My blogging hiatus is now long overdue, as September came and went without a post from me. First of all, I apologize to everyone who has visited, read and made comments in my last few posts. I’ve been unable to return the visits nor respond, which I hope to make up for as soon as I return to blogging.
I know this hardly seems like a proper IWSG post, but some of you might recall that I was having health issues of late. My doc found a cyst and it turns out I was also anemic, but last week, I finally went in for surgery to have the cyst taken out. The good news is that it’s benign. I’m sleeping a lot lately and admittedly, haven’t done much writing since the couple of weeks leading up to the surgery, but I hope to catch up on some reading instead during this period. I need to learn about making blog posts on my phone so I apologize in advance if something is wonky with this post.
If you’re still hanging around my blog, thank you! I look forward to coming back and doing my regular visits!
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Taking time off from blogging is rough. You come back and then you wonder, what do you write about, and would anyone even care? I suppose that is one of my major fears and insecurities… what do I have to say and does anyone care? Maybe it’s an insecurity shared by every writer, or maybe I’m caught in a purgatory that is all my own…
I realized my brand of writing was 70% staring/procrastinating and 30% writing, which means I’m not very productive, even when it comes to something as simple as writing a blog post. And that’s what mostly accounted for my being MIA. I had some things come up, and well, blogging just became the thing that had to go, at least for a while. I’m still doing rewrites on my WIP, “Lost,” though, so I haven’t totally been unproductive writing-wise. And as I continue chugging along there while riding the crazy waves of that thing called real life, I’ve decided to continue my blogging break for a month or so. But of course, I just can’t make this post and NOT share some music. See you in Sept!
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Some days, all you have to do is look up to find something unexpectedly wonderful. Saw this on my way home today.
The photo does not do the actual sight justice (sorry!) but if you care to look up at the western sky in the early hours after sunset, you’ll see this wonderful phenomena of the crescent moon just below Jupiter and Venus. More information here, and according to this, Jupiter and Venus are converging on June 30, so that should be something to watch out for as well!
I’m also celebrating getting 10 days off next month to visit family. My brother will be visiting as well, so it’ll be the first time in years everyone will be together.
Revisions have been going slow, but it’s steady progress, and I’m still confident I can reach my target for June, as long as my muse and MS prove cooperative.
What are you celebrating this week? Are you fascinated by the night sky and do you intend to watch out for the June 30 convergence? Any plans for the summer holidays?
Everyone’s journey to publication is different and unique. In Behind The Scenes, I interview writers who tell us how they started and got to where they are today. With the knowledge that comes from experience, they share their words of wisdom with us. If you’re a writer, I’d love to hear about your journey! Please contact me here if you’re interested in being interviewed. New interviews featured every second and last Monday of the month.
With me today is Elaine Wolf. Known as the anti-bullying novelist, her books Camp and Danny’s Mom dig deep into the issues kids face today and why speaking up is important.
1. Tell us a bit about your writing journey. How did you get started, and how did you get to where you are now?
I always dreamed of being a writer, but work and family responsibilities got in the way.
When I was 45, my husband noticed an announcement about a writers’ workshop at the local library, and he encouraged me to enroll. So I started racing out of work early once a week to attend that workshop. And I loved it.
My husband knew of my dream; he had heard me speak about the first story I ever wrote, way back when I was in second grade. The other kids wrote a paragraph or two. I wrote ten pages about a dog named Magic. The teacher had me read my story to the class, and I loved being acknowledged for having written something worth sharing.
Fast forward a few decades. As a public school district program director, I found lots of excuses to write memos, which teachers said they actually enjoyed reading. Yes, I really loved writing –– and my big dream was to write a novel, to attract the attention of a reputable literary agent, and to get my book published.
With my husband’s support, I quit my job when I was not quite fifty to become a full-time writer. I enrolled in writing classes and workshops, and I wrote every day. I started with short stories and then went on to write the manuscript that became Danny’s Mom.
