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.
Read MoreNews and announcements
First off, I’d like to announce that my wonderful critique partner, Heidi, has started up a blog with a very interesting story – how her training for a marathon is like writing a novel. 
Check it out at: http://heidichiavaroli.blogspot.com
As a side note- here are the links to my other awesome critique partners!
- Sandy Ardoin – http://www.sandraardoin.com/
- Edwina Cowgill – http://musingsofedwina.blogspot.com/
Next – I’m excited to say my rewrite of my NaNoWriMo manuscript is completed (now for little edits here and there). It has been retitled – “Beautiful Pretense” and I’m now preparing the manuscript proposal for the Oregon Christian Writers Summer Conference.
Finally – I have to highlight the funniest video for writers that I’ve ever seen. If you’ve ever read a Donald Miller book, you will find this even funnier. As a Portlander, it is on a whole other level. Thank you to my fabulous friend, Caitlin, for posting this on her blog! Enjoy!
Read MoreThe journey of revision
I was planning on writing a blog about another Arabian horse legend, but I thought I would let you all know where I am with my novel, In Dawn’s Shadows.
This week, I am currently suffering the worst case of writers block. I hate it.
Thanks to my fabulous critique partners (you know you are!) the novel has undergone many changes and improvements. Most writers will tell you no story is ever finished; there could always be one more edit, revision or tweak. Well, with In Dawn’s Shadows, it desperately needed the closer look and adjustment.
Because I started this story as a freshman in high school, the manuscript has gone through two complete rewrites, three or four liposuctions and another half dozen surgeries. The main idea is still there, but plot has changed, characters grown and research deepened.
Now, I am so close to “completion,” I can smell it. Smells better than fresh-baked cookies. On another note, the manuscript is under review by an agent I met at the Oregon Christian Writers Conference and also submitted to a publisher. I say a prayer every day for an answer and know that whether it is a yes or no, God has a plan for this particular set of 73,000 words.
But back to this writer’s block. I thank God for deadlines and keeping accountable to my critique group, because the inspiration for these two chapter revisions is simply not there. Any other time, I would have set it aside and waited for the muse to strike. Now, I need a chapter to submit so I’d better get cracken!
So I have toiled at the computer, picked at my nails, checked my email three dozen times, surfed Facebook for a bit (curse you, Facebook.) I finally switched off the wireless internet—thank God for that switch. Now I’m writing this. Hmm…not necessarily progress on the manuscript…but at least I’m writing.
Leave a comment and share how you overcome writer’s block! (And if reading blogs is one of the things keeping you from your writing—get back to work!)
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