The Baby Steps of Writing #6: Laying Down the Highlights

Starting a novel can be intimidating. Finishing even more so. It is my hope that this series will help other soon-to-be or wanna-be writers find a place to begin a novel and better yet, empower them to finish. Here you will find all the advice I wish someone would have given me when I first started writing fiction.

Today is the day! For those of you who like discovering your story as you go (pantsters), this is the last step you should take in preparing a plot for your novel. Granted, some of you might think this is too much structure, but I think this format still leaves a lot of room for surprises. There are many formats out there, but I like this one because it highlights each major point of your story:

Inciting incident (II)

This incident (usually a full scene) should grip your reader and not let them go. The general rule of this scene is an eruption in your character’s normal life. We see action or trouble brewing. We see how the character responds to the trouble as they are now, before they change throughout the story. This scene doesn’t have to be a full-on explosion, but it should have undertones or overtones of unease in the character’s regular world. Also, the sooner you start your inciting incident, the more exciting your story will be. And the sooner you will hook the reader in.

First Plot Point (PP1)

The difference between the first plot point (PP1) and the inciting incident (II) is sometimes confusing. The PP1 has everything to do with the plot while the II doesn’t necessarily have to be. I could go on and on about PP1s, but I’ll just say that they are the point where the main character chooses to move forward from what their world once was to what it has become. This can be a huge and dramatic change or a quieter, “okay, I’m going to do this”. In a typical hero’s quest story, the hero’s main world has been turned upside down. In the first novel I ever wrote, the main character climbs a ridge and looks down either side of the ridge: the direction she is going and the direction she has been. She dithers about pushing forward or going back. (Cliché, I know.) But I tell you this because at the time I wrote the scene, I didn’t know I was putting in a classic PP1 because I didn’t know what a PP1 was. I did it instinctively. Some of you might find you have been doing the same thing: writing classic elements into your story with out consciously putting them in there. Once you are aware of the elements, the chances of them being clean and purposeful (vs. sloppy and over-the-top like mine was) are better.

Second Plot Point (PP2)

Now that your character has made the decision to move forward, he is going to have some growing pains. Growing pains mean hard things are in the future. Hard things mean conflict, which makes a story a story. As the first big obstacle, PP2 escalates the conflict between the hero and the villain, the hero and himself, or the hero and their unrequited love. Or all three. Each story is unique enough that you’ll need to find where the first big obstacle is and how it’s going to kick your story into a higher gear.

Middle Point (MP)

When I think of the middle, I think of chucking on my backpack and preparing to hoof it up a mountain. It is the gear up for the intensity about to come at the end. The middle point is where you hinge the beginning to the end and sometimes it can be the hardest part to write. Like a clothes line, the story may slouch right there in the middle. It happens to even great authors. The best way to evaluate your middle point is to see if it feels like a “deep breath before the plunge,” as Gandalf would say. (Yeah, I know I’m a nerd.)

Third Plot Point (PP3)

This is the all-is-lost scene. Here is the point where we wonder how in the world the character is going to recover from the blow you have just given him. The character is brought lower than low. Readers need to feel a sense of hopelessness to some degree. It will make the ending all the more satisfying.

Circle the Wagons (CTW)

As soon as the character limps away from the all-is-lost scene, it’s time to circle the wagons and start seeing with new eyes. The character develops a new desire to conquer and they have a new approach to see it through. Hang on to your hats because now the character is planning and things are going to get intense.

Climax A (XA)

Now it’s time to light the fuse. Some event needs to ignite the big blow coming between the character and their adversary (whether internal or external).

Climax B (XB)

Things are about to explode and you need to build up the suspense so that the reader won’t put the book down and go to bed. The fuse it lit and it’s burning down the wire.

Climax C (XC)

Kaboom! The biggest, most intense event of the book needs to occur here. The dynamite explodes and most of the time, you know what the event will be before you even sit down to write. However, before you write it, ask yourself, “What is the worst, most dramatic thing that can happen to the character(s) here?” and “What biggest obstacle can he/she conquer?” Then evaluate if you have done this scene the justice it deserves.

