Habits of the Slow and Steady ~ Tracy L. Higley's Writing Journey

by Kelly Klepfer

What one issue makes you struggle the most as an author? How do you handle it?

It’s so easy to get your self-worth tied up in the number of books you sell, and so easy to forget that writing is first and foremost creating art (hopefully), which will never be validated by numbers. And secondly, your worth has to come from someplace more secure than sales.  I’m not sure I “handle it” very well, but when I’m centered on the right things, I can let go of the need to see sales numbers climb.

What one issue ignites your passion? Does your passion fuel your writing? What would you do with your life if you didn't write?

I am passionate about seeing people, especially women, live out the adventures of their lives with purpose and risk. So many of us get caught up in busyness that is not purposeful, or stand on the sidelines while life rushes past. In the stories I tell, I am always examining issues of what blocks us from pursuing the unique adventure we are each called to.

Tell us a bit about your current project.

The Queen’s Handmaid just released.  What happens when Cleopatra meets Herod the Great? This little-known historical anecdote was the starting point for a story that dives deep into the ancient worlds of Egypt, Rome and Jerusalem, a few decades before the birth of Christ. I loved exploring the relationships between Cleopatra, Mark Anthony, Herod the Great and Caesar Augustus, through the eyes of a servant girl who sees it all while trying to fulfill her own incredible destiny.

Do you still experience self-doubts regarding your work, or struggle in a particular area such as writers block or angst driven head-banging against walls? Please share some helpful overcoming hints that you’ve discovered.

Yes, and yes!  Always.  I don’t think this ever goes away. Lately, though, I’ve realized that I can’t look at anyone else’s pace or rhythm to be the standard for my own. And I’ve discovered that making just a little bit of writing a daily practice, non-negotiable, is a great habit for me. It gets the work done, slow and steady, without as much of that angst.

What is your favorite source for finding story ideas?

I’ve done lots of traveling in researching my books – all around the Mediterranean and parts of the Middle East. Getting into the culture, walking the streets, breathing the air have all been such an inspiration to me. Someday I’m going to park myself on a Greek island for a month and just write!

Have you ever had one of those awkward writer moments you’d like to share with us, the ones wherein you get “the look” from the normals? Example, you stand at a knife display at the sporting goods store and ask the clerk which would be the best to use to disembowel a six foot man…please do tell.

I was verbally chastised once, in front of a large tour group in the ancient city of Ephesus, for “lagging behind.”  I was too far away to explain to the woman that I was researching a book, so I just called out that information over the heads of the rest of the group.  Afterward, I felt extremely vain and showy, and wished I could melt into the rocks!

What gives you the greatest writer buzz, makes the trip worth the hassles (besides coffee or other substances, or course)?

They say it’s deadly to read your own reviews, but I can’t help myself.  Sometimes there’s a review that gets me down for awhile, but for the most part I just love hearing what people enjoyed about my stories. When they say that I transported them completely to a different world and brought them back changed, it makes it all worthwhile.

What is one of the more unique or strange life experiences that has really given you an extra oomph in your writing?

Hmmm, I’ve had quite a few!  Climbing up the suffocatingly-narrow shaft to the top of the Great Pyramid in Egypt. Having the lights go out while exploring catacombs under Alexandria. Hiking to the top of Mt. Vesuvius over Pompeii and looking down into the volcanic crater. Walking the same streets as St. Paul.

Describe your special or favorite writing spot or send a picture if you'd like.

This is my favorite place to write – a patio I created under my deck a couple of years ago. On the right is the view I see when I’m sitting at the table.

What is the first thing you do when you begin a new book?

Plot, plot, plot.  I definitely like to have the entire thing laid out in my head before I begin. There are always surprises along the way, but I like to know where I’m going!

Writing rituals. Do you have to sit somewhere specific, complete a certain number of words, leave something undone to trigger creativity for the next session? Some other quirk you’d like to share?

I’ve already shared that I have a non-negotiable contract with myself to write every morning, and that’s at least 750 words. There will be other long days of writing interspersed, but if I can get that much done every day, I’m able to stay on track. I also use a time-tracking app, so when I’m ready to start my 750 words, I hit the button and race the clock to see how quickly I can get it done. Timing myself really helps me stay out of “editing” mode and in “creative” mode.

Have you discovered any successful marketing/promo ideas that you'd share with us?

Contests and being part of Fiction Scavenger Hunts have worked very well for me. People love to enter contests, and teaming up with other authors brings more traffic to everyone.

Parting words?

Thanks for giving me a chance to meet your readers!  I’d love to have folks hop over to my website, www.TracyHigley.com, to see my travel journals, read excerpts, and of course, enter to win a contest!

Tracy L. Higley started her first novel at the age of eight and has been hooked on writing ever since. Her lifelong interest in history and mythology have led Tracy to extensive research into ancient lands and shaped her desire to shine the light of the gospel into the cultures of the past.

Higley has authored eleven novels, including Garden of Madness and Isle of Shadows, and has traveled through Greece, Turkey, Egypt, Israel, Jordan and Italy, researching her books. She is thrilled to bring readers adventures set in the ancient past, and it’s her hope that in escaping with her, readers will feel they’ve walked through these deserts, explored ruins, felt the white sand and blue sea under their feet and met with the Redeeming God who is sovereign over the entire drama of human history.

