Quote

"When I face the desolate impossibility of writing 500 pages, a sick sense of failure falls on me, and I know I can never do it. Then gradually, I write one page and then another. One day's work is all I can permit myself to contemplate."

John Steinbeck

Halfway Through

That’s it.  I’m halfway through the first rewrite.  And I’m quitting until Thursday.

No Holiday For Me

Hope you all had a good time.  I was at my computer all weekend while you were cooking hotdogs and swimming and playing whatever people play these days.

I did have one evening.  But my days have been right here at this keyboard.  I guess I’m about halfway through the rewrite.

I have to confess I will be taking Weds. off as it’s my birthday.  Don’t ask. Just know I deserve it.

I’m finding this process of my first rewrite very valuable.  I use that word because I’m learning things about writing as I go.  It’s never over, folks. 

 

 

Third Review

This is the most important one before publication. It’s in a magazine called Publisher’s Weekly. The other day, on another site, people were saying things like they’d never read a book that had a quote from PW and other negative stuff about the magazine. I don’t know if they were joking or not, but I hope they were because a good review from PW is used by librarians, bookstores, and very often gone over by the movie people.

I got a starred review. This makes it special. It was one of the best reviews I’ve ever gotten, if not the best. It’s made me very happy. It’s made my agent very happy. And it’s made my publisher ecstatic. This is good.

When I saw the fax I couldn’t believe it. I walked around the house. Then I ate a piece of candy. It was hard to go back to work but I did.

So waiting for the pre pub stuff is over. And I nailed two out of three. Not bad.

The Booklist review for This Dame For Hire is posted at Amazon. I imagine the PW one will be there eventually. Feast your eyes.

Terrible Noise on my Roof

Fortunately, the people who are putting a new roof on my house warned me that there was no way I’d be able to think while they did this. 

Today I’m beginning to put changes and make more changes back into the computer. I like this part of the process a great deal.  What I don’t like is having to do this somewhere else.  I’m lucky I have a laptop.

First I booked the Study Room in my library for today and tomorrow.  But it didn’t feel right at all.  So I called a friend who works at a normal job and I’m going to be able to work at his house.  It doesn’t feel great but it’s better than the library.

The roof people have started and I’m so glad I’m leaving.  No way could I think with all this banging and blue sheets wrapped around my study so I can’t have air and feel totally claustrophobic.

If this post is a mess it’s because I really can’t think.

Leaving.

 

Quote

"I discovered that rejections are not altogether a bad thing. They teach a writer to rely on his own judgment and to say in his heart of hearts, 'To hell with you.'"

Saul Bellow

The Big Read

I finished reading the manuscript today. Good thing I like rewriting. I’ll be doing a lot of it.

I’ve convinced myself that at this stage with This Dame For Hire I didn’t feel so horrified by what I’d written. I’d sold “Dame” on the first 100 pages so it wasn’t that I had a “will I sell it or won’t I?” problem. In fact, I don’t believe I had any problem with it. But somewhere I know that can’t be true. One, I would’ve been worried about the rest of the book being as well done as those 100 pages. Still, I don’t think it was this big of a hodgepodge. Hodgepodge? I’ve never used that expression in my life. It’s obviously out of anxiety. Two, the first of any series is the easiest, I think.

This novel is also pre-sold. But it can’t be a mess. And I don’t want it to be. My first reader will help me a lot. And then I have a very fine editor at Ballantine, so I know I’ll get help there if I need it.

But most of all I have to calm down. It’ll work out. It always does.

Sometimes better than others.

Swill

That’s what it is.  I’m almost finished reading it and the mistakes and repetitions are  horrible.  If I didn’t know better I’d think I’d written this drunk.  I’ll finish this phase of the process tomorrow.  And next comes putting changes in the computer and rewriting where I’ve indicated.

It really does seem to be an awful mess.  Except the dialogue.  But even that has me baffled in some places like this:

    “They only came up once when she told me they didn’t speak to her sister anymore.”           

    “She got any brothers or sisters?”

 

I mean really. The same page?  The next sentence?

 

You see now what I’m up against?

 

Unbearable

I’ve now read the first three chapters of my novel in progress. 

First Draft

I just finished it!

The Penultimate Chapter

Yup.  I wrote that today.  But the strangest part was I wrote 10 pages.  This after saying I can’t do that anymore.  Saying that I write maybe 5 a day and if I’m lucky 6.  It’s still the truth.  This was an anomaly.  I don’t think I’ve written 10 pages in one session since I was in my early thirties.

But the real point is that I have one short chapter to go.  I think it’ll be short.  If not I’ll do it tomorrow and Friday.  And I’ll be finished….

…. with the first draft.  Then I’ll have my outline.

Eking it Out

Why is it so damn hard?  The part I was working on should've been a cinch.  And it would’ve been if I’d been able to keep my focus.  I couldn’t.  I wanted to be sitting out on the deck; reading; answering email; talking on the phone.  Anything but writing.

I stayed at my desk.  I kept at it.  Wrote six pages.  I’m glad it’s over for the day.

Second Review

This one was great. It was published in Booklist, which is another trade magazine. Libraries and some stores buy from this.

What made me particularly pleased about this review was that the reviewer (signed this time) got the whole spirit of the novel. He got it and he liked it. What more could I want?

The Week That Was

Basically it was a terrible week. The first two days were okay but then I was distracted by the review. More trouble came in the form of computer hell. Internet Explorer and other things on my Start menu stopped working. Here is a secret about me. It’s not thrilling. It’s a character flaw. When something goes wrong with my computer I can’t let go until I fix it. I think of nothing else. I wish I was this obsessive about writing.

I tried calling you know who and the annoying customer service woman told me I’d have to pay. Oh, no. So I looked for a program that might help me. Found one. It didn’t help that, but I got back my system sounds, which I’d lost about a month ago. The good news is that my computer problem didn’t affect my Word program so I can continue writing. Well, I guess it’s good news. If it had affected my writing program I would’ve had to get a new computer (this is the way I think) and then it would’ve taken me days to transfer and install stuff. No writing. Actually I’m glad that didn’t happen because I have no time to waste with this book.

On Friday Mr. Cooper did something I didn’t expect and would never have thought he was capable of doing. So now I’m not exactly in a hole, but I’m not sure where I’m going next. I don’t like that feeling. And, yes, I’m still glad I don’t have an outline.

Did you know one is now told in their contract how many words you have to have? In this first draft I’m going to come up short so that I’ll have to make it up in the rewrite. This disturbs me because I never want to put in filler. I’ve spent my whole career learning how to write lean and mean. And I think I’ve accomplished that now. But if I have to get to the right word count by adding unnecessary words it will make me unhappy. This trend to get writers to make their books bigger is terrible, I think. When my agent was negotiating my contract she (at my request) got the publisher to come down in the count by 15 thousand words.

Once again I dread Monday. As for the computer problem I’ve learned that I can live with it. When the book is finished I will get a new computer because it’s my reward. You have to give yourself rewards. I know, the finishing of the book is a reward in itself along with an acceptance and the next payment. Too bad. I want a new computer.

Quick Fix

I'm happy to say that by six o'clock last night all was well.  I no longer felt the little blow to my viscera and I was able to put the so-so review behind me.

I talked to several writers, read them the review, and they all said it was basically a non-review and don't forget it's Kirkus.  They also said that even after all the time they've been writing (one for about 50 years) they still felt bad when they didn't get a good review.

So then it was over and I could not only enjoy my evening but I was able to write this morning with no review hangover.

I suppose Publisher's Weekly is next.  That's an important one.  Cross your fingers for me. 

First Review

So the safety is over.  The critics are out.  I got my first review from Kirkus today.  Actually, it won't be published until next week, but my editor sent me a preview.

For those who don't know what Kirkus is, it's a publishing trade journal.  I've never seen an actual copy of it, but it has a reputation for giving nasty, unsigned reviews.  The joke is, if you get a good review from Kirkus you'd better watch out.  I don't think I've ever gotten a good one from them. 

Now I've gotten a review for This Dame For Hire and for Kirkus it's not bad.  It's not great, but I never thought it would be.  Mostly it lists the names of the characters, (for no reason I can understand) sums up the plot and is damned with faint praise at the end.  And there is really only one line in it that bothers me.  

