Murder She Writes

Please give my friend and our guest today, Alyssa Day, a big warm MWS welcome!

Thanks so much to Karin and the wonderful authors here at Murder She Writes for inviting me to stop by!!  I had a blast with Karin and Allison and Eileen Rendahl and the wonderful members of the Sacramento RWA chapter this past weekend.  My first-ever tour of vineyards—loved it!

This is a crazy week for me.  I’m on deadline and just got back into town from California and we have a giant POD in our driveway that we’re filling up.  Why, you might ask?  Well, because my gorgeous and wonderful husband, who flies for the U.S. Navy, came home several weeks ago from a six-and-half-month long deployment and announced that we’re moving to Japan for three years.

THREE YEARS. 

Into a very, very small house on the base at Atsugi, outside of Tokyo.  So I’m learning Japanese and trying to pack up my life.  Much of what we own is going into that giant box to go into storage for three years. 

My life.  In a box. 

Enter: new adventure.  Is it exciting?  Yes!  Is it scary? Yes! 

Is this leap a lot like leaving a very well-paid job as a trial lawyer to be a full-time writer?

Oh, hell, yes. 

I’ve always been the type to leap first and ask questions later.  An ex (you can see why he’s an ex) called it suicidal optimism.  But life, my friends, is very, very short.  We just don’t have time to put off our dreams indefinitely, or to say “no, thanks, I’d rather just sit here in my safe place watching TV” when adventure comes calling.  I’m going to live in Japan for three years and travel all over that side of the world with my family.  My kids will learn to speak Japanese and adapt to other cultures just as I, when I was a kid, lived in the Philippines and Turkey and learned about those languages and those cultures.  My life has been enriched for it, and I hope and pray they will say the same when they grow up—I hope they will enjoy the adventure while we’re in it and look back on it fondly.  That maybe they’ll be more prone to taking leaps in their own lives that will lead to their own adventures. 

Every day, I wake up and go to work in my home office (no commute!) and, as a result of that leap I took seven years ago this month, I create stories and worlds—and  adventures of their own—for my characters.  Stories that I am so grateful to be able to share with readers.  As the old saying goes, my worst day writing is better than my best day as a lawyer.  It’s a leap I will never, ever regret.

Here’s my challenge to you:  take your own leap.  Find a way today, this week, this month, or this year to take a leap—small or large—out of your comfort zone and jump off the roof with your cape flying out behind you.  Be brave! Be bold! 

Take that leap. 

I believe in you.

Hugs,

Alyssa

P.S. Alyssa is offering 3 randomly chosen commenters an autographed copy of Atlantis Redeemed for a pledge to take a leap or the story of a leap you’ve taken recently. 

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Alyssa Day is the RITA-award winning and New York Times and USA Today bestselling author of the Warriors of Poseidon series about a race of warriors from the lost continent of Atlantis who fall into a world-bending kind of love with human women with very special talents.  Her newest release, ATLANTIS REDEEMED, is in stores now:   When 2,000 years of lost emotion hit you all at once—do you fall in love or die?  Please visit Alyssa online at http://www.alyssaday.com for excerpts, a free short story, video interviews, and more.  Thank you!!

It’s my great pleasure to bring you my first guest at MurderSheWrites – my dear friend and debut author Rachael Herron.  Her book, HOW TO KNIT A LOVE SONG, was released yesterday!

Rachael has been knitting since she was five years old. It’s more than a hobby; it’s a way of life. Rachael lives with her better half in Oakland, California, where they have four cats, three dogs, three spinning wheels, and more musical instruments than they can count. She is a proud member of the San Francisco Area Romance Writers of America and she is learning the ukulele. Visit Rachael at http://www.yarnagogo.com

As I compose this post, I’m finding I’m in a state of writer’s ADHD unlike any I’ve ever known before. My first novel, How to Knit a Love Song, hit bookstores all across the country yesterday. And now I can’t sit still at my desk. It’s something I’m usually really good at. I’m one of those annoying writers who writes everyday. I’m predictable. I just write.

But not right now. I flip between my Amazon rank and my email and my latest manuscript, unable to focus on anything for more than a few seconds. I tear up at anything and laugh even more easily. This trumps when I sent out the first queries to agents and sat staring at my email for months on end. This beats when my agent made The Call.

This newly-minted crazy-feeling sort of beats everything, actually. I’m reminded of being newly in love. I have the same confused feeling, like the top of my head came off sometime in the night, as if someone replaced my insides with caffeine and cattle prods.

Yesterday, we took the dogs for a walk. As we got out of car at the trailhead, they were jumping and straining at the leash, whining with excitement. After forty-five minutes of tearing around, they were more relaxed, and so was I. I’ve gotten to the point where I get so wound up I NEED TO BE TAKEN ON A WALK.

The irony is not lost on me that my book is one of the “knit-lit” books, and therefore, shouldn’t I be one of the relaxed writers? Don’t you have an image of me with a cat on my desk and a steaming pot of tea at my right hand? I’m probably listening to Enya and wearing a flowing robe, a handspun merino sock-in-progress resting on my lap.