Denouement

The ride has been fun, but now give the reader a short breather. This is the section where Dumbledore explains some things to Harry. Here is where all the loose ends are tied up and we understand things we did not before.

Resolution

End the story. Nicely. Swiftly. Satisfyingly. A good ending is the deal maker if the reader is going to tell their friends about your book or not. There really is nothing else to say except that if the end satisfies you, hopefully it will satisfy others. It may be happy or it may be bittersweet, but it should always end hopeful in some way. Get a second reader and see if they agree with your satisfaction.

So what do you think? Is this a helpful way to think of the major elements of your book?

Last weekend I went to a Young Adult writer’s workshop in Phoenix. It was wonderful to be there in the presence of so many authors I admire. One thing I heard from many of them was that they used to be fond of just sitting down and writing a book. Now they have learned the value of preparation, whether in outline form or in a 40 page or so synopsis. I am learning this too.  And oh, man! How I wish I would have done more outlining in the book I’m revising now because I’m so slow at revisions. When I don’t plan well, I find that I have to rewrite more. That is okay for some people but I struggle with revision because I am a perfectionist. Plus I want to write so many books that I just want to get them out into the world.

So, if you want to outline more, stay tuned for scene by scene outlining and other TBA baby steps of writing. Happy Monday!

P. S. If you need more help seeing how these elements fit into your book specifically, I would be happy to help you. Just email me. My address is on the side. Over there. ------------------->

Perfect Pitch Entry

Hooray! I just found out about Brenda Lee's great Perfect Pitch Contest and had to enter. Namely because the agent is one of the coolest agents from one of the coolest agencies. Go check out all the great entries! (And if you are here for more Baby Steps of Writing, there will be more of those the end of the week! <3)

Title. Jedda Hitler: Traitor to the Party

Genre. YA Historical Adventure

Word Count: 65,000 words

Pitch. Raised, groomed, and kept apart, Jedda Hitler was her grandfather’s personal project to prove that even a small girl could be turned into a killing machine.

Excerpt:

Grandfather would never have allowed such incompetence in his army. That is all I have to say about him. He is no longer my concern.

Right now I have only to save myself.

Sagging belly and paunchy eyes, my jailer leans carelessly against the bathroom wall. He is a Brown Shirt, Nazi paramilitary. But where discipline was once religion, it is replaced by indolence. He disgusts me.

He would not be so at ease if he knew how loose his men tied my wrists.

I could kill him now if I wished.

But I want information.

“Give me your name.” His voice echoes. We are underground, in a tunnel. He believes he is the one interrogating.

“Your name!”

“I think you already know,” I say.

A self-satisfied tightness crosses his lips. He has his prize.

“Where are we?” I ask, doing my best to appear dazed.

“North of Mosbach.”

The Baby Steps of Writing #5: Telescoping Your Plot

Starting a novel can be intimidating. Finishing even more so. It is my hope that this series will help other soon-to-be or wanna-be writers find a place to begin a novel and better yet, empower them to finish. Here you will find all the advice I wish someone would have given me when I first started writing fiction.

The next baby step we are discussing is how to look at the big picture of your plot and then shorten your scope until you get to the details. Now, if you know outlining story details sucks the joy out of writing for you, don’t follow along these exercises. Read along and think about what each of these highlights is in your own story without delving too deep. If you don’t know if plotting will help or hinder your writing, I plead with you to try. Plotting can do for writer’s block what splashing cold water on your face does to sleep. It will pull you out of the slogging, foggy mind of STUCK.