Thank goodness I've gotten past the place in my career where a so-so review doesn't disturb me that much. And I have to remember it's Kirkus.

So why do I feel like I've been lightly kicked in my stomach? 

Quote

"Great writing leads constantly into surprises, and the writer should be the first one surprised."

Bernard Malamud

What A Difference A Day Makes

I kept my eye on the prize today and got a lot done. Advanced the story, brought in something to throw the reader off...maybe. Set myself up to meet with new characters tomorrow. And the writing wasn't bad either. I feel so much better than yesterday.

---------------

So what do you do when your editor wants one kind of title and you want another? I've explained to him why I don't want to fashion a title with a particular twist because I've done something like it with my Laurano series. He's still for me doing this even though he's given me the last word. Maybe I'm wrong. It's happened. I'm looking for some happy medium that will please us both. Haven't found it yet.

Surprise

Today was awful.  I couldn't concentrate and wrote about 4 hideous pages.  I can't afford days like this now. I haven't got time.  No more holidays, no more Friday movies, no more I don't feel like writing today.  Tomorrow I have to stay focused.

 

Heading for the Homestretch

Three quarters of the way through. 

Monday, Monday

Maybe I should loathe Mondays every weekend.  I wrote more today in a shorter time than I have during  the writing of this whole book.

But is it good?  I don't know for sure.  And it doesn't matter.  I'll deal with that when I rewrite.  What I wrote today advanced the story and that's all I have to think about now.  And thanks to Mr. Coleman I remembered to write more narrative.  I can always cut it later.  This was a good day.

 

End of the Weekend

I loathe the idea of tomorrow. Another week of dealing with this book. On the other hand, quite a few ideas came to me in the last two days. And what I'm reading now is very helpful. A P.I. novel. It's made me realize what's missing from mine. I need to write more narrative and less dialogue. No. Not less dialogue. Just more narrative.

Yes, I know. You want to know the name of the book. Besides being a very good novel, it might not help you at all. It's The James Deans by Reed Farrel Coleman.

Quote

"I never want to see anyone, and I never want to go anywhere or do anything. I just want to write."

P. G. Wodehouse

Reading and Writing

I know some writers who say that when they're writing a novel they can't read novels. Everyone has their own way, but I'd go nuts if I couldn't read fiction while I write it. That would mean I couldn't read novels for the better part of a year.

Writers who adhere to this self-imposed rule do so, they say, because they're afraid they'll be influenced by the style of the writer they might be reading.

I read all the time. And learn. I learn from good books what I should do, and from bad ones what I shouldn't do. I don't learn anything from some books, I just enjoy them or throw them across the room.

But reading others is the writing school I went to. And I haven't graduated. I hope I never do.

As I said, I learn from writers, but I've never found myself imitating a style. That's not to say that other writers don't have a legitimate reason for their ban on reading fiction when writing.

I believe writers all have different ways to accomplish what they set out to do.

For instance, those writers who say they write in coffee shops. I could never do that because I'd find myself too interested in what the couple across from me was saying, or listening to the waitress give her spiel.

Still, I have my way, too. I can't write anywhere but in my own house at my own desk on my own computer.

Rigid, isn't it?

---------------------------------------------------

I had a good five day week. I'm advancing the story as I should be and getting new ideas all the time. Some places are a mess but that's what rewrites are for. What did we do without computers?

I know I have to go back and change some crucial bits of information, but I'm not worrying about that now. I need to press on and get this first draft down.

I'm two and a half months away from my deadline. It's important that I meet it because the publisher wants to publish this second book in hardcover when the paperback (I think it's a tpk) of the first book is released. So no more days off, except for my birthday. I can hand in the book two weeks or so past my deadline but not much more.

I was late by that amount last year and that was due to illness. If all the stars are lined up right I'll make it this year.

Quote

 "You never have to change anything you got up in the middle of the night to write."

Saul Bellow

Out of Control

Now why did Dolores go and do that?  She gave me no warning at all.  In fact, I was shocked.  And I'm worried about her.  I don't have a clue as to what's going to happen.  Will she live?  Will she die?  Will she be in the hospital for long? I guess she'll tell me Monday morning.

Five day week.  Yippee!

Got It!

As I said in my last post I'm halfway through the writing of this novel.  And today I figured out who, why and where.  I've had my eye on this suspect for awhile, but now I'm sure.  At this point I'm glad to know.  I often know earlier than this, maybe at around a hundred pages.  But knowing halfway through is very respectable.

Someone said he thought I didn't know who did what until the very end and then just picked the most likely killer.  Or tossed a coin, drew straws, picked a name out of a hat.  No.  That's not the case at all.  It's important that the killer turns himself into me by now because it will help me shape the rest of the book.

That doesn't mean it's clear sailing from here on in.  There'll be other problems to work out.  I don't know what they'll be right now...I just know that they'll happen.

The Publishing Racket

Despite the enforced one day off, I was not subjected to reading Patterson. I wrote each of the other four days and I think I'm about halfway through. Of course that leaves me with the feeling: how am I going to fill the other half?

I didn't have any surprise characters appearing from under a bed, but I was surprised by how some of my characters behaved. They never tell me ahead of time and that could drive a writer crazy or it could be exhilarating. This brings me back to the topic of outlining or not.

If I did outline I'd know how to fill the other half today. I'd also lose all interest. Now I'm eager to see what happens Monday.

So about the publishing game. Last week I learned from good authority that things are about to change. This probably won't be big news to anyone, but some of it was to me.

No more mass paperbacks. The companies are slowly phasing them out. Barnes & Noble won't order any new ones. If you go to their website I think you'll see that the paperbacks they're selling are not current. When the ones they have are sold or returned to publishers, that will be the end of them for B&N.

Trade paperbacks are going to take their place for now. And eventually there'll be no more hardcovers. This might not apply to libraries. Although I've noticed in the libraries around here there are more and more trade paperbacks on the shelves.

So is this a good or bad thing? I think it's fine. How many people want to pay seven or eight dollars for a mass market paperback? Trade paperbacks are anywhere from ten to fourteen dollars. And they look nice and last longer.

Writers have always had a snob thing about being published in paper instead of hardcover. Many of them think they're not a real writer if they're not published in hardcover. I think that idea is nonsense not to mention very old.

The best example I can give is Jason Starr. He's published in trade paperback and if that weren't true I doubt I would've bought him in hardcover. That would've been my loss. I think he's one of the best writers around and there's no need for him to publish in hardcover. He may feel differently about it, but I hope he doesn't.

Don't we want to get the most people we can to read our books? I think trade paperback will fulfill that wish. If you've ever been to France or England you know that's how most books are published there. I guess they have mass paperbacks but I don't recall them. I certainly didn't buy any to have sent home.

So is it a good thing to drop mass paperbacks and go to trade? And how important to your sales is it to be published in hardcover? Or is the importance to your ego?

Quote

"I think a little menace is fine to have in a story.  For one thing, it's good for the circulation."

Raymond Carver

A Five Day Week! And Another First

Yes.  I did it.  I wrote five days of this past week.  Even though I was interrupted by my computer man, I was able to go back to work.

I'm moving along now.  I keep telling myself to just get it down. I'm not going to worry at this stage whether it hangs together, makes complete sense, or even if it's good.  Well, I'm not quite that laid back.  By the end of next week I should reach the halfway point.

As I mentioned before, I do have to go to NYC on Wednesday to see a friend's play, which is performed at lunch time.  So next week is a legitimate four day week and I won't have to read James Patterson unless I lose another day by slacking off.

My other first is that This Dame for Hire was taken by the Mystery Guild as a July Alternate.  I've never had a sale to this book club.  This isn't about money (very small advance) it's about exposure.  I'm very happy about this deal.

 

 

Not My Fault

So it wasn't a five day week.  Again.  It was four.  But only because I woke up on Thursday to no heat.  It was very, very cold in here.  My fingers couldn't type.  It's the truth!  Didn't get heat back until around noon.  And I couldn't start writing then because I just can't do it at that hour on the first draft.

I reached the end of my rewriting on Monday.  It's been all new from there.  I'm not exactly zipping along, but it's better than where I was when I stopped to start over.