When a New York literary agent signed me on, I wrote another manuscript, which evolved into the novel Camp. And now I’m known as “the anti-bullying novelist,” with books that show what really can happen behind the closed gates and doors of our camps and schools.
2. Anything you would’ve done differently if you could do it all over again?
I wish I could do it all over again! I would start my “writing life” long before turning 50. I would figure out how to dedicate time to write even while working a full-time job…or figure out how to get by with a part-time job so I could have time to write. That said, I’m delighted to have the opportunity now to focus on writing, and I feel blessed that, at this stage of life, my work as “the anti-bullying novelist” is making a difference.
3. What advice would you give to new and aspiring writers?
My advice is to never give up. I know that sounds hokey, but I really believe it.
Never give up on a manuscript that you know is good –– even when agents and publishers say NO. I’m so glad I didn’t give up on Danny’s Mom and Camp. I knew they were good stories, so I revised and revised and revised. And when my agent said that editors loved the manuscripts –– the writing and the characters –– but that bullying was too small a story, I put my novels on the back burner, but I never took them off the stove. I revised yet again and found different ways into the stories. I never gave up. And when bullying finally made it to our national radar screen, my agent tried again, and both books sold quickly.
4. Is there any book you’ve written that is particularly special to you? Which one and why?
When people ask me which of my two novels I like better, which is more special to me, I sort of feel like a mother being asked which of her children is particularly special to her. Both Camp and Danny’s Mom are personal works: I wrote Camp to honor the memory of my mother, whose story as a survivor and an immigrant I can only imagine; I wrote Danny’s Mom to honor colleagues with whom I worked, teachers who went above and beyond for their students –– and for students who desperately need adult advocates and yet often have to face the perils of high school unprotected and alone. So, both Camp and Danny’s Mom are really special to me.
5. Who would you say is your favorite character(s) from your books, and why? What is it about this character that makes him/her tick?
I tend to be the champion of the underdogs, which is probably why Charlie is my favorite character in Camp and Liz Grant is my favorite character in Danny’s Mom.
Charlie is the protagonist’s kid brother in Camp. He’s on the autism spectrum (although in the early 1960s, when the novel takes place, he is labeled “handicapped”). Charlie’s mother is unduly harsh with him, and the only one who seems to understand him is his older sister, Amy, the protagonist. Charlie is petrified of dogs –– and, of course, a family with a large dog lives down the block. I grew to love Charlie during the two years in which I wrote Camp, and I sobbed (really, I did) as I wrote an important scene concerning Charlie toward the end of the novel. When you read Camp, you’ll know exactly when I cried.
Liz Grant, my favorite character in Danny’s Mom, is a troubled high school sophomore who suffers with anorexia. She’s an easy target at Meadow Brook High School, where mean girls practice bullying as if it’s a sport. Liz desperately needs adult support, yet her mother is convinced that the bullies will go away if Liz simply ignores them. The protagonist, Beth, a guidance counselor, tries to help Liz, but Beth is thwarted by school administrators who cling to don’t-rock-the-boat policies.
7. Tell us about your latest project. What are you working on at the moment, and what can we expect from it?
Currently, I’m working on a novel that’s much lighter than Camp and Danny’s Mom. It takes place in another dimension, and it’s kind of a fairy tale for adults. And, yes, there’s bullying in that other place, too –– because bullying seems to grow organically in everything I write.
I’m also working (with a film agent) on movie rights for Camp and Danny’s Mom…so stay tuned.
8. Are you self-pubbed or traditionally published? What made you go for this model? What advice/tips can you share with writers working towards the same goal?
I’m traditionally published. The truth is, I never considered self-publishing ¬¬–– although I have friends who have had positive self-publishing experiences. After I wrote (and revised and revised and revised) the manuscript that became Danny’s Mom, I researched literary agents and started the querying process. I was prepared to face rejections, and they came. But then a top New York agent signed me on. And the rest, as they say, is history.
My advice to other writers working toward being traditionally published is to never give up. Keep querying, and if you’re lucky enough to get feedback from agents who say “no thanks,” consider their comments, incorporate any suggestions that make sense to you, and rewrite and revise.