For more information about Tracy L. Higley and her books, visit tracyhigley.com, become a fan on Facebook (tracyhigley) or follow her on Twitter (@tlhigley).

Read More

Twists and Turns in the Writing Life of Billy Coffey ~ An Author Interview

by Kelly Klepfer

Tell us a bit about your current project.

The title of my newest novel is The Devil Walks in Mattingly. It’s about the death of a boy named Phillip McBride, whose body was found twenty years ago along a riverbank in a small Virginia town. His death was ruled a suicide, but three people have spent the last two decades burdened with the truth that Phillip was in fact murdered, and they are each responsible. The story traces the effects of the remorse and guilt these three people have suffered under, and what happens when that dead boy comes back for them all.

We are all about journeys...unique ones at that. How convoluted was your path to your first published book? Share some highlights or lowlights from your path to publication.  

As strange as it is to say, I became a writer through laziness and depression. I was a jock in high school. Second baseman on the varsity baseball team. Playing baseball was all I ever wanted to do. It consumed me, and when something consumes you to the point that it’s all you do and think, you’re bound to get pretty good at it. By my senior year, I was being scouted. The plan was to graduate, play baseball for the next twenty years, and retire by forty. That last sentence sounds pretty ridiculous (I was chuckling halfway through writing it), but it was true. I had a shot. A shot was all I needed.

My creative writing teacher pulled me aside one day and said that baseball or not, there was no way she was going to let me coast through my senior year. She arranged for me to write a weekly column for the local newspaper. Whatever subject I wanted, however I wanted to write about it, just so long as it wasn’t over 500 words. Busy work, for the most part, and that’s exactly how I treated it.

I tore my rotator cuff three months later. The scouts stopped coming. The doctors said I’d never play baseball again. I contemplated suicide. I was seventeen years old, and my life was over. And the worst part was that I couldn’t truly grieve over the whole thing because I had to sit down and write another stupid column for my stupid creative writing teacher. But I sat down that night and truly wrote for the first time. Honestly, deeply, wrote. About how sometimes dreams fade and sometimes they’re snatched away, and how we’re all supposed to try and pick up the pieces and move on. A week later, I received an anonymous letter from someone who wanted to thank me for what I’d said, because those words had saved her from her own suicide attempt. That’s when I decided maybe I could do more good with a pen and paper than with a glove and bat.

I’ve been writing ever since. It took twenty years to get my first book deal (some highs, LOTS of lows), and I’m getting ready to release my fourth novel with a fifth on the way.

Do you still experience self-doubts regarding your work, or struggle in a particular area such as writers block or angst driven head-banging against walls? Please share some helpful overcoming hints that you’ve discovered.

I don’t think there’s a writer alive who doesn’t secretly believe him-or-herself a talentless hack who will sooner rather than later be exposed as a complete charlatan. It’s part of the calling, I suppose. How I’ve learned to handle that angst is twofold. The first is to work and write every day. Keep getting those thousand words, keep churning out those pages. Keep yourself so busy creating something that you don’t have time for angst. The second is to come to grips with the fact that you will work and write every day and still not get it right. You will never produce a book that is perfect, you can only get as close as you can and then try once more. That’s part of the calling as well.

What is your favorite source for finding story ideas?

My fiction generally steers toward Southern gothic. I write about the poor and downtrodden and morally bereft. I write about ordinary people struggling to live their lives and find a good dose of grace. All of which is to say that to me, there is no better place to spend an afternoon as a writer doing research than the nearest Walmart.

With the clarity of experience what advice would you offer up to the wet-behind-the-ears you if beginning this writing journey today?  

I would use that dreaded word “patience.” You must be patient. The wheels of the publishing industry turn slowly, and if you stand abreast of them and scream “FASTER!” they only seem to slow more. With the advent of the Kindle single, there is no better time in history to be a writer than right now. There is also no worse time, because that manuscript you sweat and bleed into will become a book, and that book will become just one more drop in a swelling ocean. So be patient. And while you’re waiting, work. And while you’re working, visit the nearest Walmart.

What event/person has most changed you as a writer? How?

That mean, nasty creative writing teacher who refused to let me slack off during my senior year of high school. It’s still a mystery to me how she saw a talent to write under all those ripped jeans and Guns N’ Roses T-shirts, but she did. I told her early on that real men don’t sit around writing about what they feel and think. The next day, she’d placed a copy of The Old Man and the Sea on my desk. I still have that copy.

Share a dream or something you'd love to accomplish through your writing career.

Whether our dream is to write books or find a nice job in a cubicle, we all want to matter. We all want to feel like we’re needed in some way. We all want to believe that we will be remembered for something long after we’re gone from this world. I’m no different. I’d love a string of bestsellers and a nice cabin in the mountains from my writing career, but what I’d love to accomplish is to know that what I write is used by some as a mirror by which they can look upon their deeper selves.

What gives you the greatest writer buzz, makes the trip worth the hassles (besides coffee or other substances, or course)?

