Tag: Terri Thayer

Posted in Uncategorized

Local Authors Live: Report

Posted on by beckylevine

I had a great time in Carmel at the Local Authors Live festival. As I mentioned last week, I haven’t done a festival before and, while I sold about as many books as I do when I give a workshop, there was a definitely different feel to the day. Obviously, not everybody there is a writer, but everybody is a reader, and don’t ask me to figure out which group scores higher as my favorite type of person.

People stopped and talked, just to take a look at what books we were selling, and swapped stories–whether or not they ended up buying a book. And, you know, I just can’t see the not-buying as a big downside (says the lousy marketer in me). A lot of bookmarks went away, and I’m pretty sure 3 or 4 people went off with a new idea about getting together with their friend who also writes or finding a group at some time, to start the critique process. Which just feels good.

Everything was very well-organized and, it seemed, also well advertised, because there were always two or three groups of people strolling by, smiling, making eye contact, or stopping at our table to see what was up. The weather was FREEZING–the fog cleared for maybe a half hour, and the wind never really died down. Luckily, I’d brought layers, although the me that grew up next to Pismo Beach must have had a brain fart, to think that sandals were appropriate wear for the central coast in July.

Here’s a picture of me and Jana McBurney-Lin, one of my critique partners and the author of My Half of the Sky. Jana’s wonderful novel is set in China, about a modern young woman struggling to hold up her half of the sky, despite the pushes and pulls of her traditional village. I think the gorgeous Chinese cloths she brought really made our table call out to people.

Another critique partner, Terri Thayer, was scheduled to come down with us, but she had a deadline looming.  We missed her, but all of her fans will be happy to know that she stayed home to write furiously (and brilliantly) on the next book in her Dewey Pellicano quilting-mystery series.

All in all, I’d give the book festival a 10 (despite the fog and the worst sunburn I’ve ever had!). You know, it had a great beat, and you could dance to it. I’ll definitely be keeping my eye open for more festivals in the area.

Posted in Uncategorized

Friday Five: Around the Blogosphere

Posted on by beckylevine

I take you today to a few posts that caught my eye, and my imagination, over the past couple of weeks.

1. PJ Hoover lists her top ten reasons to have a writing group (different than a critique group).

2. Beth Revis gives her answer (for now) on the question of how to define success.

3. On a similar thread, lit agent Erin Murphy guest-posted over at Shrinking Violet Promotions about the many different paths to success.

4. Janni Lee Simner coaxes her protagonist to join her on the first steps into Draft 3 of her their WIP.

5. Terri Thayer asked us to share our snow-day stories. Being a native Californian, I had to make mine up. 🙂

Happy Friday, everyone, and here’s to a wonderful weekend.

Posted in Historical Fiction, Research

Following a Research Path & Arriving at Story

Posted on by beckylevine

I’m thinking, not even too optimistically, that I’m going to be ready to start the second draft of my WIP somewhere on or about 1/1/11. Sounds auspicious, right? I feel like I’ve got a handle on most of the characters–on what they want and, a bit, about how that’s going to weave into, conflict with my hero’s path. The mother has become MUCH meaner and nastier (which will make Terri Thayer VERY happy), and she’s on the way to really messing with my MC’s life. I want to spend a bit more time on the father (who obviously has to be more than just a sweet, gentle do-nothing of a guy) and then get some notes down on the scene ideas.

For this draft, though, I want to weave more of the history. Yes, some details will wait for later revisions, but–for the first draft–I felt like I was writing in a desert (which Chicago is NOT) and, by the end, that was driving me nuts. In not a good way. So I want to be able to feel myself and Caro truly in the place and time as I write forward. Which means I’ll also be doing a LOT of reading in the next few weeks. And, as I’ve said before, that reading is not just about facts; it’s about story.

I thought I’d show you one bit of the path I took yesterday, as I read books about model electric trains, specifically those made & sold by Lionel in the early 1900s. Here are the basic steps.