In order to be traditionally published, you need talent, perseverance, and timing. The bullying theme in Camp and Danny’s Mom was considered “too small” for traditional publishers when my agent first submitted the manuscripts. But when bullying became part of our national dialogue, both books sold.
And, finally, keep writing. Even if you don’t get an agent, keep writing. Even if you have an agent but your work doesn’t sell, keep writing. A writer is someone who writes. Being published is certainly great, but the act of writing is what’s important: it will keep you growing –– as a writer and as a person.
Author Bio: Known as “the anti-bullying novelist,” I write about what really goes on behind the closed gates and doors of our camps and schools. The issues I explore in my novels are those I am passionate about and know well.
I was a camper and camp counselor for many summers. When I entered “the real world,” I taught in public schools in California and New York. In my most recent teaching position, I served as a middle school and high school reading/language arts specialist, and then I became the district language arts chairperson. In that position, I designed and supervised reading/writing programs for students at all grade levels, facilitated reading groups and writers’ workshops, and selected books for classroom libraries as well as for ancillary and summer reading lists.
One of my greatest joys was getting wonderful books into the hands of students, teachers, and parents. In the time before Kindles, iPads, and Nooks, I spent countless hours stocking shelves with “good reads.” And I dreamed of seeing my books on those shelves. Now I’m thrilled that Camp and Danny’s Mom are there.
Although critics call my novels “mesmerizing” and “must-reads,” what pleases me more than great reviews is the fact that Camp and Danny’s Mom have given me a literal bully pulpit –– a platform from which to carry on the anti-bullying conversation so that, in concert with professionals, we will make our camps and schools kinder, more embracing communities for everyone. I’m committed to keeping this conversation going until the bullying epidemic ends.
My husband and I raised our children on Long Island, where in addition to teaching I was a co-facilitator of a writers’ workshop. Now we live in Northampton, Massachusetts, a community brimming with readers, writers, artists, and musicians. Shortly after moving here, I won a prize for short fiction (the perfect welcome for me). And both of my novels, Camp and Danny’s Mom, will be released in paperback in June 2015. Next up is a move to the west coast. California, here I come!
Writers write, and stories need readers for them to come alive. And yet, how do you know when a story is ready to be set out into the world? Writers tend to be neurotic, insecure creatures, and at a story’s infancy, when it is most vulnerable, most of us can be crippled by a harsh critic or even something as simple as lack of a support system.
For years, writing was my dirty little secret. Stories were hidden, tucked away in locked drawers and password-protected files, never to see the light of day. The only writing I’d actually shown anyone were those that I had to. But fear can rear its ugly head even during the best of circumstances, and sometimes, you just have to take that small, tentative step, and see what happens.
And so I opened the door, took that first step and actually sent off a few chapters from my current WIP to a friend of mine to beta read. Sure, friends are nowhere near CP’s in critique value, since friends would naturally be nicer with their feedback, and perhaps even shy away from telling you what’s wrong with it. But I feel just a little braver now for sending it off, and that small step towards progress is something I have to be content with for the moment. As that line from one of my favorite movies, Contact, go: Small moves, Ellie, small moves.
How easy/hard was it for you when you started showing your work to other people? Did admitting you’re a writer to friends and family come easily to you, and how did you deal with those moments of “I’d love to see what you’ve written!” and all you have is a mess of a novel?
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1. Tell us a bit about your writing journey. How did you get started, and how did you get to where you are now?
I knew I should’ve taken a left at Albuquerque… I started when I was a teenager, inspired by Battlestar Galactica, Star Wars, and author Terry Brooks. My first book, CassaStar, was a complete rewrite of a story I wrote during that time. My wife prodded me to submit the manuscript and Dancing Lemur Press LLC picked it up. I only wanted to write the one book, but my fans wanted more. So here I am, still writing…
This week, I’m celebrating trying new things, particularly food. I usually don’t like to experiment, preferring the tried and tested, but it’s been fun trying out new flavors, and seeing what I like and don’t.