Oh, hell no. At the moment, I have a pink stripe in my hair and it’s pulled up with a chopstick stuck through it. I’m wearing a beat up marathon tee-shirt and the sweatpants I live in while writing. The vacuum cleaner is plugged in, ready to run, but I walked away to write this (have I mentioned I’m easily distracted?). I don’t think I’ve eaten today (oh, yes, I did—two pieces of Toblerone and two cups of coffee—good to go). I’m contemplating a scene in my book in which a woman is dangling from the edge a lighthouse and whether or not to let her drop to her doom (yes, in a knitting book—I like to keep the needles sharp).

And when I’m done writing this, I’m either going to check email, go for a run, do some editing, clean the house, or hide under the covers. I might do all of those, and I might try to do them at the same time.

I have a book out there! I’m finally a writer! It’s like I have a blind date with the whole world! And I’m frantic to hear what they tell their friends about what they thought of me at the water cooler the next day.

I’m assured by my writing friends that this is normal for a first book. And there’s only one first book (thank God). But I made a decision at the beginning of this publishing ride to enjoy every moment that I could of it, and this is like the loop of the roller-coaster, the very best part, and I’m screaming and enjoying the hell out of this moment. Thanks for letting me scream a little over here.

So, when was the last time you were so excited you could barely stand it? I’ll be sending a signed copy of  How to Knit a Love Song to a commenter chosen at random, so please chime in!

For the next two weeks, Murder She Writes will be bringing you our favorite blogs from the past. Then on Monday, January 4th, 2010, we’ll begin a new year with new blogs!

Today’s favorite blog from the past was written by Jordan Summers. There’s also a giveaway of an ARC of the second book in her Dead World trilogy, SCARLET. Enjoy!

SHOOTING YOURSELF IN THE FOOT…AND OTHER INJURIES I SUFFER FROM

I swear I start out with the best of intentions, but somewhere along the line things go horribly awry. I cannot for the life of me seem to focus on one genre. Yes, I know doing so would enable me to build a steady readership, expand my fan base, and keep my agent from yanking her hair out, but I can’t do it.

Believe me, I’ve tried.

I start out with a nice simple vampire idea, and then poof, a gargoyle ends up in my story. Actually, not only does the gargoyle invade my story, it takes over like it owns the place. I truly envy writers who’ve found their niche and focus all their attention on it. What does that feel like? Bliss, I bet.

Me, I’m like a shotgun blast going off in a crowd, intent on hitting everything and everybody within firing range.

No, I’m not ADD, so I can’t even use that as an excuse. (No offense to those who suffer from ADD.) I’ve come to the conclusion that my mind prefers the scenic rural route over the bustling highway. The ride’s sure been pretty, but the behavior has hindered my career.

Although I continue to build name recognition through my releases and my blog, readers don’t know where to ‘put’ me nor does my name tend to jump into their minds when they think about authors who write ‘X’. When pressed, they say I write funny action-adventure stories. I suppose that’s not a bad description, even though it’s not entirely accurate. Unfortunately, funny/action-adventure won’t exactly forward my career if the stories are also time-travel, urban fantasy, contemporary, and historical. And we won’t even talk about the dark humorless tales that I’ve just published. Where do they fit?

By now, I’m sure several of you are saying to yourselves, why don’t you just pick something and stick with it? Certainly sounds easy, doesn’t it? I swear I have tried. (Let the wails of frustration begin.) I thought focusing on paranormal novels would help. I love my new ideas, but even they don’t fall neatly into a specific category of paranormal. I’ve heard them described as horror romances (there’s a lot of death and blood), sci-fi thrillers, and dark urban fantasies. I’m like a genre-crossing magpie. Ooh, that looks shiny, new and interesting. Let’s add it to our story idea and see what happens.

Now I realize that as time passes the lines/genres begin to blur. Thank goodness. This makes me extremely happy. Or should I say it will, once they get to my category. *g*

Any other magpies out there?

CONTEST: Post a comment for your chance to win a copy of SCARLET!

My eighth grade daughter Kelly is an avid reader and will soon be launching her own blog when her mother finds ten minutes to put it together for her . . . she’s well-read in YA, loves historical, paranormal, and contemporary, and has well-formed opinions about a whole host of things, including what makes (and doesn’t make!) a good story. She prefers stories on the darker side, as you can see from her recommended YA reading list below. Like mother, like daughter perhaps? I saw this in her at the early age of eight, however, when she started reading the Lemony Snickett SERIES OF UNFORTUNATE EVENTS books and said she loved them “because bad things happened and they didn’t have a happy ending.”

Kelly is now reviewing YA novels for RT Book Reviews, and she’s taken over my blog today. Last time, I wrote about my take on YA novels. Below is all Kelly with very minor editing by me, her mother. I didn’t even take out the naughty words she used, because as writers and readers know, voice is everything and I think this article shows that Kelly has a very strong voice all her own.

Here is what she thinks you should know BEFORE writing YOUR YA novel . . .

