My Author Origin Story: An Open Book Blog Hop post

 

Welcome to Open Book Blog Hop. You can find us every Monday talking about the writing life. I hope you'll check out all the posts: you'll find the links at the bottom of this post.

What's your author origin story?  

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In some ways, I've always been a writer, at least since I could actually hold a pen or pencil and physically write. My first poems were written when I was only six, in first grade. "Beauty is in the great, tall trees/bending over in the breeze" and stuff like that. 

In other ways, I've only been an author for a decade or so, starting when I panicked a little over the idea that I was turning 42 and still hadn't written a book, then committed to a daily writing habit, and started finishing things, submitting them, and getting published. 

But the important part of my author origin story isn't in the exact details. This heroine's journey begins with reading. 

The first book I can remember loving was a collection of Mother Goose nursery rhymes. It was a tall, slender volume with a blue cover. I had to lay it down on the floor and stretch out my arm to turn the pages. By the time I was three years old, I had it memorized, down to what words went with what page turns, and convinced my grandmother that I could already read (I couldn't--I just knew that book by heart). 

I had a pretty healthy collection of Little Golden Books as well, since that was my bribe for being a good girl at the grocery store. I'd put up with a lot for the promise of a new Little Golden Book. 

When I got a little older, Mom and I (and little sister, when she came along) became regulars at the library. I was such an enthusiastic little reader that the book mobile ladies would hide books under the seat for me so they'd still be available when they got to my house even though we were one of the last stops. To this day, I am grateful to my library and librarians for all the worlds they opened to me through their shelves. 

But yes, reading was definitely my conduit into writing. I'd make up other endings or additional adventures for stories I loved, and over time I started writing them down. Really, it's no surprise to anyone who knew me in childhood that I grew up to be a writer. 

Writing sometimes feels to me like reading notched up to eleven. If reading lets me walk in someone else's shoes, writing lets me wear their skin and look out through their eyes, imagining all the details of a life very different than my own. It's one of the great joys of my life and I hope to enjoy it for many years yet to come. 

How about you? Do you have an origin story for your heart's endeavors? I'd love to hear about it in the comments! 

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Inner Conflict and the Writing Process: An IWSG post

  

Welcome to the first Wednesday of the month. You know what that means! It's time to let our insecurities hang out. Yep, it's the Insecure Writer's Support Group blog hop. If you're a writer at any stage of career, I highly recommend this blog hop as a way to connect with other writers for support, sympathy, ideas, and networking. If you're a reader, it's a great way to peek behind the curtain of a writing life.

Our Twitter handle is @TheIWSG and hashtag is #IWSG. The awesome co-hosts for the August 2 posting of the IWSG are Kate Larkinsdale, Diane Burton, Janet Alcorn, and Shannon Lawrence!

August 2 question: Have you ever written something that afterwards you felt conflicted about? If so, did you let it stay how it was, take it out, or rewrite it?

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By the time I actually finish a piece of writing, as in "this is ready to submit for publication," I've worked my way through all my angst and anxiety about it and I believe in it and want to get it in front of readers. 

So, I'd have to say "sort of" in answering today's question: I've felt that way while the piece was still in-process, but I made my peace with it before I called it done. 

I've definitely written some things that surprised me--that were very different from my usual in theme or style or content. I've spent a little time worrying that the change won't go over well with my readers now that I've established a small following, but in the end, my writing life belongs to me and is about expression of what's going on inside my mind and heart, so I don't hold myself back for long worrying about reception. 

Me with my "half hero/half horror" banner at Ret-Con

I do warn people though. People who know me for my Menopausal Superhero series are sometimes really surprised to find out that I write dark fiction and horror stories, too. And both groups have been surprised by a few pieces that took a more literary bent and weren't really speculative fiction at all. 

I have some writer friends who establish pen names for their work in different genres, and that seems like a great technique to me and a good cue for readers, but I get tired just thinking about managing more than one of me, so it's all just under my real name. 

For other writers coming to my site today, how does this play out for you? For readers, how do you feel about it when an author you enjoy puts out a different sort of work than what you already know and love? I'd love to hear about it in the comments!

Pick a setting: an Open Book blog hop post

 

Welcome to Open Book Blog Hop. You can find us every Monday talking about the writing life. I hope you'll check out all the posts: you'll find the links at the bottom of this post.

