An End and a Beginning

I've been blogging here for some time now.  For those of you who have followed my blogs, I thank you.  From now on I can be found at my new website www.maryellenbramwell.com.  It is up and running, and I will be blogging there from now on.

Please go to my new website and "follow" me and "like" me.  Then tell all of your friends about it as well!  It would be wonderful to have a lot of "buzz" going before my book is released in August.  Again, thank you again for being there for me.

Woohoo!

I only have one story today.  Less than a week ago I signed a book contract for my first novel, The Apple of My Eye.  I have experienced a myriad of emotions since that moment.  It is exciting, humbling, scary, unbelievable, overwhelming, . . .  Once I received the contract back with all of the signatures, I had to get right to work, because I was also given a fair amount of "homework" to do too.  I am new to this side of writing since this is my debut novel.

In the last few days I have written a synopsis for the back cover, a shorter one (for who knows what), and a bio.  I have recruited help from family to find readers/reviewers, and I have searched for an editor (the publisher provides a final edit as well).  Today I got a haircut, my makeup done, and my picture taken.  I've also been working on ideas for the book cover design and my side of the marketing.

The strangest part of it all is that to do this right I have to promote myself, constantly!  It's definitely outside of my comfort zone, but I keep thinking of what this can mean to my family, and that keeps me grounded.  I don't want to squander this opportunity that God has certainly had a hand in creating for me.  That brings me to a feeling of responsibility, and that is somewhat sobering.

Don't get me wrong, I'm as excited as a mosquito at a family reunion, and I am very grateful.  But I also want to make sure I don't screw this up!

False Endings

I'm sure you've all read those books where things seem to be winding down.  Loose ends are being tied up.  However, there are still sixty pages of the book remaining, and you can't imagine what is left to say.  Then, slam bang, something unexpected happens, and those sixty pages now seem short to resolve everything.  This can be a fun technique, and I admit to using it in my first book.

Now, the point of this blog is comparing writing to real life, finding those common threads and trends.  I'm sorry to say this will be the case with this blog as well.  I have a tooth, a tooth with a story that just refuses to end!

It started with a cavity.  Then it involved a root canal.  My dentist began the root canal but could not complete it.  She found two roots but not the others.  So, I was referred to an endodontist.  The first appointment with her was just a consult.  The second appointment was a bust.  Apparently, despite my initial arrangements, doctor's office and insurance office were not speaking the same language.  I walked away rather than cough up $700 on the spot.  Several weeks later, with assurance that communication had been successfully completed, I went for the actual root canal.  Now this is done at a dental school and they perform root canals in two visits.  After two hours in the chair for part one, I'm beginning to feel like maybe my tooth story is winding down.  Not so!

This weekend that tooth developed an abscess!  Fortunately I have a friend who is a dentist, so I called him.  He said that's what the root canal was supposed to take care of and that maybe they had missed a root.  He prescribed some antibiotics.  After a couple of attempts this morning I reached the dental school and am headed there this afternoon.

When all of this is done, the root canal still needs to be finished, the cavity filled - back at the original dentist, and then probably a crown.  All of this for ONE tooth!

Bottom line is I don't mind when fictional stories go on in unexpected ways, but I'm not a fan in real life!

Really?

I'm going to tell you a story.  Only, unlike most of my written stories, this one is true.

My family recently found a new dentist.  She practices a few towns over, however our towns being what they are, that's not actually very far away.  Her office is located on the second floor of a three of four story, square building, older yet still functional.

My husband and I have both gone to this dentist, and we took our seven-year-old son there, as well.  So, far this doesn't sound like much of a story does it?  But, I promise, this information is all relevant.

Not so long ago, a sting was conducted on a prostitution ring that caught some, now embarrassed, government officials.  You guessed it, it was being conducted on one of the floors above our dentist office!

Really?!

One of my favorite things that I learned about writing fiction is that everyone has a secret, and so the writing is all about how you reveal those individual secrets.  But I wonder, in real life, if I actually want to know all of those secrets!

Unlikable characters

It's interesting the things we read.  I've been reading a book the last few days that isn't my favorite.  It has been tempting to put it down and not finish it, but I've invested enough time in it that I feel obligated to see it through.

If you read the title of my blog you will know why I'm not too fond of this book: unlikable characters.  I read and keep hoping these characters will stop and start making different decisions.  But, so far, my hope has been vain.

I know that when writing, the characters I create should be flawed.  However, they still need to be likable enough that you can look past those flaws or at least accept them.  

In real life this is a tricky thing.  We should love all men, but with some that is harder than others.  And unlike a novel, it's not appropriate to just discard them because we don't like them.  There is also the concern that we might be the unlikable character.  That is definitely a sobering thought.  I suppose the only way to deal with these concerns is to turn to another book - the Good Book.

Maya Angelou said, "While I know myself as a creation of God, I am also obligated to realize and remember that everyone else and everything else are also God's creation."

Do What You Love

A few days ago I was part of a community service event.  It was held at a local college and brought together students as well as faculty.  I found myself working beside a young man, an English literature major as it turns out.  We talked as we worked and I found it hard to contain my excitement about being a writer.  I truly love this!

