Tag Archive for: writing life

Making Hay

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By Cathy Perkins


[Cathy is traveling with internet problems, so we’re featuring a past post of hers today.]


It’s hay making season in our mountain valley. The process is interesting, even if it does play havoc with my husband’s allergies. One of the things that surprised me, though, was the parallels I saw between making hay and writing. 

Stay with me. 

Let’s look at the hay process first. There are three basic requirements for growing hay: land, water and sun. Lots of each one. Once the grass reaches the right stage—tall, but not gone to seed—the ranchers start watching the weather even closer than they usually do. Hoping the forecast holds, they cut the grass in wide swathes and let it dry. 


Over the next few days, the ranchers fluff—okay, the technical term is swath—the hay so it dries evenly. Once the hay is dry, they can bail it into bricks that litter the field at regular intervals. 


This year’s first cutting looked terrific and the initial bids from Japan were $300/ton. The earliest cutters started bailing and there was happiness in the valley. 


Then the unexpected happened. A storm boiled over the Cascades and drenched the valley. All the grass still on the ground went from being prime hay to cattle feed—not even dairy cow feed—at a price that will barely cover the expense of bailing it. 


As soon as the sun reappeared and dried things out, the ranchers fluffed what was there and prepared to get it out of the field and make way for the next crop. 


There are other ways things can go wrong. Balers break and things get stuck. Weeds invade from untended land. But the men and women who ranch for a living keep going, raising hay for their horses and other people’s cows. 


So how is any of that like writing? 


Well, you start with three basic ingredients to create a story: writer, imagination and paper—lots of each one. The author nurtures the story to The End and fluffs and cuts and edits, hoping for that premium bid for the manuscript. But things outside the author’s control can ruin that venture. A decision somewhere else that Steampunk/Chick Lit/Romantic Suspense/Whatever is “dead” means that particular manuscript isn’t going anywhere except a closest or thumb drive. (Hmm… considering indie-pubbing yet?) 


Like a bale in the baler, words can get stuck. It’s much harder to find a repair person for a broken or missing muse than a clogged machine. 


Like the rancher, the writer keeps putting words on the page, creating stories, because that’s what writers do. 


 Can you think of any other parallels?

An
award-winning author of financial mysteries, Cathy Perkins writes twisting dark
suspense and light amateur sleuth stories.  When not writing, she battles
with the beavers over the pond height or heads out on another travel adventure.
She lives in Washington with her husband, children, several dogs and the
resident deer herd.
Her latest release is In It For The Money, book 4 in the Holly Price mystery series. 
To celebrate, So About the Money, book 1 in the series is currently on sale for 99 cents! 

Find Your Purpose in Life

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Do you have a sense of purpose?

A friend invited me to hear a presentation by
a local historian. At the end of their speech, she turned to me and said, “This
is their passion. I wish I knew what mine was.”

That comment stuck with me as I move into a
new stage of my life. What is my passion? Where do I find purpose in life? For
years, I’ve found purpose in my professional life and through the charitable
organizations I’ve supported with my time and money. Now, I’m reexamining these
activities, searching for that greater sense of purpose.


For decades, psychologists have studied how
long-term, meaningful goals develop over the span of our lives. The goals that
foster a sense of purpose are ones that can potentially change the lives of
other people, from launching an organization, researching disease, to teaching
kids to read.


A sense of purpose appears to have evolved in
humans so we can accomplish big things together—which may be why it’s linked to
better physical and mental health.
Purpose is adaptive, in an evolutionary sense. It helps both
individuals and the species survive.


Many seem to believe that purpose arises from
your special gifts and sets you apart from other people—but that’s only part of
the truth. It also grows from our connection to others, which is why a crisis
of purpose is often a symptom of isolation. Once you find your path, you’ll
almost certainly find others—a community—traveling along with you, hoping to
reach the same destination.

Here are six ways to overcome isolation and
discover your purpose in life.

1.
Read

Reading connects us to people we’ll never
know, across time and space—an experience that, research says, is linked to a
sense of meaning and purpose. (Note: “Meaning” and “purpose” are linked but
separate social-scientific constructs. Purpose is a part of meaning; meaning is
a much broader concept that usually also includes value, efficacy, and
self-worth.)

