Mama Bear

NaNoWriMo 2009

Mama bear — Mon, 02 Nov 2009 04:35:30 GMT

UPDATE: I will be keeping a sort of journal here, updating what's going on NaNo-wise and otherwise to see where exactly my writing time (or lack thereof) was in November. Plus, I can sort of bury some tidbits that I am hesitant to write an actual article about in case of libel. So there. Consider yourself warned. :)

November 1, 2009. Day One. Up at 5:15 with small child who can't tell time and couldn't begin to understand "sleep in" if he wanted to. Had 5 and a half hour wine-tasting and lunch planned (pre-NaNo plunge) to celebrate my husband's and my best friend's recent birthdays... did it, had fun, and didn't regret a second away from the laptop! (Maybe because I still managed to get some writing in, between breakfast, shower, and hustling out the door!!) Total so far: 2, 474 words.

November 2, Day Two. Up at 4:freaking:thirty with same small child. I may have to put him out with the recycling if this continues... consider yourself warned, buddy. I got in some writing between picking up my daughter (minimum days all this week, because of conferences... or some crazy plot to prevent words being written, you be the judge!) and having my son dropped off, then added another hour and a half piecemeal through the afternoon and evening. I'm too tired to keep typing, so tonight's final word count brings me to 5,204 words.

P.S. Don't hate me because I write fast. I checked the calendar, and in addition to conferences I also have Veteran's Day and Thanksgiving WEEK to contend with! If I don't get ahead I'll be a blubbering mess and I have already maxxed out the kids' therapy funds, so I can't afford to add to THAT account.

November 3, Day Three. Both my coworkers were out sick; the two subs and I wrangled all seven kids for four hours, and I raced to pick up my daughter on her minimum day. Then I got a phone call: Thomas had been kicked off the special ed bus for the second time, and would I please drive to the school to have a meeting with the bus company's director, the director of the school, and Thomas's teacher? Why, yes, yes I will. (Note: the first time he got kicked off was last week, for singing Happy Birthday too loudly. This time he was crying because another student hit him and he was told to be quiet and sit down.) I got home and fought off a crying spell for an hour or two. Added a few hundred words to NaNo, but didn't update on site. New word count: 5,639.

November 4, Day Four. Another two sub day. Had to pick up Thomas, but Grandpa got Megan. Choir, dinner, one and a half hour long Girl Scout Service Unit meeting, bed. No words.

November 5, Day Five. Teacher is back at school -- yea! Aide still out, but we got a good sub -- yea! The bus director called -- my home, the classroom, and over the special ed bus radio as I was loading on my preschool students -- to say he'd be riding the bus home to "observe behaviors and assist the driver." Final result to observation: it's not Thomas, it's more a combo of multiple students (all with autism) and a driver who needs some more skills. (I worked to make that nonjudgmental. How'd I do?) Made a phone call and an email to another parent who'd gone through the exact same scenario with her child last year; picked up Meg for minimum day. Supposed to pick up 450 nut containers, but our order got shorted at the delivery site. Rearranged for tomorrow, time to be determined. Nano= no words.

November 6, Day Six. No cleaning at preschool today -- monthly parent meeting, so the aides provide childcare. Did the laminating and prep for next week. Conference for Megan. Thomas arrived on the bus with a good report, save the throwing of a squishy plastic Winnie the Pooh book (the kind that infants teethe on and can take into the bath) when offered it by the driver. (His reward -- based on five days of good bus behavior -- was a non-specific surprise. We announced with excitement that he could spend the night downstairs on the fold out couch -- whoo hoo, yippee, can I get my pillow now??? It's good to have simple wants, isn't it?) We got a phone call that the nuts were again delayed, so I made several phone calls to let the girls know. We went to my father in law's (originally planning to drop his nut order off, and pick up a table, but going with just getting table) and had dinner. Returned home to set up sleepover downstairs -- whoo hoo! -- and collapse into bed. Nano = no words.

What Have I Done?

Mama bear — Mon, 26 Oct 2009 02:57:27 GMT

Gulp.

I just did it.

I had no intention of doing it, but then I sort of went there and sort of went through the steps and what the hurdygurdy... I'm signed up for another year of NaNoWriMo.

Holy 50K, Batman!!

