So, now we're back to the 22nd of July for the release date, and that's Monday! Yikes!!
This feels a little like sending my baby off to kindergarten on the first day of school. I worry about every detail. Will the other kids like her? Or will they make fun of her? Is she wearing the right clothes or will people misjudge this book by its cover (and, therefore, her mother who dresses her funny?!) Is she ready to go out into the world, or should I keep her to myself for a while longer?
The truth is, not everyone will like this novel, but I hope many of you will. This is a story about finding hope and courage in the midst of our greatest fears. It seeks an answer to that frequently asked question: Why must good people suffer?
This is a story of breaking and healing. It's a story about relationships--those that sustain us and those that can destroy us. It's about putting others ahead of ourselves and learning that in becoming the people others need us to be, we become the people we are destined to be.
Earnest Hemingway said this, "The world breaks everyone, and afterward, some are stronger at the broken places." This story reminds us that sometimes we must break in order to become stronger and more complex.
So, here's a little preview from chapter 1. It's like kindergarten round-up...we'll get a taste of school...maybe make a friend or two and cross our fingers that if we do encounter some bullies, they are the illiterate types who don't write reviews! :)
From Chapter One: Nicole
I woke up this morning to a brilliant blue October sky framed in golden leaves and stark white Aspen branches with a plan--a simple pattern. Adam promised an anniversary surprise to commemorate our fourteen years together. He promised Emma one last trail ride before we pack up tomorrow to go home ahead of the winter storm. He promised to be back by nine, so I could take the truck into town for my final lesson at Maggie's glass shop.
But sometimes promises break. Sometimes our plans shatter for reasons we don't understand, and the patterns we choose for our lives change without our consent.
"My husband's missing." I try to sound rational, but hysteria creeps into my voice.
"What is your location, ma'am?" The dispatch officer sounds far too calm. Didn't she hear me? My husband is gone...
Friday, July 19, 2013
Tuesday, July 16, 2013
Hamburgers and Gravy?!
I just finished editing the print version of my novel, and it's a good thing I went through it again! I found a hamburger masquerading as a chicken fried steak, and we cannot have food running willy-nilly through a story pretending to be something it's not!
When I edit for other people, I try do more than fix punctuation and word usage. While that is important, what I hope to do for other writers is what I want people to do for me. Find the details that will trip up a reader, and help me fix them! I feel like I'm playing trial lawyer as I look for inconsistencies and holes in a person's stories. I do this because I am the kind of reader who will sometimes quit reading a book if the story is too hard to believe or if the details don't add up. I want the authors I work with to maintain their credibility, and I hope to do the same with my readers.
I'm learning that it's not easy to catch every detail. A novel goes through hundreds of changes from conception to publication, and sometimes when we change one thing, we forget to change something else that went with it.
So, I'm reading through my novel for about the thousandth time this weekend, knowing this is my last chance to get it just right, and there it is! A stupid mistake that has managed to slip past me and three editors. But I bet a reader would have caught it right away.
In one minor scene, Maggie (she's the voice of wisdom in my story) finishes a meal by mopping up the rest of her gravy with her bread. Not a big deal, but this shows readers and 12-year-old Emma something about Maggie's character. First, it reminds Emma of her dad which endears Maggie to Emma. Second, it shows Maggie's nature--she digs in, she finishes what she starts, and she doesn't care what anyone thinks of her.
What's the problem with that? Well, nothing, unless you flip back to the beginning of this scene where Maggie orders a burger and fries. Oops! No bread. No gravy. No good!
The fix was a simple as changing Maggie's order, but how did I manage to read this so many times and not catch that?!
That's what's so tricky about communicating. We know what we MEAN, but we don't always deliver our messages clearly. Or we start saying one thing and change our minds half-way through. It's so easy to send mixed messages without meaning to. It's so easy to say the wrong thing or to misinterpret what others say. Relationships end every day because we mess up the details, and, unless someone points it out to us, we can often replay conversations in our heads as many times as I re-read my novel and never figure out what we said that was offensive.
What I love about working with other authors and other editors is the collaboration. We have to help each other communicate as clearly as possible. It's why we have to think before we speak and filter our thoughts before they become words. It's why I might benefit from a muzzle or really sticky duct tape! It's why I prefer writing to speaking--because I get a chance to really think about what I'm saying before I send it out there.
Does this mean I always get it right? Nope! I try, but sometimes hamburgers turn into gravy and fries become dinner rolls, and I can only hope people will give me some latitude in the human error department even as I learn to do the same for others.