“Reading fiction might allow adolescents to
reason about the whole lives of characters, giving them specific insight into
an entire lifespan without having to have fully lived most of their own lives,”
Raymond A. Mar suggests. By seeing purpose in the lives of other people, teens
are more likely to see it in their own lives. In this sense, purpose is an act
of the imagination.


Find books that matter to you—and they might
help you to see what matters in your own life.

2.
Turn hurts into healing for others

Of course, finding purpose is not just an
intellectual pursuit; it’s something we need to feel. That’s why it can grow
out of suffering, both our own and others’.


Kezia Willingham was raised in poverty in
Corvallis, Oregon, her family riven by domestic violence. “No one at school
intervened or helped or supported my mother, myself, or my brother when I was
growing up poor, ashamed, and sure that my existence was a mistake,” she says.
“I was running the streets, skipping school, having sex with strangers, and
abusing every drug I could get my hands on.”
When she was 16, Kezia enrolled at an alternative
high school that “led me to believe I had options and a path out of poverty.”
She made her way to college and was especially “drawn to the kids with
‘issues’”—kids like the one she had once been. She says:


“I want the kids out there who grew up like me,
to know they have futures ahead of them. I want them to know they are smart,
even if they may not meet state academic standards. I want them to know that
they are just as good and valuable as any other human who happens to be born
into more privileged circumstances. Because they are. And there are so damn
many messages telling them otherwise.”

3.
Cultivate awe, gratitude, and altruism

Certain emotions and behaviors that
promote health and well-being can also foster a sense of
purpose—specifically, awe, gratitude, and altruism.


Studies conducted
by the Greater Good Science Center have shown that the experience of awe makes
us feel connected to something larger than
ourselves—and so can provide the emotional foundation for
a sense of purpose. Of course, awe all by itself won’t give you a purpose in
life. It’s not enough to just feel like you’re a small part of something big;
you also need to feel driven to make a positive impact on the world. That’s
where gratitude and generosity come into play.


With gratitude, children and adults who are
able to count their blessings are much more likely to try to contribute to the
world beyond themselves. This is probably because, if we can see how others
make our world a better place, we’ll be more motivated to give something back.


Here we arrive at altruism. There’s little
question, that helping others is associated with
a meaningful, purposeful life. People who engage in altruistic behaviors, like
volunteering or donating money, tend to have a greater sense of purpose in
their lives.

4.
Listen to what other people appreciate about you

Giving thanks can help you find your purpose.
But you can also find purpose in what people thank you for.


Like Kezia Willingham, Shawn Taylor had a tough childhood—and he was also
drawn to working with kids who had severe behavioral problems. Unlike her,
however, he often felt like the work was a dead-end. “I thought I sucked at my
chosen profession,” he says. Then, one day, a girl he’d worked with five years
before contacted him.


“She detailed how I helped to change her
life,” says Shawn—and she asked him to walk her down the aisle when she got
married. Shawn hadn’t even thought about her, in all that time. “Something
clicked and I knew this was my path. No specifics, but youth work was my purpose.”


Although there is no research that directly
explores how being thanked might fuel a sense of purpose, we do know that
gratitude strengthens relationships—and those are often the source of
our purpose.

5.
Find and build community

We can often find our sense of purpose in the
people around us. In tandem with his reading, Art McGee found purpose—working
for social and racial justice—in “love and respect for my hardworking father,”
he says. “Working people like him deserved so much better.”


Environmental and social-justice organizer
Jodi Sugerman-Brozan feels driven to leave the world in a better place than she
found it. Becoming a mom “strengthened that purpose (it’s going to be their
world, and their kids’ world),” she says. It “definitely influences how I
parent (wanting to raise anti-racist, feminist, radical kids who will want to
continue the fight and be leaders).”


If you’re having trouble remembering your
purpose, take a look at the people around you. What do you have in common with
them? What are they trying to be? What impact do you see them having on the
world? Is that impact a positive one? Can you join with them in making that
impact? What do they need? Can you give it them?


If the answers to those questions don’t
inspire you, then you might need to find a new community—and with that, a new
purpose may come.

6.
Tell your story

Purpose often arises from curiosity about your
own life. What obstacles have you encountered? What strengths helped you to
overcome them? How did other people help you? How did your strengths help make
life better for others? Reading can help you find your purpose—but so can
writing,
“We all have the ability to make a narrative out of our own lives,” says Emily Esfahani Smith, author of the 2017 book The Power of Meaning. “It gives us clarity on our
own lives, how to understand ourselves, and gives us a framework that goes
beyond the day-to-day and basically helps us make sense of our experiences.”