First thing to do is pull out your banner and reread it. Do you feel that stirring of excitement you originally felt when the Shiny New Idea came to you? Do you remember the vision you have for the story? Have you a direction to move the idea forward into STORY? If not, here’s a neat little trick I learned from Janette Rallison at a writing conference recently (though she attributed to Dwight Swain’s Techniques of the Selling Author). It’s kind of like a Mad Lib, but with an important purpose:

When _______ (insert Main Character’s name) finds herself in _______ (insert Situation here) she ______ (insert Goal here) but will __________ (insert antagonist or obstacle to goal here) make her ______________ (insert consequence of goal failure here)?

CHARACTER + SITUATION + GOAL + OBSTACLE + DISASTER = A READY TO ROLL STORY!

So did that come easily for you, even if it wasn’t pretty enough to put in a query letter?

If yes, then you are ready to think about the story framework, the structure that holds the words together to make a great experience for the reader. Generally learned like this in grade school:

Have you figured this out for your story too? If not, then time to stew over it, to discover where each major acceleration in the plot should be and where things should slow down a bit. Think about that escalation this week and then next week we will telescope in further with the following structure.

Inciting incident (story hook, attention-getter, or a problem eruption)

Plot Point 1 (character’s world turned upside down, their choice to move forward is made)
Plot Point 2 (first big obstacle)
Middle Point (the gear up for serious obstacle confrontation also the joint to hinge on the beginning with the end)
Plot Point 3 (all-is-lost obstacle)
Climax A (lighting the fuse)
Climax B (watching it burn)
Climax C (kaboom!)
Denouement (wind down)
Resolution (satisfying end)

Next up, we will dive into more detail of each item on the list! Happy new (writing) year to all!

The Baby Steps of Writing #4: Opening with a Line in the Sand

Starting a novel can be intimidating. Finishing even more so. It is my hope that this series will help other soon-to-be or wanna-be writers find a place to begin a novel and better yet, empower them to finish. Here you will find all the advice I wish someone would have given me when I first started writing fiction.

Photo credit.

Oh, man! I’ve been gone from my blog for so long. I’m sorry! Life gets crazy for us all and mine is no exception. But continuing on with my Baby Steps of Writing, I’m discussing elements of openings.

Openings must set the mood, introduce a dynamic character, and compel the reader forward with tension. Most of all, the opening of a book should force the reader to care. Emotional investment is the reason to keep reading, to buy the book, to tell your friends they just have to read this one. It can also be called the so-what of the story.

My favorite way to do this (and the technique I strongly recommend using) is The Line in the Sand

The line in the sand is when we as writers state the book’s purpose which will be established through out the tale. This is either an idea that will be overturned or the driving force where the character’s actions are fostered. A line in the sand is different from the theme because the line is a belief statement. It can be the theme, but more like the expectation we try to set for the reader in a flashing neon sign. Often it carries an undertone just like a theme would, though. We smell and taste trouble. We flat-out tell the reader what they’ve gotten themselves into and then set up the rest of the story to either refute or reinforce the statement we’ve made.

Here’s an example of an opening line from The Help: “Taking care of white babies, that’s what I do, along with all the cooking and the cleaning. I done raised seventeen kids in my lifetime.” Abileen is going to decide if taking care of white ladies’ households is what she can or will continue to do once things get out of hand.

The famous lines from Pride and Prejudice: “It is a truth universally acknowledged, that a single man in possession of a good fortune, must be in want of a wife.” We automatically ask, “Is this true in Regency England?” And the characters are going to prove or disprove this statement about single, wealthy men.

Moby Dick: “Call me Ishmael.” That name has so much baggage! We automatically know the character likely will too. In The Bible, Ishmael was cast out of his father’s landholdings once the favored son, Isaac, was born. Ishmael is telling us he is a castaway, a nomad, and we can safely bet he sees himself as second best. He might even have a cheeky chip on his shoulder.

Here’s one from my own work in progress: “Right now I have only to save myself.” The main character is going to have to decide if that is true, if she can live with herself by only saving her own skin and no one else’s.

Anyway, that is the Line in the Sand. What do you think?

Could you work one into your own story?

Do you want to?