A field full of sunflowers on a bright morning? Or, rolling hills on a clear full moon night?  

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Those both sound pretty nice, in different ways. I guess it depends on what I'll be up to in this setting, and how hot it is outside. I wilt like a cabbage leaf in the bright, hot sun, but I also don't have great night vision. Are there mosquitos? 

I know, I'm overthinking it. 

I can imagine myself walking in the field of sunflowers with my youngest kid, who loves flowers as much as I do. There's a field like this near us, next to Maple View Farms, a favorite ice cream shop, so we could wander in the sunflowers until we got too hot, then cool off with sundaes or smoothies. 

Those rolling hills on a clear, full moon night sound pretty romantic, so I think I'll head over there with my husband, a citronella candle, and a blanket and lay there listening to frog song for a while. 

Maybe this is a more poetic way of asking whether I'm a night owl or a day lark, and like I am with both things, I'm both!

How about you? Does one of these settings please your heart more than the other? I'd love to hear your thoughts in the comments. 

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Anne? Pippi? Nancy? Madeline? Ferdinand? An open book blog hop post

Welcome to Open Book Blog Hop. You can find us every Monday talking about the writing life. I hope you'll check out all the posts: you'll find the links at the bottom of this post.

If you were a beloved children's character, which ones would you be? 

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Now that's an interesting question. Am I meant to say which character I think is the most like me? Or more like which character would I like to be? Both, you say? Sure! Why not both!

As a child, I was very much like Anne of Green Gables fame. I was always getting in trouble for daydreaming, a little quick to take offense, and very much following my heart. 

I even had freckles, reddish hair often worn in braids, and a propensity for books and straw hats. 

Honestly, I haven't changed that much. I've just figured out a way to channel my daydreaming into writing, and to go a little slower before I fly off the handle. (Probably much like Anne herself did as she grew up, come to think of it). 

So that's who I am like, but then who would I like to be, given the chance? 

Should I be content to be who I am, no matter what others seems to think, like Ferdinand the bull? Smart, brave, and helpful like Nancy Drew? Self-sufficient, independent, and unable to be cowed like Pippi Longstocking? Loyal and fierce like Madeline? 

I don't think I can pick. How about you? Is there a children's book character you especially identify with? I'd love to hear about it in the comments!

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My Favorite Cover, an Open Book Blog Hop post

 Welcome to Open Book Blog Hop. You can find us every Monday talking about the writing life. I hope you'll check out all the posts: you'll find the links at the bottom of this post.

Post your favorite cover from your books and explain why it's your favorite. 

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When my Menopausal Superhero novels moved from their first publisher to their second, they got a new look. 

The books are dramedy in tone (part drama, part comedy), and my first publisher (now defunct: you can read about that saga here) played up the comedy aspect with bright colors and focused on the torsos of the heroes. 

I liked those, but in the marketplace, they proved a little misleading, making readers think the books would be funnier than they are--comedy primarily instead of secondarily.

So I was really pleased when the team at Falstaff Books came up with the new branding. The novels would all use silhouettes and city scapes, beginning in pastels and adding darker/brighter colors and more detail to the silhouettes as the series progressed: 

Top row: the novels; Bottom row: the shorts

When we decided to release some shorter work in the universe, novellas and short stories, Falstaff wanted to do something that set those apart, but still made them feel connected to the longer works, so they came up with the rays of light/stripes and brighter color palette, while still using the silhouettes. I love that! Those rays are so old-school comic book feeling!

So my favorite of the bunch is the cover for Agents of Change. 

Since this volume contains all the short work collected, the cover designer worked to meld the look we were using for the novels with the look we were using for the short work, and we ended up with these lovely sunset colors, a subtler version of the rays, and the silhouettes and cityscape. 

I really admire the work of a good cover artist, and I'm so happy to have worked with a great team to get covers that capture the vibe of my work. The cover is the best advertisement for the book, giving the reader a feel for the tone and genre as well as the content. So the right cover makes all the difference!

What works for you when it comes to book covers? Are there tropes you find off-putting? I'd love to hear about it in the comments!

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Why settle for egg drop soup when you can have Massaman Curry? An Open Book post.