On a final note, I wish I
could take credit for this wonderful advice, but I can’t. This content was
curated by the folks at mindful.org. I suggest you click the link and head
to their site so you can read even more inspiring thoughts on this subject.




Have
you found your passion? What inspires you? 



An award-winning author of financial mysteries, Cathy Perkins writes twisting dark suspense and light amateur sleuth stories.  When not writing, she battles with the beavers over the pond height or heads out on another travel adventure. She lives in Washington with her husband, children, several dogs and the resident deer herd. 


Visit her at http://cperkinswrites.com


She’s hard at work on the next book in the Holly Price series, In It For The Money.

Retreating…

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By Cathy Perkins


What’s the appeal of a writing retreat? There are as many types of writing retreats
as there are writers. Some are world famous organized affairs, while most are events
planned with friends. Drop “writing retreat” into your internet browser and
pages of links will fill the screen.
Stepping
back, though, let’s look at the big picture. What’s mentioned most often as the
key ingredient for a writing retreat?
Time.

A
retreat reduces our usual distractions for guilt free writing time. Away from
home, spouse, family, friends, pets, day-jobs, laundry, and stacks of unopened
mail, we can relish the time and the freshness of a new place. When we step
through the door of our temporary haven, there are no defining expectations, no
history. In this place we are Writer
rather than cook, chauffeur, pet walker, diaper changer, Scout leader, event planner, or any
of the myriad roles layered on by our usual routine.

Of
course, this giddy freedom can also produce overly ambitious goals. I’ll work day and night and crank out a
hundred new pages, thousands of words!
Given how difficult it can be to carve out
time away from our jobs and lives, we might feel pressured to be uber productive. We feel guilty if we’re
not making every minute count. But that’s missing the other primary goal of a
writing retreat – a chance to rest, renew, and refill the creative well. The
goal is not to return home feeling you’ve just pulled a series of all-nighters.
Somewhere in between these two goals lives an
individual balance point. I have friends whose ideal writing retreat is a hotel
room with in-room dining service and a view of the roof top air-handling equipment.
They are there to write. Period. End of sentence. Maybe they have a deadline to
meet or that’s their personality, but the separation from the world is purely functional.
Other friends roll the retreat into a
mini-vacation. Write a couple of hours in the morning and afternoon and then indulge
the rest of the day with friends or, as The
Artist’s Way calls it, feeding the inner child. Visit galleries, spend time
with writing friends, walk on the beach or hike a mountain trail. Read in a clawfoot bathtub or bing-watch a complete season of Outlander. The writing
time flies by with flowing words and the writer goes home ready to tackle the
rest of the novel and the rest of her life.


I’m somewhere in the middle of these extremes. 
For several years. I’ve go to our fall retreat to write and I always get a lot done. “Done” can be
words written, a story spine planned, or the minutia of an upcoming release
scheduled. 
But it’s also a time of creative renewal for me to visit with
friends, to talk story with people who don’t roll their eyes (cough, cough,
family) and to walk for hours on the beach. 



What does your favorite or ideal writing retreat look like?






An award-winning author of financial mysteries, Cathy Perkins writes twisting dark suspense and light amateur sleuth stories.  When not writing, she battles with the beavers over the pond height or heads out on another travel adventure. She lives in Washington with her husband, children, several dogs and the resident deer herd. Her latest release is Double Down, available at major online retailers. 


Amazon       B&N      Kobo      iBooks   

Ready to Double Down?

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“Double Down” used to
mean a calculated gamble – and maybe it still does. The technique certainly can
increase the odds of winning. These days the term can mean anything from a bold
decision to an increased resolve to stick to a position. Of course, it can also
be a media euphemism with huge political overtones about certain
statements, but that’s a different discussion.

What do the words have to do with books?

Lots!  DOUBLE DOWN, a story set in the Holly Price mystery series world, is my newest release.


While this story was fun to write, I have a couple of confessions to make:  
People always ask authors where we get our story ideas. Confession #1 – The premise for this story was a given. A group of us challenged
each other to write a story where luck changed the protagonist’s life.  Of course, for a mystery writer this means someone is likely to die. That isn’t the life changing event. 