I've decided that from now on, every hour I miss on my writing schedule, I 'll have to read that many hours of something by James Patterson.  This is the aversion technique.  Anybody have any ideas which one to start with?  Just the thought of it makes me feel that I'll have a five day week coming up.

The following week I have to go into NYC on that Wednesday.  This is a must.  So I'll lose that day.  And I don't think it counts re the reading of Patterson.  I'm not going to torture myself if my lost time is something I can't help. 

I've set myself up for the next chapter so I feel relatively calm about sitting down here on Monday morning.  I wish I felt a sense of excitement about it.  That happens from time to time, from book to book.  But it hasn't happened during the writing of this novel.  Well, I still have two thirds to write so there's a chance I'll get that wonderful jolt. 

 

Dreams

Don't you hate it when someone wants to tell you their dream?  Unless the teller says "I dreamt about you last night" you have no real interest.

The author of a novel is never going to have a dream about you.  So why must so many of them tell us dreams?  I've just finished two books loaded with dreams.  One of them I recommended below, but only because the rest of the book is so good.  Still, I wish he hadn't done it.

I hate dreams in novels.  Why should I have to interpret a dream?  I want the author to interpret it in the sense that she/he uses another device to give me the same information.

A line or two of a dream is acceptable if it's meaningful and easy to understand.  But pages of dream recall?  Never.  I think writing long dreams in a novel is the lazy way out.  Oh, I can hear you now saying, but complicated dreams on the page take a great deal of skill.  Skill for what purpose?  Perhaps to show off?  I wish I could put a ban on dreams longer than two sentences. 

Just tell me the story.

Quote

 "A writer's brain is like a magician's hat. If you're going to get anything out of it, you have to put something in it first."

Louis L'Amour

Where Am I Now?

Intoxicated with the RD sale, I realize I haven't updated my progress with the novel I'm writing.  Once again, it's the second in the series and Ballantine will be publishing it in July 2006.  This will be coordinated with the paperback release of the first in the series.  That's the way publishers set a schedule if you're writing a series.

It was a four day week but I was very disciplined.  I thought I'd be through with the rewriting by now but I'm not.  The reason is because I had a lot more changes to make in the chapters I had already written than I thought I had.

This week there are only one and a half chapters to rewrite.  By midweek I should be going into completely new territory.  Actually what I'm writing now is new territory, because the person who is being interviewed was the one who was dead in the first version.  So I have a new voice to write.

Except for who did it, I couldn't tell you now, if you asked, exactly where this novel is going.  But I feel comfortable with that.  I believe I'll be able to move along without anymore headaches than I would have naturally. I tell myself the worst is over.

There is no reason this can't be a five day week. 

Clearing Up A Misunderstanding

Anonymous asked me this:

Does this mean it will only be published in the Readers Digest format or can you publish with another publisher?
Was this your only option for the new novel?

The sale to Reader's Digest is a bonus.  Ballantine is publishing the book in early July.  And this is not the book I'm working on now.

This sale is known as part of subsidiary rights.  I'll share the money with Ballantine.  As far as I know RD doesn't publish anything for condensed books that hasn't come out earlier in a regular edition.

So don't worry Anonymous, this is good. My sale to Ballantine happened in early 2004.  And now I'm working on, and complaining about, the second book in the series.

Another First

My novel THIS DAME FOR HIRE, the first of the series, just sold to Reader's Digest.  It will be in one of those volumes of condensed books; the kind you don't even look at at yard sales.

But I'm not complaining.  This is not only an unexpected check, it's very good publicity I'm told.  I've never sold to them before.  I guess they weren't interested in lesbians or a serial killer who was knocking off nuns.

I'm not completely sure I know what it says about the novel.  I guess it doesn't offend anyone.  This is also a first for me.

The End of Another Writing Week

It was only 4 days.  And I'd made a vow not to distract myself with email, reading blogs or anything else.

Tuesday and Wednesday I failed.  I wrote, but switching to email and other things made it unsatisfactory.  On Thursday and Friday I prevailed.  No distractions.  I got a lot done and more links became clear.  No, not those kind of links.  Clue links.  Family links. Killer links.

Do I feel good about two days of complete concentration?  You bet.  There's nothing like it when it goes well.  I'm excited that the words and situations are making sense and it's beginning to read like a novel.

It may not be as startling as the first version, but what good was that when I couldn't make it add up?

Although I'm still rewriting there are some pages that are new.  By the end of next week I should be finished with rewriting and it'll all be fresh from there. 

Yes, that's scary.  My setup is done and I'll be continuing to interview suspects and unraveling histories with perhaps a surprise or two to the reader. Maybe even to me.  On the other hand, scary or not, I'll be glad to be writing new stuff.

It's not clear sailing by any means.  I anticipate hard days, mistakes, irritation.  Still, I don't think I'll discover again that I've got the damn thing all wrong.

So I count this week as a success. Even though there were only 2 days out of 4 that were what I wanted them to be, I feel I've broken a bad habit and that I'll now be able to write with discipline as I always have.  Three to four hours a day or at least 5 pages, whichever comes first.

I know some people write all day or all night.  I've never done that.  But when I was younger I'd get 10 pages done in those three or four hours.  Ed McBain would laugh at me. I think I read somewhere that he still writes from 9-6 and he's been doing this a little longer than I have.

Being successful this week makes me feel I deserve the weekend.  But I wish I didn't feel I deserve desserts.  More than I have in a long time, I'll really enjoy reading, viewing and whatever else I do.

Thanks to all who've been rooting for me.

Oh, one more thing.  If the Oscars on Sunday night don't end on time I'll be too tired to write on Monday.  I wonder if I'll ever work a 5 day week again.

Forgot

The revised cover art came to me this week. They shortened the hem and untwisted her body. Hooray!!! I think it's a very good jacket.

This Last Writing Week

I've now rewritten 6 and a half chapters.  The last 3 were almost a complete rewrite.  I keep telling myself that when the novel is actually completed I'll have less rewriting to do.  But that's the part I enjoy so it doesn't comfort me.

It's been a struggle not to go on the Inernet to ostensibly look up things.  We all know where that leads.  One thing to another.  Each day I promise myself that I won't do that.  I might have to check something out through Gurunet but I don't have to go any farther once I get my answer.  Still, I continue to do it.

I don't launch my email program but if I launch my browser, Mozilla, I can see my email from my home page.  Ok, so I don't answer it.  That's the only thing I resist.

I have to stop all that.  I have to get down to work.  I can't get distracted.  If I want to do these things I'll do them after I finish writing.  This is my vow for the coming week.

Even with all my diversions I think I know more than I did.  I might even know by now (page 80) who did it.  And why.  I have a lot of rewriting and changing of things ahead of me.  There are 5 more chapters to go before I get to write a new chapter.  Actually, there may not be that many because I took things from 10 and put them in 7.  And I may have to lose two characters all together.  But then I'll be adding a character who will get at least half a chapter.  She was dead in my first version.  How heady it is to bring someone back to life!

I know the prose I'm writing now is fairly lifeless.  I also know I can change that later so I'm not letting it worry me too much.  All in all it's been a battle.  I don't recall going through this before. Oh, I've been in despair at times, but I never had this kind of trouble. 

I just realized that I killed the wrong person again having done that once before in a YA book, Playing Murder, but I caught that one at around 100 pages.  This time I didn't know I'd done it until I started rewriting.

It's caused me a lot of trouble.  And other things have too...all those corners I got myself into.  As it stands now there aren't any. 

I keep wondering if ,without those corners am I writing a dull book?  And then I remember they were corners I couldn't do anything about.  I might get into some new ones as I go along and can only hope that they'll be ones I can write my way out of.

Those of you who've read my blog before know that I take any holiday I can.  I mean, how could I possibly write on Presidents' Day?

Is this book dull?  Is this book dull?  Is this book dull?

 

A Writer Friend Who Has A Part Time Job Says:

There's a lot to be said for selling your time, and never having to rewrite it.

Titles

A post to his blog by Olen Steinhauer about titles being changed in other countries got me thinking about my own experience with this subject.