The second draft. The first draft of anything is such an awful thing, because what you’re doing is staring at a blank page and wondering how in the world you’re ever going to fill it up with words. The last draft is equally intimidating, because by then you know you’re almost done, and what will follow after is judgment from editors and readers alike. But that second draft? That’s all yours. That’s where you can tear apart things and build back better ones. That’s where you can make your sentences shine. That’s where the magic happens.

Writing rituals. Do you have to sit somewhere specific, complete a certain number of words, leave something undone to trigger creativity for the next session? Some other quirk you’d like to share?

I write with pen and paper until I have no choice but to commit things to keyboard and screen. It’s always cheap yellow legal pads from Staples, because you don’t mind making a mess of things on cheap yellow legal pads from Staples. But the pen has to be good—very good. I’ve used a Waterman fountain pen since high school. Aside from that, I get a chapter a day, no more or less. Sometimes that means I’m done after 500 words. Other times that means it’s 2500 words and I’m working long into the night. Either way, I hate the thought of leaving things undone. One chapter means it’s done.

Plot, seat of pants or combination?

I wish I could be one of those people who plans out every little plot twist and detail. A part of me thinks writing would be so much easier if that were the case, but it’s never been that way for me. I have outlines upon outlines of my previous novels, weeks of work, all of which went unused because I wanted my characters to do one thing and they all ended up wanting to do something else. So I just focus on that now—the characters. I get to know them, try to understand them, and I keep a rough sense of what happens at the beginning, middle, and end of the story. After that, I hand the reins over to the characters. They tend to know what to do better than I do, anyway.

Billy Coffey dreamed of being a published author ever since high school but vowed he would never be a novelist. Four novels later, God had a different plan in mind. Coffey’s novels tackle faith’s big questions against the backdrop of the rural South, where history is long and things are seldom as they seem. He aims to remain as true to reality as possible — the reality that we experience pain, loss and confusion. Coffey doesn’t want his readers to escape reality, but embrace life and live it better. He also uses his blog, “What I Learned Today,” to reflect on life’s lessons offered in small moments, people and everyday life.

Coffey’s fifth novel, Heart of the Dark Wood, is scheduled to release November 2014.

He lives with his wife and two children in Virginia’s Blue Ridge Mountains.

For more information about Billy Coffey and his books, visit his online home at www.billycoffey.com, become a fan on Facebook or follow him on Twitter.

Read a review of the devil walks in mattingly here.

Read More

When Writers Don't Deliver ~ Tess Gerritsen

Tess Gerritsen left a successful practice as an internist to raise her children and concentrate on her writing. She gained nationwide acclaim for her first novel of medical suspense, the New York Times bestseller Harvest. She is also the author of the bestsellers Life Support, Bloodstream, Gravity, and The Surgeon. Tess lives with her family in Maine. (PHOTO CREDIT: Paul D'Innocenzo) --as appeared her blog.

When Writers Don't Deliver  (first appeared at Crime Fiction Collective)

It’s every aspiring author’s dream. A publisher offers you a big contract for your next book, the deal gets announced to the press, and you receive a check as an advance payment. Now all you have to do is finish writing the manuscript, send it to your editor, and presto! You’re a published author.

Or not. Because a lot can go wrong between signing the contract and your book’s appearance in stores. I was reminded of just how often things do go wrong when I recently came across this article :

A New York publisher this week filed lawsuits against several prominent writers who failed to deliver books for which they received hefty contractual advances, records show.
The Penguin Group’s New York State Supreme Court breach of contract/unjust enrichment complaints include copies of book contracts signed by the respective defendants.

Among the five authors mentioned in the article are Prozac Nation author Elizabeth Wurtzel, who signed a $100,000 deal in 2003 to write “a book for teenagers to help them cope with depression,” and blogger Ana Marie Cox, who signed a $325,000 contract in 2006 for a humorous book about political activists.
I don’t know the particular circumstances of these authors. Perhaps personal issues — a divorce, a severe illness, or unremitting depression — kept them from delivering the promised manuscripts. 

Perhaps they did in fact deliver the manuscripts, which were deemed unsatisfactory by the publisher and rejected.

Or perhaps they suffered from an all-too common writer’s malady: crisis of confidence. I know all about it, because twenty-five years ago, it almost derailed my budding writing career.

I had just sold my first romantic thriller, Call After Midnight, to Harlequin Intrigue. The book sold well and was nominated for a Rita award. Although I didn’t sign a contract for the next book, my editor anxiously waited for my second novel. And she waited. And waited.

Two years later, all I had to show her were partials of various abandoned novels, stories that started off well enough, but within fifty pages had run out of steam. I just couldn’t finish that second book. The months went by and my panic grew. This wasn’t just writer’s block; this was a full-stop career block. I was doomed to join the crowded ranks of one-book wonders.

I don’t remember how I got past those dark months. What I do remember were the calls from the editor, the sound of disappointment in her voice when I told her I still didn’t have anything. Eventually the calls between us stopped, leaving editorial silence, a sign that my publisher had at last given up on me. But I hadn’t given up on myself, so I kept writing.

