9.18.14 - On Git 'Er Done!*

Productivity is sometimes my strong suit. I love making lists and checking things off. It gives me a perverse kind of pleasure, a little internal nanny-nanny-boo-boo to the forces of resistance that seem to hover around the edges of my world. I've even been known to add something to my To Do list that's already complete simply for the pleasure of marking it off the list.

Today was banner day for getting things done. I finished a minor technical revision on WHAT LIES BEHIND - changes based on an experts input on the science of the book, and sent it to my editor. I started the research for the new Nicholas Drummond novel. I also started the synopsis/narrative/outline of the story, but there's a bit more research to do for it to make much sense. 

And I achieved the gold standard of productivity - Inbox Zero. [direct link]

I'm beside myself with excitement. I've had 50 or so emails tagging around with me for the past month, and another 50 starred, which is my way of saying they're too important to be out of my line of sight for one reason or another, and I haven't had the time to sit down, go through them systematically, answering or archiving or deleting. But it's all clean now.

I'm going to give credit where credit is due - I use Gmail, and have for years. For a very long time I've been looking for a way to seamlessly incorporate my Gmail into my Mac. I've used Sparrow for years, but it's getting long in the tooth. Apple mail is hideous, and doesn't work at all with my archival system, which, I will admit, is rather extensive. (I blame it on all those years interning - they LOVED to have me file things. OCD much?) I tried a couple of ways to get directly into my Gmail from my dock, to limited success.

Then today, in a fit of despair, I hit the right terms on google and up popped Mailplane [direct link].

It's expensive. And I balk at the idea of paying for what's essentially a webmail link. But I downloaded the free trial, and oh, my. It's perfect. Immediate access, and I don't have to go online to get into my mail, which lets me focus on what I'm doing instead of trolling around.

I know this is going to help me rock my new productivity plans. And I proved myself right by getting to Inbox Zero.

Got some more good news today on the Nicholas Drummond front - THE LOST KEY got a brilliant starred review from Library Journal, and THE FINAL CUT paperback will be #7 on this week's New York Times and #30 on USA Today. It's also #9 on the iBooks list.  

 Now I'm going to go make chicken soup and bask in the glory of emptiness. I have a lovely weekend of research ahead, plus more cleaning of the house, hanging pictures and gardening and mulching. (I'll be watching Randy do that, probably.)

I hope you have something fun planned too!

*Also knows as GTD - Get Things Done - the brilliant task management system I try to employ.

9.16.14 - On New Beginnings

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Well, hello there! Long time no chat. Trust me when I say I’ve been up to my ears in work - and a bit of play, as well. 

So, to catch you up if you aren't on FB - WHAT LIES BEHIND is D.O.N.E. - and has been accepted by my editor, who really liked it. Will wonders never cease? And I mean that truthfully - I don’t think I’ve ever had such a difficult time with a book, and it took me literally until the 11th hour to get the story to come together properly, but the 5 months (5 MONTHS!) of work paid off. That book comes out in June (5.26.15 to be specific) and I’m incredibly proud of how it finally came together. Huge props to my husband and my BFF Laura Benedict for shepherding me through the process. And of course, all of you.

I did things differently this time, too. Usually my beta readers see the book before my editor, but this time, they’re going to see the last version prior to copyedit. I like shaking things up!

And so now it’s on to Nicholas Drummond #3. I had a week off between finishing WLB and flying to Cali to start ND#3 ( we have some titles, but none have been finalized yet.) I got back home Friday, spent the weekend putting my poorly neglected house and yard back to rights, spent yesterday cleaning my office, which, I must say, looks quite divine now, with everything put away and organized, and downloading research articles and books. I have a steep learning curve on this new book, so I actually have to do research prior to starting to write.

After a few weeks away from the craziness that was August, with the travel and the deadline, my schedule got all sorts of shook up. So I’m taking advantage of that to make some changes to how I work.

Sunday was my first SIS - Sunday Internet Sabbatical. It wasn’t as difficult as I expected. Since I’ve been on the road, I’ve been online in snatches, so I didn’t really miss it. I’m looking forward to the unplugged day, and I’m also not going to write on the weekends anymore. I feel like all I’m doing is working, as my house’s sad demeanor can attest to. I didn’t even play golf this summer, which is a travesty. So, let’s change that. Check.

I’m also trying to turn my laptop into my creative workstation, and do all my business on my desktop. And... doing an hour of business, then walking away. I am the worst about trying to sandwich in every single little thing that needs to be done to clear my plate for the writing, which oftentimes leaves me at 4 or 5 in the evening having accomplished a great deal, but none of it fiction. Which is my real job. 

So the plan is, I will limit the online business time to 3 times a day - 9am, lunchtime, and early evening - and then it goes off. No more answering email at 11 p.m. Check.