I also finally gave traditional Chinese medicine a whirl. I’ve been tired a lot lately and it’s kind of sad when you’re told by an elderly neighbor, who looks very healthy and energetic, that you look pale as death after only a short hike, and that you probably need to see a doctor about your lack of qi.Qi translated would be something like the force or energy that helps our body function as it should be doing. Anyway, I just started taking the mixture of herbs that is typical of Chinese medicine, so we’ll see how it works out. The thing is, unlike Western medicine, traditional Chinese ones hardly have immediate effects. So I think I need to learn to be patient as well, instead of immediately dismissing it as not working. After all, what’s the point of being in Hong Kong if you are not going to try authentic Chinese medicine?
I’ve been revising again and actually finished a chapter. It’s not much, but I’m happy with it. Now if I can just keep at my goal for the rest of the month…
What are you celebrating this week? Ever tried any herbal medicines, acupuncture, fire cupping, etc.? What did you think of them? And if you haven’t tried them, would you? Do you think they’re based on actual science and can really cure people, or just a bunch of old beliefs that does not live up to modern medicine?
Everyone’s journey to publication is different and unique. In Behind The Scenes, I interview writers who tell us how they started and got to where they are today. With the knowledge that comes from experience, they share their words of wisdom with us. If you’re a writer, I’d love to hear about your journey! Please contact me here if you’re interested in being interviewed. New interviews featured every second and last Monday of the month.
Elizabeth Varadan joins me in this edition of Behind The Scenes. Her latest novel, Imogene and the Case of the Missing Pearls, is a middle-grade mystery; available at your favorite retailers on June 15. When Sherlock Holmes was called in to solve the case, Imogene–a budding detective in her own right–has her own ideas about solving the mystery!
1. Tell us a bit about your writing journey. How did you get started, and how did you get to where you are now?
I’ve written all my life – poems and small stories while growing up, going through college, and during my teaching career. When I took early retirement a few years ago I was able to focus on writing full time, and my work started being published – poems and stories for adult magazines and children’s magazines. A few years ago, I self-published a middle grade fantasy novel. Now, MX Publishing – a publisher specializing in Sherlock Holmes-related books – is publishing my middle grade mystery involving Sherlock Holmes, Imogene and the Case of the Missing Pearls. It was a long trek, but worth the journey.
2. Anything you would’ve done differently if you could do it all over again?
Not really. I loved my teaching career, and I came to that late, as I had to work my way through college. I never stopped writing, but I knew I could look forward to that once I no longer taught. I really had planned it that way, in stages, and I kept writing all those years.
3. What advice would you give to new and aspiring writers?
Follow your own dream and not someone else’s. My mother wanted me to be a musician. I love music, but the musical world wasn’t for me. And, since we were poor, I had to make my own dreams work: college, a teaching career, and then a second career in writing. It all came true. I have no complaints.
4. Is there any book you’ve written that is particularly special to you? Which one and why?
Oh, that’s hard. Every book I write is my favorite at the time, especially after I’ve polished it up and consider it ready to submit. So, right now, I have to say Imogene and the Case of the Missing Pearls. It was great fun to write! I love history (I was a history major in university), I love mysteries, and I especially love Sherlock Holmes. I had to do a lot of research to get the Victorian setting just right, but I loved that, so it was an enjoyable book to write.
5. Who would you say is your favorite character(s) from your books, and why? What is it about this character that makes him/her tick?
In Imogene and the Case of the Missing Pearls, it’s Imogene, because she’s so curious and spunky and determined. But I also became attached to rusty, the mudlark who becomes her friend and fellow sleuth.
6. Tell us about your new book. What can we expect from it?
In Imogene and the Case of the Missing Pearls, ten-year-old Imogene has harbored a secret desire to be a detective. This is unusual for a Victorian girl from a middle class family. When her mother’s pearls disappear, her parents call in Sherlock Holmes to find them, and Imogene sees her chance to learn from the great Mr. Holmes. Before long, Imogene is acting independently – too independently for her own good – and her life is in danger.
