Tag Archives: Books

Upcoming Novel from Julie Williams

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I’m reposting a blog originally posted by Diane Kendig: “Today, as part of “The Next Big Thing” project, I am hosting my friend Julie Williams, who is a poet, visual artist, and author of a Young Adult novel in verse, Escaping Tornado Season, as well as an upcoming novel. I’ll let our interview tell you all about it. Julie says:”

“The Next Big Thing” or Blog-o-sphere Project is a fun way for writers all over the world to connect and share information about their current writing project or upcoming book. One writer tags another writer who answers a set of interview questions who tags five more writers and so on and so on. I was tagged by my fabulous poet friend, Diane Kendig, who has graciously invited me to post my answers on her blog. Thanks, Diane!

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So, here goes . . .

What is your working title of your book?

All the World’s a Jumble

Where did the idea come from for the book?

I’ve always wanted to write about a crazy theatrical family plagued by relatives who are certain the world is going to end. Originally, I thought it would be set in 1975, but lo! and behold — 2012 came along and the Mayan predictions and the new version evolved accordingly.

What genre does your book fall under?

Young adult fiction

Which actors would you choose to play your characters in a movie rendition?

The truth is, I’d love to see the whole thing cast with new or previously unknown actors. Probably because the characters are so vivid in my mind and like my friend, Linda says, she’d rather the readers formed their own pictures. That said, it’s also kind of fun to imagine who might be right for the part. So, how about this? When Quvenzhané Wallis, the young woman from BEASTS OF THE SOUTHERN WILD, turns 16, she’s a possibility for Jessie. My daughter suggested Krisin Kruek and I really do like her, too. Abigail Breslin or one of the Fanning girls could play Jessie’s cousin and best friend, Bits. Maybe Brian White or Anthony Mackie for Jessie’s dad, Mark. And I’m thinking Jessica Chastain for her mom, Una. Although she’s a little young for the role, I can see Viola Davis as Grandmama. And I think Alphonso McAuley would be perfect for the wild and wacky Bartle. Now, ask me in a year when the book comes out. I may have an entirely different list.

What is the one-sentence synopsis of your book?

More than anything, Jessie wants to find her place in the Jumble Players — the award-winning theatre company her parents co-direct — but when family drama threatens both the family and the theatre, Jessie has to use her big brain and her huge heart to help keep it all together.

Will your book be self-published or represented by an agency?

I’m represented by Jill Corcoran of the Herman Agency and the book is coming out in March 2014 from Roaring Brook/Macmillan. My editor there is Nancy Mercado.

How long did it take you to write the first draft of your manuscript?

Depends on which “first draft” we’re talking about! The book has had several different incarnations. The slightly fudged, averaged-out answer is about six months. That said, Nancy and I have been working on it together for nearly two years. I just completed a revision based on her line edits and the book has just been sent to the copy editor.

Who or what inspired you to write this book?

My own, wildly diverse family, especially my beautiful daughter, inspired me. My early years in the theatre here in Minnesota and many years teaching performance classes inspired me. What I’ve come to believe about the incredibly strong and resilient nature of family made me want to write this book. And then, having my main character Jessie take off with a mind of her own made we want to follow along and find out what was going to happen to her next!

Next Week

Julie tagged me for the “Next Big Thing” Blog-o-Sphere project so next week I’ll post about my book, Focused on Murder—A Spirit Lake Mystery, and tag five amazing authors I know you’d love to hear about. Thanks for stopping by!

High Concept vs. Heart

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It’s the first day of spring and almost Easter, flowers are blooming and leaves are sprouting on bushes. Lots of resurrection going on.

And yet I’m acutely aware that we experience a pretty big chunk of loss in a lifetime and it can happen in any season. The older you get, the more loss you experience. Loved ones die, and there are the other losses; the loss of a job, an opportunity, or maybe even a dream.

In my case, an adored child moved far away. My sadness is tempered with pride and joy as she embarks on an exciting new venture.

Time to Regroup

I set out to find relief and that’s always been through writing. However, at the moment I’ve been concentrating on getting what I’ve written published. I’ve sent my manuscript to agents, but learned that the way to attract an agent is to write a high-concept novel that starts with a bang. My goal was never about tricking an agent into looking at my novel.

I wanted to engage a reader’s heart.

I finally made up my mind the best way to do that was to cut out the middleman and go directly to the source. Now I’m working with a cover artist and will soon self-publish.

Ah, resurrection.

Oh, and I’ve already booked a flight to visit my daughter.

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Overcoming Resistance on Your Writing Journey

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I bought the book, The War of Art, Break Through the Blocks and Win Your Inner Creative Battles, by Steven Pressfield for a young artist/musician and seeker. I skimmed it and thought the references to war and battle would be attractive to a male. And he loved it. He even read parts of it to me that he thought I’d like. And I did, so I bought a copy for myself and read the entire book in one sitting. I’ve read a number of books about writing motivation, so some of it was familiar, but every time I read something like this, or re-read, it reaches a new place in me that needed to hear it. There were many such places in this book.

