All posts by Susan Jeffery

About Susan Jeffery

I am loving the challenge (sometimes) of re-entering the contemporary romance market after a lifetime of raising two fantastic children (it never ends, btw). Just when I thought I was done with kids, I accepted a position as librarian to 900 boys in a Bronx private school. I'm a vintage published author, Harlequin American #206 Fair Game (1987). Winner of the Golden Heart, 1986. Currently exploring the possibility of indie publishing under my new pseudonym (see fresh name, above).

How a Mermaid got Entangled and Lived to Tell the Tale

Motivation, Susan Andrews, Writing, ,

The Savvy Authors Entangled NaNoWriMo Smackdown is winding down, and I am one of the lucky writers who participated.  I had an entire month to achieve a book, just for the Entangled Line!  How exciting is that?

Entangled Smackdown

I confess, I didn’t take this challenge seriously until I had an email telling me (surprise!) that my badge was waiting to be claimed.  Once I understood, I spend a couple of days being just plain scared.  I even ordered a workbook, Susan Alderson’s The Plot Whisperer Workbook (worth every penny, imho).  I splurged and went to Staples for a new paper notebook.

Then I got to work.  Then a hurricane came and took away my power for four days.  But I kept working, charging up (and showering) at a friend’s house, and working some more.  In fact, I worked even harder.  I was determined not to let a measly power outage stop me from writing!  I also knew a terrible truth:   These days off were my only chance to write full time! I also knew I have a tendency to panic.  Perfection, procrastination, panic, paralysis. 

Yes, spending a month with the NaNo challenge for Entangled was exciting.  Until I realized I have a habit of doing those four P’s mentioned above, and probably wouldn’t make my personal goal.  So I had to start getting a grip on some home truths, and the month wasn’t all about writing 50,000 words any more.

Friends, I did not make 50,000 words.  My personal goal was just to finish the story.  At forty thousand words.  Okay, maybe thirty thousand.

My final tally, as of 10:00 p.m., November 28?  18,260 words.  That’s right.  I didn’t even break 20,000 words. 

And it really sucks that I couldn’t keep up the pace with all those other fabulously prolific writers (Hi, Pin! *waves*).  There.  I feel better just saying it.  I am not prolific.  Still, it’s valuable  to look back at the mistakes I made, celebrate what I did accomplish, and acknowledge the reality of my life and commitments. Admit some truths about myself.  About my writing.  About my own temperament and tolerance for pressure.  And maybe, possibly, someone out there will see some reason in my ramblings about this past month.  Maybe there’s someone just as crazy as I am.

The most important lesson is one I have resisted for years.  But, let it be said, now and forever, once and for all.  It’s hard to say, and I have hated learning this:

I AM NOT A PANTSER.

There.  I’ve said it.  I can’t write by the seat of my pants.  Somehow, I was behind the door when that gift was being handed out. 

I am more intimately acquainted with my writing personality than ever before.   With Act One of my work planned (thank you again, Martha Alderson), I achieved a thousand words a day. Sometimes I made the full 1667 word the Entangled gods were asking for. When I tried to double that output in response to a promise of double points, though, I burned out.

Worse,  not having planned Act Two brought my output to a measly three to five hundred words a day.  Or none.  I needed two weeks to finally see the center of the story.  One evening last week, it finally clicked while I was eating sushi at a new restaurant in town (note to self: sushi is an effective writing tool).  I rushed home and blocked out the action for the rest of the book that evening.

So, now I can tell the truth.  If I have a clear idea of my story and what needs to be written, I can spit out five hundred words a day.  If there’s more time and I’m more motivated, a thousand.  I don’t want to do NaNo again.  I like taking my notebook with me when I go out to dinner with my sweetie, and calling it a “business dinner.”  I like online chat with other authors.  And I really, really like Martha Alderson’s books.

Not a bad set of lessons to learn in a month, huh?

Christmas Was All I Wrote

mermaids, Susan Andrews, Writing

You know when I love writing?   Not when I remember at the last minute that it’s my day to post, and I haven’t started the short story I promised for the fifteenth…  There are lots of days I don’t write.  But I believe I can write, and I know I write well, when I bother to do it.  I especially love writing when I am so convinced I’ve gotten it right that I start crying.