What saved me in the end was this: I finally gave myself permission to write badly. I decided it didn’t matter if what I wrote was unpublishable, as long as I just kept writing. Up till then, I had abandoned at least three different story ideas within the first hundred pages, because all I could see were the flaws, and I got discouraged. Then I’d get seduced by a different story idea, a brighter, shinier premise on the other side of the fence. And I’d go chasing after that new premise until it too started to show its flaws. I couldn’t finish a single book because I wanted it to be absolutely perfect, from beginning to end. From the very first draft. Which is like expecting your child to speak four foreign languages and play Bach on the piano at age five.

Children don’t start off perfect, and neither do manuscripts.

At last I pulled out one of my earlier attempts, a story about a woman doctor being sued for a case of malpractice that is, in truth, a murder. The hero is the plaintiff’s attorney, whose goal is to destroy her career. It had been months since I’d looked at the story, and suddenly I saw new possibilities. I resumed writing it. This time, I didn’t stop to edit, I didn’t stop to think: “oh, this part sucks.” I stuck to my mantra: Just keep writing. And I did, all the way to the end.

The result was a first draft that was full of inconsistencies and mid-story plot shifts and characters who kept changing. But at least I had a first draft. I had a beginning, a middle, and an end. I had something to fix, and I did. In 1990, Under The Knife was finally published — three years after my first novel.

In the past twenty-five years, I’ve written twenty-four novels. I’ve never forgotten those depressing, desperate months when I couldn’t finish a book. Over the years, the writing hasn’t gotten any easier; it’s hard work, and it always will be. I’ve learned that I simply have to forge ahead, no matter how awful my writing seems, or how outlandish my plot. Because here’s my second mantra: I can fix this. I might need five or even ten re-writes, but eventually I’ll make that story work and I’ll turn in that manuscript as promised.

Publishers want writers they can count on, writers who are both reliable and consistent. They’ll usually give the author a certain amount of leeway if unavoidable crises pop up, such as serious illness or a death in the family, but eventually the contract has to be honored… or else.

And that’s what separates the professionals from the amateurs. The professional always delivers.

Read More

Author Judy Baer ~ Interviewed

Judy Baer was born and grew up on a farm on the prairies of North Dakota, experiencing many of the same things as her Hilltop characters. An only child, she spent most of her days with imaginary people—either those she read about or those she made up in her head.

Baer graduated from Concordia College with majors in English and education and a minor in religion. While at the time, she was simply studying what interested her, Baer later realized that she was educating herself for her future career as a Christian writer. She certainly put her education to use as she is the author of more than 75 books.

A certified professional life coach now certified in three coaching disciplines, Baer coaches primarily professional and aspiring writers. She is also a faculty advisor in the Department of Human Development at St. Mary's University in Minneapolis, MN.

Baer has two daughters and three step children. She and her husband live in Minnesota.

Learn more about the author and her books at www.judykbaer.com. 

What two or three things would you do differently if you were starting your publishing career today?

-- I’d not try so many different things at once.  I was writing YA books and romance novels as well as for a national magazine and some newspaper articles.  Instead, I’d pick a spot and stay in it!

What one issue makes you struggle the most as an author? How do you handle it?

--Time.  I’ve worked out of my home and written nearly 80 books.  It’s very easy to become distracted when your living and working spaces are so close.  The other is motivation.  Once I get going, I can lose myself in the story.  It’s getting going every day that’s the hard part.

 

What is the best writing (or life) advice you have ever heard or wished you had followed? Why?

--I’m a bit of a sponge, frankly, I soak up so much and apply it to my life that there is no way to tell you just one thing.  The best writing advice I’ve ever had came from an editor who offered to walk me through her edits and tell me exactly why she had suggested each change.  It was my very first book. I learned so much from her in two hours …and it came at a time in my career that I really needed it.  It was like a college semester in editing!

What one issue ignites your passion? Does your passion fuel your writing? What would you do with your life if you didn't write?

I have certain books that certainly did ignite my writing passion. FOREVER HILLTOP is out right now from Guideposts.  It’s a about a city boy, professor turned pastor, whose first parish is in the center of rural North Dakota.  I grew up in a rural area and understand that life-style so I had a wonderful time writing a fish-out-of-water story.

If I weren’t writing, I’d be coaching full time.  I’ve been a personal life coach and a writing coach for twelve years.  That really gets my heart going—I love working with people to have their “ah-ha” moments, see books published and change their lives for the better.

Tell us a bit about your current project.

I have FOREVER HILLTOP out right now and THE BACHELOR BOSS (Love Inspired) August 1.  Now I’m working on proposals for other books and have 4 or 5 ideas I really like.  I’m also arranging to put LIVE! FROM BRENTWOOD HIGH, my six book series for teens, out on Kindle.  They will be on Amazon very soon.

We are all about journeys...unique ones at that. How convoluted was your  path to your first published book? Share some highlights or lowlights from your path to publication. 

I’m one of the fortunate ones.  I worked for one year on my first book which was rejected but my second and third books sold within 3 weeks of each other.  I’ve been writing ever since—it has been my only career except coaching which I began 12 years ago.

Do you still experience self-doubts regarding your work, or struggle in a particular area such as writers block or angst driven head-banging against walls? Please share some helpful overcoming hints that you’ve discovered.

Frankly, I think the longer you write, the worse it gets.  I know I’m more particular now that I’ve had more experience.  When you start out often you don’t even know what you don’t even know!  Sometimes when I’m stuck on an idea I go take a shower.  It’s amazing how well I can think with water pouring down on my head!  Being out in public also revs me up.  I like to work in coffee shops, restaurants, even airports.  Changing location and scenery or a good long hot shower are tricks that work for me.