1. A couple of weeks ago, I revisited Caro’s younger brother, Abe, who had done pretty much nothing in the first draft, other than whine and demand an expensive violin. I decided I didn’t want to go with the violin, partly because I wasn’t looking forward to researching music (yes, I think you do need to have some interest in the stuff you’re going to have to read about). Also, though, the violin thread was putting a lot of focus on Abe & money, and there’s already another money thread going on and, really, that was just too much money. So I played and rambled around the Internet and my mind and realized–Toy Trains. I want this kid to be younger, to be pretty happy at home the way it is (of course that will change) and to be the kind of puttering little boy who likes to lay out the track and run the trains.

2. I did some research and found out that, yes, Virginia, there were model electric trains on the market by 1910 (close to my story’s year).

3. I checked my library and found plenty of books about model trains, specifically some cool-looking ones about the Lionel company. I put a couple of those books on hold.

4. The books came and I started reading about the company and the trains, for the relevant years.

5. I found out that 1) Electric toy trains were BIG. 2) Electric toy trains were EXPENSIVE. 3) Although Lionel mostly always did trains, they also came out with a Racing Automobile set in 1912.

6. I pretty much had these reactions: 1) Cool! 2) Hmm…maybe even Blech. 3) Aha!

7. I went back to my story with this information and made the following adjustments. 1) Abe does not have an electric train (the family is not THAT comfortably off), but he SO wants one. 2) He’s going to have some other train toys–probably clockwork ones that have been around, marketwise, for a while and (I think) were not as expensive. (Obviously, more research needed, and-yes-another book is on hold at the library). 3) Abe’s older brother Daniel has bought (unknown to the rest of the family) the Racing Automobile set for Abe’s birthday present. Which complicates things wonderfully, because Daniel bought the set BEFORE getting in a bad car accident himself and with money he really shouldn’t have, as far as his parents are concerned (also tied to cars and racing and gambling–ooh!). And how bad is Abe going to feel, do you think, playing with a toy race car when his brother is barely walking and may never get to drive an automobile again? Hmm? Hmm? 🙂

8. Made a note to myself to figure out the small plot problem this has created, which is that I have been planning that MC has a new camera that she received for HER birthday and, really, two birthdays as the cause in cause-and-effect is too many.

Threads and layers and twists. THIS is how research ties into story.

Posted in First Drafts, Plot, Revision

This is My Brain. This is My Brain on Plot.

Posted on by beckylevine

This post is dedicated to Terri Thayer, for listening and not once telling me I’m crazy.

What my brain tells me when I announce that, in the second draft of this WIP, we may be dropping one entire, MAJOR plotline:

  • Wow!
  • Wouldn’t this be a betrayal of Character X? Who just happens to have been a real person in real life that you totally love and admire and want to write about?
  • Hold on!  Does that mean you don’t have to finish the 1st draft??!!!
  • You could buy fewer index cards for the re-plotting party.
  • You’d be writing less broadly and more deeply. That would be a good thing.
  • Are you just copping out? Is this just the cowardly easy easier road to take?
  • Does this mean you’re thinking of a second book? Another historical fiction? You swore there’d be no more historical fiction!
  • You’ll cry more, if you write it this way.
  • This story is supposed to be about the girl and her mother. Have you seen the mother on the page yet? No, you haven’t. Because that other plotline keeps getting in the way. Get back to the mother.
  • You’ve written almost 250 pages, and now you’re telling me it’s a different story?

What I tell my brain:

  • Shut up and let me write.
Posted in Uncategorized

Friday Five: Chit-Chat around the Blogosphere

Posted on by beckylevine

For today, I’m sending you away, to a few fun posts that caught my eye recently. You know, from other people! Enjoy.