As an avid YA reader, I’ve read a wide variety of YA authors and story plots. I’ve seen vampires, witches, werewolves, romance, history, teen drama, you name it. I’ve been reading YA since I grew out of Junie B. Jones, and I appreciated a lot more when I was younger. But now the YA market is really driving me up the wall! I don’t know if it’s the authors people are choosing to rave about, publishers publishing books in that market that really weren’t meant to be there, or just less respect for the really good novels targeted to my age group. But the biggest fad I’m really noticing, is adult authors writing for YA. Done well, this could be a good thing. But more likely than not, it leaves a lot of young people annoyed. Adult authors, I’ve noticed, who do well in the YA market are the Fantasy type, because their main focus is that: fantasy. But I’ve yet to find a romance writer that can really pull off a fairly decent YA novel. Why, you ask? Well, before you even consider stepping near the YA genre, read this first …

For starters, if your writing successful novels for adults, and ADULTS love them, that’s probably a good place for you to stay. If you find that a younger audience is attracted to your work, than yeah, YA is something to consider. But here are a few suggestions from someone in your target audience:

Don’t Talk Down To Your Audience

One thing that I get extremely annoyed with is when adult authors (usually romance) talk down to their audience. It’s sort of like reading a how-to book in origami when you’ve been doing origami your whole life. Authors often ‘over enunciate’ plots, meaning they will repeat things over and over, and the plot seems babyish. Everything is over described, from what they’re doing at that very moment to every movement and hand gesture they make when talking. Big page filler for sure.

Basically, authors are afraid to really delve into the story and make it interesting, because what’s going through their head is “YA YA I’m writing for YA.” They will sugar-coat life and make it flowery, and sometimes just write it the way they remembered life at that age. They’ll cover the basics. I sometimes would really like to love an author’s story telling ability, because most of the time, it’s pretty good. But it’s this talking down to that really has me at my hair’s end. One thing I can’t stress enough is to not think about your audience! I would, and probably a lot of other readers, rather read an author that is complex and interesting that should be pulled back a little than an author that sounds like they’re writing for 3rd graders. If you think you’ll struggle with this, I suggest writing a smart ‘clean adult novel’ and then fixing it up a bit for YA, or if you think you’ll do better writing for a “lower” audience, market for the younger kids’ section.

Avoid Too Much Dialogue

Again, something you should not do is make your book entirely dialogue based. It usually is boring and uninteresting.

Language Dos And Don’ts

My parents are usually pretty ok with what I read as long as it’s not super explicit, and probably a lot of other parents too. And I’ve yet to find a YA book that shows anything like explicit sex and language. But as writers repeat the mantra “YA I’m writing YA”, what comes to their mind is using language that they think teenagers are more likely to use. For example, instead of saying, ‘bull shit’ they’ll use “bull poopie” or instead of “fucking” they’ll say “effin’” Things like that aren’t terrible, except when they’re overdone. I think most people would be surprised at the language us youngin’s use today. Adults tend to think that they need to modify every word that comes out of their character’s mouth to be ‘acceptable’. That doesn’t mean throwing curse words all over the page, but it also doesn’t mean sugar coating it the way you think teens should talk, because, more likely than not, we don’t talk like that. Instead, think about your character. Are they more likely to swear (big time), use clean swear occasionally, or not at all? If you’re making all of your characters look like little kids trying to be like their big sisters, it not going to be interesting. My one piece of advice about language is to either use it, or don’t use it at all. What I don’t mind is when authors, trying to get their book to be appropriate for every audience, will say lines such as:

As I was about to tell him to go to a place he wouldn’t need that fat mouth of his to go to…
She spat some colorful language and then doubled over…

Or if you’re going to use it, use it:

Shit, that asshole totally fucked with her.
What the hell are you doing?!

You get the idea.

Write Believable Characters

As in any novel, characters are the most important part of a great story. Writing characters in YA books is no different than writing about adults. The worst thing you could possibly do with character development in a YA novel, or any novel for that matter, is to make every character stereotypical to the role they play in the book. For example, making your main character the ‘average’ girl and pushing that factor farther than it needs to go. When there’s nothing different or interesting about the characters and they don’t grow and develop as the book(s) go on, then the plot will go nowhere. Like I said with the language concept, every character is different; they talk, react, and act upon certain situations than maybe another 16 year old girl in the story would. Stamping a label on your characters isn’t real at all because in real life, everyone knows there’s more than just one label on a person. Teenagers change and mature in their lives, so if your series goes on long term, be sure that the reader sees how they’ve changed in a relatable way. They could change by the way they speak, react, and handle situations. Otherwise, it’s just boring, and again, a little babyish. Some of you may be thinking “Well, duh, of course I wouldn’t write my characters like that!” but you’d be surprised at how many books do this. If you’d like an example, here’s an average scenario I’ve seen in too many YA books to count:

Average, everyday girl with long dark hair, doesn’t really fit in, not popular but not geeky either, has best girl friend who is super pretty and popular and gets all the guys. Has cute kind of nerdy guy friend who she is or will fall in love with and thin pretty mom who has done so much that she’ll never do. [insert tramatic experience here] happens and they are trying to deal. Oh, look! Super mysterious super-hot guy comes along! She’d never have a chance with him but she is oh-so intrigued and drawn to him…but look! She discovers she has some mysterious scary power herself!

