2012 in review: Thanks to all my visitors!

The WordPress.com stats helper monkeys prepared a 2012 annual report for this blog.

Here’s an excerpt:

4,329 films were submitted to the 2012 Cannes Film Festival. This blog had 14,000 views in 2012. If each view were a film, this blog would power 3 Film Festivals

Click here to see the complete report.

Happy Holidays!

2012 was an interesting year.

I spent the first 8 months slogging through a labor-intensive contract and several extra-tough freelance assignments. The year seemed to last forever. I was constantly tired and run down.

Then late August rolled in, I finished up my contract, submitted my last freelance article rewrites, and started writing my novel in earnest.

The experience was wonderful. The whole process of writing the first draft, breathing life into my characters, learning their personalities, struggling with their sheer bullheadedness, finally understanding how the whole puzzle should (hopefully) fit together–oh yes, it was worth every second of hard work and careful budgeting.

What a difference a shift in work focus makes. It’s like comparing night and day.

I had the time of my life.

Best of all, I’ve had so much fun sharing my progress (and frustrations) with like-minded writers. (Yay for Twitter!)

So before heading out for a long overdue vacation with friends and family, I wanted to say thank you for sharing my journey. I hope you have a wonderful, happy holiday season and that 2013 is healthy, happy, and prosperous.

See you in January!

Research is fun: The perfect car for the 90-year old woman

Window shopping is so much fun. I can spend thousands outfitting my characters without putting the slightest dent into my own pocketbook–a good thing considering the economy still stinks.

However, I could NOT pass up the opportunity to share the perfect car for one of my characters. Ok, so she’s 90+ years old but she’s still sharp as a tack, has a smartass attitude, is a mean pinochle player, and secretly enjoys watching Formula One racing.

Even though she still needs three cushions to see over the dashboard, she drives like a bat out of hell. Yup, my girl’s got very little patience for slow drivers, preferring to blast past them instead. Sometimes on a double yellow line.

What can I say? She likes living a little dangerously.

So I gave her a souped up, 1971 Plymouth Scamp in Arrest Me Red, with a black hard top and black racing stripes. The racing tires were a non-negotiable. She needs them for cornering on winding country roads.

Yeah.

So take that for thinking old ladies drive like, well, little old ladies.

Revision 102: Helpful reference books

Image courtesy of adamr / FreeDigitalPhotos.net

Revising a novel is a little like revising a freelance article except there are lots more questions to ask, lots more details to tie off, and LOTS more pages to proof.

Definitely lots more pages.

No wonder there’s such a swarm of substantive editors, developmental editors, and copyeditors out there offering their services to hapless novelists. There’s a lot of stuff to consider if you want to do it right.

And there are a ton of books out there, all claiming to offer the inside scoop on doing it right and many times, claiming contradictory actions. Do it this way, one writing expert claims. No, do it this way, demands another. Hang on a minute, the other two are a waste of time. Buy my book, clamors yet one more expert.

It’s enough to give anyone a ripping headache.

Certainly, I’ve wondered about this too since my reference library has more than my fair share of books on writing so I keep the pile to a relatively conservative minimum.

Aside from the Binder Full of Writing Strategies, I’m currently marking up the following books:

1. How to Write a Damn Good Novel by James N. Frey (practical, useful, insightful questions and examples)
2. How to Write a Damn Good Novel II by James N. Frey (more advanced, subtle shading techniques)
3. How to Write a Damn Good Mystery by James N. Frey (practical hints for succeeding in this specific genre)
4. The Sell Your Novel Tool Kit by Elizabeth Lyon (worth every penny–just trust me on this one)
5. Writing Mysteries: 2nd Edition, Edited by Sue Grafton (like attending your own mystery writing conference)
6. On Writing by Stephen King (no bullshit, just plain, practical advice about writing it like it is)
7. The Elements of Style by Strunk and White (shame on you if you don’t already own it!)

And that’s it. Even though there are so many other tempting books out there, I draw the line at these seven.

