Tag Archives: Inspiration

Is there a Fairy Blogmother?

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This past week three blog posts made a big impact on me. It amazes me how often the right blog pops up to help me with whatever I’m grappling with at the moment. I believe there’s magic afoot.

The first one was Chuck Sambuchino’s, Why “Keep Moving Forward” is my Best Advice for Writers Everywhere. I found it on Writer Unboxed, a favorite blog I follow that started as a collaboration and now includes a rich community of contributors. I had just sent my mystery to an editor to critique and was driving myself crazy waiting for feedback and agonizing over what ifs of the negative type.

Sambuchino’s advice: “In my opinion, the most frustrating thing about writing books is that so much is out of your control.  Keep moving forward. That is probably the best advice I can give you as you continue toward your writing goals, whatever they may be. I promise myself that while I may fail at a task at hand, whether it’s small or big — I will not fail because of a personal lack of effort. There are so many things I cannot control, but you can be damn sure that I will keep moving forward through bad news. I do it because it’s all I can do. Keep moving forward and I promise everything will be all right.”

Maybe I have no control over the editor’s opinion of my mystery but I could continue to work on a short story or read an inspiring blog like Writer Unboxed where I always find something that keeps me “moving forward.”

Sacramento Gold

A second blog/website I found this week felt like I’d struck a vein of gold. Kate’s Miscellany ~  For Valley Writers is a comprehensive listing in the Sacramento area of current events, educational and local publishing resources for writers, and lots more useful links for local writers and readers. It’s a blog that gives back.

Sometimes Questions are better than Answers

Another blog I follow is Ruminating Merlin. This blogger often asks thought-provoking questions. He’s an avid reader and I like his comments on what’s happening at Apple and Amazon, the Pulitzer board failing to name a fiction winner this year and how English teachers feel about teaching to testing standards rather than to enrich minds. All weighty subjects. He ponders what it means for him personally, and to society.

Blissed Out over Books

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The Left Coast Crime (LLC) writer’s conference is over. I’m back to my daily life, sitting at my laptop with my old dog wheezing on the rug next to me and my nearly toothless cat curled up on a chair. I’m surrounded by books and piles of papers that I never manage to tame. My quiet world.

Over the years, I’ve attended many conferences, symposiums, workshops and training events wearing my corporate editor/writer/communications hat. I worked hard, learned a lot, but was more than ready to return to my daily life when it was over.

Something strange happened this time.

After four intense days and evenings of workshops, panels, volunteering and socializing at LLC, I was overwhelmed, overstimulated and exhausted from navigating through 600-plus attendees. And I dreaded it ending.

I was blissed out at all those mystery writers, fans, librarians and experts in the publishing world gathered in one place—all those beginning, mid-career and seasoned writers encouraging each other, sharing how they got started and what to do and not do, what success is like, and helping us to understand all the changes happening in the industry.

A love fest

It was a gathering of people who love books. They love books so much they feel compelled to write them. It was about fans who love books so much they want to celebrate their favorite authors and learn about new ones. Why would anyone want that to end?

Postcard Fiction #2 Miss Communications

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Choosing wrong words

She sends a text, attempting

To bolster, encourage.

A mistake

To assume a problem

Where there was none.

She falters

But no offense is taken.

Released from the pressure,

Of manager of the universe,

She takes a walk on the river.

Mystery Writer Critique Group

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Last Saturday, seven mystery writers from my Capitol Crimes chapter of Sisters in Crime met at Temple Coffee on S St. in downtown Sacramento to figure out the who, why, what, where and how of beginning a mystery writer critique group.

On that breezy spring morning with the daffodils bobbing, I felt ready for something new. Several among our group had been in critique groups in the past and for others, like me, this was a first. Over coffee and Chai tea we got to know each other a little better and talked about the upcoming Left Coast Crime conference this month, our books, published and yet to be, and the critique group.

We didn’t want it to be rigid and rule-bound or too unstructured. Commitment was important. We passed out critique group guidelines.

We gave ourselves several tasks to complete for our next meeting to help us learn more about what we wanted from the group. That prompted me to do some ruminating.

Why do I want to belong to a critique group?

  • Writer friends. Until recently, I have worked in organizations as a writer/editor/communications person. My friends in that environment were wonderful people, but not aspiring fiction writers. Now, I’d like to enlarge my circle with friends who have my same interests. Being in a group that talks about writing for two or three hours at a stretch sounds like heaven to me.
  • You Rock and You Suck.  I need to connect with the real world in my writing and not only my internal world. One inner voice tells me I’m  great and its evil twin tells me everyone is writing mystery novels and they are all more likely to get published than mine, and so on.

What my rational self knows is that neither of these voices speaks the truth. I write because I love it.  Even rewriting and editing. I also want others to like what I write and that’s why I’m joining a critique group. Otherwise, it’s just me and my inner twins: You Rock and You Suck. I need a reality check.

I’d like to hear from those of you who have been in critique groups. What worked for you? What didn’t?

Practicing Postcard Fiction

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My post today is about practicing a new form of writing. New for me, that is. Postcard Fiction. Last week someone liked my post so I clicked on her icon. That led me to this wonderful blog:

http://postcardfiction.com/

I loved the combination of photos and fifty-word parameter for each story and wanted to try it. Hope you like it and if you have similar sites to recommend, please do!

Filling the Well

A crescent, an arc of landscape cradling an ocean, holds her.                                Waves entice her toes, grateful for the lick.                                                                         A crescent, an arc of landscape, a lick, and what was empty overflows.