What mistakes have you made while seeking publication? Or to narrow it down further what’s something you wish you’d known earlier that might have saved you some time/frustration in the publishing business?

I was in on the ground floor of several projects.  Some worked, others didn’t.  One for example, was books based on a television show and something fell through in the licensing after my manuscript was complete.  I suppose I would have had to have a crystal ball in order to save myself from lost time and frustration. 

What is your favorite source for finding story ideas?

It always has to be something that piques my curiosity—a theme, occupation, a personality trait or a “what if?”  That usually send me down a research trail or fact-finding mission and things go from there.  Sometimes I don’t do any of that.  I just grow the story in my mind (and the shower, and the coffee shop.)

Have you ever had one of those awkward writer moments you’d like to share with us, the ones wherein you get “the look” from the normals? Example, you stand at a knife display at the sporting goods store and ask the clerk which would be the best to use to disembowel a six foot man…please do tell.

My awkward moment always feel the worst at book signings.  I love to have people come and visit even if they have no intention of buying my book.  Usually, though, those people skirt around an autograph table like it has the plague! 

I did, however, have a real life awkward moment similar to the one you describe.  I went into a store and asked for a skinning knife.  They wanted to know what I wanted to skin.  I told them “a buffalo.”  The clerk looked at me like I’d lost it and said “We have some paring knives on sale.” 

A yearling bison had run into a fence and broken its own neck. I didn’t want it to have died for nothing so I was determined to save the hide.  Let me tell you, you don’t need paring knives when you skin a buffalo!  The hide is still on my family room couch and I treasure it.  (As you may have guessed, I lived on a bison ranch for a few years.)

With the clarity of experience what advice would you offer up to the wet-behind-the-ears you if  beginning this writing journey today? 

Learn the craft first!  I often teach beginners and they usually want to find out how to get published but some of them haven’t even written anything yet.  That’s a cart-before-the-horse situation.

What event/person has most changed you as a writer? How?

A little book I read (and reread dozens of times) as a child, SAWDUST IN HIS SHOES  (Eloise Jarvis McGraw) was the book that taught me how much I loved story and the written word. 

I sold my first piece when I was about twelve (and was paid $10.00 for it.)  That was big.  Unfortunately I took a twenty year hiatus after that but read furiously all that time so I was ready to publish again!

Also, my husband Tom makes me happy and happy is a good space to write from! 

What piece of writing have you done that you’re particularly proud of and why? (Doesn't have to be one of your books or even published.)

THE WHITNEY CHRONICLES and the new FOREVER HILLTOP double book that’s out right now.  Those are the books of my heart, the ones I knew I had to write.  There were others, of course, like BE-MY NEATHEART and the CEDAR RIVER DAYDREAMS series for kids (they will also be out on Kindle soon.)  I received 200 fan letters a month during the height of that series so I knew I was making a difference.

When I write from the heart and become completely engaged in my characters, the writing is a joy.

Do you have a pet peeve having to do with this biz?

I do my share of whining to my husband but I know the business is what it is.  I don’t spend much time wishing I could change things.  I’d rather just write.

Share a dream or something you'd love to accomplish through your writing career.

I’m blessed by letters I get saying I’ve made a difference in people’s lives.  That alone is a dream come true.

What gives you the greatest writer buzz, makes the trip worth the hassles (besides coffee or other substances, or course)?

I always said I’m not so crazy about writing, but I love having written!  Seeing another book out there delights me.

What is one of the more unique or strange life experiences that has really given you an extra oomph in your writing?

Well, there is the skinning a buffalo thing…

Describe your special or favorite writing spot or send a picture if you'd like.

We rent a lake home that is a lovely spot to write.  I’ve enclosed a photo of sunset over the lake so you see some of what I see.

What aspect of writing was the most difficult for you to grasp/conquer? How did you overcome it?

Getting started in the morning.  I have to fall back on the “Just Do It” advice.  The other is plotting.  I’m very character driven so sometimes have to go back and revamp the plot after a character has taken me on a wild goose chase.

What is the first thing you do when you begin a new book?

I write out my idea in long-had on yellow legal paper.  I carve out chapters and brief descriptions of scenes I want to include in each.  It builds from there.

Writing rituals. Do you have to sit somewhere specific, complete a certain number of words, leave something undone to trigger creativity for the next session? Some other quirk you’d like to share?

I often stop in the middle of something good, when I’m having fun writing, when creativity is flowing.  It sounds counter-intuitive but then I’m eager to get back to it the next morning.

Plot, seat of pants or combination?

Some of both.  Maybe you should add “stab in the dark” too.

What is the most difficult part of pulling together a book? Ex. Do you have saggy middles, soggy characters, soupy plots during your first drafts…if so, how do you shape it up?

The hardest part is the middle.  I’m already very clear on the ending and beginning when I start.  It’s just the stuff that holds it together that I have to think through!  Usually that’s when going back and doing some serious plotting helps.  If I’m vague about where I’m going, my writing will be vague too.

Have you received a particularly memorable reader response or peer honor? Please share.