And, since I’m finding so much inspiration these days, I’m going to start sharing some with you.  My buddy Anna Benjamin sent me a box full, and they are lovely and profound. I will be using them as inspiration, and I hope you like them too. Ergo: see above.

So how about you? What have you been up to?  

9.2.14 - On Living Out Loud, With Thanks

Writing used to be a solitary endeavor. I’ve only been in the game for ten years, and when I started, it was a solitary endeavor. I wrote in a vacuum, not knowing any other authors, unaware of writers' organizations, agents, editors, sales channels and marketing plans. I wrote for me, and when I finished my first book, my husband read it, and thought it was pretty good. A friend who knew I was writing a novel offered to read it. He too liked it. The next thing I knew, I was at the library checking out a copy of the Writer’s Guide to Literary Agents, and had an editor reading my pages for continuity and grammar.

Things took off quickly after that. A year later, I had a agent, and a year after that, a three-book deal. I’d joined a critique group, started blogging, first for my own blog, then on Murderati. I put up a Facebook page, began the race to accumulate “friends.” Shortly thereafter, Twitter joined the mix.

I was no longer alone.

Fast forward ten years. I’ve just turned in my 15th novel. Pinterest, Instagram and Goodreads have all become a daily ritual like Facebook and Twitter. I send monthly newsletters to a lot of people. I do chats, and blog, and create clever contests.

I am living out loud.

I’ve always been uncomfortable with sharing myself online. From the very beginning, I was incredibly careful what I put out there. I’m an introvert, and I like my privacy. I like sharing JT the author with people, but I also wanted to keep me separate from all of that. It was a learning curve. Whenever I let a piece of me into the mix, I felt raw and vulnerable, oddly exposed, like I’d walked into a cocktail party without my clothes, and everyone was staring.

Keeping the two parts separate was a nice ideal. It couldn’t sustain.

Years ago there was a successful writer whose blog I followed. She was a funny, quirky blogger, full of interesting tips about the writing process and publishing in general. And she talked about when writing was hard. 

-Gasp-

She talked a lot about it. So much so that some other nameless authors tried to run her off for being overly dramatic and whiny. So much so that even I read a few posts cringing. 

How could you put yourself out there like that? People will think you’re weak. People will think you’re lazy. People will think …

I was new. Bright, shiny. Brimming with ideas and exuberance. Unstoppable. The idea of writer’s block was a joke. That it would be anything but easy to sit down and write a book? Bosh. And that you might actually admit out loud to strangers reading your blog that you were struggling? Heresy. 

I know now I was running on a sort of extended adrenaline those first few years. Life does get in the way. Sometimes, writing is hard. Really freaking hard. It cuts you open just to watch you bleed, and laughs at you as you struggle on hands and knees to cross the room to your desk. And let’s not get into the parts that are out of your control: bad laydows, terrible art decisions, marketing plans that disappear, accounts dropped, promises broken.

This is a fucking heartbreaking industry, in so many ways, yet we soldier on in silence, for the most part, because there is an old adage that reads: Never let them see you sweat. 

I’ve always tried to stick to that advice, simply because of that open, honest blog I used to read. It seemed so voyeuristic, to see inside another writer’s heart. To watch her bleed to death, slowly, in public, while others cast aspersions from their ivory towers.

I’m not sure when I crossed the first line myself. But over the years, I’ve shared more and more. The lines between me and that JT girl blurred, becoming nonexistent. The day I too was stuck and thinking about giving up, I reminded myself of the blog I’d read with such disdain as a child author, realizing that what she was doing was her therapy, and wrote about it myself. It helped. God in heaven, it helped. 

I’ve never been good with weakness, from myself or from others. My BFFs know if you come to me with a problem, you first need to tell me if you simply need to blow off steam, because if not, I will find a path for you to fix whatever issue is nagging at you. It’s a character flaw, I think, but I’ve learned to live with it.

Sometimes, though, I need to be weak. I need to vent. I need to cry. I need.

Writing WHAT LIES BEHIND was one of those times. It was by far the hardest book I’ve ever written. Storylines wouldn’t work. Characters weren’t behaving. I was stuck, blocked, for weeks, trying machination after machination to get the story to work. Five months of head banging frustrations, slipping into despair more than once, thinking about shelving the whole thing and giving up.

And I blogged about it. I talked about it on Facebook. And on Twitter. I wined and complained and lived out loud.

And you came to my rescue.

You held me up. You encouraged me. You offered ideas, paths to cross over to different switchbacks. You sent prayers and namastes and care packages.  You saw that I was weak, and needed help, and you rose to the occasion without a moment’s hesitation.