7. Are you self-pubbed or traditionally published? What made you go for this model? What advice/tips can you share with writers working towards the same goal?
Actually, I am both. I self-published an earlier fantasy, The Fourth Wish, because traditional publishers hadn’t picked it up. (It’s a rather gentle read compared to the popular high-action fantasies.) So I decided to self-publish it, and it was a great experience. It jump-started me into the world of blogs and Facebook and Twitter – the whole cyber world, although after the fact. Now I actually have a wonderful network before publication of Imogene, so I’m glad I went that route.
For my mystery, though, I wanted a traditional publisher, and I was fortunate enough to find the perfect fit in MX Publishing. Imogene and the Case of the Missing Pearls comes out June 15th, but I’ve already had a pre-publication signing and a school visit, with more to come after it’s released. I’m also in company with a great group of like-minded writers – Holmes fans, who write Holmesian fiction.
My tips to writers would be to try it everything, and don’t give up. Write stories and poems for magazines. It’s a great heart lift when they get accepted while you keep working on longer pieces. Keep searching for the publisher that fits your work. Belong to writing groups who are both supportive and hard-nosed – you won’t grow as a writer unless you know what isn’t working in your manuscript as well as what is.) And then – read, read, read. Write, write, write. Persist, persist, persist.
Author Bio: Elizabeth Varadan is a former elementary school teacher. She taught most elementary grades, but her favorites were the middle grades, and she now writes middle grade fiction. She and her husband live in Midtown Sacramento. Her children’s fiction and poetry have appeared in Ladybug, Friends, and Skipping Stones Magazine. Her middle grade fantasy, The Fourth Wish, was self-published in 2008. Her new middle grade mystery, Imogene an the Case of the Missing Pearls, will be released by MX Publishing June 15, 2015.
How can it be May already? Where has the last four months gone? Looking back at April, I didn’t make much progress in my WIP. My sleeping schedule is all messed up and I’m tired most of the time. Work isn’t going great (but at least I still have a job–so I suppose that is one thing to celebrate about).
So what else am I celebrating this week?
Finished reading Atonement by Ian McEwan and starting on another book (Stuart: A Life Backwards by Alexander Masters). I’d been on a reading slump for some time so while it may not sound much, this is actually good news for me. Atonement started a bit slow but since I’ve seen the movie version, it made slogging through the boring parts easier, and I’m glad to have another book off my reading list!
My birthday!
And the three-day weekend. Yay!
Not really a celebration, but I went to see The Avengers: Age of Ultron last week. The 3D was really not that great in my opinion, and perhaps I had high expectations of the movie, as I found it was just okay for me. Don’t want to spoil anything for those that haven’t seen yet so that’s all I’m going to say about it. The Agents of Shield episode this week that leads into the movie was awesome though!
Anyway, a friend of mine shared this with me: Jeremy Renner singing (as Hawkeye) on The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon. I thought it was pretty hilarious. Enjoy!
What are you celebrating this week? Have you seen Age of Ultron? What did you think of it? Do you watch any of the other shows that tie in with the MCU?
Everyone’s journey to publication is different and unique. In Behind The Scenes, I interview writers who tell us how they started and got to where they are today. With the knowledge that comes from experience, they share their words of wisdom with us. If you’re a writer, I’d love to hear about your journey! Please contact me here if you’re interested in being interviewed. New interviews featured every second and last Monday of the month.
Joining me today in Behind The Scenes is David J Delaney. He writes gripping crime thrillers and his debut novel, The Vanishing, is the first book in his Detective Dean Cornell Series.
1. Tell us a bit about your writing journey. How did you get started, and how did you get to where you are now?
I started writing in high school. I always had a pretty active imagination as a kid so when it wasn’t all that cool to play with toys anymore I started to write. Now it wasn’t very good and I never thought about pursuing it beyond English class so I chose to study psychology and then eventually nursing.
