Waxing Mom-stalgic

Posted on May 11, 2012 by

Mother’s day has always brought a flurry of mixed emotions. Part of me wants to boycott, thinking how wrong it is to designate only one day a year to honor women who have literally brought all of humanity into being. C’mon . . . one measly day a year?

Don’t get me wrong. I’m not proposing we moms get inundated with cards, flowers and candy every day. In fact, that’s the part I like the least -the part that dictates some sort of expenditure in order to show our love for mom. Nope, give me a big ole hug any old day. Better yet, do my chores for a day without whining or being asked to do them. Wash and wax my car. Make me something from scratch. Or just give me a call and talk for hours about life, love and the pursuit of same.

I think it’s fitting that Mother’s Day comes close on the heels of Earth Day. Our big mother whose been there for us from the beginning of time. We owe her so much more than a card! And I doubt she wants us to yank up some of her flowers just to hand back to her. Nah . . . she probably wants us to be kinder to her. Kinder to each other. That’s what I’d want if I was her.

My own mother passed away several years ago. When I think of Gaia, I see her face – I always have. Mom was the epitome of everything natural. She was the most down-to-earth person I know. And she could do just about anything. I see her painting the walls of the houses we used to rent out. I see her building their foundations, pouring cement, laying brick, shingling roofs. I see her in the garden, picking tomatoes, beans, peaches. Then canning them or making the best from-scratch pie east of the Pacific. I see her raising her own meat: cows, sheep, chickens. I see her knitting and sewing and making her own patterns. I see her in the barn with all her tools, building a cabinet or a futon couch. Mom was amazing. If I had half her gumption, I’d be doing something extraordinary right now. Aside from blogging about my extraordinary mom.

Speaking of blogging, I have to remember that this is my blog about writerly stuff. So I really need to make the topic bookish in some way. And then tie it into my theme of Waxing Mom-stalgic.

So here goes.

I did a little google search, looking for books about Mom’ism and I found a few writers who I completely and totally respect for their awesomeness (just like my own mom!). One of them was Doris Lessing. Specifically her book, The Fifth Child. I’ve not read it but its blurb doesn’t sound all warm and fuzzy, not the kind of mom-ism filled with big ole sloppy sentiment. It sounds more like the kind of thing Doris Lessing would write – something tough and hard that looks at the more difficult aspects of being a mother. Sort of reminds me of that song by Blue October, the one where the drug addict is asking his mom to hate him so she can move on and have a life of her own. Pretty darned poignant way of telling your mom you love her.

But then, whoever said mom-ism was easy? Whoever said that bringing up a kid or two was all flowers and cards and candy? It’s not. Of course it’s not.

Shifting the tone a bit, I ran across Anne Lamont’s Some Assembly Required. Anne Lamont, infamous for her book on writing, Bird by Bird. I’ve not read Some Assembly but it sounds a tad more upbeat than Doris Lessing’s book. And a TON happier than Blue October’s tribute to his mom.

Skip over a WHOLE BUNCH of titles and authors and I came to a classic. It’s the perfect of perfect mom stories. And especially for this day, this time, right now. It’s a story about a cranky boy who misbehaves so badly that he gets sent to bed. Without his supper. But even at the very end . . . even after he’s been everywhere and done everything imaginable. Even after all that, his mom brings him supper. She leaves it on the nightstand where it’s stays nice and hot.

Where the Wild Things Are is more than a story about a little boy. It’s a story about a mom and her love for her son, regardless of how much wild ruckus he’s capable of pulling off. As far as mom stories go, Where the Wild Things Are is unequaled. I mean . . . Mom doesn’t even have to be in the story to show her love for Max! And how great is that?

Farewell Maurice, we'll all miss you.

So that was my book hunt. With some side trips into hither and yon. I’m sure there are boatloads of other great mom-ism books out there just waiting to be found. Maybe you have a few. One’s you’ve read. One’s you’ve written. Maybe you’ll feel up to adding them to my list here.

And . . . lest I should forget . . .

HAPPY MOTHER’S DAY!!