No more.

These books offer all sorts of useful hints in addition to stop-me-in-my-tracks questions. I’ve got enough on my plate without going overboard with gluttony. Besides, we all know what happens when we let gluttony get the best of us.

We get ripping headaches from all the contradictory advice.

Research is fun: Vintage clothing

The best part about writing a novel is research, specifically, vintage clothing.

This coat is perfect for one of my characters. She loves the coat–no that’s wrong–she adores this coat. Her husband bought her this coat as a vintage anniversary gift back in the 1960s. Kicky, perky, smart, and fun. That’s what I see when I look at this coat.

The same traits as my character.

Now tell me you wouldn’t want this, too?

Psst – here’s the website showing more of this fabulous coat.

Writing withdrawal: What no one tells you about finishing the first draft

Image courtesy of David Castillo / FreeDigitalPhotos.net

Lately, I’ve been feeling like Henri the existential cat. Life goes on yet there’s an inexplicable hole in my life. After thinking about it for several days and attempting to fill said trench with copious amounts of Thanksgiving pie, I finally realized the source of my ennui.

I miss my novel characters.

I miss their quirks, their stubborn refusal to do what I tell them to do, and the simple act of discovering a completely new (yet perfectly logical) twist in the plot development road.

In a nutshell, I miss writing.

I knew I was going to experience caffeine withdrawal but this empty-nest feeling is new. No one ever seems to talk about it. Instead, we’re inundated with advice on research, outlining, writing the novel, developing the subplots, finishing the last 50 pages with proper eclat, etc., etc.

What about the letdown? Who talks about this? Did I miss the post-partum novel completion blog posts?

Looks like I did.

There’s an emptiness in me now where my characters used to live, dream, work, and struggle. Yes, yes, I know. It’s the fallow time between typing The End on the first draft and plunging back into the fray with editorial-machete wielding abandon.

It’s the very necessary time when the yeast goes to work while the baker rests from the hard labors of mixing and kneading.

But I understand now why novelists sometimes feel an emptiness after typing The End. The children are moving away, off living their own lives, coming home only at the holidays, aka revisions.

It’s a little sad.

You know you’re writing mystery when…

Image courtesy of Witthaya Phonsawat / FreeDigitalPhotos.net

National Novel Writer’s Month offers all sorts of fun, encouraging ways to keep people on track. Chat forums are one of them and this year, the mystery thread really helped me along. I’ve copied over some of the best and made sure the right genius was attributed. I hope you enjoy them as much as I did.

You know you’re writing mystery when:

1. You email a forensics friend about how to best handle the bones just found on your property and he immediately calls to ask what the hell you’re doing emailing him when you should be calling the police. (Yours Truly)
2. Your Google search history makes you look like a criminal. (ObiKimono)
3. You and your writing partner get banned from hotels for measuring said spaces and “upsetting guests” for talking about a fictional murder. (DarknessRekindled)
4. You start fingering the knives at Target then find yourself checking out the heft of the cast iron skillets in the next aisle. (Bscriss)
5. The FBI shows up at your workplace to ask you a few questions and you have a 10-second-freakout until he opens his notebook to ask about someone else. (KylaSedai)
6. You hike through Olympia National Park on a family vacation and subconsciously look for places that would make a great site for a body drop. (Crice)
7. You go house hunting and you freak out the real estate agents with your seemingly supernatural knowledge of the previous occupants, as well as their reasons for moving out. (Ellie_B)
8. Your retired-police-officer father no longer requires an explanation before he answers questions like “if someone calls in the middle of the night needing bailed out of jail, can you give a credit card over the phone?” and “how long would it take the FBI to get involved if….” and “can a cop do _____ if he’s technically off-duty?” (KylaSedai)
9. You see a piano, you don’t think music, you think “wire equals murder weapon”. (Tsukkuyomi Kokuryuu)
10. When your friend tells you that they have a poisonous plant in their back-yard and you ask, “How much would it take to kill a person?” (Pensical Withersby)