Welcome to winter #amfreezing #amwriting

So we had a record warmest December this season, and warmest Christmas Day ever, complete with rain. Now here we are, a couple weeks into the new year, and it’s back to January reality in MN, with high temps around zero: a few days around -6 for a high, and a few days in the single digits above zero. Thought we were going to be hit with the snowstorm that passed through, but we didn’t get it. We’re not escaping the bitter cold and wind chills, though. Wind chill advisory through Tuesday. Four days of double-digit below zero wind chill.

Ahhh, feels like winter in MN. Finally. Not that I particularly like winter, but all that mild 30s, 40s, and 50 temps just didn’t feel like December in MN. I mean, we do have a reputation. Even so, we don’t get as many of those COLD days now as I remember when I was a kid. Part of me kinda misses it.

The holidays are over now, and it’s time to get my butt in gear. I’ve got a short story to finish drafting, and a short story to revise, along with my other projects. Also on the docket: revamp my website, schedule my personal writing retreat(s), and clean my house. Wait. *checks to do list* Yep, that’s on there, since hubs has decided we really are going to host Easter this year. And even though Easter isn’t until the end of March, I’d better start now.

One of my short stories is part of a collaboration between myself and the 4 fellow authors of our Midwest Mystery Works group. The group formed as a way to market and promote our work, pooling our resources to help us all with the dreaded marketing chores we all love to hate. Anyway, our group sponsors/runs a monthly MN mystery night that spotlights local (MN) authors. It’s been a big hit.

Our current project is a cool collaboration where each of us write a short story featuring our main characters from our books, and then a longer story that reveals whodunit and how our heroes get the bad guy. So far, it’s coming along well.

One thing I realized as we’ve been working on the story arc that carries through all the stories is that I’ve learned a lot about story structure over the years. There is a structure to a story that is deliberate, and that is what’s been driving our project. One of our members came up with the initial “draft” of the story arc, and we’ve all contributed, but as we’ve refined the story arc, we look at all those things that make a good story–a good mystery, and a good thriller.

Who are the characters? What do they want/why do they want it? What’s stopping them? Are the stakes high enough? What happens if they don’t get it? Why this character? If something happens to him or her, does it raise the stakes enough? How can we raise the stakes more? We’ve made character adjustments to support this. And pacing. Pacing is a huge part of this project, because each of the 5 short stories needs to slowly increase the tension, the suspense, and the stakes, and the longer finale story will be the thrill ride at the end.

How can our individual characters contribute to the story arc and help ratchet things up? How much do we reveal of the master story arc and when? It’s been fun collaborating because we all know how to build a good story, we know what needs to be part of it, and we know how to do those things that will have a reader start at the first story and want to keep reading because each story will reveal a little more of the mystery, will answer questions and ask a few more.

The idea is to give readers a taste of each author’s characters that will encourage them to read our books and take more adventures with our characters. It’s an experiment, and a gamble (what book isn’t a gamble?), but we can all see how it’d be a great introduction to each of our books.

I’d better get back to it. Stay warm and keep writing!

PS: For those who are interested, Zoey has finally decided the kittens are tolerable. Not friends, but tolerable. I suspect it has a lot to do with it being too cold to go outside. She doesn’t have much choice 🙂

Back when they both fit on my lap

New year, new adventures #amwriting

Welcome to 2024! We’ve just cleared the warmest December on record here in MN, with almost no snow where I live. Yet. They’ve even cancelled the Beargrease Dogsled race. Hell, it’s barely been below freezing; very few of the lakes, if any, have enough ice to walk on, much less drive on. Generally, by this time, there’s enough ice for ice fishing fundraisers. Even the polar bear plunge (fundraiser on New Year’s Day that crazy people participate in) didn’t need ice cutters.

Not a fan of climate change. Sure, I like that we haven’t had to snowblow the driveway yet, but without the bitter cold, how many bugs that normally die with the cold winters will survive to torment us come spring and summer? Ugh. The best part about winter–no bugs!

Anyway, it’s the start of a new year, and an opportunity to lay out goals. Small goals, because those are easier to accomplish. And accomplished small goals can add up to a lot by the end of the year.

I’ve got the rights to my first book back now, so I’m going to take this as an opportunity to revamp my website. I might even add the blog to it, but as of right now, the blog and my website are separate. The toughest part of web design, in my opinion, is figuring out what you want it to look like. I’ve looked at a lot of different author websites, and I like stuff from each one, but none feel like “oh, that’s the design that feels right for me.” I’m starting slow, and maybe I’ll run into something that “clicks” for me.

Which brings me to Book 2. My agent submitted Book 2 to a number of different publishers this week, so now it’s a waiting game. Crossing fingers!