Now to get a plot... or a character... or a genre... or I don't know, several dozen spare hours...

Right.

What was I thinking???

Hmmm... what if I write about a mom who accidentally started writing a novel, and it unfolded around her?

Looking for a Sweet Read?

Mama bear — Sat, 22 Aug 2009 15:32:25 GMT

Have you ever read a book and just felt happy?

Philip Gulley's Harmony series is an entire set of books that take you to a small town in Indiana and give you a glimpse into the lives of a Quaker minister, his family, his church family, and his town full of characters.

Philip Gulley is a talented writer, and a talented observer of human nature. He lets the character's quirks be quirky without being kitschy, and he likes them -- the people ring true as Middle America at its finest.

In Harmony novels there's no complicated plot to follow; the story takes you along in gentle steps as events take place, unfolding as life does, with the characters acting and reacting as real people. The books aren't preachy or overly religious, but the author writes about faith and works and the inner workings of a church family with honesty and love, leaving a peaceful feeling in the soul of his readers.

Pick up a Harmony novel and see if you feel transported back to a time and place where people felt comfortable sitting on their porches, doors are left unlocked, and the biggest problem of the day is how to get along with a crotchety old librarian who threatens to publish names in the local paper if your library books are overdue. (Hint: return the book when Miss Rudy is having her supper, between 5:00 and 5:30 each day.)

Breakthrough

Mama bear — Thu, 16 Jul 2009 15:15:58 GMT

I've written before about NaNoWriMo, which is short for National Novel Writing Month -- a "contest" where you commit to writing 50,000 words in the month of November, "winning" the bragging rights and a cool certificate at the end. I love NaNo; the intensity, the goal, the community of other crazy writers all striving to spend as many hours in front of a glowing screen as possible. I've taken part in three NaNos, writing a young adult novel (four teenagers, a car crash, and the aftermath); a henlit novel (a group of women who find themselves connected via motherhood and the suburbs); and a mystery novel (a vile woman is killed and there's no end of suspects -- but a yard duty mom figures out the real killer). The finished manuscripts are of course not truly finished -- they need editing and fleshing out, revising and tightening -- but you have a hefty stack of pages to work with, and the exercise of writing quickly seems to produce some great work.

My last attempt was the mystery, and while I've been toying with working on it some more, the exact voice has eluded me... I know what happens, and why, but I can't tell the story properly. The characters speak to me in the shower, and during driving time, and when I'm taking walks... but when I get in front of the computer they shut up and refuse to cooperate.

I hesitate to call this "writer's block," because I can write other things just fine... my PNN posts, my humor column, etc. It's just this (or any other) work of fiction that eludes me.

I was talking about this one day to my best friend, and to her credit she GOT IT. She didn't spout off about "just get writing," or some other well-meaning advice... she understood that no matter how much I worked on it, it WOULDN'T WORK until the muse had reappeared. The hours spent would be largely wasted. I'm sure some writers push through by just writing, but in my experience the best stuff needs to be spontaneous. I consider myself a scribe, a midwife to the words, rather than an inventor...

The morning after I turned in paperwork to possibly take on a job that would effectively take all my "free" time (instead of an hour and a half or so with the yard duty job, it would be six hours each day) -- of course the characters began hollering away: "Write!"

I suddenly knew what my main character's mom was like, and her in-laws, too. The mother-in-law's dog was a surprise -- he just suddenly appeared, his apricot hair and shivering disagreeableness perfectly captured. (Who knew? LOL) I had a great reason for my amateur sleuth to take on the mystery, and a solid grasp of how she thinks, talks, and conducts herself. I was rolling, people, rolling!! The entire first chapter flew out of my fingers, appearing on the screen with alarming speed. Months of nothing were erased in a single morning!

I'm eager to get back to my little town of characters and find out what happens today... because I'm by-gosh gonna sit down and let the muse have her say whenever she wants to talk, let me tell ya!

Book Journal

Mama bear — Wed, 01 Jul 2009 20:21:09 GMT

How many books have you read this year? What was the name of that author you really liked, and wanted to see if she had written any more books? When did you read that funny memoir that your best friend should totally read?

If you have a book journal, you would know the answer to these!