Really. 
Characters are as
important as the plot in my stories. My heroine, Maddie Larsson, leapt onto the page. The
inspiration for Maddie came from a friend’s daughter—a single parent who works
in a casino as a blackjack dealer. Maddie’s determination to forge a stable
life for herself and her son draws the admiration of one of the casino’s gamblers, attention that
changes her life for the better but also threatens to ruin—or end—it.
I wrestled a bit with the male lead character. So many readers
wanted to see JC Dimitrak’s side of events (JC is the hero in So About the
Money, book 1 in the series) I decided to put him in charge of the
investigation. Maybe he was a little too charming since my beta readers …well, telling you would be a spoiler.


Confession #2 – I
didn’t know anything about gambling. Honestly, I don’t understand the
attraction but clearly it’s a popular pastime. Fortunately I had a willing
“resource” (aka my friend’s daughter) to teach me the basics and give me
insight into the dealers’ world.

Take all that and place your bets – DOUBLE DOWN releases
October 23rd
Murder isn’t supposed
to be in the cards for blackjack dealer Maddie Larsson. Busted takes on a new
meaning when her favorite customer, a former Poker World Tour champion, is
murdered. His family claims—loudly and often—Maddie is the gold-digging
murderer. She better prove she’s on the level before the real killer cashes in
her chips. 
If the victim’s body
had been dumped five hundred yards up the road, Franklin County Sheriff’s
Detective JC Dimitrak wouldn’t have been assigned to the Tom Tom Casino murder
case. Instead, he’s hunting for suspects and evidence while dealing with a
nemesis from the past and trying to preserve his own future. He better play his
cards correctly and find the killer before an innocent woman takes the ultimate
hit.
Special release week pricing! 
Amazon       B&N      Kobo      iBooks  
An award-winning author of financial
mysteries, Cathy Perkins writes twisting dark suspense and light amateur sleuth
stories.  When not writing, she battles with the beavers over the pond
height or heads out on another travel adventure. She lives in Washington with
her husband, children, several dogs and the resident deer herd.

Find out more or sign up for her newsletter at http://cperkinswrites.com 

Taxis, Uber and Career Path Choices

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By Cathy Perkins

I had to go to LA for the day job this week. At LAX, I
trotted out to Ground Transportation. I’d heard LA didn’t allow Uber drivers in
the ground transportation aisle (where the nine million shuttles and taxis
wait), so I grabbed a taxi to head to my meeting. The driver shot away from the
curb before even asking my destination. 

Who knows, maybe he was afraid his fare
would escape.
After pulling up the street address from my email and
sharing the location with the driver, I opened an app to track our path to the
destination. The driver was livid and told me in no uncertain terms that he
didn’t want me telling him where or how to drive. Or that I thought I knew
better than he did how to get where we were going. There might have been a few
other “rules” thrown around, but I’d quit listening by that point.
I’m still not entirely sure what his actual objection was,
but I muted the sound and left the app running. Okay, part of the reason I run
the route app is security. I’m in a city I don’t know well, with a person I
don’t know the first thing about.  And
he’s not exactly making me feel safe as he drives like a maniac, squeezing into
non-existent gaps in traffic, alternating between sixty and zero in shoulder
wrenching seconds. (Yes, I put on my seat belt!) The other reason for running
the app is to put names to the streetscape flowing past my window. Oh look.
That’s Marina Del Ray with all the fabulous boats. I didn’t know Loyola
Marymount University had a campus here. It’s lovely.  
Somewhere along the way this driver ranted about Uber. By
this point, I’d tuned him out and looked at the window (while keeping a surreptitious
eye on the app and the route). When the meeting concluded and I needed a ride
back to the airport, who did I call? You got it in one. I tapped the Uber app
and a driver appeared within minutes.
The Uber driver’s car was new and spotless. The driver
himself was charming. In spite of what you may have read about some
disgruntlement among Uber drivers, this guy loved his job. He drove full time,
but set his own hours and avoided the late afternoon crush of LA’s notorious
traffic. I got the impression he spent most afternoons at the beach before
returning to the streets for several more hours of evening driving. (Great way
to get home from a club or restaurant if you’ve like to have a glass of wine
with dinner.)
The other information he freely shared was his business
structure. Because he’s been with Uber for over four years, his percentage of
the fare has increased from 80% to 90%. With his portion of the proceeds, he
covers all his own expenses, including the decision to upgrade (and afford) the
car he was driving. His positive ratings from passengers apparently also move
him up in the ranking for notifications in his area when he’s looking for his
next fare.
In the waiting area at LAX, I couldn’t help but compare the
two transportation modes to the evolving status of publishing. Taxis and
traditional publishing seem established and “safe” while Uber and independent
publishing seem riskier. That risk level in the newer technologies drops,
however, as the concept grows and evolves.
So how does transportation compare with publishing? While a
few big names still pull in significant advances from traditional publishers,
midlist authors have been cut left and right. Royalty rates are puny and print
runs are decreasing. On the plus side, the publisher covers most of the
production costs for the book. Likewise for the taxi driver, the rate of pay is
reduced, but the cab company pays more of the expense—which sometimes means a
sleek towncar and at others, a rust-bucket you hope makes it to your
destination. The author may be assigned a top notch editor and talented cover
artist, and receive superb marketing placement. Or he or she may end up with a new
untested editor and little publisher support.
Like the Uber driver, the independent author can potentially
earn a much larger royalty but also must cover his or her business expenses.
The author has the choice of where to spend and how much capital to allocate.
New car/clean up the existing vehicle? Hire a top notch editor/ask a friend to
beta read? What can the author competently handle and where is it better to
hire experienced assistants? Each step has financial repercussions. And each
person must make the career choice they feel is correct for them.
The most important decision the author (and driver) must
make however? What will give the passenger/reader the best experience?
Because isn’t that what it’s all about?