Most of the Mermaids know that I spent a good twenty years out of the writing loop. I’d hung up my keyboard, decided the life wasn’t for me. But, secretly, I was lying.
Because of the one thing I did write:  Christmas letters. Every year, I set myself a deadline and I wrote the absolute best Christmas letter I possibly could write. This was my way of proving to myself that I could write, and write well.

My letters always had a title. They always had a message. I condensed a year of family news into a single page. They were funny. I slaved for funny. But it was the last paragraph that got the most attention.

My letter always ended with one paragraph that hit it home. I didn’t stop writing until I felt the tears rolling down my cheeks because I knew, beyond a shadow of a doubt, that this one paragraph would make the season. I actually got fan mail for my Christmas letters.

I was watching The Natural on ESPN Monday night and was reminded of how I burst into tears at the ending the first time I saw it. That, I told Mr. Headofthehousehold, is what I want with my writing. I want to write like that. Like I wrote in my Christmas letters. But in book length. And then last night, I told him I would write three chapters before school starts, so I can call my book done. At last.

Do you have moments like this? When clarity seems to strike and you have an idea of where you’re supposed to be going? Even if you’re wrong, it seems like the right way to go.

Write it fast. Get it done. And make yourself cry. Because doing less is not an option.

I have until Monday. And this post was late, because (gulp) I was starting another chapter.

 

 

 

Author Interview with PJ Sharon, Indie Author Extraordinaire!

mermaids

Happy Monday, Mer-friends! Today we are interviewing PJ SHARON, and indie author with three books published (so far!). PJ is a YA author, with wonderful sensitivity for the concerns and interests of young adults today. In addition to being a massage therapist and a black belt in martial arts, she has recently begun training in weapons. You know, like guns and things? One thing we know about Paula, she never goes into any new venture half-hearted.

Take it away, Paula!

Please tell readers a little bit about yourself.

Thanks so much for inviting me, Susan. In my day job, I’m a Massage Therapist, personal trainer and yoga instructor. My business, ABSolute Fitness, has been a wonderful and thriving part of my life for the past seven years, and outside of writing, keeps me plenty busy. In my spare time (hahahaha), I can be found in my garden, hiking the endless web of trails behind my house, or paddling the lakes and ponds in New England. Now that my sons are grown and off doing their own thing, and my husband is so self-sufficient, it’s nice to have time to myself to pursue whatever floats my fancy.

When did you first consider yourself a writer?

The short answer is about six years. I’ve written on and off since I was just a little girl, but never considered myself a “writer” or imagined I would actually become published one day. Unlike most writers I’ve met, writing toward publication was a choice made on a whim, and not a lifelong dream for me. After attending a financial seminar about ten years ago, I began kicking the idea around that I could maybe write some books and make some money for my retirement. The idea kept popping up, so I started researching the book market, figuring out what people read, and discovered that Romance novels were 55% of the book market. I thought, I could write one of those. I know about romance.

So one day, while talking with a friend about how great it would be if we could stay young forever, live on a beautiful island, and have handsome young men to do our bidding, my first plot was born. I went home that day, started writing down the characters, taking notes about the “movie” I saw in my head, and didn’t stop writing until I’d written THE END nine months later. It was badly written, but I had another idea right away, so I figured if I’d done it once, I could do it again. It was about that time that I joined RWA and decided to give myself five years to learn the business and become published. I studied the craft by reading books about writing and working with a retired high school English teacher friend who continues to edit some of my work and give me writing tips. I’ve taken a ton of on-line workshops and have attended conferences like a groupie. I even amassed seven full length manuscripts in six years, so I figured I had reached my 500,000 words of practice. I jumped through traditional hoops for a while and then decided to independently publish my books. Somewhere along the way, I became a writer.

Please tell us about your latest work.

