiently, letting the book settle, letting myself change and move forward all mean that when I do sit down again with the mss, it will seem new to me. I will see the characters develop and stumble into the holes in the plot, the inconsistencies in the villain or the protagonist, the lagging pace in the middle of a chapter, the abrupt leap between scenes. I will see the flaws and know what to do.

Seeing these flaws is half the job of fixing them, so I'm willing to wait to let my eyes adjust so I can come to the mss fresh. Writers talk a lot about revising and rewriting, but we are able to do that work because of something we talk less about--the time of rest between the writing and rewriting, when we pull back and wait and then rediscover our own work as if we'd barely seen it before.

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Thanks again, Susan. This is great advice.

You can learn more about Susan and her writing at her website and her blog, One Writer's World. The paperback edition of Under the Eye of Kali can be purchased at the Harlequin Worldwide Mystery online store.

The Shortest Wednesday Scramble Ever!

I want to announce two more guest authors this week.

The first is Susan Oleksiw whose post will appear tomorrow. Susan is the author of Under the Eye of Kali: an Anita Ray mystery.

Friday's guest is Joanne Kennedy, author of Tall, Dark, and Cowboy.

Meanwhile, I'm plugging away, staying even with what I need to do for NaNoWriMo. As of last night I was at 25,219 words, just over the halfway mark.

Will I run out of story before I run out of month? Stay tuned....

Chiseled in Rock Tuesday: What's New from Rocky Mountain Fiction Writers?

It's that time again. My post highlights three of the newer books from authors who are members of Rocky Mountain Fiction Writers. Aren't they a talented bunch? Join us at Chiseled in Rock.

Angel in My Hair by Pat Walker, Guest Blogger

One of the many things I like about Pat Walker is her energy -- each time I'm in the same room with her, I feel lighter, as though my battery has been recharged and my priorities rearranged. She's a special lady, and I'm honored to welcome her to my blog to celebrate the release of her inspirational memoir, Dance of the Electric Hummingbird.

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Angel in My Hair by Pat Walker, Guest Blogger


All my life, I wanted to be a writer; I just never knew it. I thought everyone had words that excited them so much that they had to scribble them down on the steering wheel while driving 75 miles per hour down I-25 or onto the corner of a pizza-grease-infused napkin while having lunch with one of their kids in the school cafeteria.

I didn’t take writing seriously, though, until I met Sammy Hagar, multi-millionaire tequila magnate and former lead singer of the legendary rock band Van Halen.

In 2003, I wandered into a bar in Mexico with my husband, expecting to enjoy a rock concert by a famous singer I’d not previously heard of, but something frightening and wonderful happened instead. In the midst of the screaming guitars and the cheering fans, my spirit rose out of my body and became engulfed in a white light and a feeling of ecstasy that should not have been humanly possible. I saw God. And my soul. At the time, I considered that perhaps I shouldn’t have had that second margarita! But before long, more strange things started happening, things I wasn’t even sure I believed in—psychic revelations, glimpses of past lives, and contact from spirits and angels.

Months passed and the paranormal episodes escalated along with my concern for my sanity. I couldn’t stop writing about any of it, so with equal parts privilege and trepidation, I wrote to Sammy. I explained what was happening to me and how it all started during his concert in Mexico. To my utter shock, he wrote back. He also took it upon himself to help me decipher the meaning of all the supernatural events. And he encouraged me to tell my story. Now I’m just your average, drive-the-kids-to-football-practice-in-my-minivan mom, these things don’t happen to people like me—the explosive world of sex, drugs and rock stars—combined with mystical experiences, no less. But they did.

I kept writing until a full-length book spilled out of me.

After eight years and 8,976,544 edits, sending out countless queries, pitching my book at writer’s conferences, and like most authors, getting those dreaded rejections, I grew discouraged. I knew I had a great story—a spiritual journey similar to Elizabeth Gilbert’s Eat, Pray, Love—but with an unusual bent: the personal involvement of a rock star. So what if agents didn’t believe in me? Sammy did. He promoted my book at many of his concerts and on the radio; his fans couldn’t wait to read it.