So what are everyone’s plans for the holidays? I’m hoping mine will be quiet enough to let me work on my blog, my writing, and my Super-Secret Project. *grins*

Have a wonderful holiday season, my friends!

The Baby Steps of Writing #3: Telling Titles

Starting a novel can be intimidating. Finishing even more so. It is my hope that this series will help other soon-to-be or wanna-be writers find a place to begin a novel and better yet, empower them to finish. Basically, this is all the advice I wish someone would have given me when I first started writing fiction.

If eyes are the windows to the soul, then titles are windows into a book’s content. (Well, maybe that and the cover. But the title is usually what we see first….)

A title is the flashing light that arrests the reader and says, “Check me out!” You want it to be good. But you also don’t want to be so attached to it that you’d change your firstborn’s name to the same set of words.

 Here are some tricks to come up with a working title:

• Include irony! Just like the conceptual hook, a title with irony or a double meaning packs a punch. Make that title a loaded gun. (Think of The Lovely Bones by Alice Sebold—the title itself is eerie and incongruous, just what we expect of the novel when we start to read.)
• Make a list of all title options, even if you feel they aren’t very good. Send them in an email to a trusted friend or spouse and see what they say. Who knows? They may send back an email with their own list to help you brainstorm better. (It worked for Shannon Hale and a title for one of her Bayern books was born.)
• KISS that title! Keep It Simple, Stupid. The simpler the title, the easier it is for readers to remember it. Thus easier for them to pass a referral along when they like it.
• Make a list of keywords that describe the tone and/or the theme of your book. Then make a list of keywords that make your story unique. (A good thesaurus and www.wordspy.com are great resources here.) Somewhere in these lists there might be a word or combined words intriguing or catchy enough to use as a title.
• Write down the setting of your book. Is it important enough to be included in the title?
• Think of applicable quotes and proverbs. Do they fit as a possible title in some fashion? What about a play on words? (For example, my book about a high school Senior on an all-things Beatle’s tour has a working title of Her Ticket to Ride. So it references a song by the band central to the story.)
• What about your main character? If the book is about a single character’s emotional or physical (or both) journey, consider indulging them by having their names in the title.
• Are there any significant lines in your book that express the gist of the book? Margaret Mitchell didn’t call her book Scarlett or Tara but “Gone with the Wind”—a nod to the line Scarlett says in a poignant part of the book.

Things you might now know about titles:

• Titles cannot be copyrighted. Content can, however, so make sure your vampire novel called Twilight is very different from anything Stephenie Meyer wrote.
• Titles are great at inspiring more story ideas. Sit down and write 2 to 3 word phrases that roll off the tongue. If you did this a few minutes everyday, you’d be surprised how flooded with story ideas you’d become. (Same goes with chapter titles when you are stuck plotting.)

More advice:

• Consider all titles as working titles because if the book gets published at a leading house, your editor and the editorial committee have a huge say in what the book’s name should be.
• Say your proposed titles out loud. Which ones roll off the tongue? Which portray what it’s about the best? Rank all the ones that you like, from the most loved to the most pathetic.
• Make sure your title is pronounceable and doesn’t have words so uncommon they are easily forgettable.

Just like reading people through eye-contact, titles can be mysterious or straightforward. Intriguing or familiar. Open-hearted or dark. Sensitive and quiet or loud and garish. Whichever approach you choose, make that title a part of your voice as a writer. It’s your baby, after all, no matter how many people have a say in what you name it.

Q4U: How do titles come to you?

The Baby Steps of Writing #2: Having the Courage

Starting a novel can be intimidating. Finishing even more so. It is my hope that this series will help other soon-to-be or wanna-be writers find a place to begin a novel and better yet, empower them to finish. Basically, this is all the advice I wish someone would have given me when I first started writing fiction.

 

Continuing on with our baby steps of writing, today I’m talking about solidifying your concept. (If you missed Step #1, go here to the previous post about creative banners.)