My new book (the first in series of the current one I'm struggling with) was originally QUICK. My protagonist is Faye Quick and I liked using her last name as the title of the first book. I imagined that quick would appear in subseqent titles like QUICK ON THE TRIGGER, etc.

Once Ballantine bought it various people didn't like that title. I was very disappointed and irritated that I'd have to change it. I told my editor what I'd planned (he liked the title) and he made the case to the people he needed to convince. No go. Because of my contract I could've insisted but I haven't come this far to shoot myself in the foot. I managed to do that years ago one way or another. I knew if I was stubborn about this it would hurt me, hurt the book. So I agreed to try to come up with something over a weekend.

I started out that weekend very grumpy. But I knew I had to come up with something. So I began looking through books on noir films as this novel takes place in 1943 and has an unorthodox sense of noir.

I tried out different titles, changing a word in them, but nothing clicked. And then I heard that click. There was THIS GUN FOR HIRE with Veronica Lake and Alan Ladd. I honestly got a chill when I replaced gun with dame. THIS DAME FOR HIRE is the title of the new book. It's so much better than QUICK. I'm grateful to the faceless group at Ballantine who forced me to make the change. This was a positive experience.

A negative experience I had was with a book I wrote many years ago. It was a novel about a boy who kills his whole family. I called it A NICE QUIET BOY. You know how the neighbors always say this sort of thing on television about the kid who slaughters everyone.

But, oh no. Since I'd written YA novels in the past, the faceless group at Putnam decided this title made it sound like a YA novel. Once again I was asked to come up with something else. I went through tons of titles but nothing clicked. I finally agreed to SUCH NICE PEOPLE, which I hated. This was one time I should have been stubborn. My original title was better and made more sense.

In Olen's case he was talking about title changes in different countries. He writes, " It's been verified in the UK that my third book, which was acquired by Harper Collins will be called The Vienna Assignment-while in the US it's called 36 Yalta Boulevard ."

I don't see the point of this change, nor does he. Still he had no say in the matter.

I've had some of my books translated into other languages. My last series had titles that were a play on song titles or lines from songs. The French publisher changed all of them (5) to titles that had nothing to do with anything, in my opinion. The last one, which was called GONNA TAKE A HOMICIDAL JOURNEY was changed to LONG ISLAND BLUES. Yes, it does take place on Long Island...but really.

I had no say in the title choice for the foreign sales. I didn't like it, but I don't think it stopped any sales because those books did very well in France.

I guess my point here is that if you have the right to choose your own title and a publisher doesn't like it, think it over very carefully before you refuse. See if you can come up with something better and if you can't and are wedded to the original title, then stick to it. But if you do, know that you won't get the same support from the sales people, who in case you didn't know, actually run the book business!

Quote

 "Fiction's essential activity is to imagine how others feel, what a Saturday afternoon in an Italian town in the 2nd Century looked like. My ambition is solely to get some effect, as of light on stone in a forest on a September day".

Guy Davenport

Listen for the Click

I think I've broken through this murk I've been whining about.  If you've been reading this blog for any length of time you may remember The Surprise Character that came at the end of Chapter 2.  I wrote about how much fun that was, and it usually is.  But now I believe, that in this case, she (the surprise character) was the very thing that tripped me up.

In rewriting Chapter 2 for the third time, when I came to the surprise character I heard the click and I changed the gender of the character.  That was it.  I think.  I hope.

I know I didn't wake up depressed this morning.  And even though I hadn't slept well I was able to fix Chapter 3.

I still don't know who did it, but that feels okay now.

Someone named Bullfighter left me an interesting comment on my Feb. 8th post.  I thought what he had to say was worth thinking about.  I keep saying he because Bullfighter referred to his girlfriend but that doesn't mean B. is a man. Still, I think he is.  Who knows how much his comments had to do with me listening for the click.  Although I don't think I'm afraid to get to the end, the idea intrigued me.

So for the moment I feel pretty good.  I still have quite a bit to solve, other than who did it, but I have more confidence about moving forward.

We'll see.  Won't we?

Listen for the Click is the title of a novel by Jon L. Breen.

BTW, I wish people who comment would leave an email address or some way to write back, because I often want to reply and can't find a way.

Quote

It took me a year€'™s groping to discover what I call my tunneling process, by which I tell the past by installments, as I have need of it.

Virginia Woolf

One More Time

Did the weekend refresh me?  Not a bit.  I did another chapter yesterday.  It was okay.

But when I didn't want to get out of bed today, I knew it wasn't okay.

I talked to a writing friend who said maybe I should chuck this and start over with a new plot.  I almost sank to the floor thinking about this.  My friend made some suggestions for going about this new plot attack.  They were good.  And I decided that's what I'd do.

While I got dressed I thought about it.  I have five and a half months to my deadline.  Doing some research now and starting over in about a week or so seemed impossible.

So when I came to my desk I decided to give this plot one more shot from a different angle.  I just finished writing chapter 1 for the third time.

I think I've gotten myself out of even more corners.  But is it interesting this way?  I don't know.  Is it fun writing it?  No.  But, hey, where is it written that I should have fun doing this?

My trusty reader will take a pass at this new chapter this afternoon.  And if it's okay I'll start rewriting chapter 2 tomorrow for the third time.

I'm aware that I might rewrite five or six more chapters and come to the same conclusion I came to this morining.  Dump it.  And if that happens I'll start a new book with four months until deadline.  Yes, I know they give you leeway, but not that much.  And I like to make deadlines.  I always have.

I've never wanted to know who did it more than I do now.

A Little Help From A Friend

Below are the words a friend sent me after reading my last few entries. She is a writer and has been publishing novels for over 50 years.
-----------------------------------
Your latest blog entry makes me see you really are stressed. Of course I often think two things are at work when we write our best.

One, it's such familiar territory, so ready to jump off the page that it does and it's good. The second one is the sneak punch. It's horrible in the creating. A struggle with many false stops and starts. In my case there is often a great deal of false euphoria attached to the struggle, times when I'm so elated with "how it's coming" that I can't see it's really going.

In between are the old, faithful professional jobs neither outstanding nor below par: just what they should be.

I hope you solve things. I have a feeling you will, only because I've been there. Instead of a blog I have The Inside Enemy. He's always around and sneering and suggesting I'm staying too long at the dance, suggesting who the hell will read this? suggesting I ought to sell my house and retire to Florida etc. etc.

-----------------------

I found this comforting and helpful.

I've now rewritten four chapters and I feel good about them. It's going better than I thought it would. Still, I'm not at the really tough places yet. But my setup is getting neater and making more sense.

I'll be thinking about it over the weekend as I read other people's books, and maybe go to a movie. Whatever I do I know my book will be constantly in a part of my mind. This time my mind might cooperate.

Trying Something Different

I gave my manuscript to another writer I trust. I never have anyone read my work while I'm in the process of writing. I only let another person read my novel when I feel finished. So this was not only unusual for me, it was also a little scary. But I thought, what have I got to lose?

She read it and we talked. I realize now that I have to change a lot of things. As she said, "Nobody could get out of the holes you wrote yourself into."

So flying by the seat of my pants didn't work this time. By now the magic should have happened. By magic I mean that things should have fallen into place.

Lee Goldberg asks if I write with an outline. The answer is no. I think I've addressed this before, but since he asked I'll explain again.

I couldn't stand to have an outline. The idea of knowing where I'm going is hideous to me. Anyway, I couldn't write an outline when I never know who did it until I'm at about page 100. I don't want to know who did it when I start. It would spoil everything for me just as if I was reading a book and knew who did it from the beginning. Before I start I know who my protagonist is (in this case I know a lot about her because it's the second in a series) and who has been killed. That has always worked for me before. And now it's failed me. I still won't do an outline.

I did learn from my reader that I had to drop some characters and move some to other locations. I had to give different occupations to a few. My reader said, "I definitely wouldn't scrap it because there is a lot of good stuff in here." This was nice to hear. But the fact that I have to rewrite before I'm ready to rewrite doesn't thrill me. I'm still not sure where I'm going. It's possible with the changes that I make I'll find out.

This morning I went grocery shopping. Soon I'm going to take a shower. Tomorrow I'll start to make the changes.

I feel like I'm in hell.

