Writing With Joy!!!

A few years ago I bought an oil painting at a local consignment shop. It was $15, on the stretcher bars but unframed. It's a lovely depiction of pink and white striped tulips in a clear glass pitcher, and named 'Peppermint Candy'.

I know the name because the artist, Helen Evensen, wrote it on the back of the canvas. Beneath the title she also wrote, in pencil,

Tulips: Red, pink & peppermint stick!! Painted with much joy in May, 1999 by Helen Evensen, painter!!! Cedar, Michigan.

All those exclamations are Helen's. If you are of a creative bent you can't help loving her enthusiasm. She painted something, she was proud of it, she was proud and excited to BE a painter!!!

The tulips hang on the wall across from my desk so that, everyday, I am reminded to take joy in the process, as Helen did. Even the unfinished work--and there is one tulip that looks not quite complete to me--is a beautiful thing. A thing to take pride in.

The writing community nurtures each other, and that is a good thing, because we are all of us, a great deal of the time, working on something that's not quite done, never quite finished or perfect in our eyes, even once it's published. But it's still beautiful and deep down, even the most jaded among us must treasure those little joyful moments when we say to, and of ourselves, Author!!!

The Science of Creativity

A recent article in the Wall Street Journal, How to Be Creative, explored the unlikely influences that have been found to spark creative juices and genius. The author explains that sometimes what seems like a sudden, magical leap between a stubborn spot on the blank page and the words and thoughts that come out of the blue to fill that spot aren't so much magical, as lurking in the back of the brain, waiting for you to put your guard down and let them through.

The science of creativity has found that the answers often come in the oddest, most disconnected ways. Putting the problem on the back-burner and letting the brain relax a little can actually allow it to plumb the depths wherein the answer lies!

This probably explains why I get some of my best ideas while driving the car, blowing drying my hair, or...reading an article on creativity! This is not to say that good old fashioned sweat and editing aren't also necessary, but the match that lights the brilliant idea in the first place is often fueled by what might seem like unusual circumstances and activities.

The author, Jonah Lehrer, lists 10 quick creativity 'hacks' to get you going. Some might ring a bell for the creative type. Daydreaming, for instance, is probably high up on my list. I'm sure my family often thinks I'm doing nothing in particular when I'm actually working my way through a plot or crafting a scene in my head.

Not surprisingly, being a little drunk...or high, I imagine, brings out the creativity. I'm sure plenty of police officers would agree with this. Still, while intoxication clearly did wonders for Samuel Coleridge when he wrote the classic poem Kubla Khan, I wouldn't recommend this as a daily writing practice. Especially if you're a one-drink kinda person, like yours truly! So, my advice on this one is to take advantage of it when it comes along, but pass it up as a lifestyle.

Other tips include getting out of your comfort zone and traveling, meeting new people, exchanging new ideas. Those all make sense to me!

Another is surrounding yourself with the color blue, which leads to 'relaxed and associative thinking.' Great idea...if I hadn't just painted my office sage green...that's a lotta wall space to paint again. Of course, I could do a lot of daydreaming while I paint!

photo courtesy of apartmenttherapy.com

Wine Country Inspirations

If you've been following my blog you know I'm currently tackling a writing challenge. When I first took this on I wasn't quite sure what I wanted to work on. I had a couple projects in the works, plus final edits of Framed, my upcoming mystery that I hope will be the first of the Kay Conroy mystery series! (check out the cover in an earlier post!)

But the gauntlet of a writing challenge called for just that, a challenge. In the back of my mind I'd thought that I might like to tackle a sequel to The Shell Keeper someday, but that seemed a little presumptuous considering I'd only just published it. Then came the wonderful reviews and, even better, readers who kept asking what happens next?

Pretty soon, I was doing the same thing, and when the challenge came along, I started to give my ideas more than a passing thought. I kinda/sorta knew where I wanted to go, but research, I found, can be a very inspiring thing. While The Shell Keeper was set in a fictional town inspired by Dillon, Colorado, the reservoir, and the lovely little town of Breckenridge, the sequel moves the story west, to where the Rocky Mountains give way to mesas edged by the Colorado River, and the earth and climate form a magically nurturing mix conducive to lush vineyards and ripe peach orchards.

The area around Palisade, Colorado offers much inspiration for the book's fictional location, but I have to admit the research is too much fun. Years ago I had friends who moved to the area to start a very successful winery. We've lost touch over time, but their adventure, and my brief excursions in the area left indelible memories that obviously tempted me to revisit it in fiction.

Of course, I hope my research will actually take me there in person someday soon. I'm thinking a visit to the vineyards, perhaps for the next harvest and Winefest, would be very inspiring...and tasty, too!

Photo courtesy of High Country Orchards and Vineyards

Busy Day? There's Still Time to Write!

