Writing news and blogging plans
Greetings!
The past three weeks for me have been…chaotic…to say the least. You might not have noticed if you just read my blog, because of the beauty of pre-scheduled posts (thank you, WordPress). However, I’ve been running all over Washington and Oregon for a writer’s conference and a county fair…then back to work to catch up on all I missed!
Here are some photos from the OCW Conference. I’ll blog later about my Coaching Class with the infamous James Scott Bell. He’s simply brilliant.
James Scott Bell, author
I am most excited about the amount of interest I received for my newest novel, especially after my first manuscript took a solid beating last year.
(Note to the writers out there – if something isnt selling, move on and come back to it later! You learn and grow so much in writing that second or third manuscript!)
So now I’m sending proposals and praying for speedy answers!
In other news, my day job is transforming in the wake of several position changes and so the future is a bit uncertain, but I’m confident God knows what He’s doing.
Now that life will hopefully settle back to “normal,” we’ll return to our regularly scheduled programming… By that I mean back to the blog series, “The Story Behind the Story.” Next week, look for the talented Sarah Sundin’s guest blog about how she came up with the characters behind her latest novel. Also look for my dear friend, Jessica Johnson and the beginnings of her fantasy story!
My last note for the day: Book three in the Hunger Game Series by Suzanne Collins, Mockingjay, releases next TUESDAY! And yes, I’ll be in line at the midnight release party! But that’s another blog entirely!
Read MoreIn honor of this year’s fair
Here is a repost of one of my first ever blogs, posted around this time last year. Enjoy!
This week, the Clark County Fair takes over the small town of Ridgefield, Wash., and erupts into a 10-day flurry of wild rides, cotton candy, elephant ears, dozens of vendors, animals of all shapes and sizes, demolition derby and monster trucks. All the good, traditional fair activities aside, the Clark County Fair lands near to my heart. Apart from having shown horses at the fairgrounds for most of my life, I represented the fair across the Pacific Northwest in 2004. I was a Clark County Fair Court Princess.
Yes, I know what you are thinking. Oh. One of those girls. Well, I was. However, the world of rodeo queens stems far from the typical beauty pageants.
For me, the equestrienne court was a chance to practice public speaking and travel the state, all from horseback. I landed my first published clip because of the court, guest writing an article for the Columbian (Vancouver, Wash.) about life in the court. At the time, that was huge for me!
The court serves as ambassadors to local events, parades and rodeos to promote the Summer’s Best Family Party – the Clark County Fair. We rode in grand entries for dozens of rodeos, waved to crowds at countless parades and mingled with other local and state royalty at luncheons and pageants. We spent all 10 days of the fair living on the grounds—signing autographs, judging various contests, doing grand entries and so much more. Early mornings, late nights, lots of fair food and hair spray to keep those curls intact. It was heaven.
I went on to compete in another pageant and was crowned the 2005 Miss Teen Rodeo Washington. Another year of priceless experiences.
Recently, I’ve realized how my years as a rodeo queen helped me later in life. After dozens of interviews, I hold a new respect and perspective as I entered journalism as a major. Only when you have been misquoted in print can you truly understand the importance of accuracy and due diligence.
Giving impromptu speeches and thinking on your feet has paid off time and time again. In college, I served as the editor in chief of the newspaper and magazine. I led class discussions and taught reporters—four years earlier I wouldn’t have seen myself quite that confident.
Finally, at writers conferences and more, the goal is to sell yourself and your work, thus do your own PR. Posture, etiquette and eloquence all come into play and while I can credit my parents with laying the groundwork, the finishing touches came from two years of hair fluffing, sparkling rhinestones and high-speed grand entries. Yee haw!
Learn more about current rodeo royalty:
Story Behind the Story: Edwina Cowgill
Finally, the talented Edwina Cowgill joins us! See her website and blog here!
Edwina Cowgill
From Edwina:
My husband, Dave, and I went on a “mini-vacation” over the Memorial Day weekend. We drove to Savannah, Georgia, which is about a four hour ride from where we live. Needless to say, the radio was on for the entire trip.
Dave loves the ole’ time radio programs – those mysteries that are “acted” out over the microphones. Programs such as Dragnet and Sam Spade. Personally, I don’t care for the programs that much. I’m more of a visual person – I want to either read the story and visualize it in my mind, or I want to see it on TV.
If I’m in the car, I want to listen to, and sing along with, praise and worship music. But Dave enjoys the programs, so I usually listen, or if we’re on a long trip, I’ll be reading.
Prior to this trip, I had been asking God for ideas for new books. I realized there are no new topics—just new ways to present them. I was asking God for new ways, new twists, to old plots.
So here we are, tootling down I-75 and I-16, Dave listening to the radio and me – listening with one ear and thinking about new stories. The program on the radio was Sam Spade and it finally dawned on me that a woman had been murdered and Sam Spade suspected her husband. That started the “what if” questions.