I decided to self-publish, but first, something told me to contact an author I’d been in touch with years earlier. He wrote a book about a similar experience and we exchanged a few e-mails at the time. When I contacted him again, he recommended I e-mail his friend at Rainbow Ridge Books—the publisher who made Neale Donald Walsch’s Conversations with God series an international sensation.

It was impossible that a publisher with such an illustrious reputation would even consider an unknown author like me, right? But like all the other “impossibilities” of late, it just fell into my lap so I went with it.

Within two weeks, we signed the contract.

Thus began a series of legalities, negotiations, and relaying of messages between publisher, rock star, and Aaron Hagar, the rock star’s son—a professional artist whom Sammy recruited to do the cover artwork for my book. I had no time to breathe let alone find someone to advise me on how to deal with these unusual circumstances, but true to the serendipitous nature of my journey once again, it all came together and better than I ever could have imagined.

People often tell me that my story may have positive spiritual undertones that are sometimes passed on to others, even if just in small ways. One woman said she loved the angel in my hair in the cover painting, and how clever it was that we put it there! Well, we didn’t put it there, not intentionally anyway. I didn’t even notice it until she pointed it out. Coincidence? Perhaps, but after everything I’ve experienced, I no longer believe in coincidences.

My journey showed me spiritual dimensions beyond my wildest dreams. It forced me to reevaluate my perception of what is real and what is important in life; it taught me the incredible power of my mind and spirit, and I learned firsthand, that nothing is impossible. Nothing.

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Thanks again for being my guest today, Pat.

To learn more about Pat, her writing life, and Dance of the Electric Hummingbird, visit her website. The memoir is now available at amazon.com and Barnes&Noble.com as well as the Van Halen store. It will soon be available in the gift shop at Sammy Hagar's Cabo Wabo Cantina in Cabo San Lucas, Mexico.

Pat is scheduled for a guest appearance on Sat., Nov. 26 at 5:00 MST on INTERVIEWS AND INTERACTIONS, live on KTTK radio 630 AM or at www.K-TALK.com;

A book signing at Reader's Cove, 1001 East Harmony Rd., Unit C in Fort Collins, on Thursday, Dec. 1 from 5:30-7:00 PM (970) 266-1618;

And on Sat., March 10, 2012, from 9:30-10:50 am MST, she will be a guest on "Exploring Unexplained Phenomena" live on KZUM 89.3 FM, Lincoln, NE or via http://www.e-u-p.org. Listeners may call in at 402-474-5086.

You can find Pat on Twitter as @Bajarockpat

Friday, Friday, so good to me

The reason this Friday is so good is that its page on my calendar is completely blank.

I LOVE THAT!

Although I am going to make a quick grocery store run, today will be all about NaNoWriMo word count and getting some blog posts pre-scheduled.


Many Guests

I have three guests next week. My visiting authors represent memoir, mystery and romance, something for almost everyone.

Northern Colorado writer Pat Walker will be here Monday...her memoir, Dance of the Electric Hummingbird, describes her spiritual awakening at a Sammy Hagar rock concert and how her life has changed since that experience. I read an early draft of Pat's manuscript, a wonderful mix of inspiration and entertainment, and am now one of her biggest fans. I plan to be first in line at her December 1st book signing.


This Old House

Margot Kinberg blogs about crime fiction at Confessions of a Mystery Novelist... and was kind enough to use my first mystery, The Prairie Grass Murders, as one of her examples in a post called "My House is Out of the Ordinary". Many thanks to Margot for the mention and for quoting from my story.


The Versatile Blogger Award


Wyoming mystery author Cindy Keen Reynders passed on the Versatile Blogger Award to me this week. This is a really nice award. If you want to see the seven facts I revealed about myself back in July of 2010, follow the link to: More Award Fun -- Two for the Price of One.

I'd be most pleased if you'd pop over and join Cindy's new blog as a special thank you from me. You'll find her at Saucy Lucy Wisdom: Aunt Gladys and Cindy talk about the writing world. Aunt Gladys is one of the delightful characters in Cindy's mysteries.

I'll reserve the right to pass this award on again in a future post. Thanks again, Cindy.

