Alligators and Imagination

Posted by Jonene Ficklin

“Mom! Mom! Come here quick. There’s an alligator in my egg.”

Okay, what's your first impression when you read that? (You get invisible bonus points if you write it down in the comment box : )

So here’s what really happened:

My eleven-year-old son came home from scouts and announced that he had to cook three meals all by himself. Also, they had to be things that he would eat if he were camping. Now he can make a killer PB&J, but that’s the limit of his cooking expertise. So we start with the basics. Fried eggs. A camping favorite.

I stay in the kitchen, but keep a safe distance, ready to save the day if he starts a fire or something.

He’s happy as a clam over at the stove, cracking eggs onto our big camp griddle. And then he says the alligator thing.

What??? I’m four steps away and he’s blocking the view.

Have you ever noticed how the curious mind – not satisfied with waiting to see – goes right to work? It builds wild and crazy explanations in an effort to make sense where there is none.

So as I’m crossing the room, the ideas begin flowing:

Hypothesis 1: Somehow an alligator egg got mixed into my egg carton and I’m going to find its sizzling embryo curled up on the stove.

Hypothesis 2: My son said the wrong word. What might he have meant? Elevator? Calculator?

Hypothesis 3: The egg is spoiled and green.

Hypothesis 4: I have no idea what he means and these are the longest four steps I’ve taken since he was two and ran out in front of a car. (He didn’t get hit. I was the only one traumatized).

By this time, I reach him and look. As it so happens, it was none of the above. Here is a photo we took. I’m sure you can see the alligator on the left side, trying to eat the egg on the right.

Now it makes perfect sense. But my imagination is on fire and tingling. It’s awesome! I can’t help thinking about my new story. (I haven’t written a word yet. I’m not letting myself until I finish the final polishing of my current WIP, which is mere days away.)

Still, I’m neck deep in the thinking stages, and it’s marvelous! I love the rush of the initial idea, the clip of story ready to blossom into something big. I love getting to meet and then know the heroes and villains, envision the adventures, concoct the heartbreaks, the big reveals, the glorious, perfect (I hope) ending.

And if I don’t like it, I can change it . . . just like that. (Evil laugh here.) There’s an awful lot of power involved in the thinking process. I can barely wait to get to work.

And if I get writer’s block, I know just what to do to get the ideas flowing. I’ll let my son cook again. But this time, I’ll stay SIX steps away.

Snoozing Your Writing

By Leisha Maw

This morning I woke up to a cat fight. Again. I then lay in bed for forty-five minutes avoiding the day. The alarm started going off. I snoozed it. It went off for thirty minutes. I snoozed it every three minutes. Pathetic? Yup.

As I lay there--arms crossed, frown marring my face--I had a thought. Now, to those of you who know me this in and of it self may be quite surprising, but yes I had a thought, and it turned into a conversation with me.

Me 1: I do this with my writing!

Me 2: Do what?

Me1: Snooze it.

Me 2: Say what? You need more sleep. Turn off the alarm. Again.

Me 1: No. Listen to me. I've been snoozing my writing all week. It's Friday, and I haven't made any progress.

Me 2: You deserved a break.

Me 1: For a week?

Me 2: Sure.

Me 1: Pshha! Whatever. Get out of bed right now and get to work! Don't make me make you!

Me 2: All right. Sheesh. Get ornery and everything.

Anywho, after I finished arguing with myself, I did get up, and I'd like to think it was more than slipping out from under the covers and trudging downstairs to get kids ready for school. I think it was a wake-up call for my writing. I didn't consciously realise how I'd been snoozing it. I found other things that seemed important. Now, some were honest things and did need my attention, like my family and breathing, but I don't think I really needed to watch Superhumans last night. Or NCIS, or check my email 8,000 times. I don't think I even needed to run those extra virus scans. I just wanted distractions to make me feel like I was working, when I was snoozing my writing.

So, I vow to kill the snooze button. I will write. And after I write, I just might take a nap. *Grumbles under breath about cat.*

What do you do to snooze your writing?