Then there are the short stories. I’ve drafted one for our group’s anthology, and I’ve sketched out another to submit for our chapter’s anthology. Not drafted yet, but I can start this weekend. And on my “have to do this” list is my police procedural. Now that my class is over …

Oh yeah. My last class for my Technical Communications certificate starts on Monday. So, one more college course to go. Crossing my fingers it won’t be as time-consuming as my class last fall.

Time also to decide which conventions to go to. I’ll be heading to Seattle for this year’s Left Coast Crime in April. As for Bouchercon, I had planned to go to Nashville for that, but the more I thought about it, the more I thought a smaller conference would be better. Bouchercon is great for exposure, provided one is fortunate enough to get on a panel. They’ve just sent an email, though, saying they’re capping registrants at 2,000. Ugh. That’s a LOT of people, and though it’s a great opportunity to network, I think smaller conventions give more bang for the buck. Killer Nashville is the weekend before Bouchercon. Malice Domestic is two weeks after LCC. Thrillerfest is in NYC; hard pass for me (I have absolutely NO desire to go to NYC. Ever. Unless I could beam into the Museum of Natural History.).

So, maybe Killer Nashville for me.

That’s my start, anyway. I see at least one personal writing retreat in my future, and maybe 2, depending. Hopefully a new book contract will be in there somewhere, but getting my police procedural polished up (again!) and subbed to my agent will be another opportunity. And my rural MN mystery needs some love. And book 3 needs to be drafted. No shortage of projects!

And a garden. Uff-da. This year will be a limited garden: no cabbage-family (kale, brussels sprouts, kohlrabi), no green beans or cucumbers (cucumber beetle faves), no squash family (pumpkin, zucchini). Which basically leaves salsa ingredients (onions, peppers, tomatoes, cilantro), beets, spinach, potatoes, and sweet corn. Yes, I’m going to do sweet corn; my hubs has tried planting it the past couple years, and it hasn’t grown. I’ll probably plant a bunch of herbs, since I’ll have room. And I’ve been toying with the idea of planting artichokes. Just for fun.

So that’s my first look at the year ahead. What have you got planned?

Writing, I hope!

Counting down – 1 week to go #MNwritingretreat

Yep, I’m counting down to my personal writing retreat–one week to go! I missed a spring retreat this year because of our road trip to CA, which we cancelled because of the accident in NE. I was bummed this spring that I had to postpone my retreat.

My goal, since it worked out so well for me last year, is to have 2 personal writing retreats a year. That, of course, is dependent on the other stuff going on in real life. There’s something about getting away to somewhere with no TV, no chores, no other people to interrupt or distract. It’s great for focusing on writing, and with the wooded setting (it’s right on the border of a state forest), it’s the sort of atmosphere that works for me when I’m writing.

I’m still trying to get my revisions done on Book 2 before I go; I’ve got a few bits left to tweak. Oh, and my class homework–ugh! Which is due the end of next week, about the time I’m heading to my retreat, so I’ve got to try and get it done this week.

Sheesh.

I’ve got a few projects I plan to work on, one of which has a deadline of the end of the year. Which of course will be here before I know it. Because that’s the way it works, right? One day it’s Labor Day, and you turn around and all of a sudden it’s Thanksgiving, and you have no idea where the time went.

In any case, I’ll be taking a break from the blog next week.

In the meantime, listen to Dory …

Taking craft-wise opportunities #amrevising #amreading

One of the best things I ever did for my writing journey was take the plunge and sign up for a master novel writing class. A week of learning about the craft with 5 other aspiring novelists and a fanstastic writing teacher did more than expand my knowledge of the craft for that one week. It was the genesis of the Writing Sisters. I have learned so much from these ladies! Our relationship is more than just a group of authors, we truly have developed into a group that is more family-like than your everyday critique or writing group.

From there I went to writing conferences, and took more classes on the craft of writing. I even worked to get a Writing Certificate for Fiction from UW-Madison. Even genre conferences like Left Coast Crime are educational not only through sitting in on panels of other writers discussing various aspects of the craft, but also through talking with other writers.

Just like probably every other writer out there, I have shelves of books on the craft of writing, many of which I have read, and many, of course, are on my TBR list. I’ll read them. Someday. I’m also in a critique group with a couple very insightful writers. Basically, I’m trying to improve my craft. Keep learning about the craft of writing. Keep practicing the craft.

What I find interesting is how opportunities suddenly show up in my path. I mean, like, out of the blue. Kind of like how I got into my critique group. It was a chance post on FB, and of course I forget where or when. Anyway, the poster was looking to form a critique group with a few other writers. I responded, and now there are three of us. I have learned a lot from these ladies, and not only from their critiques of my work, but, as anyone in a critique group can attest, you also learn when critiquing the work of the other writers.

Recently I’ve had a couple additional experiences like this, where something shows up in my path. I have the choice of taking the opportunity or passing it by because maybe I’ve got so much other stuff going on. It’s always a dilemma, at least it seems like it initially. Should I? How much time will this take away from my own writing?

