Treasure Hunts

There is more treasure in books than in all the pirates' loot on Treasure Island . . . and best of all, you can enjoy these riches every day.

-  Walt Disney 

Yesterday I received a box, a BIG box, from Amazon (ok, lets not go into any Amazon hate here.  I understand many people feel Amazon needs to call a whaaaambulance over the entire Macmillan kerfuffle. I hear you, and I understand. But I love my packages. I need my packages. There is no rush like seeing that box waiting at your door, but I digress). I’d had pretty crummy day, and I was sitting in bed with my head bent over my laptop feigning an attempt at writing.  God bless the saint to whom I am married.  He came in with a glass of wine in one hand and my box in the other.

“Sweetie, this should brighten your day,” he said as he handed me the box first.  He was right.  I needed my mail order booty.  My treasure would cheer me up.

Some ladies are addicted to buying shoes or purses.  Not me.  My addiction is books.  I get light-headed and giddy in a bookstore.  There is nothing that smells better than a bookstore.  The only reason that I enjoy Christmas shopping is that it gives me a legitimate excuse to lose hours, and I mean HOURS, in bookstores.  Couple that with the ease of online shopping (Amazon super-saver shipping and its simple challenge to put together an order of $25 or more is my downfall), and it is easy to understand why my fashion style is stuck in 1998, but I am up to date on the most recent paperback releases.

My reading choices are pretty eclectic.  I would love to sound all intellectual and rattle off a bunch of literary fiction I’d finished, but I can’t.  God would strike me dead with a bolt of lightening for attempting to tell such a whopper.  However, with the exception of the books reserved for the smarties of the world, I’ll read just about anything you put in front of me.  This always leads to the burning question - what should I read next? 

My favorite moment is when I find a new author.  I have several “go to” authors that I love, but in trying to fill the time in between releases, I get to go on a treasure hunt.  First, I will seek out books by authors I have met.

Meeting an author (and having the chance to get a book signed) is a huge thing for me.  I feel more tied to the story and root for the author’s success due to the personal connection.  I keep a list of authors I meet at signings and conventions so I can search for their treasures when I am book shopping.  This last Christmas, I put together of basket of books from authors I’d met for my mother-in-law.  She devoured them.  I overheard her telling the ladies in her bridge group, “Oh, you must read x.  Heather met the author, you know.”  There is something electrifying and contagious about that brush with fame!  

Word of mouth is invaluable.  I’ve yet to have a friend steer me wrong.  But this feels like cheating.  Don’t get me wrong, I’m going to read the book you suggested to me. I hop onto too many bandwagons to be left behind.  However, the egoist in me likes to be the one to find the diamond in the rough.

The internet is another great resource for finding that hidden treasure of a great book.  To this day, I am not sure how I came across Kimberly Frost’s website, but I am glad that I did.  I had not heard of her or her books, but her website was great and it drew me in.  A few clicks later, I’d ordered her debut book from Amazon.  A week later, after finishing the book, I was pre-ordering her second book.  I am now biting my nails waiting for her third book.  I’ve found several books I love by following links on my favorite authors’ websites to new worlds.

What treasure maps do you use to find your next read?

Seeing the Forest Despite the Trees

I'm lost in the woods. Seriously lost. I am at that point in the WIP that I have gotten in so deep in the story that I know where I need to go, but my path is obscured due to all the damn trees. I've laid out my clues, and know the backstory for all of my characters. The problem is, I may be losing sight of my story. I am trying so hard to tie up the threads I've started and make my characters motivations believable that the big picture is starting to look more like a Monet painting than a crisp, digital photograph. I need to find a way to see the forest despite the trees.  Help!

Words from Which to Draw Inspiration

“It is not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood, who strives valiantly; who errs and comes short again and again; because there is not effort without error and shortcomings; but who does actually strive to do the deed; who knows the great enthusiasm, the great devotion, who spends himself in a worthy cause, who at the best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement and who at the worst, if he fails, at least he fails while daring greatly. So that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who know neither victory nor defeat."

- Theodore Roosevelt

Rabbit Rabbit!