~ May all you moms be appropriately inundated ~

Posted in Life, Parenting, Writing | Leave a comment

As Good As It Gets

Posted on May 3, 2012 by

I thought I’d talk about the movie As Good As It Gets – Helen Hunt, Jack Nicholson, Cuba Gooding, Jr., Greg Kinnear. And, lest I forget, Verdell. Verdell being the most adorable of the lot.

First of all, if you haven’t seen it, you’re really missing out! It’s one of the best movies made. Ever. Hands down. The first time I saw it was on a plane heading for Brazil. I had my headphones on and only when I noticed the scathing looks from surrounding passengers did I realize how loud I was laughing.

But I digress. If you haven’t seen it, go rent it, watch it and then come back here and read this. I’ll wait for you.

Hum de dumm. De dumm, de dummmm . . . a little bit of finger drumming . . . dum de dum de dum . . .

Oh, . . . so, you’re back. Wasn’t it great!? Wasn’t it every bit as funny as I told you it would be? Oh sure, there are really heart wrenching moments. Like when Simon gets the crap beat out of him. I cringe just thinking about it! So horrible, so horrible. But you have to admit that Frank’s reaction to seeing Simon’s face in the hospital is priceless.

I think we can all agree that the acting is superb by all involved (especially Verdell!). So let’s move on to the plot and subplots, running seamlessly side by side in such a way that you don’t even realize the paths your being led down. You lose yourself so completely in Simon’s tragedy, in Carol’s difficulties with her son, that they become as powerful as the main focus of the movie. Yet they all link back together so that, in the end, its just one story with many facets.

I keep thinking how our novels need to play out in the same manner. They need to have enough going on that the reader is fully engaged in the many aspects of the protagonist’s struggle. They need to pull the reader in so that she feels like she’s the one living the protagonist’s life.

But writing like real life isn’t easy! Real life doesn’t plod along in a linear fashion like a flat-line on a grieving heart monitor. Real life introduces interlacing challenges with multi-diminsional characters, all with varying relational needs. Real life moves up and down as fast as a fiddler’s elbow.

So how do we represent all those ups and downs, those connecting stories when we write? Especially if we’ve chosen a perspective (a Point of View) that requires us to remain in the head of the protagonist at all times?

Warning: the author has turned on the First Person Perspective sign. Please remain in one seat for the duration of the novel

I sometimes struggle with perspective. I want to be everywhere all the time with all my characters. But I’ve been cautioned against it. “Pick a head and stay in it,” is what I hear. I want to ask, what about the movies! Great movies that allow me to be everywhere with everyone. To be involved in all the action regardless of where the protagonist is at the time. Think about it . . . if every scene in As Good As It Gets had to include Melvin (as in first person or third person limited), then we’d miss out on that marvelous interaction between Frank and Simon in the hospital! And we sure wouldn’t be there when the doctor paid a visit to Carol, changing her life forever.

So, how on earth did I go from talking about plot & subplot to talking about perspective? I think it’s because the two are linked together as closely as an old married couple. If the relationship isn’t working, the reader will know it. And she probably won’t want to come over for Thanksgiving dinner. But if it’s a good match, if the two in the relationship “compliment” one another, then everyone will want to be around them. And who knows, they might even stay for the pumpkin pie.

Bottom line, choosing perspective shouldn’t be taken lightly. We need to think about whose story we’re trying to tell. And how far from the main character we can stray without losing focus on his or her conflict(s). Or if we even need to stray? Is all that peripheral “stuff” germane to the main plot? If not, then maybe it can be eliminated. And maybe, when we weed out the superfluous, we can shift the perspective too, bringing the lens closer to the protagonist, keeping that marriage from falling apart.

But certainly not in the case of “As Good As It Gets.” Nope, it’s . . . well . . . as good as it gets, wouldn’t you say?

Posted in Movies, Writing | Leave a comment

Some days are coal

Posted on April 27, 2012 by

It’s Friday. 9:55. PM. And I have yet to post my Friday blog. If truth be told . . . I got nothing. So I’ve been putting it off. And off. And off. Until now.

It’s not like I haven’t been doing anything blogworthy. Although it seems like I haven’t. I mean, what’s it like to sit around on your arse all week long while a bunch of contractors crawl around your house doing a variety of work related things. My husband (bless his lil ole heart) says I shouldn’t feel bad sitting at my computer while other people are busy doing stuff. And I know he’s right. I mean . . . writing is HARD WORK TOO! So you’d think I’d get a lot of it done while all this work went on all around me. Right?