A Mess

I think I'm in big trouble. This novel is a mess. I'm on page 142 and not only don't I know what's going on, I can't imagine writing at least another 250 pages of this.

Nothing makes sense. I've written myself into so many corners I can't see how to ever write out of them.

If it wasn't so depressing, and if I didn't have a deadline, I think I'd junk this novel and start again. I honestly don't know what I'm going to do. I should be working right now but instead I'm doing this.

I feel I've been fooling myself, thinking it would work itself out. I don't see how it can. I've never been in quite this position so early in a book.

I remember the writing of another book and running around the house yelling "I don't know how to catch him" meaning the killer. But that was a very different matter. And I did catch him.

Now the problem is I don't know how to go on. I knew I shouldn't have started a series. I hate writing a series. But that's what publishers want and This Dame For Hire screamed series.

In this made up world it's the summer of 1943 in New York City and I need to make you believe it. That's another problem I'm having. Still, I know I can deal with that part of the novel in my first rewrite. What rewrite? You can't rewrite a novel if you don't have a first draft.

My advice to another writer in this predicament would be to press on. Do the best you can. And when you come to The End worry about all this then.

All right. I'll try.

Quote

 "We are a species that needs and wants to understand who we are. Sheep lice do not seem to share this longing, which is one reason why they write so little."

Anne Lamott

Two Days?

I've managed to lose the better part of the week. I wrote Tuesday and Wednesday, but not today and I won't tomorrow. So this has been a two day week. My shortest yet.

Part of it is beyond my control. Actually, it all is except for Monday which I took on purpose.

I don't want to be sitting here on the 4th of July rewriting as I was last year. I want to have a summer.

Okay then. Pull myself together, right? Right. I'll try.

But I don't think this novel is gelling. Something about it is very wrong. Maybe I'll figure it out over the next three days. I'm reading a good novel. Sometimes that helps. Still, the way I feel today (depressed in case you didn't get it) I don't think anything will help.

What About The Writing?

I was so focused on the cover art problem yesterday I didn't say anything about writing .  Nothing about how the week went.

It was another four day week, but not because I went to the movies.  Each of the four days was hell.  I eked out about 3 pages a day.  The day I missed was because I was very tired and I just didn't want to write.

But did I follow my own advice and sit in front of the Word document for three hours? No.  I played with my computer.  Not games.  Surfing.  Writing email.

On the days I wrote I used a trick that I recommend.  I stopped at a continuation point each day, rather than stopping at a completion point.  What I mean is I left myself a kind of cliff hanger in the middle of a page.  So when I did write I made the starting point easier for myself.

An example would be:  I was surprised when I saw him because he looked so

Or:  I didn't know what I'd find in the bedroom but I slowly opend the door.

This almost always gets me going.  And it did but I didn't stay with it long enough.  Usually that trick has me hitting the keys all morning.

One thing I do have to remember is that I can't write as many pages in a morning as I could some years ago.

But who knows?  Perhaps next week will be different.  Of course it will be a four day week again.  As readers of this blog know I take every holiday I can.  Januar 17th, Martin Luther King's birthday, is certainly one I'll take.

On Tuesday I start a new chapter. It will be a new day in the book.  But I know what Faye has to do. 

I think.

End Of A Dodgy Week

The bound galleys of This Dame For Hire arrived on Wednesday. They look great except for one thing.  That damn hemline.  They still hadn't changed it and these galleys went out to booksellers and all the important people that make or break a book.

I know that the wrong hemline won't make or break anything.  In fact, probably no one will notice.  But I know.  What was so hard about shortening the hemline?  I've come to believe the artist doesn't know how to draw legs.

There are great quotes all over the book and my editor has written, in glowing prose, a letter at the front of the novel about me and the book.

The whole package signals the book world that this is a special crime novel.  I'm not saying important because it's not that.  But it says this is a book to consider.

The alternative to the cover art the way it is on the galley would've been no art, only a blue or red or whatever color they decided for a nondescript cover.  So having the galley presented the way it is is wonderful.

I heard about the cover art on the galley before I got mine.  I was angry.  I asked my agent to call my editor.  She did and told me that it was not going to be that way on the finished book.

And when I talked to him my editor assured me that the final cover art would show the woman with a short hemline.  This must seem frivolous.  But it's all I have right now.  Later, there will be more things for me to be upset about re this book.  If they aren't obvious I'll search and find them.  Just watch my dust!

 

Something New For Me

I've never had an audio sale.  I'm not sure why.  I have a terrific, hard working agent (she's not taking any more clients) but no one ever bought the rights to any of my novels for this purpose.

But my agent called me today to tell me that I'd gotten an audio sale for This Dame For Hire which will be published in June by Ballantine.

I was thrilled.  I'm not jaded, afterall!

Another Four Day Week

I've been very lucky.  My parents supported me when I went to NYC and wanted to be a writer.  Then I got a few different meaningless jobs.  The longest lasted for a year.  But I don't think I tried to write during those periods.

Later I supported myself through writing for TV.  Yes, some soaps.  The pay was great.  But the jobs were awful.

Eventually I sold my first novel which was a YA.  And I went on from there publishing many books.

The reason I'm writing the above is because I want to pay tribute to those people who have jobs and write, to those who run a household and write.  I'm finding running a household and writing at the same time incredibly difficult.

I don't know how people do this.  But they certainly have my admiration.  I don't have the luxury of not writing until my household returns to normal.  But I'm taking this day off anyway.  I can't face writing today.

I'll try again on Monday.

Quote

When in doubt, have a man come through the door with a gun in his hand.
Raymond Chandler

Back To Work

On Sunday I read what I'd written of my novel so far.  I was surprised.  I found that it was much better than I thought. Yesterday I went back to writing. 

It was very hard.  I wrote about two pages.  Today it was harder. What does that mean tomorrow will be like?

My editor said about my cover art that they were definitely shortening the skirt hem on the woman.  I'll take it.  Any other complaints I had I'll have to live with.  He didn't say that, I'm saying that.  I've learned to compromise.  You pick your battles. You grow up.  Damn.

Looming Again

I'm going to finish reading Case Histories by Kate Atkinson today. And then I'll read what I have so far of my own novel.  I will especially hate it after reading the Atkinson because she's so good you could never bother writing again.

Every once in awhile I read a book and think, I wish I'd written that one.  It doesn't happen often.  And the only other ones I can think of are Before and After by Rosellen Brown, In the Cut by Susanna Moore (forget the movie) and Looking for Mr. Goodbar by Judith Rossner.  I know these are three women.  There are also a few by men, but they escape me now.

Anyway, the beginning of writing again is less than twenty-four hours away.  I have to get my head back into the world of 1943.  And I have to go back to figuring out what the hell is going on. I'm hoping after reading the eighty-some pages I'll have a better idea.  Or any idea of anything.

As trying as this period has been it was nice not setting an alarm clock and staying up past ten.  Now I have to go back into training as though I were an athlete.  My focus has to change.  And I hope I won't be too distracted by the "discussion" about my book jacket.  They've put it up on Amazon which really makes me irritated. 

Focus, Sandra.

The New Year

I made no resolutions.  Mainly because I don't have time to keep them.  On Monday I'll go back to writing the novel.  Do I dread it?  Guess.

Tomorrow, in preparation, I'll read what I've written so far.  I have to remind myself of what has happened and where I am now.  I have no idea.  I know who's dead and who hired Faye but that's all.  No. I don't remember who hired her.  I just tried to think of her name...I know it's a woman...and nothing comes to me.

This may be a function of age or more likely that I'm blocking it all out.

For obvious reasons, I haven't been recharged by my time off .  I did manage to finish one book I was reading and start another.  And I did watch a lot of videos and got to one movie with friends.

I have no desire to go back to writing.  I can't believe I have to do it in less than 48 hours.  Yes,  I'm counting hours now.

I know I have to do it.  And I hope that once I start I'll get into it and be a normal writer who has a hate/love relationship with her manuscript.

Quote

"Novels aren't just pleasure, I think they are an education of feeling."

Susan Sontag

Susan Sontag

She died today at the age of 71. I couldn't read her, and though I didn't know her well, I didn't especially like her. But I do have a funny story about her...and me.