If any part of your story resembles three or more of the scenarios above, I would consider thinking your story through a little more.

You might ask why authors reuse and reuse this plot, and trust me, it’s definitely not just adult authors who do it. Two words: It’s easy. Not many authors realize this, but it just shows that the author is not creative enough to think of a hard-core, complex story. Why is it so easy? You have the average girl, who can relate to all readers. Every reader can see themselves inside that girl, no matter who she is or what clique she’s in. The reader can relate to not always being in the spotlight, or being in it when she doesn’t want to be. Having a huge crush on the guy friend she’s known all her life, being jealous of other girls, stress with doing well in school, living up to parents potential. All just a part of puberty and growing up. And once you get to the mysterious hot boy aspect, you should do successful with non-avid readers, young adult and adult for sure. Because every person wants to be that girl. To bring themselves up from where they are in life even if it’s kind of hard. Doesn’t everyone want to discover something they would never know could be possible about themselves? Whether it’s power to see the dead, becoming a vampire, getting magic witch powers, and in the end falling in love. That’s what every girl wants to see happen in her life. Basically, it’s her own fantasy, the fantasy no one every talks about with their friends, =is always in the back of her mind, hoping that she will be that Bella Swan and fall in love and make something of herself. It’s human nature.

So, back to book selling, what will happen when girls can relate? It will get published and sell. But it will never stand out from anything else out there. Never give anyone a different ambition. So, this was not to persuade you to write or not write this basic plot, just to show why it sells and why authors do it, and most importantly, why you should step away from that and write something more creative.

If you didn’t realize it after reading this, which you most likely have, is the fact that readers don’t want to see a cut-and-paste life with sprinkles on top. So many YA authors are great story tellers, and I want to love their stories, but just the fact that they’re writing isn’t for the right market brings it down. A lot of it isn’t even the writing itself, just the plot. A lot of authors, even though they can argue otherwise, are following the Twilight suit. More than ever adult authors are trying to make it into YA hoping for the success of Stephenie Meyer (I’m not saying this literally, if you’re a writer, you write to write, not for fame or money) and even though they don’t realize it, most of them are following in her footsteps.

Paranormal Romance is pretty much the genre dominating all things YA. And let me tell you: It. Is. So. Annoying.

Have you walked into the YA section of Borders lately? If so, you’ve seen the huge TWILIGHT-dedicated shelf, and right below, the sign that reads, “If you like Twilight you’ll also like…” and all the not-paranormal-romance-books are crammed into a corner, on their own lone shelf, while everyone rants and raves about the writing that’s just, well, not always as great. My point is, if you really have your heart set on this genre, do it WELL. Make it different from all the other pop culture books dominating the high shelves. If you’re more interested in the romance than the paranormal, write romance. Do NOT just throw the paranormal in as a side note, because a lot of fantasy lovers will be very disappointed. If you love the fantasy aspect, again, do not throw the romance in because it will more likely than not just seem awkward. Make the reader say “Hey, I didn’t think of it that way…” and make it a challenge for yourself. But, if I were writing, I’d step away from that sparkling, inviting market to do something more interesting.

Now my whole point of this blog was not to trash authors trying to make their way into YA, not at all. This is just what I‘ve found annoying in a lot of authors that do. I guess you could call them Tips from a Reader Who Knows. If you think you’d be more successful with adults, just stick to that market, but if you’re making your way to YA, make it different, make it new, interesting, and consider some stuff I’ve said here.

Books I like and why I like them

My mom told me I could not post books that I didn’t like and why I disliked them, but that she wanted to me to be positive instead. I’m fine with that (ha ha.) One thing that would be helpful if you’re writing YA, is to do your research and read lots and lots of YA novels, such as the ones I list here.

GOING BOVINE by Libba Bray (class of its own)- This is one of my recently favorite books of all time. It’s a genre all its own. All crazy unexpected twists and turns full of laughs and tears, it’s the perfect YA read. I highly suggest this to anyone looking for a really good novel.

Libba’s Gemma Doyle trilogy (fantasy/historical), beginning with A GREAT AND TERRIBLE BEAUTY, is a great historical/fantasy story, another one of my favorites that I’ve re-read.

UNWIND and EVERLOST by Neal Shusterman (sci-fi/thriller)- Definitely another one of my favorites, his books are placed in a sci-fi fantasy world that perfectly mixes real life issues that teens go through everyday in a smart and fascinating way. Yet they’re so broad pretty much all ages can read them. I highly recommend him.

BLEEDING VIOLET by Dia Reeves (fantasy/romance)- I reviewed this one for RT magazine and gave it 4 stars. This is a perfect example of paranormal romance done right. Hanna is most definitely not your average girl, and the romance doesn’t over power the dark, thrilling, horrific fantasy. Comes out January 2010. Definitely an author to watch for!

LAMENT and BALLAD by Maggie Stiefvater (fantasy)- A mostly fantasy based story, but definitely written in a beautiful, lyrical way, with a little romance thrown in perfectly. Both books in different POV’s, the first Dee, an introduction to the faerie world, and her best friend James, which gets more in depth with him and his relationship with Dee and the fay.