So we’ve made our creative banner (i.e. the essence of the joy we’ve found in the initial story idea, the thing(s) that we most love about it). Now we need to mold the idea further into a tangible concept.

What a concept is NOT:

• A theme, which gives mood and meaning to your story
• Your banner. It’s a refined version and presentable version of your banner.
• Your idea. I’s more expanded than that idea was initially.
• Your plot. The concept is only an ignition coil while your plot is going to be your V8 engine.

What a concept IS:

• The irony that makes your story different. (For example, in my book Courtesy and Patience, the main irony is a group of backwoods orphans, who never have anything unusual happen to them, have a never-seen before flying machine fall on their heads. What’s more, the balloon is full of sorcerer’s stones. Unusual and unexpected.)
• Your banner duded up then married off to an interesting main character, a conflict, and a setting all in one “I do”.
• Your hook. You have only two or three sentences to spew this information in a compelling way.
• Your expanded idea. It’s about (insert character here) in (insert setting here) who wants (insert motivation here) but (insert conflict and/or antagonist here) gets in his/her way. Not really that simple but kind of is.

Larry Brooks, in his book Story Engineering, says to run a list of “What if?” questions to find your concept. I’ve never tried this, but I think it could really help boil your story down to what is the most compelling. (Just make sure you don’t include the questions in your query. Most agents hate rhetorical questions in query letters.) Another trick is to write down all the choices you don’t want in your story until you find what you do (i.e. you want to write a spy book but you know you don’t want a Bond character and you don’t want it set during the Cold War. So how about a New York nanny in a contemporary world? Spin the idea on its head until it looks like you’ve put your touch on a normal story idea.) Pretty soon by process of elimination, you’ll have come up with the beginnings of a concept. What I do is try and write a compelling concept several different ways, evaluate what I like and don’t like about each one and then mesh together the good stuff. I share it with my writing friends on paper and verbally pitch it to my non-writing friends. My writing friends give me honest feedback and my non-writing friends have tells in their body language that let me know what they really think of the idea. If that’s not enough (and even if it is), I fill out this form:

Genre:

What it is in a nutshell: (1 to 2 sentences)

It’s like __________, but different because it ___________.

The Irony: (The appealing dichotomy or dichotomies in the story)

Hook: (The irony and the conflict in as few words as possible)

Who would my PERFECT audience be? (Twelve year old boys into baseball or purple-haired elderly ladies at a tea party?)

ATMOSPHERE of the Book: (The tone or the mood of the book.)

Locations and Time Periods:

Notice a lot of the info in my list could potentially be redundant. (About like washing a car in the rain.) No sweat. Thinking about each element in different ways helps our brains catch the strengths and weaknesses of our concept.

Whatever exercise you do to find your concept, make sure you write down everything and keep it with the rest of your files for that specific story. I cut and tape them in a notebook specific to this shiny new idea. And I don’t throw away any drafts or ideas. Some little piece might later be the spark I need to fix a problem or change a concept all together.

Anyway, that’s concept. I would be happy to help anyone struggling with this, there's no sense in being discouraged on your own! Just email me @ jackee(dot)alston(at)gmail(dot)com.

Best of luck, my friends! Next post: Title Ideas.

The Baby Steps of Writing #1: Starting Smart, Starting Centered

Photo Credit

This post is for anyone who is thinking of starting a novel.
This post is for writers who are setting those first exciting words to page.
This post is for those who are ready to write a second, third, or fourth book.
This post is for anyone who wishes they could minimize the amount of rewriting they have to do on their novels.
This post is for people who prefer to tackle huge projects with baby steps.
In other words, this post is for everyone. (Provided they are open to my opinion I'm giving here.)

Fiction writing is hard yet rewarding emotionally. Most of my “writing block” comes from, “What do I do next?” Because of this, sometimes I balk at it being the only discipline I know of that does not need a blueprint, a formula, a recipe, a protocol, or a sketch to begin. Sure, I’m a huge outliner, but often my outlines are haphazard and unfocused. This can work—and there is no one right way—but you have to be willing to accept that the less you plan up front, the more time you will spend rewriting. At least in my experience, it’s been that way.