I had a young girl tell me that she’d had a boy pressure her to have sex.  I’d written a book about a teen pregnancy and she remembered what happened in BROKEN PROMISES and stopped him, went to her parents (like the girl in the book had done) and as a result she and her parents were now very close, they attended church as a family and she said I’d saved her life. 

I had dozens of letters from kids saying “I read your book and for the first time I realized I’m not alone with my problem…)

Books can change lives.

Have you discovered any successful marketing/promo ideas that you'd share with us?

I’m really trying to improve on Facebook and the like.  I think my best bet would to squeeze 30 or 40 hours into every day but so far, no luck.

Parting words? Anything you wish we would’ve asked because you’ve got the perfect answer?

I think you’ve asked great questions but the perfect answer has eluded me once again.  Maybe I’ll think of it in bed tonight when it’s too late to do anything about it!  Isn’t that the way it always works?

Read More

Success and Failure as a Writer ~ Nava Atlas

Though Nava Atlas is best known as the author of many books on vegan vegetarian cooking, she also produces visual books on women’s issues, most recently The Literary Ladies’ Guide to the Writing Life (2011). This lavishly illustrated book explores the writing lives of twelve classic women authors in their own words, with commentary on the relevance of their experiences to all women who love to write.

Success and Failure as a Writer: An Intertwined Pair, not Polar Opposites

by Nava Atlas, author of  The Literary Ladies’ Guide to the Writing Life.

In a 1928 letter to Virginia Woolf, Vita Sackville-West, the British author, pondered, “Is it better to be extremely ambitious, or rather modest? Probably the latter is safer; but I hate safety, and would rather fail gloriously than dingily succeed.” Most of us would rather not fail at all, gloriously or otherwise. That’s why we’re content to settle for modest success, instead of taking bold steps needed for resounding success. To fail at that which we most long for seems like a terrible fate.

    

Truth be told, I’ve been hedging my bets in the failure and success department. I’ve had a good, long run as a food writer and cookbook author. It has been a fulfilling occupation—one that has paid, gotten me recognition, and allowed me to juggle the raising a family. But I’ve scrupulously avoided the more risky path of narrative writing. Now, I’ve run out of excuses for avoiding my heart’s desires, especially now that I’ve learned that for the twelve classic authors featured in The Literary Ladies’ Guide to the Writing Life. failure wasn’t the flip side of success, but its occasional companion.

Charlotte Brontë never had the satisfaction of seeing her first novel, The Professor, in print, though not for lack of trying (it was published after her death, once her legacy was assured). She continued to risk failure by working on another novel while the first one haplessly made its rounds. That second effort was none other Jane Eyre, a resounding success from the moment it saw print. Virginia Woolf recounted the process of writing of The Years, each day “lying down after a page: and always with the certainty of failure.” The specter of  failure was mitigated when, after its 1937 publication, Woolf exulted, “The Years is the bestselling novel in America...”

Risk can end in either failure or success, but the latter can rarely be achieved without the courage to fall on one’s face or make a few false starts. Madeleine L’Engle reminds us that “Risk is essential. It’s scary....We are encouraged only to do that which we can be successful in. But things are accomplished only by our risk of failure.” How true for so many women, who are loathe to face either public or private disappointment, to be anything other than the A students we were encouraged to be.

    

L’Engle took a huge risk in writing A Wrinkle in Time, a book for children that overtly examined good and evil. This was the late 1950s, and editors felt that kids weren’t ready for this kind of darker, more complex literature. Some forty publishers rejected it, and though each turn-down was crushing,  L’Engle held fast to her belief in the book’s merit. After nearly giving up, Wrinkle finally found a home and was published in 1962. The subsequent awards and sales in the millions were sweet vindication, of course. But the point here isn’t the book’s eventual success, but that L’Engle risked the time and energy to create the book, knowing it wouldn’t be an easy sell. She reminds us that “Writers will never do anything beyond the first thing unless they risk growing.”
      

Avoiding risk means avoiding failure. But there’s less likelihood of resounding success. Risk avoidance also prolongs lingering in one’s comfort zone — which can feel like a cozy cocoon for a while, but can grow constraining. I’ve often wondered: what if I’d been less invested in constructing a safe and somewhat predictable creative life? What will I do with all the notebooks filled with fanciful ideas, and a smaller window of time to pursue them? For starters, I’m going to heed Madeleine L’Engle’s advice: Risk is scary and uncomfortable, but there can be no growth, and little glory, without it.

Read More

Author Interview ~ Charlene Baumbich

Charlene Ann Baumbich is the author of the Dearest Dorothy series, Stray Affections, and Divine Appointments, as well as several nonfiction books of humor and inspiration. She is also a popular speaker, an award-winning journalist, and lives with her husband in Glen Ellyn, Illinois.

Tell us a bit about your current project.

Finding Our Way Home is my sixteenth traditionally published book, ninth novel. It’s a story about grace, uncommon friendships, and small acts of love, a terrific threesome to “live in” during the writing.

Set in the fictional town of Wanonishaw, Minnesota, the book opens after Sasha Davis, a professional ballerina who suffered a career-ending injury, isolates herself in her recently deceased mother’s home. Unable to attend to all her necessities, she places an ad in the newspaper for a live-in assistant. Little does she know that the young woman she hires, Evelyn Burt, a precocious nineteen-year-old her opposite in every way, is about to turn her life upside down.