I loved to read Trixie Belden books when I was in elementary school.  I still remember the first chapter of "The Mystery of the Emeralds" where Trixie woke up on the first day of the new month, yelled "Rabbit Rabbit" and bounded out of bed. When her brothers reacted in a way that expressed they thought she had lost her mind, she explained her behavior.  If you say "Rabbit Rabbit" and make a wish just before going to sleep on the last night of the month, and say it again in the morning before you've said another word, your wish should come true.

I read that book when I was eight.  I have tried to remember to say "Rabbit Rabbit" before going to bed and when I woke up ever since.  I haven't been able to do it yet, and quite a few years have passed since I was eight.  But I still keep trying.  The promise of my wish coming true drives me to keep trying.

The same is true of my writing.  I keep trying to write a good story.  I'm not sure I've gotten it, but I keep trying because one day, it will happen and my wish will come true.

Today is the last day of the month.  I think I am going to take a trick out of Trixie's book and tape a sign at the foot of the bed to remind me to make a wish and say the magic words.  You think that you know what they will be?  I'll give you a hint - "Sleep is for wimps - get your fanny out of bed and start writing."

Rabbit Rabbit - may your wish come true.

Somebody's Got a Case of the Mondays

I truly wish I was one of those chipper, optimistic, bubbly people who bound out of bed on Monday morning excited to embrace the week's challenges.  Instead, I am the person that greets them at work, growling over a cup of coffee while calculating the hours, minutes, and seconds until the work week is over.

I'm not sure why I am this way.  My job isn't horrible.  I am my own boss, and I generally like the work I do.  Don't get me wrong, there isn't a day that passes where I don't want to smash my mouse against the wall or shred the phone cord to threads.  I have only myself to blame for that one - it wasn't exactly a well guarded secret that the legal profession was stressful and involved conflict.

I think the problem is that I would rather be writing.  I feel anxious all day until I can get home and write.  I live for the long weekends when I get that precious weekday to include in my writing routine.  This should have been one of those weeks except, being the dunderhead that I am, I forgot about Good Friday when scheduling a meeting OUT OF TOWN for Friday.  I'd thought I was being sneaky - schedule the out of town meeting in hopes of it ending early so that I could scoot straight home.  Yep, I just outsmarted myself out of a long weekend.  Way to go genius.

So, I have a case of the Mondays.  I look ahead at the long week that will end with a two hour drive to Auburn for a not so fun meeting that will likely end with a lot of screaming to be followed by a two hour drive back. I need to make sure Memorial Day is circled on my calendar so I don't do this to myself again.

Silken Sands Conference - A Must Go for 2012

This weekend I had one of the best experiences that I can remember.  I attended the Silken Sands Writers' Conference hosted by the Gulf Coast Chapter of the Romance Writers of America.  It was incredibly well run (great workshops!), and the people were amazing.  If you are able to go in 2012, I cannot encourage you enough to do so.

An added bonus was the new friends that I made the Southern Sizzlers.  They are some fun and classy ladies. Between Moondays and Wet Wednesdays, I think I have found the motivation to make it through the week!

Inspiration from International Women’s Day

    Annually on March 8, the world celebrates the economic, political and social achievements of women. When I found out that my first blog post for Romance Magicians fell on International Women’s Day, I was elated.  I just knew that I would write an inspiring piece about the contributions of great women in literature, and the accolades would flow like a keg at a frat party. All I needed to put my plan in motion was a little research.

    Research, sweet research. As a lawyer, research is the life’s blood of my profession. I have to research the facts of a case, the applicable law, opposing counsel and the judge - and that is just the beginning!  High school and college debate taught me how to research efficiently and effectively. I’m like a mole; I can find anything.   My head (and ego) swell with the praise I’ve received about my ability to research a legal issue and crank out a well-reasoned and precise argument quickly. I thought those skills would transfer well to my non-legal writing efforts.

    Starting early last week, I began planning this post. My first post had to great.  No, it had to be better than great.  People were actually going to read what I wrote. I needed to create Pulitzer quality material.  Did I start writing and revising to get myself to that goal?  Heck no! I needed to research!  And what has that research accomplished?  My blog post is due, and I have a huge folder busting with articles and notes about the history of International Women’s Day and countless women whose achievements deserve recognition.  The word count?  Oh, that is precious.  The word count, you ask again? Um, well, how would you like to talk about something else.

