'Til the Clouds Roll By...

Monday came a few days late this week. That happens now and then.

I’m deep into the second Whispering Mountain book and I have to stop next week because TEXAS RAIN will hit the stands Nov. 7th.

Autographing frightens me a little. I think most writers feel that way. We like watching, or talking one-on-one. I love meeting the fans and seeing friends who always come to the parties, but the crowd makes me uneasy.

I took my mother to an autographing once. The lady sitting next to me was afraid of crowds. My mother thought I said ‘clouds’ so she ran up to the woman and started hugging her telling her, “Dear, there is no need to be afraid of clouds. When I was a kid, clouds would come up all the time and my dad would make us all run for the cellar.” My mother meant well, but I wonder if that woman ever did another autographing. Sometimes when the party is getting ready to start and the noise level is high, I can almost hear my mother’s voice reminding me not to be afraid of clouds.
Best,

Drop Everything And Read!

It’s totally Monday. I worked and slept most of the weekend. Loved it. The second story of Whispering Mountain is coming so fast I feel like it may run over me. The biggest problem with this book is finding time to write fast enough.

I did take time out to see a play this weekend. Marfa Lights. There is something about plays that I’ve always loved. I used to make my mother drive me to Canyon to watch the plays here at the university. I’d sit in the back all by myself loving every play.

My most asked question this week was: If you think you want to be a writer, where do you start?

I’d have to say start with reading. Once in a while I see people who want to write who are not readers. (the last fiction they read was a high school requirement) I think that makes it hard. By reading, you pick up how a book moves. Read books in the area and style you want to write, and read books on writing. In talks I often say I checked out the section on writing at the library one summer. Many of the books offered little, but a few gave me great clues into how the writing process works. Second, I tell new writers to write every day. Start a pattern, even if it is only 15 minutes, of writing. If you have little time the writing could be an idea book of stories you’d like to get to someday. I have idea books at every desk just in case I set down and don’t have anything to write one day. I keep writing in them, but I’ve never used a single idea to date. Other ones keep getting in the way.

Have a great week and remember: Any day above ground is a good day.

Rainy Days and Mondays

Good morning. It’s a rainy day Monday. Rain always makes me feel like writing.

I’d like to start today talking about the questions that came in the most last week. “Where do your ideas come from?”

I wish I knew. The truth is sometimes I can’t really place when an idea first drifted into my brain.

Maybe from a song, or one line from a movie, or maybe just something someone said to me. It’s like a seed that starts growing. Sometimes ideas come from playing the ‘what if’ game. What if a woman wrote as a dime novelist under a man’s name? What if a pregnant widow landed on the cost of Texas with no one to help her? What if a family believed they could dream their future? Once an idea starts growing it’s like a movie playing in the back of my mind. I drift back and watch it now and then until one day, I can’t leave. I have to see it through. When that happens, I start writing because I want to see what happens.

Now, to work. I’ve been looking forward to today for a week. I’m stepping back into the past and working on my historical. I’ve been away from it for a few weeks, so I’ll start from the first and read. Rainy days and reading—life is good.

Computer Woes and Short Stories

Good Monday morning. I’ve spent most of the morning fighting my computer. I know we should all feel blessed to have all this technology at our fingertips, but some days.

I finished reading my new short story over the weekend. I like doing short stories from time to time. I love that the story is quick and fun, but I usually end up wishing it were a book because I want to spend more time with the characters.

On a side note, I love fall. I love the leaves turning and the cool weather. For some people it may seem like the end but for me fall as always been a time to begin. Maybe it was all those years of going to and teaching school, but fall always finds me making lists and planning the year.