Writing about their friction—living in the minds of each of these women—and watching their friendship blossom, was a terrific, joy-filled learning experience. A good reminder as to how much we really do need each other here on planet earth.

But to be honest, at this moment, long after the book has been written, my “current project” is spending time talking about the novel, thinking of ways to publicize, engaging with readers and sharing my utter passion for the story.

We are all about journeys...unique ones at that. How convoluted was your path to your first published book? Share some highlights or lowlights from your path to publication.

Convoluted. Exactly! And a huge surprise.

It’s just crazy that I’m an author, that writing became not only my joy, but my labor, my hobby and my sanity. (Okay, also my angst, my aggravation, my stress and frustration.) I have only a few months of college under my belt. I received average English grades in high school. I didn’t start writing, seriously, if you can call it that, until my youngest son was in high school and I was in my 40s.

Only two things can explain my surprise career: God and the fact I’m mostly Irish, which makes me a natural-born storyteller.

After my mom died (I was 30), my doctor suggested I write things down. My first experience putting my emotions to paper was like taking a cork off a fizzed up bottle. A few words turned to many, turned to poetry, turned to, Wow! I LIKE this. Who knew?! I didn’t start writing more “for real” until my “baby” was in high school. I say “for real” because before that, I was still just noodling around, really, writing poetry (I still belong to a poetry club), humorous tidbits to read say at Cub Scout meetings, things I sometimes shared with friends.

My first published piece was a letter I wrote to our local newspaper, expressing, with a good dose of humor, what I’d witnessed my son learn about himself through wrestling. Although the piece was light-hearted, it was also passionate. I was passionate. Not about writing and being published, but about expressing something important I wanted people to know. Seeing those words in print and receiving awesome feedback spurred me on. Whoa! Maybe there’s something here!

After a series of misunderstandings (someone thought I was a professional writer, when all I said was that I was taking a community writing class), I was handed a newspaper clip stating the local paper was looking for a columnist. So, with one clip (the wrestling piece) and no college degree, I applied. (Duh!) Much to my surprise, I began writing a community column, then features, then features for a larger newspaper, then magazine articles.

After my newspaper/magazine work was in gear for two years, an editor at a publishing house saw my work, liked my storytelling voice and humor, and contacted me, asking if I had any ideas for a book. (WHAT?!) My youngest son had recently left for college. All I wanted to talk about was how quickly time goes, and how blessed I’d been to not miss my kids. That became my first book. Don’t Miss Your Kids, They’ll Be Gone Before You Know It. (InterVarsity Press, 1991, it’s still in print!)

Five nonfictions later, another editor I’d worked with asked me if I might have any ideas for senior citizens characters for a novel. I’d just lost three very important older folks within a three-week time span: my dad, my godmother and the real Dearest Dorothy, whom the eventual Penguin Books series was named after. The thought I could somehow keep their wisdom, humor and lust for life alive through fiction was so appealing, that after a few conversations and zero classes on how to write fiction, I embarked on novel writing—which “took.”

In each case along my writing journey, I said yes to something before I was ready. I always tell people, I have more guts than brains. If you wait until you’re ready, you’ll die waiting.

Do you still experience self-doubts regarding your work, or struggle in a particular area such as writers block or angst driven head-banging against walls? Please share some helpful overcoming hints that you’ve discovered.

Well into my publishing career, I still tormented myself with the following question: When is someone going to discover I can’t write? But through time and ongoing contracts, it finally settled in that I could. Not that I’d ever be categorized as high literature, but I’m in love with a good story, and that, coupled with the humor, is my gift. Through hard work and much prayer, I deliver that gift as best as I can.

As for writer’s block, nah. I am completely unafraid to write garbage—off-topic garbage, terrible sentence structure, private rants, e-mails—until something fires my creative adrenalin. I’m a blatherer, even with my fingers, so I just keep blathering until I’m back to story again.

What mistakes have you made while seeking publication? Or to narrow it down further what’s something you wish you’d known earlier that might have saved you some time/frustration in the publishing business?

I didn’t know much of anything about publishing before I started, otherwise, I’m sure I’d have been too discouraged to begin. I did, however, and relatively early on, attend a few writers’ conferences. What a great way to learn and network. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED! Crash courses, you might say, in things that are important about the industry.

What is your favorite source for finding story ideas?

Living life. Story ideas are everywhere: rocks, friends, TV, newspapers, fast-foot restaurants, public restrooms, conversation, clouds… If you decide to lock yourself away and not LIVE, but just write all the time, how will you stay fresh and sane? Where will your most life-like ideas come from?

Have you ever had one of those awkward writer moments you’d like to share with us, the ones wherein you get “the look” from the normals? Example, you stand at a knife display at the sporting goods store and ask the clerk which would be the best to use to disembowel a six foot man…please do tell.

I’d been writing winter scenes all day, and was shocked—SHOCKED—to look over the top of my monitor, out the window to the cow pasture, and notice it was spring! My first conversation after that was spent trying to clarify—ground myself, you might say—in the correct season, let alone month.