By the way, I’m sure you’ll be surprised to hear that next
time I’m in LA, I take Uber rather than stepping into that taxi.

An
award-winning author of financial mysteries, Cathy Perkins writes twisting dark
suspense and light amateur sleuth stories.  When not writing, she battles
with the beavers over the pond height or heads out on another travel adventure.
She lives in Washington with her husband, children, several dogs and the
resident deer herd.

Visit her at her website or her Amazon author page.

The Unseen (Forget Unsung) Heroines

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I had this great post planned. J
 
Bethany inspired me so much with her “how I organize my
corner of the universe,” I intended to admit to uhm… less organization. And no
spreadsheets.

I’m more along the lines of J.M. Phillippe’s “winging it.”

I even took a photo of the messy pile of notes and ideas
stacked up on my desk (and the bedside table, the countertop, the…err…you get
the picture).  Really, all those snippets
do turn into a first draft. Then there’s the tri-fold board with color coded
Post-its (aren’t Post-it’s the best?), broken out by Act and Turning Point, for editing and organizing. (The color coding matches each Point of View character. See? Really. I can be organized.)
(Surely I have a picture of a story board somewhere…) 
Instead of writing about my writing process, every spare moment has been dedicated to the
Daphne. That’s the Daphne du Maurier Award
for Excellence in Mystery/Suspense contest, sponsored by the Kiss of
Death. Great contest. Wonderful
entries/contestants and judges.
I’m all for volunteering although clearly I had no idea what I’d
agreed to do. You see, coordinators are the unseen people behind the scenes who
make sure the entries meet the requirements and work with the judges to get the
score-sheets and manuscripts turned back in. They “unch” (that’s the polite word for politely pester) and hold people’s hands while figuring out technical troubles. They keep lots and lots of records
and cross check everything. Basically it’s a paper chase, or these days, an
electronic chase spread across four desktop screens.
But the best part of being a coordinator will come in a few
days when I have the privilege of calling the finalists. There’s nothing like
telling someone how much strangers enjoyed their stories and that their
manuscript was voted “best in the group.”
Bring on the coffee and the spreadsheets. I have entries to
manage.
Cathy Perkins loves writing twisting plots and relationship
chemistry. She  

especially loved hearing from the Award of
Excellence coordinator, who told her strangers liked her novel.

She wants to publicly thank the judges and
coordinator again for all the volunteer time and efforts they put into that
contest.