CITY OF GLASS trilogy by Cassandra Clare (action/fantasy/thriller)- an action packed demonic trilogy that’s definitely one of my favorites. A great example because for one, she’s an adult author, and on her website, she says the series was originally for adults, but the characters evolved into teenagers.

Any of Sarah Dessen’s novels (romance/drama)- If you ever even consider writing anything in the YA genre, you must read her books first. Her books are unique and address problems that any teenager can relate to and understand. Typically, her books have the same idea (girl struggling, meets different and unique guy who helps her through it, finding he has problems of his own) but each one is so unique, and the characters evolve in such a way that her stories are such a pleasure to read; anyone would adore her.

SPEAK and WINTERGIRLS by Laurie Halse Anderson (drama)- If you haven’t heard of her, you must be living under a YA rock. A wonderful and talented writer, her books are wonderfully crafted in a wonderful yet tear-jerking way, the first with a girl struggling to find her voice, the other with a girl struggling with eating disorders after the death of a friend. Must reads.

EVERMORE (The Immortals series) by Alyson Noel (fantasy/romance)- Again, paranormal romance done right. Ever is not your average girl, being a popular blond before an accident that killed her family and gave her psychic abilities. Her relationship with Damen balances the fantasy in a perfect way, never overriding it but combining it. In RT, I gave SHADOWLAND, the third in the series, a Top Pick.

THE FETCH (historical/paranormal) and A CERTAIN SLANT OF LIGHT (Paranormal/drama) by Laura Whitcomb- Great writing and original, interesting stories.

Kelly has to go to school–mid-terms this week!–but she’ll be back tonight after basketball practice to talk more about books and what she likes (and doesn’t like!) Feel free to ask her (or me) questions–she’s very well and widely read in the YA genre (and younger books as well) When considering trying out for the middle school basketball team, Kelly said, “I’m just afraid that practice will take away from my reading time.” Gotta love that girl!

Hi everyone… if you want to make a comment for the contest that started yesterday, go back one entry–but not before you read this GREAT guest blog by an absolutely wonderful debut author, Brad Parks. You’ll immediately like the guy and I know I’m going to be grabbing his book as soon as possible now. Brad Parks is an escaped journalist, having done time at The Washington Post and the (Newark, N.J. ) Star-Ledger as both a sports and news writer. A graduate of Dartmouth College, he is a washed-up jock, a veteran of community theater and a terrible gardener. But if you see him at a conference, he will be happy to serenade you. He lives with his wife and two small children in Virginia, where he’s currently at work on the next Carter Ross mystery.

Brad is the author of Faces of the Gone — a fabulous mystery. In the Library Journal’s starred review, they said:

“This is the most hilariously funny and deadly serious mystery debut since Janet Evanovich’s One for the Money. Former journalist Parks has learned the art of making words flow and dialog zing. Fans of the NFL’s Cleveland Browns will find the Brick City Browns street gang an added delight.”–Library Journal (starred review)”

And none other than Harlan Coben blurbed the front of his   book with, “Terrific debut.”

But enough introduction. Let me let him tell you about himself   and why having kids made him a better writer:

by Brad Parks

Between the diaper explosions, the mealtime tantrums, the middle-of-the-night shout-outs, the early-morning-wake-ups and the other joys of parenthood – none of which have been known to spur creative genius out of anyone besides perhaps Erma Bombeck – I never thought I’d type the following sentence:

My kids have made me a better writer.

At first blush it seems wildly counterintuitive. By way of introduction, my children are a 2 ½-year-old boy who enjoys running away from Daddy as fast as he can the moment he realizes there’s traffic nearby; and a sweet-as-a-gum-drop little girl who just turned one and whose current method of walking involves a terrifying amount of falling down.

They are lovely children, bright and beautiful – they take after their mother in both of these respects – and I feel utterly blessed to have them in my life, but as any parent of young children can attest:

They absolutely suck the life out of you.

Their little motors run non-stop, and the basics of keeping them fed, changed, alive and engaged is a thoroughly exhausting enterprise, mentally and physically. By 7 o’clock most nights, which is when the little dears have finally worn themselves out, my wife and I simply have nothing left. We take turns closing our eyes while we read our son his last books.

So how is it possible these wonderful-though-soul-sapping beings have made me a better writer?

Yeah, yeah, I suppose experiencing the joy and wonder of their births and early milestones have broadened my life’s experience and opened me to a greater depth of feeling … and all that other greeting card stuff.

No, what it really comes down to is they’ve changed how I view my writing. I used to think of writing as work. Now it’s my escape from the real work.

As I type this blog post, I’m sitting in a Hardees, which has become my favorite writing spot because 1) it is just far enough away from my house (about five miles) that I can’t hear my kids screaming; 2) it is the last place in American without wireless Internet, thus saving me from time-wasting myself; and 3) it has free Coke Zero refills.

I basically have three hours here. That’s how long my battery lasts (no plugs at the Hardees) and it’s about how long I can leave my wife alone with the kids on a Saturday without feeling incredible paternal guilt.