Leisha Maw

Revisions, Why Art Thou So Hard?

Posted by Susan Kaye Quinn.

I'm working on Draft 2 of the WiP, and just realized that a whole section of my plot is, shall we say, weak.

I'm staring at the character motivation, sequence of events, and general logic of about 10k of prose and thinking, You know, that really doesn't make any sense at all.

Sigh.

I know this is what revisions are for. I also know I'm capable of plotting a better story between word 25,000 and word 35,000 - especially since that's a critical launching off point for the rest of the book. All it will take is time, effort, and possibly a few bad words. I'm even considering hauling out a giant piece of butcher paper and outlining the darn thing. Which I've never done (my outlines are always digital), so you know it's bad.

But first, I'm going to have a cup of tea and think a bit about it.

What's your approach when facing a rewrite that's a lot more than tracking down errant adverbs or getting rid of cliches?

Life After the Phone Call

by Rebecca J. Carlson

We're all waiting for it, like a lookout in the crow's nest a yearnin' to sight land. Someday that phone will ring and someone will say, "I want to be your agent."

Today I've invited my good friend and upcoming debut author Beth Revis to tell you a little bit about what it's like once that happens.

Beth, you found your literary agent nearly a year ago, and your first book will be coming out next January. Go ahead, rant a while about how thrilled you are.


DUDE. It is so AWESOME. Last November, I was at the point where I was almost ready to give up writing. This November, I'm already thinking about how long my prayer will be at Thanksgiving. My turkey is going to get cold, I've got so much to be thankful for! 

What was it like to get an offer of representation?

Nerve-wracking. Not the answer you'd expect, huh? I thought it would be joyous, jumping-up-and-down excited, but I was so worried about everything--was I making the right choice, was this really going to be it, what if she changed her mind and doesn't want me anymore...?

Once the actual paper contract came, though, it finally hit me: this is real. *That's* when the joyous, jumping-up-and-down excitement came!

Do you spend more time on writing now than you did a year ago?

Yes, absolutely. Well, partly this is because my book deal enabled me to quit my job of being a teacher. I *loved* teaching, but teaching absorbs your life, you know? If you're a teacher, you can't quit being a teacher at 3:30--you carry the job home with you, you think about it constantly. The problem was, you do that with writing, too--if you're focused on your writing, you constantly think about it, new scenes, new characters, new plots. I couldn't focus on both. My mind isn't big enough for that! So, quitting the teaching job enabled me to focus more on my writing. 

What’s something that surprised you, something you didn’t expect, about being an upcoming debut author?

I always felt that being published would mean that I was suddenly validated. I think a lot of us are looking for validation. We need a reason to excuse the hours of time we neglect our families to write, a valid purpose for the money we spend on books or conferences or writing memberships, an excuse for how much we pour into something that potentially has no reward. I'd been writing for ten years--*ten years*--before I signed with my agent. And I was starting to feel as if there was no point. Here I was, giving away my time, my energy, my health (that's my excuse for not exercising), and had nothing to show for it except piles of paper that no one wanted to read. So, I always thought that publication = validation. But honestly? Now that I'm on this side of the fence, I feel no different from before. Which means, of course, that my validation lay in all those piles of paper. The creation of a written work is as much a validation as publication. This isn't something I thought would be true, but it is. 

Is there anything you’d like to go back one year and tell yourself?

Probably just that: to take pride in the creation of written work, not regret the lack of publication.

When did you make the switch in your mind to looking at yourself as a professional author?

That's another thing--I thought as soon as I signed with an agent, I'd feel like a professional. Then I thought as soon as I signed a book contract. Then I thought as soon as I saw my ARC. But you know what? I've quit waiting to feel like a professional. Because I realized, I'd been treating writing as a profession for a long time. I was a professional long before the contract because I'd been treating writing like my profession. Professional authorship is an attitude, not a contract.