WANING MOON, the first book in the CHRONICLES OF LILY CARMICHAEL, takes place in the year 2057. A sixteen-year-old girl, genetically engineered to survive the plague that destroyed three quarters of the earth’s population, must evade the rogue Government agency that would seek to capture her and her brother. But Lily’s gift for healing has its limits and her brother’s gift isn’t the only thing the family is hiding. The uncle they live with has his own secrets and if found out, it could cost them everything. Book One chronicles Lily’s journey to the trading post in Albany with her new friend Will Callahan. She’s on a mission to get the medicine that could cure her uncle’s cancer, but Will is along for reasons of his own, and Lily finds much more than she bargained for on her trip. I’m finishing up the first draft now and the book is slated for a fall release. I’m also working on a companion short story that will be the prequel to Book One. That one will be from Zephron’s (Lily’s brother) POV and is called HARVEST MOON. It will be published in the WG2E October anthology and will be available on e-book through Amazon.

SAVAGE CINDERELLA is very different from your first two books. Can you talk about that?

I write young adult fiction, and as an indie-pubbed author, I don’t have the restrictions of having to write the same types of stories every time. I still want to make sure that I’m living up to my readership’s expectations, but as long as my message of hope comes through, I think readers will enjoy seeing something different from me. SC was written back in 2009. I wrote it in third person point of view because it was a romantic suspense and I wanted the hero’s and the villains POV in addition to my heroine’s. Back then, I had some issues with staying in deep POV, so a fellow writer recommended I try writing in first person. What came out of that was ON THIN ICE, and then HEAVEN IS FOR HEROES, which were both told from the main character’s POV. Since HIFH came easily and quickly, and felt like my best writing to date, I released that one first. Then I released OTI, and after much revision, published SC in March. I think the common theme of all of my stories is that no matter what challenges a person faces, it is possible to find the inner strength to overcome. The other thing you can be sure to find in my stories is a sweet romance…because who doesn’t love a sweet romance?

What was one of the most interesting things you learned in researching your book?

I learned a lot about native plants indigenous to the Smokies and Northern Georgia. I’ve never been to Atlanta, so I did a lot of research on the city so I could create a real experience for my readers. But I think the most difficult research was reading about victims of abduction and delving into the psyche of pedophiles. I lost more than a few nights of sleep.

Do you have a formula for developing characters?

That would probably make things much easier, LOL. No, I don’t. My characters kind of come to me fully formed. Like friends, I have to spend time with them to get to know them. They generally come to me with a problem and I get to help them solve it. I’m still more of a pantser than a plotter, but I do like to work out a character grid. If I know what their goal, motivation, and conflict are, it tells me a lot of what I need to know. I also ask myself questions about them, like what is their fatal flaw? What is the thing they are most afraid of? What is the thing that keeps them from having what they want? When I know these deeper character traits, it makes it easier to see what would create conflict for them and what their big black moment might be. Beyond that, details about them evolve as the story unfolds and they reveal themselves to me.

Do you have any interesting writing quirks?

Oh, I’m sure I do. Do things like hanging upside down when I need to focus, or spouting daily affirmations at my computer count?

What was the last amazing book you read?

I’m almost done with Kristan Higgins’ latest, SOMEBODY TO LOVE. Everything she writes is amazing.

What’s next in writing for you?

Since I’m committed to the trilogy, I should be pretty busy into 2013. I’m hoping to release some short stories in between each book. I have another contemporary YA that I started last fall and I’d love to get back to work on that. I also have some ideas for non-fiction projects, but until I’m able to write full time or hire some help, production will move along at whatever pace my limited human condition can handle.

Can you leave readers with a little teaser from SAVAGE CINDERELLA?

Okay, here’s a creepy snippet for the suspense lovers:

“Do you recognize any of these men?” It was Karen Sutton, the Assistant D.A. from her father’s office, asking the question. The woman’s voice sounded distant.
“He can’t see me, can he?” Brinn glared through the glass. He was older but had the same wiry frame and narrow face that she remembered. A sick pain thundered through her flesh, reminding her of the nightmares she’d had for years. Stockman’s face suspended, immortal in the recesses of her mind, affirming that even sleep was no escape.
Her nights were tormented more than ever by dreams and memories. Now, her worst nightmare was standing no more than ten feet away. The bile that rose in her throat burned. He knew she was there behind the mirror. She could see it in his eyes—that confident, cruel look that sent a wave of terror through her chest.
“He absolutely cannot see you, Brinn.” The detective reassured. The woman wrapped an arm around her shoulders, supporting her as her limbs wobbled and threatened to give way.
“He knows that I’m here. I can feel it.”
“Which one is he?”
Brinn raised her hand and pointed a shaky finger. “That’s him, the third one in.” Her breath came in shallow gulps. “He’s the man who took me.”
“You’re absolutely certain?” Karen asked.
“Yes.”
“Okay, Brinn. We have your statement and you’ll have the opportunity to testify when he goes to trial. Someone will contact you when we have more details.” Detective Walker led her out and down a hallway, followed closely by the tall blonde attorney who was already making conversation with someone on her cell phone.
In spite of the voices around her, Brinn was distracted by a stabbing shot of needles that pricked her spine. She looked over her shoulder. The men from the lineup were filing down the hall in the opposite direction and as he came out of the room, Roy Stockman looked down the narrow corridor, met her eyes, and let a wide, evil grin cross his face, a facade of charm showing even from a distance. He mouthed the words, but Brinn heard it as if he had whispered in her ear. “I will find you. I promise.”

Well, that’s it for today’s interview!  PJ’s covers are featured below, with buy links embedded.  As well, in the next spot are links to her website, Facebook, Twitter, blog and group blogs.  She’s a busy, busy woman!

Thank you, PJ Sharon, for sharing your story and insights with the Mermaids today!

                      

Contact Information for PJ Sharon
Book Trailers: http://www.youtube.com/pjsharon64
Website: http://www.pjsharon.com
Follow PJ on Twitter: @pjsharon
“Like” PJ on Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/pjsharonbooks
Find PJ on Amazon’s Author Central page: https://www.amazon.com/author/pjsharon
Follow PJ’s Promotional blog @ http://pjsharonyawriter.blogspot.com
Follow PJ’s Tuesday blog @ http://secretsof7scribes.wordpress.com
Follow PJ’s Friday Healthy Teen Tips blog @ http://yabeyond.com

Plotting…(gulp). Do I have to? WWYD???

mermaids, Writing

Happy Friday, Mermaids and Friends! The lagoon apparently succumbed to a sudden infestation of pond scum last night and needed some attention. Once that got cleaned up, the gates were opened and the Mermaids returned to the pool! *throws glitter

One of my big problems with writing is keeping up momentum. I get a nice head of steam up, craft a great first chapter, a pretty good second, and then… yeah, you know the story. Then I give up. Plotting is NOT my strong point.

Since I’m struggling with plot, I’ll throw out a snip of my third chapter. For me writing the middle is always the struggle: for Lake Effect I have a beginning and an end, but no middle. If these were your characters, what would you do with them?

“Do you have any idea where your father’s valuables could be? And what about your mother’s?” Sam set his scraper down and crossed to face her, his height imposing.

“This is Lake Isaac. It’s safe.” But even as Nicole said the words, doubt niggled in her mind. The lake had certainly been safe when she was growing up. But what about now?

What did she really know about Lake Isaac anymore?

Sam’s next words confirmed her doubt. “Do yourself a favor: go to the bank, rent a safety-deposit box, then come back and start looking for things that need to be in it. Jewelry, cash, silverware. Important papers, the deed to the house.” He hesitated. “You father’s will.”

The thought drove pain through her chest, and she felt the tightness in her throat. “I don’t know if he has one.”

“Look through his desk.” Sam’s voice was kinder as he sensed her dismay. “He may have a deposit box already. Or a safe.” He snapped his fingers. “That’s more like Gerald: a safe. I can just see him hiding his stuff around the house.”

Nicole agreed. “’Never trust anyone who says you can trust them,’” she quoted. “What color are you painting the door?”

“Green.”

She threw her hands up. Men! “That doesn’t tell me anything,” she objected. “There are hundreds of greens, Norman.”

“Norman? Rockwell.” Sam nodded. “Good name. I like it. Thanks.”

“Don’t change the subject! What color green did you choose?”

He twisted to look at her over his shoulder. “Why do you care? You aren’t going to live here.”

“That doesn’t mean I don’t want the best for the house! I grew up here, and I want –“ she stopped.

“What?” Sam turned now to look her fully in the eyes. “What do you want, Nicole? Your stated goal is to be done with the house. You have a life out there that doesn’t include this house, this town, or any of its residents.” His lips pressed together for a moment. “Not your father. Not anyone.”

