People ask if I prefer writing series or standalone. I put it like this, some days you want to see old friends, people who know you well enough that you never have to explain yourself. And some days, you want to venture out, to something new. It’s sort of like that. Maybe not really but a little. There’s something comforting about a series, about characters who are so familiar. But it’s exciting to find a new world, too, and that can be equally tempting. Maybe more.
Your circle matters
I met a writer recently. She’s hugely talented and motivated, willing to do the work. But her husband isn’t a fan of the writing. He thinks it’s a waste of time, the odds too much against her. I don’t want that to matter for her, but it does. It matters so much to have the support at home… for the days when it’s hard. And there are a lot of those days.
Writing retreat
I snuck back east (after testing and quarantining) to spend a week with 2 wonderful writer friends. We worked long days, took breaks walking along the beach (a special treat for a Montana writer), and spent the evenings, drinking wine and eating take out food, talking about the day’s work. Writing is a solitary business but when you can do it in the company of other writers, it’s such a lovely change.
The graph of a thriller
It’s a bizarre thing to see the emotions that come with reading a book in the form of a graph, but this one does a pretty good job of mapping out the revelations when it’s done well. For a pantser like me (that is someone who doesn’t plot a book out), this happens mostly by intuition and, as far as I can tell, a little big of magic.
What happened to the bride?
Saw this bouquet abandoned during a stop in a small town on a driving trip last week. A cold wind and a slate sky, the scene was eerie. I started to wonder…
Where is the bride? Why leave your bouquet behind? What happened to you?
Looking back at 50. Was I born this way?
I was not a kid who read a ton though I spent a lot of time in my own head. An old family friend sent me this picture which she said was taken when I was around 11.
Do I look like a writer? Did I know then what dark halls my mind would lead me down?
When writing is business...
For me, the process of writing a book is a combination of faith and persistence. It’s just me, alone at my desk. But when the book is done and the publisher gets involved, it becomes business. Which means things have to be done on a schedule. Sometimes on a gorgeous summer weekend day.
Ode to COVID
Ode to #COVID
🦠
Oh, Corona, your UNTAMED virus is a RUTHLESS GAME that puts us in GRAVE DANGER. You make us fear we’ll lose SOMEONE WE KNOW. Even with a healthy family, I feel, WITHOUT FAIL, that I am a BAD MOTHER when everyone is SO SAD TODAY and THE HOURS pass while NO ONE KNOWS what BIG MAGIC will give us ONE CLEAN SHOT to end this thing.
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I’ve always been a TRUE BELIEVER in appreciating LITTLE LOVELY THINGS and running a FUN HOME, but we’re NORMAL PEOPLE, Mr. Co19, and it would be A MERCY to go to a party with friends. You have left us thinking those days are LONG AND FARAWAY GONE and we will be BRAVING THE WILDERNESS alone, sneaking out in the COLD SILENCE because we have EVERYTHING TO LOSE if we EXPOSE each other.
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For my daughter, life without friends is HER EVERY FEAR and my WAYWARD SON, who was ON THE COME UP and at SUCH A FUN AGE, is now like a STRANGER IN THE LAKE. I tell them THE HERO IS YOU, but I don’t think they buy it and now it takes everything to EXCISE them from their rooms.
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ALL WE EVER WANTED was to send them off to college before Montana’s next WHITE OUT. Instead, they are in the DEAD CENTER of this strange time you have created, Mr C. Virus. It will surely go down as a DARK PASSAGE to adulthood, as they are CHASING DARKNESS you have planted in their heads.
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At least we are here BENEATH A SCARLET SKY, in Montana. I only pray our love of this place and each other doesn’t EXPIRE before we can break THE CHAIN of your nasty concoction. To conquer you, oh shameless infector 19, we shall have to go BIRD BY BIRD, try not to behave like A CONFEDERACY OF DUNCES, believe that things will get BETTER and have faith that, despite you, oh Covid19, THE THREE MARTINI PLAYDATE is in our future.
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And on that glorious day, when we have eradicated you, we might very well have a fourth 🍸. And perhaps a 5th as well...
Book stack challenge