Rocking the Day Job

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By Cathy Perkins
Waving from warm, sunny Orlando today. Quite a change from
last month’s endless snow.

photo by Cathy PerkinsI wish I could say I’m on vacation. Instead, I’m rocking the
day job, teaching at my firm’s management school and taking a (shh! really
boring) mandatory class, made bearable by my peers (who also have to take it).
This week made me think about careers and balancing. I know
authors who have ditched their day job to write full time. Many others are like
me—working full time at a job that pays the bills and offers health insurance.
Since it’s the season to count your blessings and make plans for the new year,
I’ll start with gratitude I have an interesting job that sends me money twice a
month. J
Layer in writing, volunteers gigs, and the rest of my life,
however, and it’s a lot of balls to keep in the air. Over the past few weeks,
I’ve read a number of blog posts talking about time management and work/life
balance. While I try to implement some of the tips, consistently, the best advice I’ve received is “write every day.” Even
if it’s only a line or two, put those words on the page first thing in the
morning. Otherwise, the day’s demands can catch up (and overwhelm) leaving
you exhausted at the end of the day.  Creative energy? What’s that? As much as I hate to admit it, I find if I get
out of the “habit” of writing, days or weeks can slide past.
photo by Cathy Perkins
What about you? Are you rocking the day job? Writing full
time? Balancing other commitments? 

What’s your best advice for maintaining
balance or finding time to write?

Oh. And the deer came over to welcome me home to the snow.  

Writing from my Happy Place

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by Maria Geraci

Before you begin to snicker, I’m not talking about that happy place (mind out of the gutter, please!), I’m talking about writing from a place of internal happiness.

Happiness is something I’ve thought about a lot lately. We all strive to be happy. But how many of us can define what it is that makes us happy? Sure, we all want good health, a healthy family, financial security, success. These are the things we’ve programmed to think we need to make us whole. But those vague definitions aren’t enough to show us the way to happiness. How well do you need to feel to be healthy? Is the absence of disease enough? Or is it losing those last elusive twenty pounds? How much money do you need in the bank? How many possessions?

Once upon a time (eleven years ago, to be exact) I began writing on a lark. More an epiphany, to tell the truth. I never really expected to be a multi-published author. I dreamed about it, of course. But it seemed like a fairy tale. Something out of my reach. I was happy writing (as bad as those early stories were), and learning, and going to conferences. And yes, even rejection could make me happy. Because after a while, the rejections became better. And then some of those rejections became requests, and then finally offers, and I thought I had made it. I reached the pinnacle of writing happiness.

Are you shaking your head at my foolishness, yet?

By the time my first book came out I was a hot mess. Happy and hopeful one day. Shattered and depressed the next. I spoke in a language that was almost as foreign to me now as it was back then– Print runs, sales, reviews. I thought being a published author would make me happy. But it didn’t. Not really. Writing my stories is what made me happy. But everything else? It stressed me to the point that I hardly knew myself. And then came another book. And even though my sales were hardly impressive, I was fortunate enough to land a third book deal. The pressure was on me to produce. So I did the best I could and hoped beyond hope that this third book would be my break out novel. I wrote, but I wasn’t happy.

And then I waited. No more contracts until my numbers came in. Which probably meant no more contracts from my publisher (since I’d seen my previous sales numbers and they were dismal). My agent and I met and I told her I wanted to write a story in first person. And this time I wasn’t going to hide what it was. I didn’t care that chick lit was “dead”. I had a story I wanted to write and I was determined to write it my way. She told me to go for it. To write the kind of story I wanted to read with no expectation of ever getting it published.

So I did.

I went back to my early writing roots and wrote for the shear joy of writing. I poured my heart and soul in the story and half-way through the writing, my agent called. My publisher wanted to see what I was working on, so I reluctantly sent in the first 60 pages. Reluctantly, because those pages were rough, but I already loved them. I didn’t want anyone raining on my parade or discouraging me from finishing that novel. Miraculously, my editor loved it too and offered me a contract. And now that novel A GIRL LIKE YOU is nominated for a RITA, one of romance fiction’s highest awards. 

This is what I have written on the bulletin board above my writing desk:

If you don’t love what you write, then neither will anyone else.

Have I achieved a grand success in my writing? Certainly not from a business stand point. But I now know that I have achieved something more important to me, and that is personal success. I may not be a New York Times best selling author and I may never be. I might never receive six figure contracts or be even be able to live off my writing alone. But it doesn’t matter. Because writing makes me happy again.

Tis the Season to fight technology

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(Or why you should never spill coffee into your lap top computer)

by Maria Geraci

Technology and I do not mix. Let me tell you why.

A couple of weeks ago the unthinkable happened. While typing away feverishly on my previous 10-year-old Dell lap top computer, I accidentally knocked over the nearly full cup of steaming hot coffee I’d been drinking.

