Little by Little

Every single night, with very few exceptions, for the last three years, I have worked on writing my first novel.

I never write A LOT in one sitting. I only write a little. 

But I write a little A LOT.

Now, I am only a few pages away from being finished. And those final few pages seem like a whole helluva LOT. Let me tell you!

But tonight, after everyone in the house is asleep, the sound of my fingers clicking away on the keys of my computer will fill our quiet house. And little by little, I'll get there. I hope. 

And then I'll start revising...

Very Fragile--Please Touch

There's a short stack of really old books, prettily arranged on the table in the living room at my parents' house. It's been there as long as I can remember.

They are old, family heirloom books, most with sweet inscriptions written on the title pages dating back to 1926. They are very fragile. But they are not just for decoration. They are for opening and reading and in the case of Miss Sniff, touching.

Miss Sniff, the fuzzy cat, is really fuzzy. She's been touched by so many fingers over the years that her black velvety furr is pretty matted and worn. But she's still the fanciest cat on the block.

Originally published in 1945. 

My all-time favorite is Mother Earth's Children. 

Someone (my mother) took the touching a little too far and actually wrote on the book. Not good. But the thought of my mom as a naughty little girl, adding doodles of her own to this book makes me smile.

Each vegetable and fruit has its own little verse.

This was my grandmother's favorite. She marked it so we would never forget. 

Then there's Winkle, Twinkle and Lollypop. 

Winkle, Twinkle, and Lollypop are three triplets who get to meet Mr. Sun and Mrs. Night, and Mr. Wind, too. 

The girls and I sat down together this morning and read these books aloud to each other--just like my grandmother and my great aunt did 80 some years ago, and my mother and grandmother after that, and my mom and me even later.

They get more and more fragile over the years, but continue to touch our lives. 

Turkey Round-up

I love holidays and traditions. And Thanksgiving is at the very top of my list as far as both are concerned.

Right along with pulling the Thanksgiving decorations (yes, we decorate for Thanksgiving) out of the bin and pulling my great-grandmother's stuffing recipe out of the recipe box, comes pulling every Thanksgiving book we can find out of the library.

Here are a few we've read this season.

We are choking from laughing so hard at this one.  Not everyone loves Junie B., but we really do. 

A perennial favorite. You get to go back in time to Plymouth, just like we do every year on our annual trip to Plimouth Plantation. We're reading the non-fiction companion book this year as well.

An eye-roller for sure, but lots of fun, as usual.

This book allows you to put yourself in Pilgrim shoes. 

There are many, many more, but these are the main books we've read this year.

I am so thankful for the time we spend reading together.

Happy Thanksgiving to all of you!

Coffee with Carmela

Yesterday, I met with Carmela, one of my favorite authors, at one of my favorite coffee shops.

It was a great morning.

Carmela and I have been an author/editor team for over ten years now. And in that timeframe, these are some of the books we've worked together to create.

And now we're working on another one together.
Something completely different.
Wait for it...you just might be blown away...

A Real Treat

This weekend, my writers' group stole away for our second annual retreat in the mountains.

Here's the setting:

Here are the main characters:

Here's a snippet from one of my favorite chapters:

And here's a quick summary:

A Writers' Retreat is a time and a place where you get to write for hours. 

Where the characters in your book become a major topic of conversation, as if they were real. 

It's where you discuss endings and new beginnings. 

It's a commitment to:

your writing

your story

your goals

and your writers' group.

It's a commitment to you.

And it is SO MUCH FUN!

Yes, of course, I will

I might have mentioned that I try to sneak in time with my book whenever I can--during my kids' swim lessons, while waiting for water to boil, in my car at a stop light...

Anyway, since daylight savings on Sunday, I have found that, remarkably, I am awake in the mornings before I absolutely, no-excuses-left have to be. What better time to sneak in a few minutes of reading!

The house is quiet.
The kids are sleeping.
The dog is snoring.
Slowly, I reach my arm out from under the covers.
Quietly.
I don't want to disturb the peace.
My book is so close.
It's right there on the nightstand.
Shhh.
My fingers touch the cover. I can feel it.
I am going to slide it off the nightstand, silently, and open it, making sure not to noisily crack the binding...

"GOOD MORNING!!!!!" My kids trot in with their arms full of books.

"Mom, you're up! Will you read us some books?!"

Remarkably, they are awake this morning before they absolutely, no-excuses-left have to be.

What better time to sneak in a few minutes of reading.

I think I'll just wait until the next red light...

Anything But...

Anyone who's read this:

Knows that this:

Is not this:

It's this:

A Not-So-Lonely Business

Three years ago I started writing a book.

It was just something I felt like I had to do. I wasn't sure where or how to start, just that I had to start.

Let me tell you that writing can be a lonely business.

But it doesn't have to be.

About forty pages in, I realized that I needed to get a little outside of my head and start talking to other people who were also writing books, namely young adult novels.

I consider myself extremely lucky to have found a supportive, creative, and dedicated writer's group right here in my own town. Once a month, we get together in a coffee shop downtown to comment on each other's work. We are five women writers of mainly young adult and middle grade works. Our books span many genres within those categories: paranormal, dystopian, humorous, historical fiction, etc. Our lives outside of our writing span all sorts of categories as well: mother, grandmother, teacher, editor, on and on and on. But it's the insatiable urge to write that brings us together.

We write.

We read each other's work.

We offer encouragement, suggestions for improvement, ideas, and advice.

And we lend a ready ear as we go through the long and not-so-lonely business of writing.

Let's discuss