The new release date for Broken by Design (because I made so many changes and had to fire a waitress who doesn't know burgers from steak!) is now JULY 29! More details to come.
Have a beautiful day!
When I edit for other people, I try do more than fix punctuation and word usage. While that is important, what I hope to do for other writers is what I want people to do for me. Find the details that will trip up a reader, and help me fix them! I feel like I'm playing trial lawyer as I look for inconsistencies and holes in a person's stories. I do this because I am the kind of reader who will sometimes quit reading a book if the story is too hard to believe or if the details don't add up. I want the authors I work with to maintain their credibility, and I hope to do the same with my readers.
I'm learning that it's not easy to catch every detail. A novel goes through hundreds of changes from conception to publication, and sometimes when we change one thing, we forget to change something else that went with it.
So, I'm reading through my novel for about the thousandth time this weekend, knowing this is my last chance to get it just right, and there it is! A stupid mistake that has managed to slip past me and three editors. But I bet a reader would have caught it right away.
In one minor scene, Maggie (she's the voice of wisdom in my story) finishes a meal by mopping up the rest of her gravy with her bread. Not a big deal, but this shows readers and 12-year-old Emma something about Maggie's character. First, it reminds Emma of her dad which endears Maggie to Emma. Second, it shows Maggie's nature--she digs in, she finishes what she starts, and she doesn't care what anyone thinks of her.
What's the problem with that? Well, nothing, unless you flip back to the beginning of this scene where Maggie orders a burger and fries. Oops! No bread. No gravy. No good!
The fix was a simple as changing Maggie's order, but how did I manage to read this so many times and not catch that?!
That's what's so tricky about communicating. We know what we MEAN, but we don't always deliver our messages clearly. Or we start saying one thing and change our minds half-way through. It's so easy to send mixed messages without meaning to. It's so easy to say the wrong thing or to misinterpret what others say. Relationships end every day because we mess up the details, and, unless someone points it out to us, we can often replay conversations in our heads as many times as I re-read my novel and never figure out what we said that was offensive.
What I love about working with other authors and other editors is the collaboration. We have to help each other communicate as clearly as possible. It's why we have to think before we speak and filter our thoughts before they become words. It's why I might benefit from a muzzle or really sticky duct tape! It's why I prefer writing to speaking--because I get a chance to really think about what I'm saying before I send it out there.
Does this mean I always get it right? Nope! I try, but sometimes hamburgers turn into gravy and fries become dinner rolls, and I can only hope people will give me some latitude in the human error department even as I learn to do the same for others.
The new release date for Broken by Design (because I made so many changes and had to fire a waitress who doesn't know burgers from steak!) is now JULY 29! More details to come.
Have a beautiful day!
Thursday, July 11, 2013
The Blurb
Eleven days to release day!
Here's what the back cover should say instead of "blurb, blurb, blurb."
When a family vacation becomes a family tragedy, will Nicole prove strong enough to protect her daughter and save her husband? Or will she give in to her fear and fall apart?
Nicole’s husband, Adam, mysteriously disappears on the morning of their final day of vacation. He leaves her stranded at a campsite three-hundred miles from home with their daughter, two horses, a dead cell phone, an impending winter storm, and no transportation. In Nicole’s desperate search to find Adam before the snow buries them all, she discovers the strange secrets of a small town, the necessity of hope, and a source of untapped courage. Nicole learns that although breaking hurts, it also awakens her sense of compassion as she bonds with some colorful characters who deepen her faith and change her life.
The Setting:
This story is set in a fictional town called Rainbow Falls which is near, in my imagination, the very real and very stunning Estes Park, Colorado in the Rocky Mountains. It begins on a perfect, sunny October day with the kind of clear, blue sky for which Colorado is famous. As it begins to dawn on Nicole and her 12-year-old daughter Emma that something bad has happened to Adam, clouds thick with the threat of heavy snow roll slowly across the sky.
Snow in the Rockies is both beautiful and deadly. Thus, the weather provides the ticking clock in this story as Nicole races against a storm to find her husband and the courage to accept the truth about his disappearance.
Here's what the back cover should say instead of "blurb, blurb, blurb."
When a family vacation becomes a family tragedy, will Nicole prove strong enough to protect her daughter and save her husband? Or will she give in to her fear and fall apart?