Although my first impulse was to dial 911, I refrained and instead acted like the quick thinking nurse/slash/author that I am. I turned my laptop over and gave it a few solid whacks on the back (ala the Heimlich Maneuver). It sort of worked. Most of the coffee came dripping out, but I knew that some was stuck in there too and my only alternative at this point was to wait it out and hope that once the coffee dried, my lap top wouldn’t mind too much. Heck, maybe the caffeine might even give it some sort of boost.

Alas, it did not. While it’s mostly workable, every once in while it does this wacky sort of thing (yes, that’s how I tried to explain it to the Geek Squad at Best Buy) and it’s just too unreliable now for a working author. Which means I need a new lap top.

Lesson learned: Liquids and lap tops are not simpatico.

On to my iPhone problems. I am one of those people who own an original iPhone. Yes, I was one of those foolish millions who rushed to buy an iPhone before Apple got their stuff together on the product. Which meant that within the first 3 months of owning the little darling, I had to get 2 replacement phones because none of them worked correctly. By the time I was on my 3rd iPhone I vowed (Scarlet O’Hara style) never to buy one again. But… I did love a lot about it. The keyboard was big enough to text easily, I could get my emails on my phone. I could use it as a camera. Heck, I could even check the weather. I really liked that little phone. Alas, it’s now so outdated that none of the updates will take, which means, I guess that it’s long past time for a new phone. But I’m just not sure I’m ready for a new iPhone. I mean, do I trust them again? Surely, by now they have their act together. Everyone else seems to love the newest versions (including my kids), so I guess I should swallow my pride, forget my hand fisted vow and upgrade to a new iPhone 5 (or whatever number it’s on now).

Lesson learned: Don’t buy the newest product until the manufacturer has a chance to work out the kinks. No one wants to be a consumer guinea pig.

And last but not least… my outdoor Christmas lights have gone wacky.

I love Christmas lights. I put them up the first weekend in December and they stay on until a couple of days after New Years (bah Humbug to those people who take their Christmas decorations down December 26th!).

This season I have 3 sections of lights going a la Clark Griswald. Two in the front of the house, one on the side. All the sections are on separate timers programmed to go on at  6pm and turn off at midnight. The first few days, all was well. Then I noticed one of the front sections was delayed a few minutes. Then the side section started turning on about 15 minutes earlier than the front sections. No problem. I simply redid all the timers, which fixed the problem. For a day or so. Last night the left front section turned on, business as usual. I waited for the right front section to follow. And waited. And waited. Finally, exasperated, I marched outside to see what the problem was. That’s when I found the left front section timer was missing a dial. How did that happen? Beats me. All I know is, I give up. I have 3 healthy beautiful children and a very patient husband who laughs at all my foolishness.  I will enjoy the lights when and if they decide to come on.

Lesson learned: Technology might beat me down, but it will never crush my Christmas spirit.

I wish you and your family, a joyous, healthy holiday filled with much love!

Getting through the first draft

/in /by

by Maria Geraci

You know how I know I’m excited about starting a new book? I begin writing at all sorts of strange hours. And by strange hours, I mean 2 a.m or 4 a.m or maybe even in the middle of cooking dinner which can create all sorts of problems if one wants their dinner to not be burned to a crackly crunch (as Mike Geraci and I generally prefer ours not to be).

I’ll be honest, this sort of shake up to my routine is not only expected, it’s highly desired. Nothing is worse to me as a writer than to sit at my computer forcing myself to come up with something to put on the page. I have plenty of stuff I could be doing instead.

Multi-pubbed and ultra-famous author Nora Roberts is generally credited with the quote “…just get the story down.” And that’s exactly what I do.I get that first draft done in snippets, sometimes writing for as little as five minutes because inspiration can come at the oddest moments (in the shower, while driving a car, standing in the grocery line) which means I have to be creative about the way I write.

The other day while I was waiting at the deli to order lunch meat, a brilliant (yes, brilliant!) line of dialogue came to me and I had no paper or pen. So I whipped out my iPhone and began typing dialogue in my Notes app. I was so engrossed that I completely missed hearing my number called. I mumbled a quick apology and the clerk took my order, but I have to wonder what she would have thought if I’d said, “Sorry, I was writing my novel!”  I’m sure that would have garnered me some strange looks but I wouldn’t have cared. Writing the first draft is like inching your way on your belly through the trenches. You get to the finish line any way you can.