What if, instead of being murdered, she was on the run? What if she was on the run from an abusive boyfriend or husband? Where would she go? How would he find her? And on and on and on.
I began to bounce ideas off of Dave and we began to talk out the story. By the time we reached Savannah, I had the entire story outlined on paper. When we returned home, I went through a complete software method of mapping out my story. It took hours of work to finish this program. The funny thing is I’m a pantster – I write by the seat of my pants. I’ve yet to look at that outline or software and I’ve written approximately one-third of the book.
Oh yes, as you can tell from the title of this blog, one thing Dave and I didn’t brainstorm on – the title! But by the time the book is finished, I’m sure I’ll have the perfect title!
MARANATHA!!
Read MoreStory Behind the Story: Heidi Chiavaroli
Here is the “Story behind the Story” from my fellow WWII-writer, Heidi Chiavaroli! Visit her blog here!
From Heidi:
At the age of nineteen, I remember grieving my great-great-grandmother’s death. She was 102, born in the year 1898. I was sad for the loss, of course, but sadder still to think I hadn’t taken advantage of the time I’d had with her. Asked her questions. What was it like to be a child in 1908? How did it feel to be married during the turbulent times of WWI? To watch a grandchild be born with a second World War raging overseas? She was history. Personal history that I hadn’t much bothered to delve into. A thousand stories were buried with her, and I’d never attempted to unearth them.
So I imagined them instead. Gradually they evolved to other characters, other places, other times. I couldn’t stop. I love all history, but found myself drawn to the WWII era. It always struck me as glamorous and terribly romantic. My great-grandparents were young parents during this time.
From the beginning, I knew I would set my stories locally. There’s just something about diving into history books from my local library and discovering that a one hundred-year-old building—now a home—I often drive by was a post office during WWII. Or that a slight, narrow clearing in the woods down the street is where a trolley track used to run. I can’t get enough of this stuff. As I continued with my research, and broadened from Rehoboth, MA to Boston, MA, it became more interesting. There was so much happening during WWII in Massachusetts’ capitol, and tons of story “sparks” in the research I came upon. An orphanage. A historic restaurant. A park. A nightclub. A fire. At every turn, a story longed to be told. Very gradually, Room for Freedom was born out of this pile of research and ideas.
My great-grandfather passed on last week at the age of 98. The last time I visited with him in his home he told me a story. As a little boy, he’d go to the nearby general store with his mother. In a jar on the counter sat little bags of potato chips, a nickel a bag. But his family didn’t have much money, and he could never get his tiny hands on one of those bags of chips. Such a small slice of his long existence, but it gave me a precious glimpse into his character, his life. I’m going to miss this man and his stories.
The past is real. The stories are real. I believe God has a purpose for them, even when no one is left to tell first-hand accounts. I pray He will use me, and others like me that share this passion for not only history, but writing.
Read MoreStory behind the Story: Sandra Ardoin
This week, I’m featuring the “Story Behind the Story” of my three critique group partners. First up – going alphabetically – is the marvelous Sandy Ardoin! Visit her blog and website here.
Sandy Ardoin
From Sandy:
How does a novel take over twenty years to write? I admit to being slow, but that’s a bit ridiculous, don’t you think?
Shortly after I first started writing twenty-three years ago, I gave myself an assignment to be read by my class. I wanted to “practice” writing mood and description, so I created a nineteenth century mysterious, slightly shady character who rides into town and checks into a hotel without revealing his name or anything about his business. Frankly, I knew nothing about his business, either.
After the class, I put it away to concentrate on publishing short pieces. Over the next couple of decades, I collected four notebooks of clips—cards and posters, poetry, devotions, and short stories. Contemporary novels, though started, remained unfinished in various computer files. It never seemed the right time to complete one.
Then two and a half years ago I dug out two old manuscripts, the above historical and a contemporary. Within a few weeks, I felt led to put the contemporary aside to concentrate solely on the one set in 1884. Lo and behold, God said this was the right time to complete a novel!
A year later, I got a proposal ready and quickly sent it to the agent of my dreams. It was rejected and I was…well…dejected. Then, I joined American Christian Fiction Writers and went back to school—refining, polishing, and replotting.
Not much is left of those original pages except the names, period and location, but soon I’ll send Waiting for Yesterday out again in search of one of those all-important agents. In the meantime, I’ve written “The End” on another book and started a third.
Perhaps Waiting for Yesterday will remain an “assignment.” It may not be meant to publish, but I am applying the time of learning to the slew of stories in my head and on my hard drive. And I’m convinced that, in the future, more than one of them will rest inside a beautiful cover.
So, if something hasn’t come about in the time you had in mind, remember that twenty years is only the snap of two fingers when the timing is right.
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