When we were in our middle twenties we met at a party. I had just published a small book called SUZUKI BEANE, illustrated by Louise Fitzhugh. It was the first thing I'd ever published and even though it was a novelty type book (sort of like ELOISE) I was pretty full of myself. Susan and I chatted and I asked her what she did. She answered "I'm a writer." And I thought, "Oh, sure, everybody's a writer."

Boy was I surprised a few years later.

I want to add that I respect what she did with her life as a writer and an activist.

Quote

Murderers will try to recall the sequence of events, they will remember exactly what they did just before and just after. But they can never remember the actual moment of killing. This is why they will always leave a clue.
Peter Ackroyd

Nurse Ratched Rides Again

Two days before Christmas.  I would have been writing.  At least this morning I would have been writing.  And all this past week.

I want to be reminded when I start complaining about writing how much better it is than having to do everything for a person who has broken her leg.  Writing is a piece of cake compared.

But the thing is, when I start writing again we will only be in the first part of week 3.  So I'll be writing AND doing everything.

Aaaaarrrrrgggghhhh!

Plan Nothing

I don't have my 100 pages before Christmas and I won't.  My partner fell off a table and broke her leg.  This means I have to do everything.  Especially in these first two weeks.

I want to start on the novel again the first weekday of 2005.  I can't imagine that things won't be better by then...but as I said...don't plan.

I never intended to write between Christmas and the New Year anyway.  I always take that week.  I use it to recharge, read and go to movies.  I don't know how much time I'll have to do any of those things.

I still haven't seen the revised cover art and my editor goes away on the 21st until after the New Year.  Unless I get something tomorrow I won't know until 2005.  It would be nice to see it but I'll live.  They've posted the jacket on their website and I'm hoping that's for a reason I don't understand and not because that's the jacket they intend to use.  Because if it is I intend to call my agent and let her cause a fuss.  She's very good at that.  The best.

I have to go now and see what's in the fridge so I can make dinner.  And then do the dishes.

This sucks.

Jacket Photo

I've had nothing but trouble with my jacket photo.  It's the one on this page.  I know you can't tell because it's so small but it's good and I like it.  It was taken with a digital camera.

All day yesterday was spent back and forth to my editor and his assistant about this damn picture.  It was the best one out of 53 and they wanted me to have another taken because the resolution had to be at least 300dpi.  I was told the art department couldn't do anything with it.  Yes, that art department.

They wanted it to be large and the resolution wouldn't allow that. I told them if it couldn't be fixed then I didn't need a picture on my jacket.

I couldn't believe they weren't capable of fixing it in Photoshop or some other program.  Then I remembered my cousin Andy.  He's a wiz at this stuff.  So I sent him the picture, told him the problem and he fixed it.

I sent it to my editor and his assistant this morning.  My editot said he would send it on to the art department.  I await the verdict.

Raymond Chandler said:  "Writers should never be seen."

Quote

A bad book is as much a labor to write as a good one; it comes as sincerely from the author's soul.

Aldous Huxley

Irritating Things

My editor didn't seem to understand 2 out of 3 complaints I had about the cover art.  This surprised me. The hemline is being changed but I have a feeling that the body distortion will still be there.  As for the shoulder bag, my editor said he thought it was a  holster.  No one would wear a holster over their coat.  A shoulder holster is worn underneath a jacket or coat.  And my protagonist wouldn't wear one ever.  I'm not looking forward to this discussion this week.  There seems to be a rush on this but it's not my fault that the art department couldn't look in a book or on the Internet to find out what people were wearing in the 40's.  I hope I don't have to drag my agent into this.

I've almost completed the page proofs.  They would've been done by now but I've been working on a new website with an artist long distance.

Anyway, I hate the book again.  And it really makes me not want to write the next in the series.  Maybe I'll be dead by the time they want a third.  Very cranky here.

 

Page Proofs

They came yesterday. This is the last chance I get to make changes in my book, This Dame For Hire.  They are exactly the way the pages will look in the bound galley and the hardcover book.

I spent most of the day working on them.  That means that I've been reading the book again and looking for typos or mistakes.  I found very few and I'm halfway through.

Having to read it again is hideous.  I don't feel like reading it.  It's interrupted my writing schedule.  In fact, it feels like torture having to read it.  But this will be the last time.  Once a book is published I never read it again.

If I have to make a personal appearance and do a reading that's the only time I give the book a tumble.  I don't know whether that will happen with his novel or not. 

I got very good at doing that with my Lauren Laurano series.  And this book has an angle to it that will make it fairly easy to read aloud.  We'll see.

I have to continue reading the damn thing tomorrow.  I hope I finish it then.  I'm not a fast reader at all. 

So it looks like my writing week is over because we'll be running away from the cleaners again on Friday.  Going to the movies.  This was always going to be a four day writing week, but it turned out to be a two day week.

I want to have at least 100 pages finished before Christmas.  I'll take the week between Christmas and New Years.  The whole publishing industry does so why shouldn't I?  That's one of the perks I have being a novelist who supports herself strictly through writing.  I'm so lucky. 

Then why am I complaining? 

 

Quote

Read, read, read. Read everything - trash, classics, good and bad, and see how they do it. Just like a carpenter who works as an apprentice and studies the master. Read! You'll absorb it. Then write. If it is good, you'll find out. If it's not, throw it out the window.
William Faulkner

Cover Art 2

The second rendition of the cover art for book one came to me through email.

It's still wrong. The colors are fine. The background is fine. But the woman's outfit is still wrong. She remains in silhouette but now she's facing us. The hat is perfect. But they have her wearing a shoulder bag (there weren't any in 1943) and they have once again given her a long skirt. Women didn't wear long skirts in 1943.

I've sent them pictures of women's fashions I found on the Internet and written "note the hemlines" but obviously it did no good.

There's another problem and that is the woman's body is distorted or something. The bottom half of her is going one way while the top is going another.

It's very upsetting. I hate to be a complainer but this can't stand. I put in a call to my editor and am now waiting for him to return it. He must like the art work because he sent it to me and he knew exactly what I wanted the last time we talked.

I don't know what this means.

******

I just learned that my editor won't be back until next week and that his assistant was the one who sent me the art work. I'm Relieved that my editor hadn't seen it and sent it on. Now I wait for him to come back. I'm sure he'll see the folly of this cover.

The Comfort Level

I knew something was wrong, but I didn't know what it was.  I wasn't comfortable writing this novel.  I never had that exact feeling before.  Why should I feel uncomfortable or comfortable writing a book?

I had a talk with someone about this.  I didn't tell the plot (don't you hate it when he/she tells you the plot of their book?) of my novel because I never do that. 

BTW, it's a mistake to tell the plot before you start writing, or while you're writing, because it's simple to talk it away.  Once you tell all, it's easy not to write all.

So, as I was talking about this feeling of being uncomfortable it became clear to me that it was with the new characters I'd introduced this week. These two people were new but they were the parents of Faye's client.  So their status had been set-up in chapter one.  This was what was wrong.  The people were in the wrong class.  Don't forget this is 1943.

Once I realized this I was able to sit down today and make those changes.  I put them in a different part of town, a different type of home and gave the father a different job.  Now they were right.  They were who they should be.

More surprises came out of the conversation they were all having.  But it made perfect sense.

I look forward to tomorrow's work day because now I feel comfortable.

Quote

If it sounds like writing, I rewrite it.

Elmore Leonard

Hitting The Keys Again

So my mini vacation is over like everyone else's.  Tomorrow I have to go back to writing my novel.

I discovered what Johnny said to Faye and it moves the relationship forward.

Now I'm about to introduce two new characters.  The parents of the surprise character, the murder victim.  Faye is waiting for them in their living room.  They and Faye's client know that daughter and sister has been murdered, but they don't know another piece of information that will surprise them all.

And although I know what this info is, I don't know what it means yet.  I guess more will be revealed.

The new cover art should arrive this week.  I'm crossing my fingers.

Carpe Diem

Larry Brown died yesterday.  He was 53.  He wasn't a well-known, writer, but he was a damn good one.  He wrote 5 novels, 2 short story collections, and 2 books of essays.  He won The Southern Book Award twice. His books were mostly about the seamy side of southern life, which is probably why he wasn't a popular read. 