I think about the ups and downs of writing novels or articles, and honestly the downs aren't really downs.  There may be set backs, like struggling with how to resolve certain plot points or reaching the right person to interview, but they just aren't that big of a deal.  I love this too much to let it get me down.

There are many aspects of my life that are similar to my writing.  I love my family and I love my faith.  So, it's no chore to work on these things as well.  Sure, there are set backs, but that's part of life isn't it?  (I find when I'm doing something that I don't love it's time to ask why I'm doing it in the first place.)

The flip side of this can be true as well.  There are things that I just have to do, like the dishes, for example.  As long as I have to do it anyway, I may as learn to love it.  Over the years that's what I've learned to do.  I actually don't mind doing dishes these days.

Life is just too short to not love what it's about!

Impatience and Timing

Those of you who follow my blog will know that I recently finished writing my first novel.  So, I've been working on book number two, and I've got to say, it's an elusive little creature.  Just when I think I've got the right direction and feel for it, I look at it again and think maybe not.  I've even considered abandoning this particular idea in favor of one of my others.  Which brings me to my title.

One of my other ideas is actually my very favorite idea.  I like it better than the novel I just wrote and better than the one I am attempting to write now.  Whenever I grow disappointed in my current efforts, I toy with writing this favorite idea.  But, and here's the important part, I'm not ready to write it yet.  I don't want to write it and not do it justice.  I have heard of movie makers having this same sense about a movie that then became their magnum opus.  

And so, I retreat to my other ideas, working to hone my craft, to practice and practice and practice, knowing that one day all of this will pay off.  One day I will be able to write that book, and hopefully you will see why I had to wait and why the waiting was worth it.

We live in a society that does not much regard delayed gratification.  We want it all and we want it all right now!  This is short-sighted and will not serve us well.  That is what I remind myself when I grow impatient, when I threaten to butcher what should be and will be, eventually, a wonderful story.  It was the story I was born to write, but just not yet . . .

I'm up to two!

This week I received my second rejection from a publisher.  Woohoo!  I'm not disappointed.  I suppose I should be, but I just can't quite work up to that.  I know I have good company - J.K. Rowling, John Grisham, Steven King, etc.  I still have hope, and hope is essential in life.

I imagine if it were my twentieth rejection I might not feel so chipper, but it isn't.  So, I'll keep on trying.  It's also nice to have other writing options where I am receiving positive feedback.  That helps too.

Today is a day that speaks of hope.  The sun is shining.  The grass in peeking out from under the snow.  The bicycle is coming out of the garage.  We all need hope.  Even the weather and the world around us know this.

Broken People?

A few months ago I was gathered around a lunch table listening to the stories that flow from people about their lives.  Something as simple as food brings forth an astounding array of memories and experiences.

As I listened to one woman's tale of growing up, going to school, taking care of her brothers and cooking all of the family's meals - all while her able bodied mother looked on, my heart broke.  She said her husband cooks most of the meals because she has such a bad taste in her mouth about cooking.  He also grew up doing most of the cooking for his family, but it was approached differently.  His mother was still at work when he got home from school, but she would have laid out for him meat, thawed, along with any necessary ingredients and instructions.  Even though his mother wasn't physically there cooking with him, she mentally was.

I left that lunch table deep in thought.  Others around that table were obviously physically broken, in many ways, but I would not have guessed how psychologically scarred this woman was had she not told her story.

Aren't we all broken in one way or another?  Or at least we all have experiences that change us.  At times, when we are in the midst of those experiences, we think we are the only ones, that we are alone in our suffering, that no one will understand.  We may feel this way, but it is simply not true.

I believe this is one of the reasons I write.  I write to bring to light those things that break some of us, but also to show that they don't have to.  We can choose our own path.  We can choose our own reactions and responses.  We can indeed have hope.

I may write fiction, but I still hope that it rings true.

It's Monday. . . Again!

It's Monday morning, yet again!  What emotions does that phrase evoke in you?  Dread?  Discouragement? Downright depression?

I must apologize; I have given you a bit of misdirection, because I think it is GREAT that it's Monday, again.  I rested yesterday to fill my tank in preparation for the week ahead, but I was barely able to contain the excitement I felt about writing!  I couldn't wait to get going this morning to put proverbial pen to paper (or fingers to keyboard).

Isn't life just wonderful and fascinating?  Don't you just love to read a book that transports you places and transforms your thinking?  Can't you just imagine how I must feel about putting down those words that will hopefully one day transport and transform you?

All of you out there have different things that you will do today.  Some of them will be mundane and ordinary.  (I have a list of those to take care of myself.)  But in the process of doing those you can smile, you can laugh, you can imagine.  Doesn't that make this a great Monday?

Writing, writing and more writing

I was just talking with a group of teenagers yesterday about learning and how their own desire to learn plays a role in that.  It seems like an obvious connection, but we aren't always logical.