“I –“

“You want to be done? Be done.” He returned the scraper to the toolbox and retrieved a sanding block. “Don’t worry about us.”

She stood there, her arms filled with old newspapers. The others in the stack, relieved of their top-level brick, cascaded to the floor. The cat leapt from the railing outside and vanished.

Nicole has come back to town to get rid of her personal ghosts, her ties to Lake Isaacs, and the house she grew up in. What would you have her do next? Obviously, one thing on her list (though she doesn’t know it yet) is to fall in love with Sam. Stumped? Me, too.

Me and BEA

mermaids

June 5 and 6 – Jacob Javits Center, NY

Spoiler alert: Throwing yourself into the Book Expo America trade show is a lot like throwing yourself into a mosh pit.  Maybe you’ll come out better for the experience.  Hope!  Hope hard!

Understand first that Jacob Javitz, in Manhattan, is a mammoth exhibition hall.  It’s not meant for the faint of heart.  But I’d brought my bar-code admission ticket, the lines were manageable after rush hour, and I received my ID and lanyard in record time. 

I didn’t attend the entire four day conference. I didn’t get to see any of the special events, or break-out sessions or panel discussions. I just trolled aisle after aisle of publisher displays, marveled at the number of books being promoted, signed, or simply piled up for the taking.  Stood in line at Harlequin, Wiley, Penguin, Simon & Schuster, RWA and smaller publishers like the lovely Shadow Mountain Publishing booth and Ellora’s Cave.  I got bling: a vampire first-aid kit for EC, a whoopee cushion for James Patterson’s new middle-school series, and more tote bags than I need (but who’s complaining?).  Oh, and also the Ellora’s Cave 2012 calendar, autographed by the ManWars-worthy studs, uhm, models (like, are those biceps real? Really?).  After the intense experience that is BEA, I would say: 1) the publishing industry is alive and well, 2) publishers are adjusting as quickly as they can to the digital content revolution,  3) it’s still all about the fun of reading, and 4) don’t sit on a chair in a publisher’s booth without getting permission (practice your “pity-me” smile).

One of the best experiences was my chat with Robert Barrett, co-founder of Autography (http://www.autography.com/).  This platform allows an author to digitally sign an e-book.  Whether at an in-person event or remotely, the author can personalize their e-book for the reader.  He showed up later on at a book signing, offering a the book as a digital download free, with a photo of the author as well as her autograph.  Autography can also work as a publisher platform (but really, take a look at the website, it’s very “next hot app” stuff).

More fun were the enhanced barcodes (which I haven’t figured out yet) on books like The Book of Burger by Rachel Ray.  They promise enhanced digital content.  One of the YA books being promoted offered geographical and historical backstory to the main content.  If I could remember the title, I’d point you to it (are you getting now just how busy those two days were?).  Also, the bling!  Don’t forget the bling.

What’s not fun?  Standing in line for a hot title or celebrity author and finding they’re signing postcards.  Or excerpts.  Honest.   More than once, I saw more the line melt when the signing started and word got passed down.  Sweetheart, there are better books available than what you’re offering right now.  Yes, I know there are possible explanations, but it stings.  It really does.

Using two days out of four, one day was given to writer-centric pursuits, and the other to reading, reading and more reading.  Which is why going a second day, and with a friend, changes a person from a well-behaved professional into a raving lunatic fan: 

I’ll be posting book reviews of my faves in a later post.

If you have the chance to go to BEA, make sure your shoes are sturdy, cards are in your back pocket, your phone is set on stun and your wallet crammed with cash.  Next year, I want a third day, to explore the advances in digital publishing.  Especially since almost everything that was seen this year will be “old” in twelve months.

 

Keep Yer Chin Up, Babe

mermaids, Motivation, Writing

Two Thursdays ago, I fell down the stairs.  Really!  There I was, happily carrying a discipline slip to the Deans on the first floor (yes, filling out those blue cards does fill me with a sense of justice).  I was wearing my favorite orange heels from Talbots.  Dressed impeccably (bien sur!), I was sure of winning Best Dressed Teacher for the day at school.  It was a wonderful day, beautiful weather.  And, I’d just received a note from an editor, asking for more!

