New Office with a View

It's happened; it's finally happened! I'm working from home. I'm drinking coffee at a teal lacquered desk ("how lovely," you say; "yes," I reply, "the legs are curved, how did you know?") while staring out huge windows into my lush backyard. I see birds and trees and grass and hydrangeas, and I am old because I'm thinking about a bird feeder. I try to ignore dust and fingerprints and laundry (my one weakness) and just write, write, write. Soon I will write whatever I wish but for now I must write blog posts for The Greenville Shakespeare Company, a weekly current events article for an online publisher, and news for a new teen magazine called Trak (more about that later). But this may be done in pajamas and slippers or running clothes or an old t-shirt with bleach on it. (Because one can never use bleach without ruining something, can one?) And so it is glorious.

Writers' Forum

Yesterday I spoke at a Writers' Forum. Here are a few things I included in the PowerPoint--lessons I have learned through the publishing process:

•1) A first draft is a first draft. (Don't consider initial output perfect.)

•2) A revision is a re-vision. (That means look at your draft again.)

•3) Your editor wants you to succeed. (He's not trying to tank your project.)

•4) Consider all suggestions. (Consider. All. Suggestions.)

•5) Collaboration usually makes a better product. (Theatre people know this. Why don't other artists get it?)

•6) Appreciate others’ strengths. (Use other people's talents. Very few people are good at everything.)

•7) Don’t forget your audience. (Unless you're waiting to be discovered posthumously, make your writing something people want to read now.)

Book Signing Blahs

So I had a book signing Monday night. It was blah. For one thing, it didn't get advertised. For another thing, we were stuck in the back of the store. And we (the authors) were too many, so I think we overwhelmed anyone who came near us. I brought my own book stands (always remembering the mantra "flat books, flat sales") and stood several books up. I also brought my big lion and sat him on the floor.

We should've been in the children's section so that folks looking there anyway would find us. At least two of the sales that were made were because I mentioned to people browsing in children's that there were authors in the back of the store. There should've been more signage, too. Oh, well, live and learn.

Greetings from Honduras and Panama!

While traveling for work, I was able to promote Mumsi Meets a Lion and Rodney Robbins and the Rainy-day Pond in Honduras and Panama. In fact, the event organizer wanted to give away copies of my books as an incentive to turn in a survey. So Mumsi and Rodney have traveled to Central America and are being introduced in at least two Honduran home--perhaps even as I write!

Tomorrow I get to speak on teaching writing, a topic I always enjoy. No doubt the books and freelancing will be part of the discussion. I just hope they don't ask me how faithful I am in my (non-work related) writing!

Celebrity Sighting

While taking an early-morning shuttle to the airport in Atlanta, my husband gave up his seat on our crowded bus to an attractive older woman. She accepted his offer and mentioned to me how kind he was. My husband then proceeded to give her husband one of his gloves to grip the freezing cold pole with. (They were both standing.) At this, the lady was amazed and again commented to me about his kindness. We began conversing, and the short of it is that she was (is) Marjolein Bastin, the well-known Dutch artist! She is known worldwide for her detailed nature paintings. She is perhaps best known for her 30-year association with Hallmark cards. Of course, I had nothing with me for her to sign or sketch on. We talked about her painting and her love of nature before we were dropped off at the airport and went our separate ways. It was a fun way to start our trip.

New Year, New Plan

Happy New Year 2011! It's a fresh new year, and I'm up early making a new yearly plan. Part of my plan will have to do with writing goals--goals for my writing, that is. Aside from a ton of free lance work (including a fairly sizable play) and of course, my part-time job of textbook writing, I haven't done much writing. Soooo, I'm considering making the goal of writing a chapter a week for this year. I have thought about a chapter a day, but I'm afraid that that will just set me up for failure right from the get-go. Even a chapter a week would net me 52 chapters in a year (in case you weren't working the math in your head), and that's way more than a YA novel. I'm thinking that these chapters will be focused on getting a story on paper (that's figurative--it'll probably be on computer) and not on final, massaged drafts.

So that's the plan. Here we go. Hang on. Can't wait to see what happens.