After experimenting with different methods of plotting (and reading several writing books), I’m going to share with you what works the best for me in the next few blog posts. (All in portioned out baby steps.) My hope is that it might help some of you out there who have asked for my advice:

Baby Step #1

First, we start with an IDEA.
The idea is a lovely place to be. It’s so shiny and exciting—perfect in its very untainted form. For J. K. Rowling, the idea was the character Harry Potter, fully formed in her head on a delayed train. For Neil Gaiman, an image set a book in motion (I think maybe he said this about either Coraline or The Graveyard Book?). For Stephanie Meyer, it was a picnic scene she had had in a dream. For some people it’s a title with a dim idea as to why it should be titled so. In whatever form the idea comes to you, write it down. That’s the first step and one most of us writers can’t bear to not do. Write all you know about it, especially what excites you about it. It could come out as dialogue, narrative, a list, or whatever. Maybe all the above. It doesn’t matter; just write it down however the words come. Go ahead—get it out of your system. You deserve to not have it buzz around in your head forever. Be aware, though, that much of what you are going to write here won’t make it into your final draft.

Now reread your idea. Underline what is your favorite part about this idea. You will use that to make your IDEA BANNER. This banner is going to wave above everything else you do with this book. This is going to hold you firm to what the story is supposed to be about. Your Idea Banner isn’t the hook, the log-line, the concept, premise, or anything else. It’s the essence of idea and the pure passion you have for it. And it’s meant only for you.

If you are ahead of me (as in already writing the book) and don’t see the point in this first exercise, I urge you try it anyway. It will ground your novel. Think of this as the center stake in the huge circus tent you are erecting. You can lean on this banner as the ideas flow into your work. It will help you keep perspective on what really mattered to you about the story. Go ahead and try it, I challenge you. :o)

 So there you have it: Baby Step 1. Write the initial shiny stuff. Then sift through the shinies until you find its essence, what you love most about it. Make that the flag under which you march AND set up camp. Good luck! (And please let me know how it goes for you, if you decide to take the baby step challenge.)

Hugs,

Jackee

IN THE SIMPLICITY OF BEAUTY

I am really good at over-complicating things. (Don’t ask me how to run my own Blu-ray player even—I have to know what every button on the remote is for or I won’t use it. And I don’t. Because I lost the manual and there are too many options.)

But when life is simple—or rather when I take time to rejoice in simple things—I forget why I usually over-complicate my life. Dieter Uchtdorf, a man I admire, said, “There is beauty and clarity that comes from simplicity that we sometimes do not appreciate in our thirst for intricate solutions.”

Creative people love beauty but can get lost when they weave too many strands into a masterpiece. The beauty of simplicity is lost. I’ve found this out the hard way lately when deeply searching if a plot to a book is over-complicated. Pretty soon I see where I’ve dropped other threads because I was too busy weaving in another and things have become muddled, the colors unblended. (This is why I’m such an outliner usually. I don’t like to find these sections in my writing after I’ve written it so I combat it with plotting.) Now to blend the colors I’m doing a lot of frustrating rewriting. On the bright side, I’m learning a lot. They are such good lessons that perhaps some of them I’ll share on future posts. Perhaps….

But there are many simple things I’ve been able to rejoice in lately. I have also had a wonderful few months:

• Planting a seed and watching it grow into a beautiful plant.
• Watching thin, spindly growth sprout from a tree cutting, soon on its way to becoming taller than my house. (Imagine—something so fragile and small to something so huge!)
• Watching how a simple loaf of bread can bring a smile to a friend’s face.
• Discovering people I know helping other people with a humble meal when they hadn’t the physical means to feed their family that day.
• Canning an over-abundance of produce to store for another day. (A new skill for Steve and me!)
• Learning new skills.
• Sharing a book I love with a friend I love.
• Writing a new story.
• Listening to my kids play uninterrupted.
• Basking in the presence of women (like my mother) who know so much more than me.