And now we return to NaNoWriMo, especially since I fell a bit behind in word count yesterday. Sigh!

Where on Earth Does He Get His Ideas? by Barbara Graham, Guest Blogger

I first met Wyoming mystery author Barbara Graham back in 2007 when our debut novels were published by Five Star. Her mystery series features Theo Abernathy and her quilting group. Since Theo is married to the Sheriff of Park County, Tennessee, in the Smoky Mountains, you can imagine that means trouble for the sleuthing Theo.

And just so you know, Barbara includes a pattern for a mystery quilt in each one of her novels.

Barbara, I'm so pleased to have you as my guest today.


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Where on Earth Does He Get His Ideas? by Barbara Graham, Guest Blogger


I’m often asked where I get my ideas for my books. For me, the whole process hinges on my imaginary friends. Most of them are very nice people. Some are not nice at all so I’d have to say I also have imaginary enemies. I often feel more like the characters’ biographer or chronicler than their creator.

Somewhere between the time I begin writing a new book and typing “The End” I lose control of the characters and therefore the plot. They come up with their own words and actions and I, the author, begin to feel like the person with a shovel, following the horses in a parade. I’m doing my best to keep up with them as they dash about killing people or falling in love or buying chocolate. They could at least share the candy.

I know authors who outline and keep firm hands on the proverbial reins, guiding their people through the jungle of plot and place. These authors accept no backtalk from any of them. I am jealous. Even in the real world I’m a pushover—my dogs have taken over the furniture in the living room, even the official no-dogs-on-this-one chair. Halfway through summer the weeds own my garden and I’m only allowed to visit and say admiring things about the new additions to the family. I suppose, therefore, it’s only natural for my imaginary people to tell me what’s really going on and expect me, with my pitiful typing skills, to “sit there, be quiet, and write this down”. And so I do.

Writing is different with series characters than those in stand-alone novels. Although there is much to be said for a character whose role is finite. Write them in, write them out. They can get married or divorced or die on page twelve and although they may haunt the author who tortures them, it’s a done deal. Series characters have lifelines just as we real people do, some days are good for them, some bad, and they get the flu, spill the milk, suffer from heartache and lose money in the stock market. Keeping track can be a nightmare.

Series characters can also become members of the author’s family. I know some of “my people” much better than I do my relatives or the neighbors. One of my bossiest and most irritating characters is a little old man named Orvan Lundy. His physical prototype was a homeless man who came into my office many years ago to get warm. He didn’t cause any trouble but he did tell me some interesting tales about “haints” and things in general. As I labored on Murder by Serpents: The Mystery Quilt, the first book in my series, he showed up in the sheriff’s office, wearing bib overalls and his customary shoe polish on half of his hair. He had a story to tell. I blindly followed his instructions, typing what he told me and never suspecting he would insist on a recurring role. The third book in the series, Murder by Music: The Wedding Quilt just released and like in the first two, Orvan is there, as scrawny and irritating as ever.

I’m working on the next book, and he’s already wandered into my office, showed me his hair, and confessed. Like some holiday traditions that begin with good intentions and the children insist on upholding long after the parents tire of them, there are characters with habits and foibles that may irritate their creators. But, here’s the other side of the same truth—I’m happy when Orvan shows up, puts his scrawny backside in a chair in my imaginary sheriff’s office and starts to talk. Chin resting on my hand, I listen to his story and find myself wondering “Where on earth does he get those ideas?”

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Barbara, thanks again for this fun post. I think this might be the question most asked of writers by their fans, and perhaps one of the hardest questions to answer. All I can say is, anytime you get tired of listening to Orvan, send him down here to Colorado. We have writers who need a change of Muses.

To learn more about Barbara and her books, please visit her website. You can also find her on Facebook.

Wednesday Scramble

Tomorrow's Guest

Wyoming buddy and Five Star Mystery author Barbara Graham will be here tomorrow. The new release Murder by Music: The Wedding Quilt is book three in Barbara's quilting mystery series.