Yes, it was a lovely day. Until my heel went out from under me on Step #1. It hit Step #2, slipped again and then (oh, misery!) slipped on #3. At which time my butt hit Step #1 and I threw my hands out, flailing against the cascade of events that was Ruining My Day. 

No dice.  I slid down three more stairs and ended up with one leg folded under me on the stairs (the trailing foot couldn’t catch up). That foot curled into a strange question mark in its oh-so-pretty shoe.  One hand was strained from trying to stop the “A is for Alice, who fell down the stairs” moment.  Nah, Richard Scary.  That girl’s name is Susan.

When it was over, I had a sprained finger and (this makes me feel so small) sprained Big Toe.  Today, nearly three weeks, later, I am in a pair of normal shoes.  My toe still hurts.  So does my finger.  But I am better, and I am on my way back to the healthy, snarky Mermaid we all know and love.

So, you ask, why am I telling this story?  Because, when it’s all over, Keep Your Chin Up.  Yes, it’s been hard to wear sneakers at work.  It was hard to creep to and from the train, up and down the stairs at work and home, to depend on other people.  It was hard to get a rejection after I’d made the re-submit and was waiting for the contract I was positive would be in the mail the next day.  How could I miss?  How could I miss that step?

And how does one go about recovering, both from a missed step and a rejection?  My plan for my foot is to keep moving carefully, and in sensible shoes!  Oh, that is a hard one to swallow, but it must be done.  My plan for my manuscript is a careful re-read, tweaking to address the flaws that seemed to stop this editor cold, and resubmit.

Which brings me to the question:  How do YOU handle those speed bumps in life?  Your illness or injury, or that of someone you love?  The surprise rejection of a manuscript you believe in?  What does it take to get you back on your feet or, in Mermaid-speak, back in the lagoon?  

 

Welcome to Fantasy Island! The Mermaid Celebration Continues…

Giveaway, mermaids

It’s our one-year anniversary! The Waterworld Mermaids have dyed the lagoon hot pink, added glitter and cranked up the dance music for our weeklong anniversary celebration. Each day we’ll be hosting a mermaid scavenger hunt. At the bottom of each day’s post you’ll find three questions about the mermaids who blogged that day, the answers to which can be found on this site. Answer the questions and be entered to win that day’s prize. Plus, on Friday we’ll be giving away a $130 Visa gift card. To increase your odds of winning the gift card, answer each day’s scavenger hunt questions. Every entry you make Monday through Thursday will give you an additional entry in the big Friday giveaway of a $130 gift card. So jump in the lagoon and get swimming with your lucky fin!

 

Susan: Flash back to 1975: me deep into Europe on $10 a Day, convinced I could make a trip like that and survive.  I even applied for a passport!  Sadly, without traveling companions, my dreams had to wait. Even though I insisted it was possible to go by myself, nobody was in favor of my wild proposals, and my always-vivid imagination kept me quite safely at home.  But I could dream…

Flash forward twenty-eight years, and I am on a plane to Paris.  At last!  Dear One is meeting me there, having flown in from a business trip in Singapore.  Imagine me exiting Customs and seeing him on the other side of the glass.  How romantic!  We celebrate our Silver Anniversary in the City of Light.  We see the Bastille Day fireworks at the Eiffel Tower.  We have dinner with friends.  Really!  In Paris!  We get slammin’ service and free drinks!  We walk twice around the Arc de Triomphe because we’re too drunk to find our street! (boy howdy, was Dear One perturbed over that!)

When I come home, I have been deeply entrenched in the French language for a week.  I have apparently talked in French in my sleep.  For a few moments after returning home, I can’t read English.  On a shopping trip with SweetPea, I start to cry.  Why?  Because there aren’t any sidewalk cafes in upstate New York that will let you sit down and order a glass of wine.  I’m back in America.  I’m stuck.

This is my fantasy:  Let me do it all again before I die.