Wrong.

I blame it on my upbringing. And living on a farm where there was never any down time. Never a moment when we were allowed to just sit. Around. Doing nothing. While others worked.

So even today there’s a nagging little mom/dad voice telling me how wrong it is to write while other people are doing “actual” work. As if WRITING is not actual work!

Needless to say, with all that personal baggage going on inside my head I didn’t get a lot of work done on my book.

But I read a a few blogs about writing! So, the least I could do is share one with you.

I can’t remember how I found Chuck Wendig’s blog called Twenty Five Things I Learned While Writing Blackbirds. One of the sites I visited directed me there. With a disclaimer that, if you are offended by language, don’t go there! I’m not, so I did. And boy am I glad! His 25 things have really inspired me to look at my writing in a different light. Number two. Number six. Numbers eight and nine. Number ten. Thirteen.

Fourteen forward seem to be things he learned after, during or because of publication. I’ll save those for later. In the meantime, I’m keeping his blogsite handy. And maybe next week, after the work in my house is done, I can put some of Wendig’s advice into practice.

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Teen Book Con – Houston

Posted on April 19, 2012 by

This was my first Teen Book Con and, although I didn’t quite know what to expect, I’m pretty sure it wasn’t what I got. I knew I’d be surrounded by high school readers – but not that many of them! Which is great, right? Of course it is . . . so many young people in love with reading, in love with BOOKS! Reminds me of me when I was their age.

The auditorium was standing room only for keynote speaker, Orson Scott Card (which was awesome by the way). In fact he talked about something I’d read a long time ago – how the human brain stores the stories we read the same as it stores our own memories. So, whenever we read a book that takes us to a different country, a different world, a new adventure; whenever we read a book that allows us to be something or someone else . . . well, to our brain, we might as well have been there and done that! Pretty cool, huh?

I stayed in the main auditorium for my first panel discussion called Adults Are Overrated.

Part of me wanted to find out what, about me, was overrated. I mean . . . really? Overrated? But I found that the panel discussions didn’t necessarily follow their titles so I learned nothing about myself. Since I’m unfamiliar with some of the titles, I suspect it might be the content of the books that prompted the name of the panel. I did come away with a few choice morsels from the speakers though, like Orson Card suggesting that, for writers, it’s easy to come up with stories . . . “the hard part is creating believable characters. You have to really know people well.”

Or when he fielded a question about writer’s block, suggesting that we writers, rather than seeing it as a curse, should view it as “the best gift your unconscious mind can give you. It means that you’ve hit a place where your story doesn’t work.” He suggested that when we hit that wall, it’s time to rethink our direction.

Someone in the panel had another suggestion for writer’s block – an application called

Write or Die

Yep – there’s actually an app for writer’s block! It’s anywhere from free to really, really cheap and is configurable so you can design your own punishment for failure to write -like asking it to randomly delete your words. If you’re interested in writing or dying, click on the words to check out the website.

Personally though, I’m sticking with Orson’s approach.

Other noteworthy answers to audience questions came from Megan Crew, author of The Way We Fall. When asked how hard it is to get published, Megan shared the fact that she wrote nine books before writing the first one that was publishable. NINE! And here I’m only at a little over one. Megan had an interesting view of e-publishing too. She said it’s the chance to publish the book you love even though it might not be commercial enough for a publishing house.

There were three other panels I had the pleasure to attend, all with wonderful authors answering hard (and sometimes easy) questions. Holly Black was there . . .

. . . which was neat for a couple reasons. First, her web site was mentioned at the Houston SCBWI Conference as being really slick, with a cool, sophisticated simplicity to it (I totally agree). And because I bought White Cat at the Houston Conference and started reading it the other day. I had every intention of having her sign it for me at Teen Book Con. But alas, I’d gone off and left it at home. So . . . darn it, I had to buy more books! And then stand in the book signing lines!

Glad I went? Yeah. Wish I had more money for more books? Of course! Wish I had time to read all the books I already have? Damn straight.

Oh, and did I mention that admission was free? Such a perfect day!