52 Wonderful Twitter Chats for Writers

If you're as much of a Twitter fan as I am, and have learned or are learning about hashtags and hashtag chat groups, you'll like this list of ongoing writerly gatherings. Some are random and some have regular meeting times. Either way, you're sure to find something you like on this list.


Snow White and the Seven Thwarts

If you don't regularly read Chiseled in Rock blog (the official blog of Rocky Mountain Fiction Writers), I highly recommend you begin with Janet Fogg's Monday post, Snow White and the Seven Thwarts. It's a fun post about the writing life. Monday I claimed to be Happy, but yesterday I was definitely Sleepy. Today? It's too early to tell.


What I'm Reading

I'm still reading Deon Meyer's Tracker. NaNoWriMo is slowing me down.


Submissions 101

This is another article worth checking out. BookEnds, LLC has updated the 2009 version of this post to reflect changes in the industry.


What I'm Doing

NaNoWriMo. If you want more details, check out yesterday's post at Chiseled in Rock blog. And if you have the time to listen to a few NaNoWriMo songs, blogger Sommer Leigh has put together a post with several of the video clips all in one convenient place.

That's it. Back to work. Don't forget to stop by tomorrow to meet Barbara Graham.

Chiseled in Rock Tuesday: The NaNoWriMo Experience

If you want to know how I'm doing so far with National Novel Writing Month, and what another Northern Colorado writer is using his NaNo challenge to accomplish, come on over to Chiseled in Rock. Hope to see you there.

Have you ever seen a fox on a fence?

I sure hadn't, so when we spotted this fox in our yard earlier this year, I grabbed my camera and caught a photo before he got away. I'm not sure what he was hoping to find. Katie Kitten was safely inside the house, and that pathetic dried up apple didn't look very appetizing.




And that's all I have for you today, my friends. I have my nose to the NaNoWriMo grindstone, and I'm posting a short report about my progress tomorrow at Chiseled in Rock. See you then.

Crime Writers and Research: Learning About Touch DNA

My guest post, Crime Writers and Research: Learning About Touch DNA, has been posted at Joe Giacalone's The Cold Case Squad blog. I use information about two well-known Colorado cases to show how crime writers have an enormous amount of information at their fingertips (or keyboards) for researching the technology that makes our stories accurate and up-to-date.

I hope you'll stop by Joe's blog and let us know you were there.

BRRRR!

Wednesday Scramble

Tomorrow...

I don't have a guest tomorrow, because I've submitted a guest post to Joe Giacalone's blog, The Cold Case Squad, on what I learned about Touch DNA while researching the process for a new story. I'll post the link here when it goes live.


First NaNoWriMo Report

Here it is, already Day Two of National Novel Writing Month. I made a good start on my 50,000 words yesterday by writing the first chapter and part of the second for a total of 2,310 words. If a participant writes every day during November, and adds 1,667 words to the total each day, he'll make it to 50,000.

In my case, I've blocked off the writing days and the non-writing days to allow for grocery shopping, appointments and meetings, and a little exercise. I figure I'll have twenty-three days when I'll focus on writing until I have at least 2,000 words completed and four other days when I'll write at least a couple of pages. There are three days, including Thanksgiving, when I probably won't write at all.

I had hoped to attend the NaNoWriMo Launch Party last night, but that didn't work out. With more snow coming in, I decided to get cozy at home and use the extra time to read a few more chapters of Dyon Meyer's Trackers.


Babbles from Scott Eagan

This is one of the literary agent blogs I enjoy reading. Yesterday's post, "What Is It That Catches My Attention In That Initial Query?," is another good one from Scott.


That's all for today -- NaNoWriMo is waiting.

Chiseled in Rock Tuesday: Revisiting the Interview with Chuck Sambuchino

If you missed this interview I did with editor Chuck Sambuchino (Guide to Literary Agents) in March, you might enjoy stopping by Chiseled in Rock blog to check it out. I've added new links to the 2012 market guides, and mentioned the latest news about Chuck's humor book, How to Survive a Garden Gnome Attack.

For the month of November and December, Chiseled in Rock will be reposting our best editor and agent interviews, and I'll also be reporting from the NaNoWriMo trenches. Stay tuned.