53 years old.  Much too young.  He had lots of books left in him, I'm sure. It makes me sad to think nothing more will be coming from him.

"She came down out of the hills that were growing black with night, and in the dusty road her feet found small broken stones that made her wince. Alone for the first time in the world and full dark coming quickly. House lights winked through the trees as she walked and swung her purse from her hand. She could hear cars passing down the asphalt but she was still a long way from that."

From Fay: A novel.

A Declaration?

Today I stopped writing when the love interest, Johnny, says, "Faye, there's something I want to say."

This after they've had a long kiss in the vestibule of her apartment.

I wonder what he wants.

Because it's 1943 I will never have to write a sex scene. This makes me so happy I could click my heels.

Two Things

I wrote to my editor about my jacket and the cover art I objected to. I included pictures of what women were wearing in 1943. On Monday, when he got the email, he called me and said he would pass it on to the art director and what I said made perfect sense to him.

I told him I didn't like the colors too much. He said he did. He thought it made the book stand out. I mulled this over and showed the jacket to several people. They liked it. The thinking was with these colors the book wouldn't be confused with chick lit. Mine are yellow to orange in the title letters and teal for the frame which houses the silhouette of the woman and a backdrop of a city. I decided to keep the colors.

The Surprise Character

I know who she is now. She was identified by the detective's client. This happened yesterday. I was shocked to learn who she was. I ended chapter 5 with this revelation.

This morning I woke early and before I went back to sleep I kept writing opening lines of chapter 6 in my head. But I didn't use any of them when I went to work this morning.

Since chapter 5 ended with a name I had to open chapter 6 with more information about who this victim was. In learning this I've set myself a lot of new problems. I still don't know why she was found where she was or why she was murdered. Needless to say, I don't know who killed her.

Next week will be short. Three days. It would be nice if I could answer some of these questions before Thanksgiving. If I don't it will be nagging at me. So what? That's part of writing a novel. Any novel. Not only a mystery. I think all good novels are mysteries to the author until they're completed. Then people read all sorts of things into what's on the page and this becomes more of a mystery to the author.

Quote

Outside of a dog, man's best friend is a book.  Inside of a dog, it's too dark to read.

Groucho Marx

Cover Art

The cover art for my book, THIS DAME FOR HIRE, arrived on Friday. My editor loved it and hoped I would, too.

I don't. It's all wrong. I'm not being a neurotic writer who would think nothing is right. I've loved all the jackets on my books except one before this.

The reason it's wrong is because the book takes place in the 1940's during the 2nd WW and the silhoutte of a woman (my protagonist) is dressed as though she is living during the first WW. I know that the artists seldom read the book, but surely he/she knew when it took place. What would be so hard about finding out what women wore then? I did. There are lots of examples on the Internet if you don't want to look in a book.

I also don't like the main colors. My name is in white which is fine. But the title and border are not pleasing to my eye. I'll give on that if I have to. It's the woman in the silhoutte that is most important. It sends the wrong message.

I've sent an email to my editor (which he'll get Monday) gently telling him how I feel. My agent said not to worry they'll fix it. I'm not worried. But I am disappointed.

Problems like this are another reason you need an agent. This publishing experience was going so beautifully until now. Still, I'm confident it'll be remedied.

Quote

Even now, my ideal for writing fiction is to put Dostoevsky and Chandler together in one book. That's my goal.

Haruki Murakami

A Little Discouraged

My writing hasn't been going well this week. I'm on Chapter 4, page 4. I've been there for 2 days.

I have no ooomph. And I've been playing around on the Internet. No, not looking at email. Trying the new Mozilla browser, for instance, and going from site to site. Please. Now I see I mustn't launch a browser before I start writing. Come on. I knew that. I simply don't want to write.

I know you can't wait until you feel like it. You have to do it everyday, anyway.

I've had people ask me if I wait for inspiration. My answer is that if I waited for that I'd write one page a year. Maybe.

I don't want to write today and I'm not going to. And I won't tomorrow either because it's one of those movie days I've described earlier.

So, I'll try again on Monday. I'll more than try. I'll sit here as I've said one should, no matter what. I won't get involved on the Internet. No launching of anything except my Word program and Gurunet. That's a great program for looking up things you need while writing. Dictionay, Thesaurus, search engines to find out things like: how much a subway ride was in 1943. But it can be distracting, too. Still, I need this program. I'll have to use self-control. I can do that.

I hate when a week like this happens because I don't feel I deserve a weekend of doing whatever I want. I like to write my 5 days and then reward myself. It's not going to happen. Oh, I'll do the same things I would if I'd written all week. But I'll do it with a smidgen of guilt. Never any point in feeling too guilty, is there?

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The words! I collected them in all shapes and sizes and hung them like bangles in my mind.
Hortense Calisher

Advance The Story

I finished chapter 3 today and I still don't know who the dead woman is.

But I'm not nervous yet.  Usually a character's identity is revealed to me eventually.  It will have to be within the next few chapters so I can advance the story,

I used to keep a sign on my bulletin board that said:

ADVANCE THE STORY

It's not a bad thing to do.  The sign, that is.  It doesn't matter what kind of novel you're writing you need to always advance the story.  I'm not talking about cliffhangers here.  Just keep the story moving along.  No flights of fancy, please.

The Surprise Character

I forgot to mention that last Monday I had my protagonist searching a hotel room for clues to the missing man. She opened a wardrobe and the body of a naked woman fell out.

I didn't plan this at all.  It happened.  I have no idea who she is or what she has to do with the missing man case.  The woman falling out of the wardrobe was the way I ended chapter two.

I'm 4 pages into chapter 4 and I still don't know anything about her.  The police have arrived now.  Don't have any idea where this is going to go.

Yes, it's a bit scary not to know, but it's also what makes writing without an outline fun.  Maybe tomorrow I'll find out who she is.

Quote

A sentence should contain no unnecessary words, a paragraph no unnecessary sentences, for the same reason that a drawing should have no unnecessary lines and a machine no unnecessary parts.
William Strunk, Jr.

Never Give Up

Yesterday I was in my local library when a man came in and said "What happened to all the Barara Pym novels? I've been reading her and now they all seem to be missing."

The librarian looked her up on the computer. She was there. But when the librarian and the man went into the stacks Pym was, indeed, missing.

After a search Pym was discovered in the discard pile that was going to the Book Cottage. The BC is behind the library and is open from April through November Wednesdays and Saturdays. For a quarter or two dollars you can pick up some great stuff. Most of it is junk, but you never know. Now some lucky person will discover Barbara Pym.

Who was she?

Her first novel, Some Tame Gazelle, was published in 1950, followed by five more books. In 1963 the new chief editor of her publisher rejected An Unsuitable Attachment, because, as he wrote, "in present conditions we could not sell a sufficient number of copies to cover costs". In 1969 she sent The Sweet Dove Died, written in 1968, to many publishers, with no success. Discouraged, she stopped writing.

But in 1977 she got her revenge. The Times Literary Supplement asked some eminent literates to list the "most underrated novelist of the century". Barbara Pym is the only one who was mentioned twice, by poet Philip Larkin and by Lord David Cecil.

Pym was established as a major novelist. Her next novel, Quartet in Autumn, was readily accepted and she was able to publish two more books before her death in 1980.

The above bio is in thanks to Claudia Di Giorgio

But all those wonderful novels are going to the Book Cottage because in our library (and I suspect in most small libraries) if a book hasn't been taken out in two years more than once it's chucked out.

So if you're rejected, don't give up, and if you get accepted don't take yourself too seriously. You might wind up in the Book Cottage yourself someday. Still, in between you'll give some readers pleasure.

Read Pym.

A Three Day Week

I skipped writing on Wednesday because I stayed up very late watching election returns. Also woke up early.  Now I'm skipping today, Friday.

 

Why? I'm not sure. My partner is away. I got up a little late and had to take care of all the morning chores that we usually divide.  Big deal, right. But before I knew it it was almost 10 and I told myself to take the day. I'm playing hooky have stuff to do...write in this blog, shop for food, answer email, pay bills, take back videos and...

 

Nothing else.

