~Slow Simmer ~

                        "I try to leave out the parts
                          that other people skip."   
                                                                   -Elmore Leonard

                                   

If only it were as easy as Mr. Leonard states.  (above quote) 

The Bootlegger's Wife is proving to be a difficult beast to tame. 

Slippery...Wiley...CAGEY

I'm finding that this is a very demanding story.
Demanding to be told in its own way.
The only problem is...I'm not sure which way that is.
Every time I head off in one direction, it's takes off in another. 

 Whenever I think I've got it nailed down, there's a little tap on the shoulder

and a whisper saying "Pssst....over here."

So instead of fretting and wringing hands 

in order to maintain my self- imposed release date, 

I'm turning the flame down low 

to let it simmer nice and slow.

The soup is not ready until it's ready.
It never tastes as good if you rush it. 

( Hmm...Sounds like I'm cooking up a metaphor soup)

After spending the last few weeks with my editor,

my creative juices are flowing like a fresh mountain stream. 

Right now I want to drink from that stream until I get my fill. 

There is more to be done with The Bootlegger's Wife.
All the heavy lifting has been done. 

But this time I will  go back in with the precision of the surgeons scalpel,

making some fine cuts.

Making a small opening for something new here and there

 and digger deeper for that buried treasure.

Thankfully, I'm in love with the whole process

and before you know it 

I'll be shouting. 

Soup's On !!

~Puzzle Pieces ~

                            "If it sounds like writing, I rewrite it."
                                                                 -Elmore Leonard

What's been going on around here?
 I've been putting everything together, my friend. 

I'm on the very last leg of the 'writing' journey, with 'The Bootlegger's Wife'.
(sound the trumpets here)

Puzzle pieces that were once scattered about on the table top
have now been put into place.

Each random puzzle piece
represents a character, a piece of the story, research,that relates to the next piece.

My editor, Scott Southard, has been pouring over my manuscript and offering sound advice. 

A fresh pair of eyes, especially eyes that know what they're looking for
 is just what my manuscript needs at this point. 

It's time to make sure all the puzzle pieces fit neatly into place. 

It's his job to find where I might have been shoving the wrong piece into the hole
 trying to make it fit. 

A good editor 

shines a light for you to find your way.
They don't do it for you. 

After all my hard work I don't want to be left with a gaping hole.

But if all the pieces come together properly

You'll never see the seams.

Fingers Crossed

~ Are we there yet? ~

                          One day I'll find the right words
                                    and they will be simple.
                                                                   -Jack Kerouac

"Are we there yet?" 

comes the familiar refrain from the back seat. 

After a long, hot, and sweaty ride in the back of the family station wagon...I would eagerly look out the windows, anxious for any sign that I was nearing our destination. 

National Lampoons Vacation

"NOT YET." 

Was the usual reply. 

Sigh. 

Not yet. 

For months now I've been writing, re-writing, editing, re-writing. Repeat. 

Just when I might be able to convince myself the story is ready...it's not.

Now my editor will take a look. She better hold on tight because I'm pretty sure 

this is what she'll see:

Thanks Ellen Harger for  sharing this pic


"Am I there yet?" 

"Not yet. But almost."

~Shhh... I've been having an affair ~

   


"Ink and paper are sometimes                     passionate lovers, oftentimes brother and sister, and occasionally mortal enemies."

                                        - Emme Woodhull-Bache

Writing is like being in love

There's that first flush...when you come face to face for the first time,
 ( in this case when you first meet your story.)
"Hello" says Mr. Story "How do you do?"
"Hello." I respond with curiosity. "My name is Terri...and you are???"

It doesn't take long before you enter into the 'Giddy' phase. Just like when you first meet your true love it's all you want to talk about. It's certainly all you can think about. And just like new lovers everywhere, you are in a rush to find out everything about them, no detail is too small. In this phase when all the pieces begin to tumble out willy nilly, it's hard to remember that I'm the one writing the story. Because in the beginning, I feel like an observer. All the facts are simply being REVEALED to me.

Unfortunately at some point you have your first fight... it's a difficult blow when you realize you don't understand one another after all. What were you thinking? You ask yourself. You might be ready to throw in the towel.
But then you kiss and make up.

The words on the page become your love song. Sweet nothings whispered in your ear. Sometimes I've made a spectacle of myself as the right words have taken me by surprise. I dance around the room with a big goofy grin on my face, like a sixteen year old that just got asked to the prom.

So I think you get the picture.

But not only am I in love, but sometimes it's like I'm having an affair. I sneak around and write a line or two or jot down my notes with every spare moment I can snatch from the day. I'm constantly writing secret love notes. Or recording some random bit of dialogue on my phone to capture later.
"What are you doing?" asks innocent Hubbs
"Nothing....nothing. Pay no attention to me." I say with a guilty grin.