  • I love this comparison from Jan Gangsei about the similarities between middle-age and the middle-grades:
    The View from the Middle
  • My friend and critique partner, Terri Thayer, talks about her latest vacation/family reunion and the magic of cousinhood:
    Family Fun
  • Jenni Bielicki and Stacia Deutsch are doing the Avon Walk for Breast Cancer and their team, Critters against Cancer, are holding an auction to raise money for the cause. I’ll be contributing a critique and a copy of my book. Check it out here:
    Critters against Cancer
  • Anna Elliott talks about stretching ourselves into the areas we think we can’t go:
    A Funeral of the I Can’ts
  • Jama Rattigan’s blog almost always makes me hungry. (Not to mention making me yearn for a few teddy bears to hug!). If you haven’t discovered her yet, this post on the victory of macarons over cupcakes is a beautiful place to get started. I’ve been trying to think of an Occasion coming up, just so I can order a box.
    Macarons: Love at First Bite

Happy Friday, and have a wonderful weekend.

Posted in Uncategorized

Quite the Party

Posted on by beckylevine

It came, I showed up, and I had a blast.

Remember the song “Anticipation?” That could be my theme song for the past week. I had very little to do to get ready for the launch party, but I was running on adrenaline all the same, jumping from one tiny task to another, always with that little wave of nerves running along through my brain. I knew the party would be great, but did that stop me from some worrying, some fretting? Of course not. Because, you know, what would be the fun in that?

So, getting to Books Inc yesterday and getting this set up…

 was a big relief. And let me tell you, if you live in the Bay Area and haven’t tried Kara’s Cupcakes yet, consider this a serious recommendation. I tried a couple of other places, and I was overwhelmed by the too-sweetness and underwhelmed by the flavor and texture. Kara’s were incredible…yes, very sweet, but seriously intense on flavor and the cake part was just YUMMY. 🙂

From then on, as people started to show up, and I got hug after hug from friends and family, things just got better and better. The manager at Books Inc, Eric, was incredibly nice and seriously helpful from the time I introduced my self after one of Jennifer Laughran’s NYMBC events, and he made yesterday go so smoothly, I can’ t thank him enough. 

And, yes, I did get up in front of everyone and talk. I told the story of how I got the chance to write the book. And then, after Eric reminded me and my wonderful critique group got things started, I answered a few questions. Here’s the proof:

And I signed.

Okay, I’ll say it–what a rush! I thought I’d be seriously nervous, and there was definitely some of that, but I just kept seeing face after face of friends and writers, and I just kept smiling and writing. No writer’s cramp this time around, but, boy, did my face hurt by the end.  Worth every bit of the ache!

My brother-in-law, who is a phenomenal photographer (and, yes, you’ve heard me talk about him before as my computer guru–I married into a very talented family!), took all the pictures. Including this one that I really, really wanted to get:

There they are. The incredible women I’ve been critiquing with for years. Terri Thayer, Jana McBurney-Lin, Beth Proudfoot, and Cyndy Furze. I’ve know Cyndy since before my son was born, and I’m pretty sure he’s now taller than both of us! These writers are the reason, not only that I wrote The Writing & Critique Group Survival Guide, but that I continue learning and growing with all the rest of my writing as well. They more than “rock;” they are my rocks. They’re why I not only believe in the power of a strong critique group, but why I know it with absolute certainty. They’re why I can say to any writer I meet, “This is what you want in your life.”

It was a wonderful day. I know 2010 is going to bring me more incredible moments, and I can’t predict any of them. This party, though, was the best day I could have asked for, to share my happiness and celebration with the people who mean so much to me.

I wish you all a moment like this and the feelings that come along for the ride.

Posted in Writing Fears

Some Thoughts on Fear

Posted on by beckylevine

I just read two wonderful books of historical fiction:

The reading of both of these books was an absolute delight. The books move quickly, not weighed down by too much historical baggage, with the hero’s problems and needs always the main focus.  As a reader, I lost myself in both stories and found excuses to put off other work so I could keep reading and keep reading. And as a writer, I kept hearing myself in the background, saying, “Yes! This is what historical fiction should be. This is what I want to do with my story.”

Those were the ups.

The down, of course, was that other voice in the background, still mine, but the variant that isn’t so sure about things. And that voice was saying, “…if I can.”

It’s a big if.