I started writing down the titles and authors, along with the date I finished the book, about fifteen years ago. I average about 120 books a year -- everything from Young Adult novels to mysteries to memoirs to historical fiction to non-fiction -- and over the years I've even re-read several series of books, several times. (Harry Potter, Narnia, Little House on the Prairie, Anne of Avonlea, and the Janet Evanovich numbers series, to name a few.)

Flipping through the book journal is in itself a little like reading a condensed version of my life. At a glance I can see periods of time where I clearly chose books from one section of the library -- authors' last names all within a 4-letter range, or a glut of memoirs or biographies, or mystery after mystery after mystery. Usually this meant I had small people along for the trip, and I had to do a fast glance-and-snatch, going by an intriguing title, an interesting author, or something else -- art, an odd font, something in the way it stood out against the others nearby -- that grabbed me in that split-second it caught my eye as I frantically scanned the rows of books. When I was nursing, I chose books that would lay open flat next to me on the couch, and I'd drink in the words as my babies drank in my milk. There are no "icky" books during that time; I read more light-hearted fare, as if making sure that even the words going into me were wholesome and nurturing.

Sometimes the titles remind me a little of what was going on around me -- the wildly diverse titles from one two-month period when I was on bed rest with an "irritable uterus," chosen for me by friends who understood my need to read my way through the long days of confinement -- The Poisonwood Bible stacked next to time-travel bodice-ripping romances, Sue Grafton next to J.K. Rowling, Little Women next to The Shipping News; the glut of non-fiction and fiction all centered on autism, right after the diagnosis; the books about writing, as I got serious about approaching my art with more dedication.

This morning I added the last of the library books from June, and counted up my half-year mark for 2009: 78... 79, if you add in today's finished title.

Right now I have three books going -- four if you count the book I'm reading aloud to Megan. I grab one according to mood, or location -- one is in the car, at all times, because I'd sooner be without food than without a book -- and within seconds I'm transported into a magical world. Luckily, I have a travelogue of places I've been... all in the lined pages of my Book Journal!

Inspiration for Writers!

Mama bear — Thu, 11 Jun 2009 01:25:30 GMT

Do you need a kick in the pants to get writing? Check out Kristi Holl's blog here!

http://institutechildrenslit.net/Writers-First-Aid-blog/

"New" Discovery

Mama bear — Wed, 13 May 2009 23:45:37 GMT

My best friend teaches middle school (I know! shudder!!) and she reads YA novels to keep up with her students' reading. For some time now she's been raving about a book called "The Lightning Thief," which she was willing to say was her new favorite book...ever!! And, even better, there's a whole series of them!

The "Percy Jackson and the Olympians" series is by Rick Riordan, and his main character is young Percy Jackson, who happens to be a demigod. Percy's dad is the Greek god Poseidon, and his mom is a human... so Percy is super good with water and mythical strength, but he's also dyslexic. He gets to go to on quests with mythical creatures and demigods, but first he has to survive middle school! The writing is so good, you'll willingly suspend disbelief and go along for the ride -- and accidentally learn about some Greek mythology along the way!

Last week I stumbled on Book 2 of the series -- "The Sea of Monsters" -- and now I can see why she was so doggone excited. All the components come into place perfectly -- plot, characters, writing, dialogue, tension, humor, adventure -- and it reads quickly. Based on just that one book I am determined to buy the entire series and read them all back to back, as a treat to myself this summer.

Do yourself a favor and check out one of the books... no prior Greek myth knowlege is necessary! Enjoy!! :)

Fourth Grade Compliments

Mama bear — Tue, 03 Mar 2009 01:27:14 GMT

Friday I got to participate in Read Across America Day by reading to classes at both my children's schools.

I started at Megan's school, and found myself scheduled to read in three classes, for about fifteen minutes per class. I had brought a story to read, but I changed to a classic Dr. Seuss when I saw the time constraints.

I read to Mrs. Katz' class first, and they very politely listened to The Cat in the Hat, read with voices and passion and not a little humor. It's one of my favorites, and I've honed the reading aloud thing to a little one-woman show. At the end, the teacher invited the class to show their appreciation, and several kids paid me compliments.

"I liked how you used different voices for all the different characters."

"I liked how you read so fluently!"

"I liked how you didn't miss any words!"

"I like your necklace."