 

And just to add another beautiful thought, I’ll include a piece that’s usually included in the Navajo (Dineh) Blessingway ceremony. (I found it researching for a novel. I love beauty of new research too!)

 

With beauty may I walk.
With beauty before me, may I walk.
With beauty behind me, may I walk.
With beauty above me, may I walk.
With beauty below me, may I walk.
With beauty all around me, may I walk.

What an awesome prayer. I wish this for all of you!

Q4U: What simple things bring beauty to your life?

What Blogging Has Given Me

Blogging has given me...

• An outlet to discover my writing voice.
• Friends to meet, some to treasure forever (click on the sidebar links under betas, you’ll be glad you did).
• A place to soul search. (Between this and my private, family blog, this will be my 424th post.)
• A professional connection arena, since those are limited in my small town.
• Courage to declare myself a writer (and to show what it is I write).
• A world outside of raising young children when needed.
• A vast amount of people who motivate me to be more, to do more, learn more.
• Greater knowledge about many topics, but especially on writing craft.
• People I wouldn’t normally get to interact with, but a place where geographic boundaries no longer matter.
• A greater understanding of myself and my passions.
• Empty space to brag about my kids.
• Better editing skills… okay, maybe not that….

From this list you can see blogging has been about building relationships for me. After a summer of deep evalution on if I want to conintue blogging or not, I’m here to stay. I love the relationships I’ve gained here and have missed posting and visiting. No more once a month jaunts. I’m back, baby!

Q4U: What has blogging given you?

Summer Whiplash: an update

Yeah, I stink at blogging these days. Sorry. I really do love to blog, love visiting new blogs, love meeting new people through blogging, and… well… I pretty much love everything about blogging. It just seems to take too low a priority in my day right now. No excuse other than that.

But school is about to start and time will open up a little! And since I’ve been absent, I thought I’d share what has been up in my world:
1. I spent last week with my in-laws in San Diego: all 14 of us crammed into a little beach house and we survived! Actually, everyone got along great and the truth be told, I really do love them as my own. Especially my husband’s siblings (all 4 of them). We’ve been married long enough that I’ve been lucky to have watched the younger two grow up into the amazing adults that they are today.

Photo courtesy Stephanie Alston

2. Besides CA, I’ve spent a lot of time traveling to CO and NM visiting my family. (Have I mentioned how much I love acronyms?)

3. Thanks to my dear friends and associates, we have about 40 humanitarian aid school kits together! Almost all the bags are sewn, we are collecting school supplies now. With school supplies on sale, I’m sure we’re going to get the bulk of them filled this month.
4. Our yard is coming together this year! We’ve planted dozens of new trees and have an amazing herb and vegetable garden going. I never would have believed we could grow anything out here where the wind, rocks, frosts, insects, rabbits, and etcetera are against us. Even the chickens have left it alone. Next on my list is to make my own cheeses. I’m going to live off the land, baby! (Ha! Yeah, right.)
5. This is the sad news: after being in remission for a little while, my mom’s cancer is back. I mention this because some of you have been there for me as my mom has fought this off and on for the last four years. This will be her third fight and I couldn’t be prouder of her. Cancer is a ravaging demon and chemo not much better.
6. I’ve been plotting, plotting, and REplotting! No, I’m not planning to take over the world, I’ve just been trying out exercises to revamp the plots of two books. It’s been great: these new tricks have helped me see glaring holes in both my story and character development. Now to implement them into the actual drafts… that will take awhile.
7. It seems like I’ve spent most of my summer entertaining kids. Taking them here, doing this there. Am I the only one that over did it on the fun wagon? Please don’t let me be the only one who fell into that trap….

So... how is everyone? Having a good summer? What’s new?????!