The HEA Cafe

What do you do after you write “The End”?

I like to clean my desk. I’m fortunate in having my own workspace, now that my nest is empty.  I took one bedroom and converted it to an office that looks out onto the street, giving me a luxurious and comfortable writing environment.  I have no excuses about not having a quiet space to get my work done!

Somewhere under the mess of books and papers at the end of writing A Sea Change was an attractive antique, leather-topped table.  Sure enough, I cleaned it off and began my winding-down-from-the-writing ritual.  I gave the table top a good drink of Neet’s Foot oil, allowing it to soak in and rehydrate the leather.  Then I cleaned the fountain pens I use to take notes, and prepared them for the editing of the manuscript.  I went through all my papers and discarded the old sale circulars and outdated bill notices (oops), and polished my wood organizer.  I buffed the pirate chest that holds the chocolate coins I take to signings, and dusted off Pirate Barbie and Ken (and let me just add that Pirate Barbie wears the captain’s hat in my household!).  I gave my lucky bamboo a drink before it died on me and ceased to be lucky.  And when all was done, I had a nice, clean, shiny surface on which to begin my next novel.

What are your writing rituals, either at the beginning, middle or end of a novel?

Am I the only one who comes away from a goal-setting workshop thinking I just need a better plan in order to succeed at better things?  So I write out my plan. Something like this: write four best selling books in two years, sell them to Biggest Name In Publishing publisher and be rich and famous. You know what I mean, don’t you? Don’t you? Or AM I the only one with this so totally wrong idea of goal setting though, cerebrally, I do understand that’s not what’s meant as goals. Chant with me: goals are measurable, definable and achievable. My problem is that in my mind and imagination my dreams totally are all of the above. I have no trouble seeing my name up in lights. And don’t bother reminding me that my dreams/goals are not something I have control over. Let me live in my clouds. After all, I’m a fiction writer. I specialize in pretending.  I do not want to downsize my dreams/goals.  I need them to spur me on. It doesn’t matter how impractical, impossible or unachievable they are. I don’t want to be confused by reality.
What I need in goal setting is different. Simpler. Something that gives me those high and noble attributes of measurable, definable and achievable yet doesn’t destroy my dream. I need to set…well, not goals really. That’s far too solid for me. I need to figure out achievable micro steps. Like meeting my daily quota. Heck, getting myself to do one word on a blank screen is a big deal. 
Do I hear chortles in the background when I call these goals? I’ll have you know my goals are very noble. One word, one sentence, one page and then another and another until voila, I have a book. So what if it’s just a rough draft and needs tons of work. At least it’s something solid to work on. And I can set new micro goals—refine a word, tighten the dialogue, polish a sentence until page-by-page, the manuscript is completed.
And it’s very easy to see the rewards of my system of setting micro goals. I have the words, sentences, and pages to count as they pile up. And if I get discouraged because the dream-sized goal seems illusive, I can shamelessly bribe myself to conquer the micro goals. There is NOTHING like instant (or almost instant) gratification. A cookie with my tea if I do my quota. A trip to the fridge if I do a twenty-minute don’t-take-your-fingers-off-the-keyboard session. Coffee at Tim Horton’s with a friend if I make my weekly quota. And if my cheeks are getting too pudgy, I can substitute whatever reward works at the time in place of the food reward.
What’s wrong with keeping my goals small and manageable? What is it they say? Take care of the little things and the big things will take care of themselves? Works for me.
Now excuse me. I have tea and cookies waiting—my reward for writing this blog.

So how do you set measurable goals? And more importantly, how do you reward yourself? (I’m especially interested in learning rewards that don’t carry calories straight to my hips.)

Last fall I was in a writing slump. My suspense novels weren’t selling and my agent was unimpressed with the romantic comedy I’d whipped up in three months over the summer when I should have been playing with my kids. Failure tightened around my throat like a noose. Pressure froze my fingers on the keyboard.
            Halloween, one of my favorite holidays, was approaching. One morning I woke up with an idea for silly story about a bad witch who wanted to cut her ties with Lucifer and go good. My muse offered nothing more than a title, Witches Anonymous, and the main character, Amy. It seemed harmless to write something just for fun, and I had nothing else pressing that day, so I tackled a scene.
The noose around my neck loosened a micron. My fingers pulled out of neutral and flew over the keys. I laughed out loud at Amy’s sassiness. The scene became a chapter. Over the next few weeks, my pulse jumped every time I thought about the story. It was just for fun, right? I could throw in crazy characters and twist the plot as much as I twisted my hair. I could write as much or as little as I wanted. I could toss it into the pile with the rest of the unsold manuscripts at any point and not worry about genre or word count or selling.
The process of writing Witches Anonymous freed me creatively. It gave me my writing life back and opened something that was blocked inside of me. In March, I sold my first suspense novel in my Super Agent Series, Operation Sheba. In June, Witches Anonymous won a contest (thanks to Chiron O’Keefe, our wonderful challenge board guru, who insisted I enter) and will be published in February of 2009. I just signed a contract for the second book in my suspense series.