 

Face it. I'm playing hooky and that's all there is to it. I have today and the weekend to catch up on reading and other enjoyable things.

 

Monday I'll start writing again. It's not so awful...I have two chapters and 4 pages of chapter 3.  So I don't have to push myself to write, right?

 

I feel happy!

Quote

"There are three rules for writing a novel. Unfortunately, no one knows what they are".
---- Somerset Maugham

Four Day Week

That's what it turned out to be.  My partner is allergic to dust and when the cleaners come, every other Friday, we often go to the movies and that's what we did.

Nevertheless, I got Chaper One written and four pages of Chap. Two.  I've introduced the person who hires the PI and established who is missing.  My protagonist will now be tracing and interviewing people that were mentioned in Chap. One.  But as the novel progresses it'll get harder and harder. 

Still, I'm pleased with my start and thrilled that it's the weekend.

I Did It!

That's right.  I started my novel this morning.  I wrote two and a half pages.  That's not as much as I usually do, but I'm not completely in the writing rhythm yet.  It was a good feeling to be back with my characters.  This is the second in a series so I felt comfortable.  In a series you have to get in a lot of exposition without repeating yourself exactly as in book one.  So that can be tricky.  And that's part of what I was writing today. I stopped at the place where I'm introducing a new character.

I often use this little trick.  I try not to end a workday at a finished spot.  I like to end in the middle of a scene so that when I come back the next day it isn't hard to pick up.  I write cliffhangers at the end of chapters for readers and cliffhangers in the middle of paragraphs for me.

I feel very pleased that I've begun.

 

MONDAY LOOMS

That's it.  Looming.

Slouching Toward Writing

We all know the Yankees didn't win so now I have no excuse.

Monday, Oct. 25th, is the start day.  Why do I have this cough?  My chest hurts when I take a deep breath.  Not going over, huh?

Starting for me means that on Sunday night I have to be in bed by 10 and asleep no later than 11.  I have to get up by 7. Breakfast.  Make the bed. Wash and dress. Give pills to the cat.  Empty the litter box. Go into my office.  Turn on the computer.  Do NOT get email. Power up Word.  Set the spacing, etc.  Go down the page to 4.5.  Center.  Type ONE.  Hit enter.  Hit the left hand square. Hit enter, hit tab.

And no matter what happens I  have to stay there until 12 at the earliest.  I've never stared at a blank page for 3 hours in my life.  Will this be the first time?

The Copyedited Manuscript of This Dame For Hire

So it wasn't bad at all. I was pleasantly surprised. Only a lot of added commas and suggested changes that were mostly typos on my part. No dumb questions. That is almost unheard of.

The next part of the process will be the page proofs. I guess I get them in about two or three months.

But here's the thing. I'd given myself a writing start date of October 18th for the new book. It didn't happen because I had to deal with the copyedited manuscript of THIS DAME FOR HIRE. And tomorrow is Thursday. Who ever started a new book on a Thursday? I never have and I'm not going to begin now. What would be the point? I'd write for two days and then the weekend would be here and I never write on weekends except when I'm rewriting. Therefore, any rhythm I'd developed would be lost.

So the new start date is October 25th. I should have the whole five days clear. I'll start at 9 or 9:30 that morning and go to 12 or 1:00.

Of course, if the Yankees go to the World Series and play only night games, what the hell will I do? I may have to start writing at a later time. 10:00? I'll let you know.

Copyedited Manuscript

It's arrived.  This is always an annoying part of the process.  Much worse than dealing with your editor because your editor is usually a reasonable adult.

Copy editors are usually about 12 years old and very anal retentive.  I don't believe they ever laugh or smile.  They are endlessly questioning you about everything.  Those little yellow post-its hang off the side of many pages.

What is a rep tie? one once asked me.  What is an out building?  I could go on and on.

I've now opened the package and glanced.

I feel sick.

Quote

"Everybody walks past a thousand story ideas every day. The good writers are the ones who see five or six of them. Most people don't see any."

Orson Scott Card

Editors and Egomanical Writers

I'm sure everyone has read a book that she/he thought needed an editor. And every book does need an editor. Unfortunately, editors edit less than ever before. I have never had a bad editor and don't have one now, I'm happy to say.

Today in The New York Times there is an article about Anne Rice. I quote her:

"People who find fault and problems with my books tend to say, 'She needs an editor.' When a person goes over and over a manuscript and wants every word to be perfect, it's very frustrating."

Ms. Rice also took umbrage with readers who reviewed her last book on the Amazon site. She was so incensed that she posted a 1200 word diatribe.

She told The Times: "I have no intention of allowing any editor ever to distort, cut or otherwise mutilate sentences that I have edited and re-edited, and organized myself. I fought a great battle to achieve a status where I did not have to put up with editors making demands on me."

Having someone edit your work is very important. The writer has a stale perspective by the time the novel is finished. This is why I have a first reader before the book ever goes to my agent. After my agent it goes to my editor. My own rule is that if three people say that something isn't working I must pay attention.

The strange thing about Ms. Rice's remarks is that I've never known an editor to cut, distort or mutilate a sentence of mine. Editors suggest. In the end it's your book and you have the last word. Even I do. And I'm not a blockbuster writer.

I don't always take the suggestions but often I find them helpful and see that they make the sentence or paragraph better. A suggestion, for example, might be to shift the beginning of a chapter to the end.

I admit that at first I kick and scream. No one likes to be told that what they've written isn't wonderful. But, eventually, if the suggestion is good, I take it.

Ms. Rice talks about making every word perfect. I don't see how that's possible. No writer can make every word perfect. You do the best you can. And then an editor tries to help and often succeeds in making it damn near perfect.

Also in the article Ms. Rice says: "When you take home a CD of Pavarotti or Marilyn Horne, you don't want to hear another voice blended in."

Aside from this being an absurd analogy, Ms. Rice has put herself in very lofty company.

But I'd better be careful because she writes to Amazon reviewers: "Your stupid, arrogant assuptions about me and what I am doing are slander. You have used the site as if it were a public urinal to publish falsehood and lies."

I certainly don't want to be accused of slander. I am, after all, merely a novelist who needs and desires an editor.

Quote

"The cat sat on the mat is not a story. The cat sat on the other cat's mat is a story."

John LeCarre

Adverbs

One of the things that makes the Spark book so good is that the writing is economical.  For one thing she doesn't use adverbs when writing who is speaking.  This is something that took me about seventeen books to learn.  I finally did it in my book that will be published in June/July by Ballantine.  There is no reason to write anything more than: he said, she said or other variations on this. No adverbs are needed.  Ever.

For instance, to write, "I want you to get out," John said angrily. is pointless because you're reading that John is angry after the piece of dialogue.  If set up correctly you'll know how John is saying this as you read it.

Many writers use adverbs and too many adjectives because they don't trust their work to be strong enough.  And also to bulk up their book.

"Don't use adverbs after your dialogue," I said.

What a Phony

Me, that is. Haven't read a word of research material. I do have a little bit of an excuse. My partner is in the hospital and I'm here having to do everything by myself. Hate it. Grocery shopping, laundry, cooking, feeding cats, cleaning litter, etc. It all takes up so much time.

Still, I have managed to read one novel and am now reading THE FINISHING SCHOOL by Muriel Spark. A wonderful little novel about writing, envy, jealousy and other things. Spark is 86 and keeps on writing. You might know her best for THE PRIME OF MISS JEAN BRODIE. But don't neglect MEMENTO MORI or THE BALLAD OF PECKHAM RYE which are early works and some of her best. And don't miss this gem of a book.

Ah, come on. At least I'm reading.

The Day Before The Supposed Start

Not starting.  I will start reading the research material with an eye to starting next Monday.  Wait. That's a holiday weekend. I never start writing on a holiday Monday. Then Wednesday is my anniversary with my partner.  So am I going to start writing on Tuesday? For one day? No. That week is disrupted by too many things. But I can continue to read.

Sooo, I guess I won't actually start writing until the 18th.  That seems like a good day to start. I'll plan for that.

What a relief.

 

 

Quote

"After all, one knows one's weak points so well, that it's rather bewildering to have the critics overlook them and invent others."

Edith Wharton