Nicole’s husband, Adam, mysteriously disappears on the morning of their final day of vacation. He leaves her stranded at a campsite three-hundred miles from home with their daughter, two horses, a dead cell phone, an impending winter storm, and no transportation. In Nicole’s desperate search to find Adam before the snow buries them all, she discovers the strange secrets of a small town, the necessity of hope, and a source of untapped courage. Nicole learns that although breaking hurts, it also awakens her sense of compassion as she bonds with some colorful characters who deepen her faith and change her life.
The Setting:
This story is set in a fictional town called Rainbow Falls which is near, in my imagination, the very real and very stunning Estes Park, Colorado in the Rocky Mountains. It begins on a perfect, sunny October day with the kind of clear, blue sky for which Colorado is famous. As it begins to dawn on Nicole and her 12-year-old daughter Emma that something bad has happened to Adam, clouds thick with the threat of heavy snow roll slowly across the sky.
Snow in the Rockies is both beautiful and deadly. Thus, the weather provides the ticking clock in this story as Nicole races against a storm to find her husband and the courage to accept the truth about his disappearance.
Wednesday, July 10, 2013
Let Me Explain...
Before I share news of my novel, I feel I should explain my downsizing from website to blog.
The sad truth is that I cannot come up with enough interesting content to maintain an entire website, and the pressure was killing the muse! : ) Heck, some nights, I can hardly come up with enough interesting content to maintain a dinner conversation with my husband! Yep. My life is that exciting!
Originally, I started the website as a way to promote my novel until I became so frustrated with the slower than slow publishing process that I took the, "I'll believe it when I see it" approach. I could write a book about how NOT to publish a book, and, now that I can laugh about most of it, maybe one day I will. I have met some great people at Melange Books, though, and I can't wait to tell you more about them.
As for my blog title...well, all of those clever titles playing on the word "write" are taken. Trust me--I tried about a hundred thousand of them! So, Authorized Mom it is, but this should not imply that I feel authorized to be a mom (although I have managed to keep my children fed, educated, and mostly bathed for over a decade, and I plan to set up counseling funds so they can one day be assured by a professional that I am indeed the cause of all of their problems and deep-seated flaws!). However, this is not about authority, because who would I be fooling?!
It's about BECOMING an author--being author-ized--because novel writing is a whole lot different than the safe anonymity of writing articles. I'm worried it will feel less like being mesmerized and more like being tenderized or euthenized, but that's just my sunny, optimistic, not-at-all cynical way of looking at things! Author-ized Mom is about my journey into this world of fiction all while being pulled constantly back into reality with that overly repeated phrase that sounds more like a single word: "MomCanI..."
And, since I hear a "MomCanI..." skipping down the hallway, it's time to get to the point.
I am both excited and terrified to announce that my first novel, Broken by Design, is scheduled to make its first public appearance on July 22nd!
I will keep you posted as I keep posting! Thanks for reading!
The sad truth is that I cannot come up with enough interesting content to maintain an entire website, and the pressure was killing the muse! : ) Heck, some nights, I can hardly come up with enough interesting content to maintain a dinner conversation with my husband! Yep. My life is that exciting!
Originally, I started the website as a way to promote my novel until I became so frustrated with the slower than slow publishing process that I took the, "I'll believe it when I see it" approach. I could write a book about how NOT to publish a book, and, now that I can laugh about most of it, maybe one day I will. I have met some great people at Melange Books, though, and I can't wait to tell you more about them.
As for my blog title...well, all of those clever titles playing on the word "write" are taken. Trust me--I tried about a hundred thousand of them! So, Authorized Mom it is, but this should not imply that I feel authorized to be a mom (although I have managed to keep my children fed, educated, and mostly bathed for over a decade, and I plan to set up counseling funds so they can one day be assured by a professional that I am indeed the cause of all of their problems and deep-seated flaws!). However, this is not about authority, because who would I be fooling?!
It's about BECOMING an author--being author-ized--because novel writing is a whole lot different than the safe anonymity of writing articles. I'm worried it will feel less like being mesmerized and more like being tenderized or euthenized, but that's just my sunny, optimistic, not-at-all cynical way of looking at things! Author-ized Mom is about my journey into this world of fiction all while being pulled constantly back into reality with that overly repeated phrase that sounds more like a single word: "MomCanI..."
And, since I hear a "MomCanI..." skipping down the hallway, it's time to get to the point.
I am both excited and terrified to announce that my first novel, Broken by Design, is scheduled to make its first public appearance on July 22nd!
I will keep you posted as I keep posting! Thanks for reading!
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