If someone had told me last fall that writing a short story – a paranormal comedy no less – would save my writing career, I’d have scoffed. Now, I’m encouraging other writers to give it a try. This week at Five Scribes blogspot, http://www.fivescribes.blogspot.com , author KL Grady offered her take about writing short stories, “Writing short fiction gave me the opportunity to craft a story without having to commit to a long-term project - no pressure. It also allowed me to learn the quick and dirty route to telling a story.”
Whether you want to refine your skills, experiment with a new genre, or just enjoy a break from the pressure of a full length novel, consider writing a short story. You might find your fingers flying over the keyboard and new doors opening for your career.

It is becoming more and more common to see writers who write for more than one house these days.

Why do I do it? It is a question I often ask myself when deadlines are looming.

Like a number of other authors, I started of with a small press. My first house was Five Star, right at the time when they were de-licensed by RWA for recognition. But what did I care? I had my first book in print and got paid for it too.

My agent, Scott Eagen continued to try to sell my next books to larger houses, and after the American Title contest, we sold No Regrets to Sourcebooks a mid-size independent. In the meantime I wrote some short stories for a very small press, thinking to keep my hand in and my name out there. It looked good on my newsletter and I loved writing them.

This year turned into a bumper year for me. Not only did I sell my next book, The Lady Flees Her Lord, due out in two weeks time, to Sourcebooks, and another one in the works, hopefully, but I landed a five book contract with Mills and Boone under a new pen name ~ Ann Lethbridge. So expect to be hearing from Ann from time to time. Ann writes Regencies too.
Now I have multiple deadlines. But I get to write different types of stories, the longer single title for Sourcebooks and the somewhat shorter regencies for Mills and Boone. I get to see how different publishing houses work, and they are very different, and to work with more than one editor.

Having listened to several big name authors over the years, I have concluded that it is important for an author to be flexible, where he or she can. It is not easy to be flexible about your voice or your writing process, but you might need to change houses or be assigned a new editor without warning. Writing for different houses gives you this experience before it is dropped on you out of the blue.

And writing for more than one house means more books out, more opportunities…. and lots more work.

Do I recommend it. Yes. Absolutely. If you have the time and energy.

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You can find Michele at her website www.micheleannyoung.com or at her Regency Rambles Blog

I went walking in the woods last night.  We’re nearly into fall here in the Mid-Atlantic region, and a few leaves are starting to turn, nuts and acorns litter the ground, the scent of woodsmoke is in the air.  And I started thinking about how much I enjoy walking in the woods on an autumn day — and how much pleasure I get from other simple things.

 So, at the risk of sounding as if I’m in The Sound of Music, I thought I would compile a (partial) list of my favorite things:

-Freshly laundered sheets. 

-My house when I’ve had the windows open, and the air smells fresh.

-Flowers, whether they are in a vase or planted in pots on my deck.

-A fire in the fireplace.

-Watching a flock of birds twist, expand, and dip in the sky.

-Gray skies.

-Walking on a dirt trail in the warm sunshine.

-Cuddling up with a good romance novel (of course!).

Well, I could go on, but I won’t.  But it occurred to me while I was compiling this list that many of the things I enjoy the most have to do with my environment or setting.  I’m very affected by what’s around me — colors, scents, scenery.  I love to drive in my car and look at the trees, the sky, the way the colors merge or contrast.

So it’s no surprise that the setting of my books is also very important to me.  Since I’m so influenced by my surroundings, I assume my characters will be, too.  Showing the setting of a scene can be a challenge, but it’s also a fabulous way to foreshadow danger, show the character’s mood.  In fact, the setting is usually the first thing I decide on when beginning a new book.

So is anyone else out there a setting fanatic?  Any simple pleasures you enjoy?