Welcome to Open Book Blog Hop. You can find us every Monday talking about the writing life. I hope you'll check out all the posts: you'll find the links at the bottom of this post.

What do you order from your local Chinese restaurant? Do you order it every time or mix things up? 

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The truth is I'm a bit of a food snob, and my local Chinese restaurant is nothing special. It's not bad. It's fine, completely adequate, but ordinary. 

So, if it's up to me alone, I don't bother. I feel that way about most of the restaurants in my adopted hometown of Hillsborough, North Carolina--they're fine, but not special (though that's changing! there are a couple of newer and more interesting places I'm hoping will take root). 

If I'm going out to eat, I want something more interesting, preferably something I've never tried, and there are a LOT of much more interesting restaurants near me. It's one of the cool things about living between two university towns--lots of culinary possibilities.

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My current favorites for eating out are a local Mexican restaurant (Tacos Los Altos), a Thai restaurant in downtown Durham (Thai at Main Street), an Indian restaurant in another part of Durham (Tandoori Bites), a Turkish place in downtown Chapel Hill (Talulla's) and a Himalayan place in downtown Chapel Hill (Momo's Master).  

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But, still, the kiddo gets a hankering for egg drop soup from time to time, especially if they don't feel well. 

And if I'm getting egg drop soup for the kid, then I get an egg roll for me while I'm there, and if I'm trying to avoid multiple stops, I might pick up some garlic chicken, or cashew chicken, or orange chicken for my own dinner and chicken and vegetables for Sweetman. 

So, I'm not completely averse to patronizing our local Chinese restaurant if the circumstances are right. And I do like to keep up the Jewish tradition of eating Chinese food on Christmas. 

How about you? Do you favor a Chinese restaurant near you? What do you like to eat from there? I'd love to hear about it in the comments. 

You are invited to the Inlinkz link party!

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Where do your stories come from? An IWSG post

 

Welcome to the first Wednesday of the month. You know what that means! It's time to let our insecurities hang out. Yep, it's the Insecure Writer's Support Group blog hop. If you're a writer at any stage of career, I highly recommend this blog hop as a way to connect with other writers for support, sympathy, ideas, and networking. If you're a reader, it's a great way to peek behind the curtain of a writing life.

Our Twitter handle is @TheIWSG and hashtag is #IWSG. This month's co-hosts are:  PJ Colando, Kim Lajevardi, Gwen Gardner, Pat Garcia, and Natalie Aguirre!

June 5 question - 99% of my story ideas come from dreams. Where do yours predominantly come from?

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I don't think I've ever written anything that came directly from a dream, at least not that I knew I was doing. 

My dreams don't usually make enough sense to be of any service in fiction, other than perhaps for imagery. 

But, it's an intriguing question all the same. Ideas are an essential part of a writing life. My problem is not usually coming up with them, but finding time to develop them all into finished pieces! 

But still, where do they come from?

I think most of my ideas come from juxtaposition.

By this I mean: there are lots of little thoughts and bits of information and observations bouncing around in my brain all the time, some pingponging around like high bounce balls dropped from a great height, others floating gently by on some unseen current. 

Sometimes a couple of them bump off each other and there's a spark, like one was flint and the other tinder. And boom! There's a story idea. 

For example, the idea of the Menopausal Superheroes was probably a combination of my apprehension about getting older and having just watched an X-Men movie where the characters were just so-very-teenagery that I found them frustrating. I thought something like: 

What is it with teenagers and superhero stories? If hormones cause superpowers, then menopausal women should have these pubescent kids beat!

When I'm not working on a particular project already under contract, I also really love to play with writing prompts. A fair amount of my short horror fiction got its start as a noodle from writing prompts in Bliss Morgan's Nightmare Fuel challenge held each October. I've written more than one piece after reading the call for a themed anthology and thinking the idea sounded like a fun one to explore. 

Other times, it's as simple as thinking, "What if?" and following that question where it takes me. A recently finished horror story (not yet published) came about because I'd gotten a new car with all kinds of fancy sensors and warnings and my brain asked some weird questions about that. 

Getting from idea to story sometimes comes from noodling on my own, but a lot of times, it comes from conversation. I've hashed out many a plot line in conversation with my husband or with one of the members of my critique group. 

How about the other storytellers out there? Where do your ideas come from? I'd love to hear about it in the comments!