Posted in Authors, Books I'm Reading | 6 Comments

Houston SCBWI Conference

Posted on April 6, 2012 by

The conference hath come and gone. But its effects linger like a happy hum bouncing around between my head and my heart.

I’m not the only one who thought it was great. Here’s what some people have been saying about it:

“Houston, you did it again! A great conference of outstanding speakers and lots of fun.” Kathy Whitehead.

“I’ve been to a lot of conferences . . . and I’ve learned a lot at each one. But this Houston one was the best! I learned so much. The Sunday Intensive was fantastic.” Beth Cross

“The birdhouse auction was also extremely successful. Everyone was bowled over by the display of artistic talent.” Vicki Sansum, Regional Advisor.

“It’s been a long time since I’ve seen that many ear-to-ear grins in one room.” Linda Leschak (yeah, so. I quoted myself. I can do that, can’t I?)

I wish I could say I was one of the ones picked for the Joan Lowery Nixon Memorial Award. This is where a talented, up-and-coming writer is selected to be mentored by Newbury Honor writer, Kathy Appelt for the next year. (And did I mention in my post about Daughter of Smoke and Bone that its author, Lanie Taylor, names Kathy in her acknowledgments? What could that possibly mean?! If I were to guess, it might mean that she too was mentored by the famous Kathy Appelt! And how cool is that?!)

Back to the conference – as much as I’d love to be sharing news of my own nomination, I cannot. (Insert bottom lip being dragged across floor). However, I’m so incredibly excited for those who were nominated! One of them is my new friend, Tayyba Kanwal. Good luck Tayyba! And good luck to the other nominees as well! The next step is for Kathy to look at the seven or so manuscripts and choose the writer who she’ll mentor. It’ll be me someday, I know it . . . I can feel it in that happy hum.

The Kathy Appelt mentoring is only one aspect of our conference that lends itself to awesomeness. There were three (if I’ve counted high enough) people whose manuscripts were requested by an agent. It was so much fun watching them try to walk around the rest of the day while their feet were somewhere off the ground. The fact that our conference offers opportunities to get noticed by editors and agents is another thing that bubbles it to the surface of awesomeness. The critique process itself was smooth as whipped frosting thanks to Arno Bommer and his magical scheduling powers. Arno moved 155 conference critiques through twelve minute sessions with thirteen critiquers. Many of us wonder what we would ever do without Arno!

We had a killer silent auction too. Chantee Hale put together a team of volunteers to run it. The offerings ranged from packages of signed books to marketing consultations, all things donated by local authors, artists and businesses. Chantee did an incredible job pulling everything together and the auction was a huge success.

Vonna Carter worked with the Blue Willow Bookshop to make sure all the books mentioned during the conference and those written by local authors were available for purchase that day. Vonna created a streaming video showcasing the local artists and illustrators which was played on the overhead during breaks and lunch. She also coordinated the end-of-day book signing where our speakers as well as local authors and illustrators signed their books for us!

And the list goes on.

Diandra Mae, our Illustrator Coordinator came up with the genius idea of designing birdhouses and then offering them in a silent auction.

And look! I’ve got pictures of a lot of them!

Last but certainly not least were the two Sunday Intensives, offered for the first time here in Houston. Heather Alexander, Editor at Dial, conducted the four hour author intensive on finding one’s voice in writing. Author/Illustrator Dan Yaccarino led the intensive for illustrators, offering up his expertise on picture book dummies. Each workshop was a huge success! Something we hope to repeat next year. I perched myself in the second row of Heather’s packed house and took copious notes during the morning. And I have to agree with Beth, the intensive was fantastic!

With the conference over, we have a limited amount of time to submit our work to the editors and agents who joined us as speakers. Yet another awesome advantage to attending the conference! All the more reason to stop blogging and crack open those Heather Alexander notes! Ain’t no rest for the weary, right?

Months ago, when I was asked by our Regional Advisor if I’d consider acting as Co-Chair to the conference, I was pretty intimidated. I wondered,why me? I’m just a newbie in this arena? But now, having “been there and done that,” I know what an honor it was to have been given the chance to participate at that level. It was an incredible experience that allowed me to work with an amazing array of talented people. Something I’ll never forget.

Thank you SCBWI Houston. It was a great weekend!

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