My Hardees time is the only writing time I’ll get today. I cherish it.

Because I know how hard writing time is to come by these days. In my blissfully selfish pre-child existence, I wrote whenever I pleased. Maybe it was before work (I was a full-time journalist while I wrote FACES OF THE GONE and the next scheduled installment of the Carter Ross series, EYES OF THE INNOCENT). Maybe it was during lunch. Maybe it was at night. It didn’t much matter: Other than the eight (or nine or ten) hours a day I devoted to the newspaper, my time was my own. I had the luxury of writing when the muse spoke to me, inspiration hit and Venus was rising in the third house.

Not anymore. Now I have this small-but-precious period each day in which I’m allowed to write – note the verb choice, “allowed” – and, through the restorative powers of Coke Zero, have the energy to do it. I’m conscious of the fact that I have to make the most of it.

And I’ve started to notice something: There are a lot of authors out there whose road to publication included hard time as a stay-at-home parent. I think of Sophie Littlefield (www.sophielittlefield.com) and Carla Buckley (www.carlabuckley.com), two authors I’ve had the pleasure of getting to know at conferences (and two other new authors imminently deserving of your attention). They both talked about how their careers blossomed when the kids went back to school because they found themselves maximizing their writing time. Nothing makes you realize what a privilege it is to write until you have a period in your life when you simply can’t do it.

This past winter, after my daughter was born, I was the stay-at-home parent while my wife went to work. (Oh, and let’s just get this out of the way: Yes, I’m a dude, and I stayed at home with a kid. I’m not under the illusion this makes me some kind of hero. Just a parent. It’s 2009. Let’s get over it people.)

Now, I guess I’m supposed to say I treasure the time I got to spend with my beautiful baby girl, that it bonded us forever and that I felt immense fulfillment nurturing my daughter through those critical early months of her development. But the reality is I was stuck inside a tiny house with an infant who was a lousy conversationalist and yet required the majority of my attention. It was pretty much a drag.

For the first four months, the only place she would nap during the day was strapped to my chest in a Baby Bjorn. And, like most babies, she napped a lot. At 6-foot-1, a (mostly solid) 185 pounds and 35 years of age, I fancied myself a rugged male of the species in the prime of his physical capacities… until carrying a 10-pound, power-napping bowling ball on my chest eight hours a day reduced me to a whimpering shell of a man crawling to a chiropractor for relief.

Best of all, if I sat down, she woke up. So I placed my computer on top of the television – we still have one of those old-fashioned, non-flat-screen kinds that you can use as furniture – and was able to do some work, an odd bit of freelance or some light editing of previously written copy. But real, original writing? With taught action and snappy dialogue and well-paced plot development and witty turns of phrase? Not a chance.

It was the longest winter of my life.

I didn’t resume writing again until this past June. My wife is an administrator at a boarding school, so she works part-time during the summer. We worked out a daily schedule where I’d write in the morning while she watched the kids, then we’d trade off and she’d go to the office in the afternoons. I attacked my writing eagerly each day, knowing I had to capitalize on what time I had, and by the end of the summer had finished the third installment of the Carter Ross series.

Now my kids are in daycare and/or pre-school full-time, but I live with the knowledge I’m only one phone call away someone needing to be picked up due to illness or injury. So I still find myself greedily protecting my writing time, valuing it as I never did before I had children. And that outlook has made me a better writer.

In what ways have your kids made you better? Or worse? C’mon, it’s time to give the little buggers credit (or blame)…

To learn more about Brad or FACES OF THE GONE, visit www.BradParksBooks.com. You can also sign up for his newsletter (http://www.bradparksbooks.com/fan-club.php), become a fan of Brad Parks Books on Facebook (http://www.facebook.com/pages/Brad-Parks-Books/137190195628#) or follow him on Twitter (www.twitter.com/Brad_Parks).

It’s my pleasure to welcome Karen Fenech to MurderSheWrites today.  Karen writes contemporary and historical romantic suspense.  Her novel Betrayal has been translated in Japanese, and her short fiction has been translated in Swedish, Danish, and Norwegian.  Karen lives with her husband and daughter.  Visit her website at:  www.karenfenech.com.

Thank you to Debra and the wonderful authors at Murder She Writes for having me here.  In addition to giving up her blog today, sometime ago Debra read my recently released novel GONE and provided a quote for the book.  Imagine my delight at receiving a quote from an author whose work I had long enjoyed and admired.

Debra’s kindness and generosity, and that of other writers I am privileged to know, has made me think of our community of writers as a family. In our family, a call for help when a plot stalls or a character misbehaves brings fellow writers with sleeves rolled back, ready to pitch in and solve the problem. It’s these same people who are cheerleaders and champions of our work and, when something in our writing world derails us, they are the ones who give us a much-needed kick in the butt to get up, get going, and move on.  No one else really “gets” this part of our lives.