Masha – my dream vacation was and still is a cruise through Europe. One of the stops along the way was the Island of Capri. So far, that has to be the most gorgeous place on earth.  I was only able to spend a day, but the views were magnificent.  Perched off the coast of Italy, its windy cliff roads are peppered with beautiful white villas capped with red clay roofs. The cobblestone streets weave around quaint stores, but it’s the Blue Grotto that is a taste of heaven. In my wild imagination, I take a rickety taxi all the way to the top, pick an out of the way café, nestled amidst bright azalea bushes, and stare down to the blue Mediterranean as I pluck out my latest novel.   I imagine my family is along for the ride (although the kids are older.. as cute as they are, toddlers and neckbreaking mountainside drops into the ocean don’t mix), but every day I get a few slices of time to do my own thing before joining them on whatever adventure they cook up for the day.  But alas, for now, it’s back to the grind.

Loni:  I’m in a cottage in the quaint lake front town of Petoskey, Michigan one of the towns I grew up in.  The cottage is vintage Victorian but not overly done.  There is a wide front porch with a bench swing painted white, two large oaks out front and the breeze is gently blowing  the sheer curtains into my Shabby-Chic, decorated bedroom.  I wake to a breakfast of fresh strawberries and cream with banana nut muffins and hot, English Breakfast tea and orange juice out on the back screened in porch facing the English-style gardens.

My day is spent with my beloved (who is catering to my every whim) checking out the local shops along the lake front.  There are antique stores and craft stores, local artisans selling their wares and even a farmer’s market.  We pick up a loaf of fresh bread, olive oil, some deli cheese, meats and fresh fruits to make a picnic along with a bottle of a semi-sweet wine that will compliment the small picnic.  We spread out a blanket on the rich green lawn of the local park in front of the Stafford’s Perry Hotel under a shade tree and enjoy just talking and feeding each other bits of cheese and grapes.

We would take a walk along the lake front and let the breeze off of Lake Michigan carry our cares away.  It would be perfect because the following day, he would take me to Mackinac Island via ferry where we would continue my fantasy vacation at the Grand Hotel where I would revel in sitting in a white whicker chair on the worlds largest front porch, taking in the view of gorgous Lake Huron/Lake Michigan, the Mackinac Bridge and the boats out on the water, while the scent of fresh lilacs waft around me.

That would be my fantasy vacation: to live the dream I’ve had since I was a little girl in northern Michigan.

1.  What is Loni’s publishing status?

2.  What is Susan’s sign?

3.  What superpower does Masha want to have?

 

Thanks for joining us in the Waterworld Mermaid lagoon! Leave a comment with the answers to the following three questions (hint: answers found in the mermaid profiles) and be entered to win today’s prize—a signed print copy of our very own Susan Andrews vintage 1987 Harlequin American release, Fair Game.  A mint condition, unread and very rare copy of her Golden Heart winning story!

 

Book Review: “Touch of Frost”

Book Review, mermaids

For all the nay saying and complaining about the state of publishing these days, let’s not forget that small presses are bringing good authors to market. When I find a jewel like Jennifer Estep and her “Touch of Frost” series, I have to believe that we are in a new Golden Age of fiction.

Estep’s Gwen Frost has a full plate of problems. She’s fifteen. Her mother is has been murdered. Her grandmother tells fortunes for a living. She’s been jerked out of her comfort zone and sent to a new residential school for super power teens. And her own power is more of a curse: anything and anyone she touches tells her secrets. And some of then are not anything a person would ever want to know. Really.

Especially when you’re living in a school full of teenaged warriors, who all have violent tendencies and training to Save The World From Dark Forces. And that touching/sensing talent? It kind of makes physical contact with the resident hottie off limits. As in, he doesn’t want her to know his dark side either. In the meantime, the resident mean girl has been murdered, various statues keep aiming for Gwen, and there’s a villain on campus who has marked her as next on their list of victims. The hottie has secrets of his own, and Gwen has to decide not to take advantage of her talent to get to the truth. It’s a full disclosure romance with unlicensed drivers at the wheel.

“Touch of Frost” is a nice twist on the survival story meets paranormal powers meets prada. There’s some comic relief: Daphne, the Amazon who eventually becomes a friend, is addicted to the color pink. When Gwen finally is trusted with a weapon, it is a talking sword. With a Cockney accent and a bloodthirsty attitude. Hey, anyone up for sword fights or Valkyries coming back from the dead?

Lent and the Distracted Writer

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Yes, folks.  Mardi Gras is over.  Ash Wednesday is here, and the forty days of penance.  As in, fish on Fridays.  Giving up sweets.  Or soda.  Or alcohol.