    I am going to let you in on a dirty little secret - research is my greatest procrastination tool This experience highlighted what I already knew about myself, but wanted to deny.  I use research to delay writing.  Several years ago, I realized that it was time to tinkle or get off the pot with respect to my aspirations to write.  Laptop in hand, I used a week’s vacation at the beach to try to live the dream.  I wrote a little, but nothing significant.  Something hindered my progress.  I knew what it was! My problem was that I hadn’t educated myself enough on how to write. That was easy enough to fix.  Surely I could find a good book or two on writing.

    I used to joke when I was in law school that if you could lose weight and get in shape by owning exercise videos, I would be an Olympic contender.  The same goes for books on writing.  I’m ashamed to admit that I spent the better part of a year reading book after book on how to write.  Repeatedly, I told myself I wasn’t ready to start writing.  I just needed to finish the book on plotting.  I couldn’t be expected to write until I’d read enough on how to develop my characters.  Somewhere around the time that the books I’d bought on how to write were equaling the books I’d bought to read for pleasure, I realized that instead of researching how to write, I needed to write.

    Phase two of the procrastination process wasn’t much better.  The notebook of story ideas on my desk demanded that I engage in substantive research.  Oh internet, you are a seductive tool ready to steal minutes, hours, days and weeks from me.  A few notebooks (and months) of research later, I realized that my obsession with substantive research was, once again, keeping me from doing what I needed to do - write.  I vowed that I would have to be satisfied with a level of incompleteness in my research and start writing. 

    Good fortune should come to the person who designed the button on my laptop that lets me disable the internet.  Feeling empowered, I hit that button and started my outline (how outlining is a procrastination tool is a post for another day).  From there, I moved on to writing.  But wait! I needed more research - I needed to find the perfect name for a character and the precise word for description.  Convinced I had my addiction under control, I hit the internet button.  I would only take a few minutes.  A little necessary research won’t hurt.  I think we all know how that turned out.

    Hello, my name is Heather, and I am a researchaholic.  To combat my addiction, I’ve developed the following steps:

1. Write what you know.  This keeps the temptation to research at a minimum.  It is probably best that I not write a book about an astrophysicist.  I’m not even sure I can spell astrophysicist without a little research, let alone write a story about one.    
2.  Make a list of what you need and do your research in your down time.  I keep a notebook and a chart next to my writing desk.  The notebook contains a list of substantive research which I need to complete (history of a building, mythology, pictures of a location, etc.).  The notebook also contains “lemon drop” research.  (I was once in a deposition where periodically, opposing counsel would say “lemon drop.”   I thought he had confectioner’s tourettes.  When I asked him about it, he shared that it was his way of marking the transcript.  If there was something he knew he needed to research after the deposition, he would use the index of the transcript to find all of the “lemon drop” moments.)  Similarly, in my writing when I need to find a better name or word than what I have used, I insert “lemon drop” before whatever I will want to replace so I can use “find and replace” to locate the spot in the manuscript easier.  I keep my notebook in my purse when I’m not writing.  When I find myself with down time when I can’t write, I try to use that time to finish my research.  
3.  Research as part of your revision process.  This isn’t really a step which I developed, but a strategy I hope to employ.  A friend who has published three books shared with me that she does some big picture research that would relate to plot points before she writes, but that she saves most of her detail oriented research for the revision process.  I haven’t tried this, but it makes sense.  She explained that this method allows her to focus on the story through the first draft.  After she constructs the skeleton of her novel, she bulks up the muscle and tissue with research.  I’m seriously contemplating using this method for my next book because I want to write the darn thing, not just research what goes into it.

    And so I return to the writing of this blog post. I wish I’d been able to provide you with the dissertation on great women in history, but I think I need to do a little more research.  The women whose accomplishments are honored on International Women’s Day didn’t simply research the world around them.  They were women of action. So, in that spirit, I need to take action.  No more research.  It is time to write.