My latest release GONE explores the subject of family. My heroine, FBI Special Agent Clare Marshall, is searching for the sister she was separated from in childhood when her mother tried to kill her.  Clare has known the hope of promising clues to her sister’s whereabouts and the crushing despair when those clues reveal themselves to be false leads.  Now, she tracks her sister to a small South Carolina town.  This time it’s for real and Clare knows that a reunion with her sister is imminent.  When she arrives in town, however, she discovers that her sister is missing and that someone from the town is responsible for her disappearance.  Fearing for her sister’s life, Clare launches an investigation into her disappearance. Fellow FBI Special Agent Jake Sutton offers help, but Jake is Clare’s estranged lover and has an agenda of his own.

Here’s an excerpt from GONE:

Clare left the nursing facility and stepped into bright sunlight. She shielded her eyes with the back of one hand and with the other reached into the purse dangling from her shoulder, digging for sunglasses. A man was walking across the parking lot toward her. A trick of the light, he looked like . . .

“Jake.”

She hadn’t realized she’d spoken his name aloud until she heard it.

He was close enough to have heard as well, though he didn’t speak. His eyes, narrowed against the sun, fixed on her with an intensity she remembered all too well.

Too late to pretend she hadn’t seen him. It wasn’t too late to walk away, though. She wanted to walk away, really wanted to, and because she did forced herself to stay put and meet his gaze.

Jake now stood in front of her, blocking the sunlight. Clare lowered her hand. His chin was at her eye level. He hadn’t shaved. Black beard shadowed his jaw, made his tanned skin look darker.

The last time she’d seen him, from the other side of her bed, he’d looked a little pale. Tired from working too hard. Tired from going another ten rounds with her.

That was three years ago. He didn’t look to be suffering from sleepless nights anymore. He looked rested and fit. The blue T-shirt he wore over jeans showed his hard, tough body. Was he still with the Bureau? If so, by his casual attire, he wasn’t working today.

“I could say the obvious ‘small world,’” Jake said.

It had been big enough for her until a moment ago. But in response, she said only, “Must be.”

In the awkward silence, a group of women in hospital uniforms dashed by, causing a slight breeze that smelled strongly of spicy perfume.

Jake cleared his throat. “Don’t tell me the Bureau’s sent you to make sure I’m not lazing my days away fishing?”

He said it with a smile, an obvious attempt at lightness. Clare didn’t return the smile.

“You’re assigned to the Columbia office?”she said.

“Resident office in Farley, actually.”

That surprised her. After they’d stopped seeing each other, Jake had put in for a transfer out of the New York office. They’d been members of the same squad for a time and had been paired off. Working together after things ended had strained them both. Jake was very good at what he did and had earned the commendations to prove it. He could have aimed a lot higher than Farley. She couldn’t understand why he hadn’t.

She didn’t know where he’d gone—didn’t want to know—but she would never have imagined him choosing Farley. He was a city boy. She wouldn’t have figured he would come here voluntarily. He must have been desperate to create distance between them for him to accept this post.

“Just me, one other agent, and an admin assistant,” Jake went on. “How about you? What brings you to our fair town?”

When she’d known him, she’d never mentioned Katie. On the nights he’d stayed at her apartment, she’d stored her cork board and files on her sister in a closet. She had no reason not to tell him about Katie at this time. Her being in Farley and the reason for it was likely climbing the town grapevine at lightning speed. But there was no reason to bring Katie up to him now, when she hadn’t before.

“Vacation,” she said simply.

He heard the lie. The humor in Jake’s gaze vanished and in an instant his gaze grew razor sharp.

“I recall you had a preference for sand and surf,” he said.

No doubt he was referring to the one brief getaway they’d taken together—a spur-of-the-moment jaunt following a particularly gruelling assignment. They’d both been wound tight. He’d asked her where she’d like to go.

White sand beach. A pounding surf. No one else around for miles.

Her words returned to her. The next morning, she’d awakened and found he’d packed her suitcase and had found the perfect place for them to go. She didn’t care for the reminder of how perfect it had been between them once.

“Not this time,” she said. “Good-bye, Jake.”

Before he could say anything further, Clare walked away from him.

Have you read or written about the subject of family? As a token of my gratitude for being here with all of you, I’ll be drawing a name from one of the commenters to win a $20 gift card at Amazon.

Join me in welcoming Mark Arsenault to Murder She Writes! And if you get a chance, go cruise around his website, read the excerpt and you will be hooked. I’ve already pre-ordered my copy of LOOT THE MOON. And now, here’s Mark to talk about Dangerous Rainbows and Other Nighttime Disasters.

For years I’ve kept a notebook and pencil on my nightstand like a dreamcatcher for any brilliant thoughts about my writing that strike during the night.

This almost never works.

The first problem is that my handwriting is terrible even in the daylight. Sometimes I’ll wake in the morning and notice I had scribbled some unintelligible note that looks like “Thadentop um dairythee.” One of the words might be circled or underlined for emphasis.

I ponder desperately over these messages like a Bletchley Park cryptographer trying to crack the Enigma code. What was I trying to say? Was this a can’t-fail title for my new manuscript? A bit of witty dialogue? Or the Unifying Theory of the Universe that had eluded Albert Einstein? Gaaaaa!

Eventually there’s no choice but to shrug and put it aside.