It wasn’t until I was waiting to start my first nursing role that I sat down at my laptop one day and thought ‘why not write a novel’. I had 3 months up my sleeve so I sat and wrote a 70,000 word story that still sits unedited on my computer. From this 70k boredom breaker though I decided to write more and more. I read Stephen King’s ‘On Writing’ and ‘Write, Publish, Repeat’ from the guys at the Self Publishing Podcast and from there decided that writing was something I wanted to pursue.
2. Anything you would’ve done differently if you could do it all over again?
I wouldn’t have spent a year writing short stories, I would have written a novel or two as well. I thought I’d follow Stephen King’s example and focus on short stories which I’ve had a number published but they didn’t really promote me much as a writer. The 70k manuscript I had just seemed far too daunting to even consider editing so I focused on 5k – 7k shorts. It was only when I started to talk more and more to other writers that I realized I needed to write longer works.
3. What advice would you give to new and aspiring writers?
Get a professional cover and make sure to get a professional edit. These are two areas that still plague indie authors.
4. Is there any book you’ve written that is particularly special to you? Which one and why?
I’ve only the one, ‘The Vanishing’ and this taught me so much about writing and myself as a writer. I think it’ll always be special to me as it’s the first.
5. Who would you say is your favorite character(s) from your books, and why? What is it about this character that makes him/her tick?
I loved Joanne Saunders from ‘The Vanishing’. The one word I had in mind when writing her was ‘gumption’. She’s a strong character who doesn’t hold back. She hides her fear and is mature beyond her 15 years. She’s a character I’d love to explore further in my books as she grows into adulthood.
6. Tell us about your latest project. What are you working on at the moment, and what can we expect from it?
Book 2 in the Dean Cornell series. My goal is to release this book by late June, early July and the third by end of year. The characters are starting to become more and more lifelike and I see them saying and doing things I never thought they would. I suppose the more you grow to know your characters the more real they become.
I want to make each book unique in its own way. Each book will take on a different theme and hopefully flesh it out as the book goes on.
7. Are you self-pubbed or traditionally published? What made you go for this model? What advice/tips can you share with writers working towards the same goal?
My short stories were traditionally published with various anthologies and magazines whereas my novel was self published.
The reason I went the self publish route with my novel was to focus on writing and not trying to break through the insurmountable wall that is traditional publishing. I feel if my book is found by someone who wants to publish it then I can look at that but in the mean time I will be writing more novels rather than query letters. I think the chasm between self and traditional publishing will narrow someday but I’m not sure how that will look. I think publishers sitting by and waiting for the next Harry Potter or Twilight to fall into their lap is lazy and they should be more involved in the self publishing world as there is some great stories waiting to be plucked.
Either way, I’m thoroughly happy with how my publishing journey is going and can’t wait to get the next book out.
Author Bio: David J. Delaney is an Irishman hailing from Dublin but now living in Sydney, Australia. He believes that we’ve all got a story to tell whether we write it down or not; and if a story causes you to feel any one of the myriad of emotions we all possess as human beings then he’s done his job as a writer.
Sitting through English class as a teenager was the only period in school where he stayed awake and learned something. There’s not a form of entertainment he doesn’t like. Movies such as Ghostbusters, Beetlejuice, Jurassic Park and Blade Runner kept him up late into the night as a kid. He would discover video games soon after—Resident Evil and Silent Hill on the original iteration of the PlayStation blew him away. Books, however, was the one thing that remained a constant, even as he fell in and out of love with movies and games. The first book he ever read was Ted Hughes’ ‘The Iron Man,’ borrowed from a traveling library that came to his school when he was eight years old. He then moved on to the Famous Five, The Hardy Boys and every Roald Dahl novel he could get his hands on. As he got older he began to love the likes of King, Cornwall, Koontz and Barker. He is inspired by them as well as other great writers such as Neil Gaiman, Kylie Chan, Sean Platt, Johnny B. Truant, David W. Wright, J. Thorn, J. F. Penn and David Gaughran.
Just Get It Written 