I found this great piece titled Writing and a Busy Life? Four Tips for Making it Work by Elisabeth S. Craig. It's on a wonderful site I've recently discovered that encourages, inspires and promotes women writers called, Women Writers,Women Books

She's a busy woman, as are so many of us! Busy with work and kids and home-some days the demands do seem endless. I am always happy to read something motivational that not only gives me tips, but gives me encouragement as well. And Ms. Craig's article definitely does that!

A couple of her tips that I particularly liked were: 1) use little downtime moments to brainstorm characters/plots/settings; 2) Set realistic writing goals that you have an shot at achieving.

This second goal is SO appropriate for me-and something I've recently embraced. Yes, I can write 3000 or more words in a day. I can write a chapter in a day. But can I do it daily? Sadly, no, and I doubt few do. We all have our inspired days, but those days come as the result of days where you spend more time researching and writing, or editing and tweaking. It's the in-the-trenches writing that sets us all up for those gold medal, marathon moments.

That's one reason I am truly enjoying participating in a current writer's challenge. I set an extremely modest goal of 250 words a day. I knew I had editing to do on two other books while writing the sequel to The Shell Keeper (not to mention researching Colorado's wine country for this book!), so I knew there would be days when little writing was done. Still, if I can glue myself to the keyboard to crank out 250 words, it often turns into more.

Yesterday it turned into 1361 words! If I'd set an unrealistic goal of 3000 words a day I would have had a down day for certain. But instead I felt good about myself, the process, and the book. In so many ways writing is a mind game, but clearly it's a game we can set ourselves up to win!

Click HERE to read Ms. Craig's article!

New Cover And A Blurb!

Okay, as promised here's the latest on the cover for Framed. My graphic artist, Julie Beckett with Almond Advertising has tweaked the original to give us an indication of trouble ahead! See what you think and let me know. The back of the cover is still a field of green awaiting a blurb!

I owe much to Lana Williams, my writing buddy, who is always there to give me her thoughts and make some tweaks of her own, which are very appreciated! So now, you get the first sneak peek the back cover blurb for Framed:

When housing contractor Kay Conroy finds her son’s soccer coach dead on his kitchen floor, her well known dislike for the man soon turns into a motive for murder.

Now, anxious to aim the finger of guilt elsewhere, the quick-witted but daydreaming single mom must squeeze her own investigation in between car-pooling her son and overseeing the construction of a home for a local socialite. The evidence she discovers puts her at the top of the suspect list even though she knows she's being framed. Meanwhile, there’s an attractive landscaper she'd like to know better and an amorous CEO she’d like to lose.

With the aide of her salty-tongued best friend and the sixth sense of her puppy, Kay digs for dirt. What she finds are broken hearts and bottom lines...not to mention danger!

What do you think? Let me know, I'm always curious what does and doesn't catch a reader's eye.

Is Page 99 REALLY My Best?

I found a fun little website the other day for authors. You upload a brief description of your book, and then page 99 from your book. Then anyone who cares to can read your submission and comment on whether or not they'd read your book!

The whole concept here is that by page 99 you've settled into your rhythm and style-you're no longer over thinking every word, you have any idea where you're going-or you should!-and the real writer in you is starting to show up: good, bad or ugly!

I'm not so sure about the concept. If you are being totally honest (and you know the Pollyanna in me made me be a good girl--well, pretty good!) and posting your real page 99, it's kind of a crap shoot what you come up with. Some page 99's are full of action, thrills, spills and S-E-X. Others find your protagonists in a contemplative mood, which a reader might not totally appreciate if they haven't already covered 98 pages of character development.

I've posted page 99 from both The Shell Keeper and Framed (my upcoming book) and if ever there were two different as night and day examples, I think these are the two! Check them out, see what you think, and let me know what you think of the whole Page 99 concept.

The Shell Keeper: http://www.page99test.com/read-my-page/1515

Framed: http://www.page99test.com/read-my-page/1539

Inspiring Snowy Days!

It's a snowy day in Colorado and I'm posting this shot of the view from my office window. Mom heard in Texas that we were going to get 40 inches! Sounds like one of those tall tales they tell down there...but it is definitely over a foot so far!

Still, it's just the right sort of day to sit at my keyboard and work on the sequel to The Shell Keeper. I'm calling it SK2 so far. Not sure what to title it, but I'm sure that will come in time.

SK2 is set in the wine-making country of Colorado's western slope and the chapter I'm working on today starts on a hot August morning, which is keeping me warm and toasty at least in my thoughts. The hot cup of tea sitting beside my laptop is helping to warm my chilly fingers and encourage them not to give up and give in.

I'm tempted to sneak away and grab a good book to go with my cup of tea...but I think I'll just write one instead!