Is there anything you miss about the pre-agented stage of the writing game?

No deadlines! Before, I could spend as long as I wanted on a work, tweak it to death, slowly meander through revisions. But now I don't have that luxury--I've *got* to write on a certain schedule, there are people relying on me to finish my next work on time. It's like the difference between reading JANE EYRE because you love it, or reading it for a class assignment.

What’s the most fun and exciting moment SINCE you got word that your book would be published? Was it seeing the cover for the first time?

Oh, seeing the cover was brilliant. And getting the ARCs in the mail. But actually, I think it's been seeing the response people have had to the book online. People are emailing me and tweeting me and facebooking me about how much they want the book, or, if they have an ARC, how much they liked it. It means more than I can say that there are people in the world who want to read (or re-read) my book! And some of the responses have been very creative, like this one! http://owlandsparrow.wordpress.com/2010/10/14/across-the-universe/

Got plans for launch parties, book signings, etcetera?

Oh, YES. Yesyesyes. Of course! It's a celebration of ten years of work, all rolled into one event! A lot of things are still up in the air right now about it, but one thing that's going to happen is a book party at the school where I used to work. The students and my fellow teachers have been planning the event since they found out about my book deal!

THANK YOU so much, Beth. We’ll let you get back to working on your next book.

Beth's science fiction debut, Across the Universe, will launch on 1-11-11. Visit Beth's website to learn more.

Spaceship Illustration by Manning Leonard Krull  http://www.manningkrull.com

Contest Winners announced!

Thanks to all for entering our first contest here at the Scribbler's Cove! Rebecca's super smart husband did some complicated spreadsheet, since he's a smart mathemetician like that, so this contest would have total randomness. And now for the winners

[drum roll please]

1st place	Elizabeth Mueller
2nd place	K. Marie Criddle
3rd place	Shannon O'Donnell
4th place	Kristina Barnes

Congrats!! We also decided to add an extra prize for the First Place winner and so we signed her on as part of the crew! [Welcome Elizabeth!]

All winners: Please email your address to chersti.nieveen@gmail.com so we can send you your prize!

Woman Overboard!

My kind captain, Rebecca, has taken so kindly in rescuing me hide from a-drowning.

Now I be part of The Scribblers Cove. It be a grand paradise here doing nothing more than sipping coconut milk and counting them screamin’ gulls.

Really?

Well, nearly akin to it. I’m thrilled to be a part of such a dynamic group of wonderful friend writers—my kinda people.

Hi, my name is Elizabeth Mueller, I am an award-winning aspiring author and I love to write.

I write clean reads in the high fantasy, contemporary, paranormal and historical genres. My target audience is young adults with a potential crossover for adults. I’ve also written children’s picture books. All unpublished, but for a few poems.

I’ve started writing poetry in 4^th grade, short stories in 6^th, and both in high school. It wasn’t until I was 17 that I started and completed my first epic fantasy novel ten years later.

I’ve finished 7 more novels since and am currently working on Rock Star edits like crazy (I’ll post on that another time). I’m on chapter 8. It’s slow-going with my 4 kidlets running amuck, but I manage while they are in school and in bed.

Whew!

Rock star Moggie suffers a tragic loss and falls in love with Beth who is dying of cancer, but she feels love with him isn’t possible and pushes him away.

That’s my elevator spiel for now. I know it’ll get better once I put more thought into it.

What are you working on—can you sum it up in one sentence?

P.S. It’s nice meeting you!

This is My Writing Career

Yes, there it is. That's it. My writing career.


I planted the seeds a long time ago, in a nice pot with good soil. I water them nearly every day.

And I wait.

Sometimes I want to give up. Sometimes I want to scream "WELL GROW ALREADY!!!" And sometimes I'm so tempted to dig up the seeds and see if they are doing anything.

But I don't. I keep watering.

Someday, something marvelous is going to grow in this pot. I may need to put in new seeds, I may need to wait a long time, but something beautiful is coming. I know it.

Just wait and see.