I’m also reading Seven Steps on the Writer’s Path, by Nancy Pickard and Lynn Lott. My friend and critique partner Terri Thayer bought multiple copies of this book after hearing Nancy Pickard talk at a recent writers conferences. She wrapped them up and handed them around the table at our last meeting, because, she said, we all needed the book.

I think she’s right. So far, I’ve only read up to  Step 1, Unhappiness, which the authors identify as the stage before you get writing, when–in a not-so-bad case–you’re itching with unreleased creativity, or–in a pretty bad case, you’re depressed and curled up with misery. I don’t think I’m there right now, not full-blown, anyway, but I recognize the stage. Probably you all do. Because in this stage, whether you’re bursting with the need to write or stressing out that you might not be able to, there’s one common factor.

Fear.

These days, I’m feeling pretty good about my writing. In the “old days,” I typically had one idea at a time and, if that project was going poorly, I faced the big fear that this was all I would ever think of to write and I wouldn’t even be able to do that. For whatever reason these days, I have more ideas than I can juggle, wishing mostly for more time so I could get to all of them.

But…reading these two novels reminded me that the fear can still lurk. The fear that what I want to do with this historical fiction novel I’m working on, the story that I want to tell, may be beyond me.  I’ve looked pretty closely at this, and–honestly–I’m pretty sure this feeling is not jealousy. This is one way I’m lucky, I think–when someone creates a thing of beauty, especially out of words, it motivates and inspired ms, rather than making me feel like I should give up. Still, mixed into the pleasure and the awe is that other, less happy emotion.

I honestly know only one way of dealing with this feeling. And that is to look fully head on at the question I’m asking myself.

That question is: “What if I can’t write Caro’s story, not with the strength it deserves, the power I know a book can have? What if I am not a good enough writer?”

I don’t know the answer to that question. Perhaps that’s a good thing. 🙂 

What I do know is this: If I stop trying, if I give up, then, no, I won’t be able to write the book. If I quit, then I drop any chance of success that I might hope for.

Pickard and Lott talk about not hiding from the unhappiness; they say the only way to get through it is to recognize and speak it. I would add that there may or may not be a way to get past the fear, but there is a way not to let it beat us. And that is to choose the option of hope. Possibility. The maybe I can. To keep writing.

And, of course, to keep reading. To remind ourselves why we do this, what we are striving for.  Thanks, Joyce. Thanks, Laurie.

Posted in Blog Contest, Mysteries

Stop by Killer Hobbies & Enter to Win THE WRITING & CRITIQUE GROUP SURVIVAL GUIDE

Posted on by beckylevine

My friend Terri Thayer is having an incredibly, wonderfully busy month. She’s already been to one long-weekend writing workshop, a quilt workshop/retreat, and is off again to a writing retreat in the Southwest. So, when she asked me if I’d like to guest blog for her this week, I said, “Sure.” I also said, “Can’t you sneak me into a suitcase,” but that’s beside the point!

Anyway, the ladies over at Killer Hobbies, decided to make their posts this week all about writing. If you haven’t stopped by this blog before, it’s a group of six mystery writers who, as they say, “are dying to discuss the hobbies that drove us to murder.”

This week at Killer Hobbies is Writing Workshop week. Each blogger will talk about a different element of the writing craft, with me chiming in on Friday about critiquing. When I heard about the idea, I decided this would be a good time to start my plan (yes, a bit early) for 2010, which is to do guest blogs & interviews and get some copies of my own book out to readers.

So…the first contest! Leave a comment at Killer Hobbies this week, and you’ll be entered in a drawing for The Writing & Critique Group Survival Guide. Small caveat: if the winner wants  a print copy, they’ll be first on my list to send out once I HAVE those print copies! If the winner would like a PDF for your Kindle (or other e-reader if those take PDF!), I can get that to them shortly after the contest, because I already have that in my hot, little hand. Well…in my computer.

We’re keeping this simple, each commenter gets one copy of their name in the hat, no matter how many comments you leave. Stop by all week & check out the posts. These writers all know what they’re talking about!