Have you ever felt like you wanted to "have" a certain amount of knowledge, but you didn't actually want to "gain" it?  In other words, you just wanted it plopped into your brain like in the movie The Matrix, without any effort on your part.  I must admit that thought has certain appeal.  But the reality of it is that the journey is important to the learning, and it can also be a lot of fun.

I started out writing with a goal of being a novelist.  I haven't deviated from that goal, but I have augmented it.  I'm now writing for two different monthly magazines, and I have my own column in one of them.  It is non-fiction writing, and at first I thought it unnecessary to my goal.  But writing, any writing, helps me hone my craft.  The journey has become as important as the goal.

And one last thought - when I love writing so much, what's not to love about writing more?

Moving Forward

I recently submitted my novel to a publisher.  After some initial interest, he decided not to publish it.  He had some nice things to say, but ultimately, he didn't connect with my characters in the early chapters.

It gave me pause.  Should I rework those early chapters or should I find a different publisher, one that would more easily identify with my main character?  The answer was, "Yes."

I've made some changes to my book, but not in any major ways.  I always want to be open to feedback and consider it seriously, but I also have to maintain the integrity of my book.  No one wants to read a book that has been changed to please so many different people that it no longer has a clear direction or focus.

I've also come to accept the fact that my book fits in the category of "chick lit."  I can call it "commercial fiction" all I want (which it is), but it is also squarely in the "chick lit" camp.  Now that I've accepted that fact I can better target my queries and submissions.

I suppose I should be disappointed about my rejection, but I just can't quite muster those negative feelings.  To me, it's like finding a friend.  You may meet a lot of people, but you only connect with a few.  No matter how much you change to try to fit in with those "other" people you will find that it's not really you.  It just doesn't work.  So, you keep looking until you make a connection.  And in the end the friendships you do make are ones that last a lifetime.

That's what I'm going to do with my book.  I'm going to keep "meeting" publishers until I find one that I (and my book) connect with.  I may learn (and edit) along the way, after all, that is part of this process we call life.  But in the end I hope to find the right fit, one that will last through this book, and the next, and the next.

Isn't this a wonderful journey?

Some of our best writers . . .

I've been reading a lot lately - some of the finest literature out there.  I've also been reading a few other things.  For instance, there are reviews on amazon.com of some sugar-free gummy bears.  The reviews are hilarious - we're talking laugh-so-hard-you'll-start-crying hilarious.  I've been reading those as well.

Now, I certainly don't want to dismiss the hard-working authors out there, but those reviewers are brilliant!  After reading a few reviews, I began to wonder if some of them aren't fabricated.  But even if they are, the vivid language and imaginative metaphors are so well done that who cares!

Next week I'll be back to saluting the hard-working authors in our lives, but for this one week, I've got to say, "Hat's off to the amateur reviewers out there!  Keep up the good work."

Cleaning House

I've been doing a lot of cleaning and organizing the last couple of weeks.  It's a good feeling to sort, file, and discard accumulations.

I've also been reading a lot of books lately.  All of them have had good story lines, but some of them were a little cluttered and disorganized.  I have to admit that the disorder got to me.  I hesitate to recommend those books simply for that fact alone.  To me, that is the difference between a good book and a great book.  Who wants to be distracted from a good tale by literary, neglected "dust bunnies"?

I don't think that I mentioned that I just finished the major edit/rewrite of my book, "The Apple of My Eye."  I hope I haven't left any half-eaten apple cores behind.

 

A Pebble in My Shoe

Have you ever had a pebble in your shoe?  It is such a small thing, but such a huge irritant.  In life, those irritants come in many forms; I'm sure there is no need for me to list them.  Sometimes we can take off our "shoe" and eliminate the offending item, and sometimes we can't.

The familiar "Serenity Prayer" attributed to Reinhold Niebuhr is:
God, grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change,
The courage to change the things I can,
And wisdom to know the difference.

This is what much of life is about.  If we cannot remove a pebble, we have to learn how to live with it, or look for change at a different time and in a different place.

Good books will actually insert those pebbles into the story.  They seem little and insignificant, and yet they don't sit right with us.  They irritate.  But with a masterful stroke, at the right time and place they are removed or resolved.  It is then that we realize they were placed there on purpose, for a specific intent.

On the other hand, poorly written books at times unintentionally have pebbles which are never removed.  All they do is irritate.

I believe that our lives often have intentional pebbles.  They help us learn and grow.  They have a purpose.  I heard a man yesterday say, "A smooth sea does not produces a skilled sailor."  So maybe in life (and books) it is best not to ask for a smooth journey, but a successful and satisfying one instead.

Paying It Forward

This last week was an amazing week!  I finished the major edits/rewrites of my book.  I am now actually ready to send it off and hopefully find a willing publisher.  It's a great feeling!

But what also made it great was a conversation I had last night with another aspiring writer.  I was able to offer words of encouragement along with a few suggestions.  It prompted thoughts of when Kristen Gough, another writer, offered support and gave me pointers when I began my own crazy writing adventure.

This world really is a better place when we all try to help each other.  I have been incredibly blessed by the kindnesses of others.  Hopefully, I in turn, can bless the lives of others.  Looking for opportunities to do just that is, I think, a great way to begin this new year!