Book List for 2009

Mama bear — Tue, 03 Feb 2009 01:12:47 GMT

January (* = Y/A novels)

The Program by Stephen White

Beach Road by James Patterson

The Valley of the Moon by Jack London

*On the Wings of Heroes by Richard Peck

*Snow Treasure by Marie Mc Swigen

*Kit Learns a Lesson; *Kit Saves the Day; *Changes for Kit by Valerie Tripp

*The Key is Lost by Ida Vos

*A Sea So Far by Jean Thesman

*The Year of Miss Agnes by Kirkpatrick Hill

*Alt Ed by Catherine Atkins

Update on Agent Goal

Mama bear — Sun, 18 Jan 2009 00:57:35 GMT

As of this morning, I have queried thirteen agents between the two books... so I'm an agent and a week-and-a-bit ahead of my goal! :)

I've gotten a few rejections so far, but they don't faze me; I read somewhere that rejections are part of the price we pay, and I resolved to get busy paying that price. Rejections are sort of like gray hairs... that first one shocks and stuns you, with a blow to the solar plexus. The next one surprises you, and the one after that is merely a resigned afterthought. Then the day comes where you look in the mirror and realize a small army of gray has taken over, but you feel sort of proud, like it's an accomplishment of sorts: Look! I've earned wisdom! See the testament to my persistance! (Really, think about it: if you have gray hair, you're still alive. That's got to count for something!)

Sending out queries is one of those huge big deals the first several times, and then it gets a little easier. You still get a wave of hope, a tide of certainty that this one will be The One, but you are more at ease with the whole process. It's become a short checklist of things to do or not do, like make sure you sign the cover/query letter, and make sure the contact information is there, and make sure if you've copied and pasted the text that the salutation is correct. Then it's only a matter of making sure the package is exactly to this particular agent's specifications (so as not to offend their sensiblities) and add enough postage, or double check the email address. Now send!

There's all sorts of advice on how to query, but one bit seems to be constant: Never give up, and never sit back and do nothing. Always, always keep moving forward, writing more, researching new agents, formulating new queries. To that I add and keep hoping!

Promises to Myself

Mama bear — Sun, 28 Dec 2008 13:04:36 GMT

As we approach a New Year, everyone starts making long lists of their resolutions: I will lose ten pounds, I will exercise five days a week, I will eat five veggies or fruits a day, I will clean my sock drawer, etc.

This year brings with it the "decade" marker for me: I turn 40 in one month. (I am not worried about the number, but it does have a good round feel to it, as a goal date. I will clean my sock drawer by my 40th birthday, etc.)

I learned that goals need to be something you have control over for them to be meaningful. For example, it is better to say "I will send out three articles to editors by thus-and-such date," rather than "I will be published by such-and-such date." The first statement has an element you can control -- the amount you send out, by a certain date -- while statement two has the power in the editors' court and out of your own.

That being said, I have a writing goal for January. I have two manuscripts that I am sending out to agents -- one a middle-grade novel, and one a picture book. By January 27th I will have queried at least twelve agents between the two books.

To accomplish this goal I will research agents and agencies online on www.litmatch.com and in my resource books. I will send out at least three queries a week for the next three weeks, to add to the two I already have out. I will reassess this goal every Saturday and adjust as needed.

A month from now I may have an agent, or I may still be in the process of finding one... but either way, I'll be proudly entering the next decade of my life, and the beginning of my publishing career.

I DID IT, PART 2!

Mama bear — Fri, 19 Dec 2008 07:53:12 GMT

I hadn't heard back from the first agent I queried, so according to the submission guidelines I can assume they're not interested.

Sigh.

I sent out three more queries today while the children were at school -- and it took ALL that time, because each agent wants just that little something different! One wants one chapter, a synopsis, and a query letter; another wants a paragraph about me, a paragraph about the project, and my publishing history; the third has an elaborate online uploading submission system that asks for all the information and the first three chapters, plus a bunch of random questions like "what is one of your favorite sentences in this project?" and "what was the last book you read?"

When I got home with the first grader, there was a reply from one agent -- out of the office until January 5th. There was a reply from a second agent -- a form rejection. And there was a "reciept" for the uploaded submission, with a reminder that it may take up to three months to hear back from them.