With the clarity of experience what advice would you offer up to the wet-behind-the-ears you if beginning this writing journey today?

Nothing different, really. Stop listening to negativity. Attend writers’ conferences for info and contacts. Stop talking about writing and do it. Do not glamorize “being” an author. Yes, it’s rewarding, but you can’t live the life of a published author without writing. Amen. And for goodness sake, entertain yourself!

Also, care about what you’re writing. Let the story lead. If you’re bored and just filling pages, that is how readers will receive it.

What event/person has most changed you as a writer? How?

Reading author Madeleine L’Engle’s nonfiction books, especially when she talks about writing. Walking on Water: reflections on faith and art, was instrumental in giving me the courage I needed to trust that the stories were smarter than me. My job was to serve the story, to get out of my own way. Since I’m a person of Christian faith, she spoke my language.

What piece of writing have you done that you’re particularly proud of and why? (Doesn't have to be one of your books or even published.)

Anything I’ve written in a personal letter or email that has encouraged someone, especially my sons.

Decades ago, I wrote a not-for-pay letter to the editor about watching, horrified, as a man’s lifeless body was pulled from the Chicago River. Many people around me acted as though it wasn’t real, as though someone’s son, someone’s brother or husband, wasn’t gone from this earth. That’s what I wrote about. A notable gentleman with a major Chicago radio show read it on the air and spoke of its power. The question in the end was, Are we becoming desensitized by watching things on TV, to the point that nothing seems real? People tracked me down to leave thank yous on my answering machine!

Share a dream or something you'd love to accomplish through your writing career.

Entertain, make people laugh, have them find themselves in the stories, peel back their layers, make them think, give them hope, believe they’re somehow at least a tad better/wiser/happer/hope-ier for having read what I’ve written. And to know that I have presented it with trust, integrity, honesty and passion.

What gives you the greatest writer buzz, makes the trip worth the hassles (besides coffee or other substances, or course )?

This could be a number of things! I’m easily entertained and bolstered. Things that come to kneejerk mind: music (the right song for the right mood, with or without lyrics); an encouraging email from a reader; a nearby bowl of something to crunch; a nice view from my keyboard; an object that has whispered to me, There is a story here; a good laugh with a friend …

WAIT! I just reread the question. I think you’re asking about writing rewards! Reader feedback is wonderful, of course. But honestly, after I’ve written a scene that made me laugh or cry, sigh or yell at the character, or maybe even goosebumped me, I step away from the keyboard feeling rich and blessed and lucky and satisfied to do something I love.

What is one of the more unique or strange life experiences that has really given you an extra oomph in your writing?

Every moment of life is oomph worthy, depending on how you spin it.

Describe your special or favorite writing spot or send a picture if you'd like.

What aspect of writing was the most difficult for you to grasp/conquer? How did you overcome it?

Any aspect can be difficult, especially if you’re tired, emotionally spent, or bored. In these cases, get some rest and/or walk away from writing until you’re refreshed. Or, just bang yourself in the head with a brick.

Having said that, some of the things that do NOT feel difficult, and in fact are FUN, end up groaners--after a smart editor weighs in. (I just groaned writing that. )

For instance, my characters occasionally take me “over there”, so I follow them, typing all the while, because I’m extremely curious about every aspect of their lives. (You ask this question later, but I’m a total pantser, which means I don’t outline. Curiosity drives me.) Then arrives the editorial question, What does this section have to do with the story, Charlene? Delete or condense. Um … But it was so interesting. Yes, but it really has nothing to do with moving the story forward.

But I never learn anything the easy way. Although I try to be better at recognizing my side excursions, and cut them before I submit (I must always write them!), I don’t always succeed. This is one of the main reasons I need an editor. Good editors are pure gold. We are too close to our stories to recognize these things.

Also, I suck at grammar and spelling, but I try.

What is the first thing you do when you begin a new book?

Pray.

Writing rituals. Do you have to sit somewhere specific, complete a certain number of words, leave something undone to trigger creativity for the next session? Some other quirk you’d like to share?

I don’t write every day. I sit in the same place, when I can, because I like a big screen and a giant ergonomic keyboard. Having said that, I’ve created some good stuff in a coffee shop on my laptop.

I usually don’t stop writing for the day until I run out of creative energy (not ideas, but energy), or if someone calls me to go play. I almost always choose play (breakfast, lunch, dinner, coffee, movie, run errands with them ….) I’ve never been sorry I’ve walked away from my keyboard. I do not desire the tormented life of a pale, isolated writer. I do, however, meet deadlines and sometimes put in late nights.

Interestingly, I am fed as an introvert. In other words, writing energizes me—until I’ve had enough for any given day, which could be anywhere from 100 to 3000 new words. However, around 1250-2000 words plus the editing of previous chapters is most typical, although some days I go backwards in total word count due to critical editing. I adore my friends, but as delicious as time with friends is, engaging drains me. I try to be deliberate and disciplined about the balance.

Plot, seat of pants or combination?

Total pantser. Total. My energy comes from chasing the story.

Parting words? Anything you wish we would’ve asked because you’ve got the perfect answer?

Enjoy what you do, and find your characters interesting and intriguing. Otherwise, why write about them? Why write at all?

Read More