There are other times that I can actually read my handwriting but can’t remember what I meant when I wrote it. I’ll find a note in the morning that’ll say something like, “The SHED!!!”

Yeah? What about the shed? What the heck is that supposed to mean? Should I set a scene in the book in a shed? Did I really wake up at 3 a.m. thinking this was brilliant? And what’s with the exclamation points? What’s so exciting about the shed?

Sigh.

Shrug and put it aside.

Then there are those rare times when I can both read my handwriting AND remember what I meant when I wrote it. Usually this ends in crushing disappointment. The most notorious true example is the time I snapped awake in the middle of the night with a brilliant and original turn-of-phrase. I carefully jotted it down and went back to sleep, imagining different ways to use this cleverness in my next novel.

In the morning I found this on the notebook: “It was as if he had been strangled with a rainbow.”

Huh?

Laugh and put it aside.

The notebook by the bed hasn’t been a total waste. I find that my final conscious thoughts after a day of writing—my chicken scratches just before I shut off the light—can serve as take-off points for the next day’s work. I assume that my subconscious mills these thoughts at night and leaves me the stoneground answers in the morning.

And I hold onto hope that some morning I’ll find something brilliant on the notebook. I may yet discover the Unifying Theory of the Universe, if I can read my handwriting.

I can’t be the only one who does stuff like this. Does anyone else have a method to capture stray thoughts that might turn into something brilliant?

Mark Arsenault is a Shamus-nominated mystery writer, a journalist, a runner, hiker, political junkie and eBay fanatic who collects memorabilia from the 1939 New York World’s Fair. His new novel is LOOT THE MOON, the second book in the Billy Povich series that began with GRAVEWRITER, a noir thriller praised for a fusion of suspense, humor and human tenderness. With 20 years of experience as a print reporter, Arsenault is one of those weird cranks who still prefers to read the news on paper. His Web site is: www.markarsenault.net

First off, thanks so much for welcoming me to Murder She Writes as a guest blogger. I’m honored to be able to share my debut release excitement with such a fabulous group of writers.

Follow Your Dreams

I had a different post written and ready to go when I realized that the day it would be posted – today – would have been my brother’s fifty-second birthday. That gave me pause, because my older brother was my inspiration and he passed away ten years ago this month.

He wasn’t a writer, nor did he ever read one of my manuscripts. So, why was he my inspiration? He left me the legacy of Follow Your Dreams.

My brother was a gifted man—bright and capable and visionary. He gazed up at the stars, thrived in nature, and reveled in the sheer physicality of life. He had the same curiosity children have and expressed a similar, uninhibited joy at new discoveries. His patience was incredible—he could easily spend an hour coaxing a chipmunk to take a peanut from his hand or waiting for a family of deer to venture from the shadows to visit the feeder. He never walked past a homeless person without offering a dollar, even if it was his last one. Helping others was a huge part of who he was, and at various times in his life, he served as a lifeguard, a ski patroller, and a volunteer for the Coast Guard. He wasn’t perfect by any means, but if there’s one thing that could be said about him, it’s that he defined the word potential. Possibility radiated from him.

Unfortunately, my brother died before he could realize his full potential. Oh, he did a lot with the time he had, but some of the things he wanted to experience never happened—like finding the girl of his dreams and getting married. The usual roadblocks, like finding himself and making ends meet, got in the way and his time ran out.

It’s terribly easy to lose sight of your dreams. Behind such weighty words as responsibilities, mortgage, and promotion, they can disappear from view. Mine certainly did. And time. Where do we find the time to do frivolous things like chase dreams? The lawn needs mowing, kids need help with their homework, and the boss is demanding more every day.

I don’t know what my brother should have—or would have—become. I think about it every now and again, and feel a pinch of sadness, but that’s not really the point. His passing was a wake-up call. It reminded me that dreams are vital to who we are. Each and every one of us.

Because of my brother, I took a good hard look at the outward trappings of my supposedly successful life … and then I looked inward. Because of him, I found the discipline to rise an hour earlier each morning and do what I’d always longed to do—write. Because of him, I finished my first romance manuscript and submitted it. Because of him, I not only acknowledged my dreams, I pursued them. And this month, my boldest of dreams came true—with the arrival of Drawn into Darkness on store shelves, I became a published author.

Would chasing my dreams have been worthwhile if I’d never gotten published? Yes. Absolutely. Because the struggle to reach my dreams has been much more satisfying than any promotion I ever received, and I’ve passed down the one lesson I hope my daughter will never forget: Follow Your Dreams.

There is nothing like a dream to create the future. – Victor Hugo

I’m offering up a copy of Drawn into Darkness to one random commenter today, so tell me what your biggest inspiration has been. A special person? An enlightening event? Or did the inspiration come from within? I’d love to hear.

p.s. This is also a stop on my “Cross into Darkness” blog tour, so feel free to visit my website at www.annettemccleave.com for a chance to win the tour grand prize. If you’ve been following the tour from the beginning, here’s the clue….

Murder She Writes clue: Home to the Campbells responsible for the Glencoe Massacre

–Annette McCleave