Social media gets a bad rap sometimes. Yes, it’s a distraction. Yes, it takes time away from our creative endeavors. But when you build a community of incredible people who will lift you up when you’re falling? It is worth every second.

You got me through this book. Knowing I wasn't alone kept me going, day after day. And it is with tears in my eyes and a lump in my throat that I give you my most humble thanks. I couldn’t have done it without you. When I turned the book in Saturday, I breathed a sigh of relief so huge I think I started a tropical storm in the Gulf.

Walk a mile in another man’s shoes, right?   

8.14.14 - On Making Strides

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I’m sitting here, wet and chilly, after hitting balls in the rain to prepare to play golf in the morning with my dad and his pals, a terrifying prospect because the last time I played, I did so horribly I made all kinds of assurances and promises that I would be a better partner this time, and I haven’t played a single day this summer. 

Shite.

The ball striking was good, but I’m rather distracted, because I’m finally making strides with the book. The Big Blow Up of 2014  worked - I think - and I’ve revised the 36 chapters I had already written, adding 7 in the process. I’m over 85K now, and the end isn’t in sight, but there might be a glimmer of hope ahead. So.

And yes, I'm wildly distracted by the events in Ferguson, and Israel, and the tragic death of Robin Williams and the continuing ebook fight, and watching the fascinating and sometimes irresponsible phenomenon called social activism, where the mob winds people up and sets them loose, stumbling forth in outrage and vitriol and misinformation. I'm trying not to let it tear me too far from my own work, but it is hard to ignore. 

In much better news, my Dad turns 80 Saturday. We will be feting him in various ways, and I’ll be happily tied up with family business this weekend. So it’s back to work Monday and by damn, there will be a draft by next Friday. There. I said it. So it will happen, right?

Who made the pear sorbet from this month's newsletter? How was it?

8.11.14 - On Frustrations, and Refilling the Well

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My journal entry yesterday begins with this rather alarming phrase: "Sometimes, you just have to blow up a book."

I’m nearly to the end of the book -- that is, the word count says I’m nearly to my end goal. I personally am nowhere near the end, and need to get there, STAT.

I’ve been writing a book that I started in late April that's plot line began to play out on the nightly news three weeks ago, and it has gotten so topical I couldn’t see the forest for the trees. This is the writer’s worst fear -- that something they come up with will happen, and then it seems the book was written as a response to the news, rather than being a precursor. It happens more often than you'd think, which is why our government has a few authors in from time to time to brainstorm "worst case scenarios." Our creativity has prevented many terrible issues, I'm sure.

But there are times when the story just ain't gonna fly. Saturday, tired of struggling with this, I decided I needed to make some rather large changes. I stayed up very late writing down “fixes,” ten of them in all, then Sunday morning, went back to Page 1 and started over.

Page 1 rewrites are terror inducing, but sometimes necessary. I’ve only done it twice before, and never this far into the writing, but both books ended up much stronger for the last-minute alterations. And I’m feeling better about the story. Ninety percent of what’s there stays, it’s just being reworked to be simpler, less topical, and more personal to Sam.

I’ve already rewritten the first 20 chapters, and am hoping to have a draft done by next week. 

In the meantime, in the moments I’m not writing, I am desperately trying to refill the well. Which means watching movies, which led me to Armageddon last night. There is a scene in particular that blows me away every time, and after I watched it, covered in goosebumps, I starting thinking about my top movie scenes ever. So here’s the list:

Armageddon:
The twin shuttle launches, both snaking into the twilight sky

Gladiator:
Maximus in the Coliseum. He jumps on a horse and is thrown a sword, which he catches and twirls into a lethal grip.

G.I. Jane: 
Jordan [bleeding]: “Master Chief?” 
Master Chief: “Lieutenant, seek life elsewhere.”
Jordan [screams, to the delight of her team] “Suck my dick.”

Star Trek (2009):
When Sulu brings the Enterprise up out of the cloud vapor to save the day. And the score… perfection.

Star Wars:
The immediate opening, the crash of the music as the words begin scrolling backward into the universe.

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows (Part Two): 
The Courtyard Battle Scene. The score makes this incredible moment truly magnificent.

French Kiss: 
At the very end, just before the credits, when Kevin Kline kisses Meg Ryan on the hillside above their vineyard, picking her up in a passionate embrace neither of them could have imagined when they first met. *sighs*

Dead Poet's Society
"O Captain, my Captain."
"So avoid using the word ‘very’ because it’s lazy. A man is not very tired, he is exhausted. Don’t use very sad, use morose. Language was invented for one reason, boys - to woo women - and, in that endeavor, laziness will not do. It also won’t do in your essays.”
(I can't believe we've lost Robin Williams today. Heartbroken. He was amazing.)

One of the best part!. Love every single word of this part!

Ending to DPS

Do you have a favorite movie moment?