Inspirations

The other day I engaged in the grim task of cleaning out my e-mail inbox. It had become loaded with messages, some of which were over seven years old. My long-suffering Eudora program gave me the dire warning to clean this crap out or it would quit on me.

Of course, I couldn’t help opening up messages and making totally sure I wasn’t throwing away anything important. I began reading an e-mail chain from a long-defunct writer’s group. In those days we’d start the week with a friendly e-mail to members telling them about our progress or frustrations or breakthroughs. As I was reading them, I noticed something else: one of the members was either

a) continually chronicling reasons why they couldn’t write anything that week

b) subtly attacking members who did make progress or breakthroughs

I’m really impatient with those sorts of behaviors. I guess you’d call me a bee-yotch when it comes to my writing time, but I don’t let much derail me from my appointment with my muse. I think I might have even written a few replies saying, “wtf, tell your spouse he can make his own tomato soup for lunch. The instructions are on the can. This is YOUR time.” She wrote back that she felt it was her obligation to make sure everyone in her family was happy and contented before she felt she could take time away from their needs for her own selfish pursuits.

Huh?

Much later (after I left the group) I learned from another member how guilty Perfect Spouse made her feel if she didn’t get up at the crack of dawn to make her kids hot oatmeal with a drizzled honey smiley-face and instead chose to write until the last possible second. She also reported that PS tried to derail her progress by calling into question the plot, dialogue, research choices, you name it, on her WIP.

This is a strange time for me, writing-wise, because I’m not plotting fresh text or even editing old stuff. I’m thick in the marketing stage of this game. Add to that, my Odyssey of the Mind team competes in FOUR days, so my time is limited. Yes, I’m courting some new story ideas, but it can get a little depressing not to be creating anything but a haiku every now and then.

But yesterday, the mailman left something that made my writerly self cheer: a music CD.

I discovered Roberto Cacciapaglia while researching my story, trying to learn what it would be like to stand in a particular rail station in Rome. On a chat board, someone mentioned the haunting music that played at one station. Someone else named the artist–Cacciapaglia. I found his work online and fell in fast-and-furious love with his music. Every note could’ve been the soundtrack to my story. I had to have the CD. Problem was, Cacciapaglia’s Italian work was impossible for me to locate in this country; it was out of stock everywhere. Still, I bookmarked his website, and visited the music links whenever I needed a boost in those last few weeks of writing. I hadn’t listened to his work for a while when, a few days ago, Amazon sent a notice to say Quarto Tempo was available with a limited number of copies, did I still want it? I ordered it right away.

So now, as I type this, I’m listening to Atlantico, a song that instantly transports me into my story and reconnects me with the characters. I hear meloncholia in this music, a woman’s regret. I hear the sea. I hear the dance of the twin girls who make up the heart of the tale, dancing over a cold beach with bare feet. I hear a touch of magic. This music reminds me of the writing struggle but more than that, it reminds me why I took this journey: because I love my characters and their story. It reminds me that the work meant something–even if it is never published.

That’s a tough truth and worth repeating:

Or, How Young Readers Keep You in Line!

I’ve been told many times by publishing professionals that authors who write for children and young adults are generally easier to work with, and more modest, less inclined to have big egos, than their counterparts in the adult literary world. Partly, that might be because, as any children’s or YA author will know, people often don’t take you seriously—the idea being that if you write for kids, you must be an overgrown kid yourself, and your books therefore are not worthy of the same attention as ‘real books’ (and yes, people do actually say to you—When are you going to write a real book?) But another reason is the fact that if your ego ever stood any chance of taking off, you’d be brought back to earth and pretty damn fast too, by your readership.

Children and teenagers are honest.  If they aren’t hooked into your book in the first couple of pages, they will simply close it.  It doesn’t matter how many prizes it’s won, how well regarded you are by the literary world, they simply don’t care if your book doesn’t grab them.

If they like your book, they will tell you with excitement and enthusiasm.  And if they don’t, well, they will say so, without any dissembling, or indeed sparing of your feelings.

I want to share this letter with everyone, since I know some of you–including Lisa Gates at Design Your Writing Life–took the step to blog about Patry after reading about the blogging efforts and some of you chose to support Patry by buying her book. This thanks should definitely be shared.

Here ’tis:

Hi, Therese and Kathleen –

I want to thank you for the support you gave in helping to spread the word about Patry Francis’s novel as part of THE LIAR’S DIARY Blog Day. Patry is completely overwhelmed, and deeply grateful. Her agent said Tuesday “was one of the most rewarding days –if not the most rewarding day– I’ve had in publishing…” Patry’s own thank you is posted on her blog.

In the end, very nearly 400 bloggers helped move her novel from a ranking of 55,000 on amazon at the start of the day, to #1 in Mystery, 275 overall by evening. Those statistics prove the day was a success, but we knew it would be even before the day began because we could see the groundswell of support, feel the sense of community.

Canada’s National Post did a story about our effort on the 29th, and the next day, told us it was their third most-read online article EVER. [Note: You can read that article HERE.] We’re hoping that others in the print media will now come on board. What took place was a remarkable demonstration of the power of the Internet community, and deserves to be told. And of course, we hope Patry’s sales continue to soar, and more important, that her recovery goes smoothly.

Thanks again so much for your help!

All best,

Karen Dionne, Administrator, Backspace LLC

Thank YOU, guys, for supporting the efforts as well. Write on!

ETA by Kath: Personally, the experience ranked right up there with us going live two years ago. One of the best things about being a part of an online community is the moments when you realize your voice isn’t just a cry in the wilderness, that we CAN make a difference. It was fun to watch Patry’s sales climb as the day unfolded. Bonus: it was wonderful to know we lightened the burden of someone who needed our help.

Photo courtesy Flickr’s .Bradi.

I’ve been feeling a little existential lately – probably has something to do with watching my kids grow up and realizing that I’m smack in the middle of full-fledged adulthood, even though I can’t believe that it’s so – and I’ve been dancing around with the question of why I write and why I’ve chosen this career. In many ways, I feel like this career chose me actually: I’d always been a “writer,” and through high school and college, teachers and professors suggested that I pursue it more seriously, but I never gave their comments much credence. After all, who on earth gets paid to write??? It seemed completely absurd. But, as good fortune would have it, after trying on several different professional hats, writing gigs slowly made their way to me, and over time, I was able to build a successful freelance PR and copy writing business that I then transitioned to magazine work. And from there, came fiction.

But I’ve digressed. As I said, I’ve been bouncing around with this question: why do I write? And I haven’t come to a simple answer. I’m not the primary breadwinner in my household, and if I decided to be a full-time mom, that would be okay with my husband, and yet, I choose not to. I choose to write. It is very much a choice. So, then, why?