Being Catholic, I’m asked to give something up for Lent every year.  One year, I gave up gossip.  Another year, I gave up saying bad things about people.  This year, I’m wondering if I should try to give up what I personally believe is one of the biggies.  It’s a real monkey on my back.

Being distracted.

I am a champion at being distracted.  I don’t like to turn off my wireless, partly because I’ve always allowed myself to believe that it can be hard to turn back on.  I love to look things up, to research, to collects tidbits of information.  I’ve studied cosmetics, perfumes and knitting with the intensity of a day trader.  Also, what if something really important comes through on my email?  What if I miss it?   I have things to do, and often allow myself to think that those are super important.  More important, even, than the work I sat down to do.  Writing.

So, how do I not be distracted?  How do I not look around the room and see the things that need to be picked up.  Turn down the brain-chatter in my head that nags me to get that load of laundry on, check on that bill, hang that coat up, try out that miraculous anti-aging serum?

Because if I can just get those things done, I will be productive!  Right?

Wrong.  If I get those things done, I have done those things.  And I will have allowed myself not to write, yet again.

Again, how do I turn down the distracted side of my head?

In Pressfield’s The War of Art, he calls this PROCRASTINATION. Procrastination, he says, is everything that keeps us from our work.  The Bible addresses it in Corinthians: “whatever you do, do it with your whole heart,” and encourages us to keep in mind that we are working for a higher power.  FlyLady.net starts every year with a new reminder.  This year’s is “Perfectionism is shelved in 2012.”  You can do anything for fifteen minutes!  And it doesn’t have to be perfect.  Just do it.

So.  It is possible.  I have Pressfield, God, and Marla Cilley at my back to keep me on the straight and narrow.  With that in mind, I will do the right thing.  I will turn off the wireless.  I will resolve to do my job with my whole heart.  I will set the timer for fifteen minutes, rest, and repeat, and forgive myself up front for not being perfect.  This is my Lenten resolution.

Do you get distracted?

Checks out this link for more, uhm, encouragement.  Honest, he says it so much better than I ever will:  http://electricliterature.com/blog/2011/07/25/dont-read-this

Productive? Prolific? Sign Me Up!

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I am so happy to bring my first book review to the Waterworld Mermaids’ lagoon immediately after posting on the problem of Fear.  Being a writer who spends way too much time worrying about not writing, I am always hoping to find words of wisdom that might help me embrace my craft.

       The Productive Writer, by Sage Cohen, is one book in my arsenal.  Ms Cohen writes as both a business professional and a poet.  She believes, as she states early in her introduction, that productivity is a lifestyle choice.  I used this book extensively last winter, carrying it in my satchel and dipping into it for reading on my train rides to and from the Bronx each weekday morning.  I could dip into a chapter (“Transforming Your Realtionship with Time,” or “Writing in the Margins of a Full-Time Life”, among others) and meditate on ten or so pages.  Even if I only scanned the headings of part of a chapter, I felt comforted and reinvigorated, ready to face the task ahead.  Productive Writer remains at my elbow here at home most days.  After Thursday’s post and responses, I think it needs to go back in my satchel.

Last Saturday, I was the lucky winner of Hillary Rettig’s The 7 Secrets of the Prolific.  I’d just been treated to a presentation from this speaker at a CTRWA monthly meeting, and was thrilled to know that I would be taking her wisdom home with me.  Ms. Rettig writes that, yes, writers procrastinate for many reasons.  She takes time to examine perfectionism, resource constraints, time constraints, bias, internalized oppression and exploitation, just to scratch the surface.  In discussing these, she seeks to help us change our inner dialogue and unsnarl the spaghetti that keeps us blocked from fully embracing our mission to be productive. 

I know that these two books, alone, won’t make me the writer I dream of becoming.  They are tools.  But the wisdom and insight contained in each helps provide a re-dedication to my talent and goals.  Suddenly, I’m looking forward to all those train rides this winter…

 

The Productive Writer is available in print and as an ebook at both amazon.com and barnesandnoble.com

The 7 Secrets of the Prolific is available as an ebook at amazon.com. Print copies can be purchased at http://hillaryrettig.com.