Yes, it's quite obvious to anyone who is looking.

 I'm having an affair with my writing.

~ The Good, The Bad & The Ugly ~

           "You take people, you put them on a journey, 
           you give them peril, you find out 
          who they really are. "
     
                                                   -Joss Whedon

Character development. 

Here is where the Good, the Bad and the Ugly comes in to play. Even my darling hero/heroine has flaws. I shouldn't cover them up or sweep them under the rug. The flaws are what humanize characters. I have learned to embrace their imperfections, and allow my character to

  G  R   O   W. 

When Kate first whispered her story to me (while in my bathtub, over a year and a half ago) I knew I liked her right from the start. I loved the fact that she was 'every girl '. Not too perfect. Pretty, but not gorgeous. She often thought of a splendid retort, hours after an embarrassing incident. In other words, she was a girl every one could relate to.



                                                             

 And it was important that she remain that way throughout the story. As an author one can become so intimately involved with our characters, it's sometimes hard to watch them get kicked around. But it's important that they don't always win at everything ... because hey, that's life. 

So I had to fight my instinct to protect Kate. I had to let her fail a time or two. But in the end it makes for a stronger character and a better story. It's up to my reader to discover the character for themselves. And in that discovery, they will either fall in love ... or they won't. That is the beauty of reading. For how do you know that the ending is fitting...if you haven't been on the entire journey, page by page?

Likewise, I let my reader follow a trail of breadcrumbs that allow them to take a small peek into the mind of my hero's nemesis. Even if the antagonist's logic is flawed, in their little world they have a reason for their behavior. The evil villain in a cartoon, is just that...a cartoon. REAL people have many layers.

In my current novel, The Bootlegger's Wife, 
there are plenty of flaws and weaknesses to go around. But hopefully the characters are lovable in spite of them...or perhaps... BECAUSE of them. 

But that,dear friends,will be for you... to tell me!

~ Write From the Heart ~

The book you write will change      

YOUR life.

                                                                     -    Joanna Penn

While at a writer's conference a few months ago, someone asked the question of the panel of agents and editors,"What do you see as the next big trend? We've had vampires and zombies, what's next?"

The agent who answered, knew exactly what the questioner was asking and she responded truthfully.
To paraphrase, she said something along the lines of "I don't have a crystal ball. No one knows what will capture the imagination of the public and cause a wildfire to spread in the publishing industry. But if you're looking for an inside tip so that you can write a story based on what you think the next big trend will be...you're playing a losing game." I say...

Write from the heart

That is the only way to write. Now...if you just so happen to LOVE vampires and zombies and Dystopic worlds (think Hunger Games) ...great. Write your little heart out and in this very moment the market will love you for it. But for the rest of us it's a huge mistake to force a story, simply to catch a ride on the coattails of the latest whim in the publishing industry. 

Write from the heart  

Your story is your voice, and your voice is unique. No one else can tell your story like you can. Embrace it. Believe it. Trust it. And don't worry about writing the next '50 Shades of Gray'.   

When you write simply because you MUST write, because the thought of not writing hurts too much, then you are listening to your heart. And whether or not you become the next JK Rowling or Stephanie Myers matters not in the long run; for the book you write WILL CHANGE YOUR LIFE. But only if, you...

Write from the heart. 

~ The Art of Editing in the Rain ~

'

'Kill your darlings, kill your darlings; even when it breaks your egocentric little scribbler's heart, kill your darlings.'
                                                     -Stephen King

Why that title for this post? I just love the sound of the words. I stole them from 'The Art of Racing in the Rain' by Garth Stein. ( a fabulous book, written by a dog) It's not plagiarism if you admit to stealing, is it? But once I borrowed the title I thought I would just continue with the theme of race car driving and merge
 ( see what I did there?) it into my thoughts on editing.

Whether racing or editing there are some similar things to watch out for:

When to let off the gas

When to go full steam ahead

Watch out for those tricky corners

Keep the Finish Line in sight

The hardest thing to come to terms with is: 'What to purge what to keep??? But as Stephen King so delicately put it above, sometimes you have to be ruthless. Case in point, I had several beautiful pages that were drop dead good and I was IN LOVE with those words. But come to find out.....they didn't actually belong in this book. I was shocked to find that out. And as much as it hurt my little fingers to press the 'delete' button, I had to do it. So the words I loved fell from the pages onto the cutting room floor. But I carefully swept them up, and I will use them somewhere else where they were meant to shine. 

As long as I'm still editing, the story continues and my characters live.The hardest part is knowing when you're done. If I'm editing I am still in contact with my characters, and the truth is I don't want to say good-bye. So for now we are still visiting daily, I am not yet ready to close the book and send them away. But soon, very soon.