I’ve decided that doing anything that helps me learn more about the craft and meet other writers is probably worth it (especially if it’s free 🙂 ).

The first opportunity that popped onto my path recently came from one of my former writing instructors at UW-Madison. I subscribe to her newsletter, and she mentioned she was organizing a beta reading club to help writers find beta readers. I filed the information, weighing whether I had time to read another writer’s manuscript while trying to work on my own. About a week later she emailed me directly and asked if I’d be interested. I mulled about it for another week before saying “What the hell. Might as well.”

I met some very interesting other writers, and I have three beta readers right now reading Book 2. Not just beta readers, but beta readers who are knowledgeable about the craft of writing, because most of the writers and readers are her former students, I think. I have two manuscripts I’m beta reading. Sure, it’s time I’m not writing, but I’m learning from them. And who knows, I might be able to tap those writers again for beta reads in the future.

The other opportunity that appeared on my path was a post by a writer in my Sisters in Crime chapter. He’s going through Author Accelerator certification, and needed some writers to work with as part of the process. I’d heard about Author Accelerator at Writers’ Institute one year when the founder, Jennie Nash, was the keynote speaker. He described the process as “Blueprint of a novel”. I figured if he needed authors to work with, and I could learn some different techniques to help me get Book 3’s plot fleshed out, hey, I’m game. (and it’s free 🙂 ). Turns out that I’m at a point in my plot-creation process that will work well for what he’s doing. He selected me and one other author to work with.

Score!

The thing is, I figure if the Universe dropped these opportunities in front of me, it’s trying to tell me something. I don’t necessarily believe in fate, per se, but I do believe these things show up for a reason. I’ve learned through other life experiences (ask me about my first tech writing job sometime) that it’s a good idea to pay attention to stuff like this.

I guess what I’m saying is look for opportunities to expand your knowledge and practice of the craft. And if something “drops from the sky”, don’t be afraid to take it. It might be the very thing that connects you to a bigger opportunity later on.

Still waiting on spring here. I do have hopes for the upcoming week, though. Looks like they’re predicting at least 2, maybe three days of real Spring, with real Sunshine! They’re saying we might even get into the upper 60s. Yippee! I’m really getting tired of the chill wind, gray clouds, and drizzle. Ugh.

Keep on writing!

Motivation, or lack of #mnsnow

In less than a week I’ll be in Tucson for Left Coast Crime. I’ve finished reading the books from the authors on my panel. I’ve got my swag ready. I’ve got to drag half a dozen of my books with me because the bookstore decided they couldn’t find my book to supply for the convention (that’s a whole other story).

And I should be working on book 2. I set my “what ifs” aside so I could read 5 books before the convention, but now that I’ve read them, and have some good questions prepared, I find I’m resistant to jump back into my writing until after the convention. I’ve got almost a week–okay, maybe half a week–before I leave, so I’ve got time now.

It’s like I feel I need to “save it until after.” Like for some reason the time between now and when I leave is somehow reserved for all the mental anticipation and energy of going on a 5-day trip. Like it’s a sort of reward for going to the convention, like the convention is a chore that needs to be completed.

It’s not. I’m looking forward to reuniting with friends I made at last year’s convention, and at Bouchercon last fall. I’m looking forward to the experience of seeing a new place, and of being away from home and all the responsibilities here. I get a break from work and from all the distractions of home (hours of news 😮 ). I get to enjoy early summer temps (70s!) instead of the forecast snow/rain mix, although I will miss out on the 40s they’re predicting for the end of the week.

I’m not looking forward to dragging my books with me, but it’s better than not having any because the bookstore, for some reason only they can rationalize, chose not to order my books to stock for LCC despite the fact I filled out their form to have them carry my book. Twice.

Maybe it’s the weather. I am so DONE with winter! We got 2 inches the other day, and they’re predicting 2 to 6 more inches today. The weather wonks have put this season into the top 10 snowiest for MN. Oh boy.

On the bright side, the equinox is in a couple weeks, meaning spring is almost here! Yay! We’ll only have to deal with the snow (and the subsequent muddy yard and driveway) for another month or so. Better than getting all this snow in December and having to put up with it for three more months.

Motivation to work on book 2 is sketchy at this point. Maybe because I need to really work through the “what-ifs” before I do any more revision, and my brain is busy churning through all the fun I plan to have at LCC. Or it’s busy thinking about other projects I really want to get back to. It doesn’t matter. What matters is that I take advantage of the time I have now to shift some focus to book 2, because darn it, I want to hand it over to my agent and get back to my police procedural.

Then again, I’m also thinking to save the work for all the time I’ll be spending in the airport, on the plane, in my hotel room in the mornings before all the activities fire up. I mean, what better time to work through “what ifs” than spending 2-3 hrs at 40,000 feet?

Doesn’t mean I can’t do it now, too.

So, creative brain, get your shit together and focus.

Don’t forget to Spring Ahead this weekend for Daylight Savings Time!