Sigh.

I'm crossing fingers and toes on the two agents still in the game... and I'm going to go find that little snippet that says how many times great works were rejected before they got published. I don't want to tie for the most, but I'm sure seeing that JK Rowling suffered a "no thanks" form or two might cheer me up.

NaNo Win Number 3!

Mama bear — Sun, 30 Nov 2008 07:40:30 GMT

I finished my 50,000 word writing goal yesterday, with two days to spare! Yea! And whew!! There is something so exhilarating about uploading the document for verification and seeing the word "WINNER" blaze across the screen!

This story was my first attempt at a mystery, but it was super lighthearted and fun. Someone dies -- off stage, so it's more palatable -- but she's so wicked and horrid, no one cares much. The solution of the mystery is more about getting the first suspect off the hook than finding out who offed the victim... LOL

I mulled over who the characters were for a week or so, and then they sort of let me know what they wanted to do. Then, to actually write the book, I sat alertly at the keyboard, waiting for their direction. Lots of surprises came up... like the threatening notes being left all over town, and being blamed on the main character. Or how about the kidnapping? I know! It blew me away, too! LOL

Here's the best part: I still feel like working on the book, even after reaching my goal!

There's a bunch of things to "fix" and to add, but mostly the book is calling to me like a novel you're reading does... "Don't you want to turn the page and find out what happens? Aren't you wondering what so-and-so is going to say to so-and-so? Where is this thing going, anyway?"

NaNo Update

Mama bear — Tue, 11 Nov 2008 00:03:04 GMT

I'm still writing my NaNo novel, and still loving the idea, characters, and plot... but it's been hecka hard to fit in the time to get the words down! If I got to count mental writing, I'd be well over the 50,000 word count now -- but since I have to count the actual words on paper (or on the document ? ) I can only post 11,000 as of this morning.

The whole thing is coming together nicely now, and I can pretty much sit back and let the characters dictate what's gonna happen, with only a few nudges to keep them on plot. Yesterday I got an hour to write and all these minor characters popped up out of the blue... I had to scribble their names on a scrap of paper to keep them straight, LOL... but I got an arrest made, and the main character is off and running, trying to prove the police have arrested the wrong person.

My (real-life) kids are home today and tomorrow for a four day weekend, so I know I can't count on much writing in the next couple of days. Also, in a couple of weeks my husband is going to be gone for a four day weekend for his sister's wedding, so I'll be solo-ing it... but I've actually got a diabolical plan to steal some writing time during that block. I'm going to pull out the box of Christmas movies, and let the kids have at 'em. That will buy me a few hours, at least! The kids will be overjoyed to see the old favorites -- now new again, after a year in the closet -- and the sweet, sweet sound of Christmas music will be joyfully accented with the tap-tap-tapping of my keyboard keys!

Merry Christmas to me... and to all a good write!

NaNo Excitement is Building!

Mama bear — Thu, 30 Oct 2008 01:05:59 GMT

For the last few weeks I've been toying with several ideas to use as my NaNo project, and yesterday I hit the motherlode. I wanted something meaty, something fun, something light... for a while I was thinking about continuing on to Book 2 of the book I just sent off to an agent, but the urge to do something different kept tugging at me.

The first year I participated in NaNo I wrote a YA novel, about a handful of teenagers. (It has a lot of potential, but it was deep and dark, and needs some research before I can polish it up.) The second year I wrote a book about a group of mothers and children (relying on my years of experience being a mother and being around children, it was a BLAST to write!). Last year I skipped NaNo, because I was working three-plus days a week as a features editor. This year I am going in another completely new direction: I'm tackling a mystery!

I started jotting down notes yesterday and ended up with four typed pages of characters, rough plot and scene ideas, and some fun details. The juice is totally flowing, because it's not like I'm making stuff up so much as I'm discovering it... I sort of think "now, what should her name be?" and a name pops into my brain. I half-wonder how so-and-so could be thought to be guilty and a reason falls onto the paper, seemly from nowhere. (As an example, one character's second husband is secretly gay -- who knew? I was shocked, too!) There's this automatic pilot thing that kicks in, and it's like the scenes unfold right before your eyes. It's magic!

If you haven't already, check out www.nanowrimo.org! You just might amaze yourself!