The book is written in three sections: Part One, Defining the Enemy; Book Two, Turning Pro; and Book Three, The Higher Realm. Here are a few gems on resistance:

“Resistance is most powerful at the finish line.” It’s true. Right now, I have a finished draft of my mystery, Focused on Murder, and have sent it out to exactly one agent. This section turned a light on my resistance. I fooled myself into thinking there weren’t enough hours in the day to research agents and send out queries and synopses when I wanted to take on the 50,000 words in one month NaNoWriMo challenge. I’ve done great with that and have a first draft of a brand new novel, but my finished novel sits.

Resistance and Procrastination. “Procrastination is the most common manifestation of resistance because it’s the easiest to rationalize. We don’t tell ourselves I’m never going to write my symphony. Instead, we say, I’m going to write my symphony, I’m just going to start tomorrow.”

Resistance and Unhappiness. “As artists and professionals it is our obligation to enact our own internal revolution, a private, insurrection within our skulls.”

Resistance and Healing. “Remember, the part of us that we imagine needs healing is not the part we create from; that part is far deeper and stronger.” The part we create from can’t be touched by anything our parents did, or society did. That part is unsullied, uncorrupted; soundproof, waterproof, and bulletproof. In fact, the more troubles we’ve got, the better and richer that part becomes. The part that needs healing is our personal life. Personal life has nothing to do with work. Besides, what better way of healing than to find our center of self-sovereignty? Isn’t that the whole point of healing?”

I hope you, too, find something in these words that helps you in your writing journey.

NaNoWriMo Begins November 1

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Back in Feburary I posted a blog, How NaNoWriMo Changed my Writing Habit and in it I talked about how easy it was for me to keep to the writing schedule during that month. I thought I’d changed my usual habit of procrastination for all time. Not exactly!

Last week in my Friday writing group, I wrote this piece about procrastination in response to one of our prompts:

DRAFT FOUR

Boot up laptop, organize notes, open novel

Get coffee

Make two trips back to kitchen to perfect ratio of coffee to soy creamer

Sit at laptop. Find page 246

Old girl’s toenails click on hardwood, white muzzle appears at office door

Fill her food dish, add one tab Benedryl , one-half tab arthritis med, one-half tab pain med

Sit at laptop

Coffee is cold. Trip to kitchen to warm in microwave

Old Girl has spit out her meds

Wrap a chunk of last night’s chicken breast around pills and pop in her mouth

Sit at laptop

Read first sentence of Chapter Twenty. Too many prepositions. Reword it

Read again. Too choppy. Add prepositions, but not as many

Check emails. Friends tell about new haircut, how the kids are doing, how busy they are

Respond to emails. Tell friends about weekend plans and new gray sofa

Look at clock. Close gmail

Read first page of Chapter Twenty. Decide that it should be part of Chapter Nineteen so cut and paste

Check Facebook. Niece posted adorable photos of new twins. Six political commentaries, a hs classmate so proud in his camo outfit, shot an Elk and posted photo of its severed head. Delete photo

Check time. Close Facebook and resume editing novel

Old Girl whines for a walk

Close laptop, find shoes, jacket, key

Slow circuit around block takes longer every day

Open laptop

Chapter Nineteen no longer ends on a cliffhanger.  Delete last change and add back to beginning of Chapter Twenty

Stomach growls

Read paper with breakfast

Check time. Open laptop

Redundant third paragraph on page 292. Reword

Phone rings. He asks, How’s the writing going?

She says, Worked all morning. Need a break!

NaNoWriMo starts in two days and I’m gearing up to write again. I’m hoping for a repeat of my good record last time. If you are doing NaNo this year I’d love to hear how it’s going for you. I plan to blog about the process as the month, and my writing progresses!

Change of Seasons

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This morning I did a reverse spring cleaning, washing and airing out all my bedding. Fall hasn’t arrived yet in California but it’s right around the corner. I thought my purpose in stripping the bed and washing comforters was to prepare for a new season, until I was struck by the symbolism of it all.

I’ve nearly finished my final draft of Focused on Murder and am gearing up for the next step  by mentally clearing away the past season of writing and editing  to make space for a new effort: Publishing my book.

Frightful

Publishing a book is one more step in a long list of scary transitions that must take place to get a book from conception to making its way into the world.

It used to be easier: Do your research.  Find agents who handle your type of book, send queries and wait. If agents like your pitch, they ask to see the first chapter and a synopsis. Months later, you might get a letter saying it wasn’t what they were looking for. Or they might want to take you on as a client, but then might not be able to sell your book to a publisher.

The outcome is out of your control so all you can do is keep trying to get one of the gatekeepers to let you in the magic door. It wasn’t easier to get published, just less complicated when the outcome of your work was decided by someone else.

Change of Focus

Today, an almost overwhelming smorgasbord of options exists to get a book published. Of course, tackling anything new is daunting but diving under those clean sheets and comforter and hibernating rather than taking on the unknown was not an option. Instead, I chose to look at it with a certain alert curiosity and an expanding mindset that:

  • Turns toward a new experience with anticipation
  • Welcomes a chance to learn something new
  • Loves an adventure
  • Takes charge of my own destiny to make my own decisions and my own mistakes.

But for right now, my next steps are to do research and make the bed.