writing Archives - Page 77 of 82 - Trisha Sugarek, Author, Playwright & Poet

Do You Doubt Yourself?….Your Writing?

I ran across a description of one of my enemies….DOUBT! Author, Jacqueline Winspear wrote: “Doubt. Was it an emotion? A sense? Or was it just a short stubby word to describe a response that could diminish a person in a finger snap?”

I wrote earlier about my being in good company. Regardless if we writers are obscure or famous, we all doubt ourselves and our work. What if Henry Charles Bukowski, or Ernest Hemingway, or John Steinbeck had let DOUBT win? Put away their pen, dumped their scribbles into a shoe box and made a trip to the attic, got a day job and never wrote another word? It doesn’t bear thinking about.

J. Michael Straczynski: “When in ‘doubt’, blow something up.”

F.Scott Fitzgerald: “All good writing is swimming under water and holding your breath.”

E.M. Forster: “How do I know what I think until I see what I say?”

Tapani Bagge: “Everything that doesn’t kill you makes you stronger. And later on you can use it in some story.”

Maya Angelou: “There is no greater agony than bearing an untold story inside you.”

Elinor Lipman: “Critics have been described as people who go into the street after battle and shoot the wounded.”

Leo Rosten: “The only reason for being a professional writer is that you just can’t help it.”

Let’s see …..when were my worst moments? DOUBT clawing at me, whispering in my ear, crawling up my spine. Telling me that I’ll never make it, I’ll never finish a whole novel, that I don’t know the first thing about writing poetry. Writing play scripts was relatively easy for me. After all I had been in theatre reading scripts for over thirty years. And the stories simply fell out of the sky and into my brain when writing a script.

When I could no longer resist the urgency of writing about the women who wait outside prison walls, I researched the length of the average novel; number of pages and words. Yikes! Over 300 pages and 70,000 words. DOUBT was screaming in my ear: ‘you’ll never be able to write that many pages.’ ‘you’re a playwright; not a novelist’, ‘who do you think you’re kidding?’ But I had a true story (several of them, in fact) and all I needed to do was flesh those stories out. Write one page at a time.
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Start your month off right!! DON’T MISS UPCOMING BLOGS. INTERVIEWS with other best-selling AUTHORS! A NEW SERIES, “The Writer’s Corner”

I have had a wonderful response from other authors and plan on featuring an interview once a month . I have invited such luminaries as: Ann Purser, Susan Elia MacNeal, Maya Angelou, Mark Childress, Rhys Bowen, Sue Grafton, Dean Koontz, Sheryl Woods, Jo-Ann Mapson, Jeffrey Deaver, Elizabeth Gilbert, Amber Winckler, Robert McCammon, Walter Mosley, Nora Roberts, and many others.

So come along with me; we shall sneak into these writers’ special places, be a fly on the wall and watch them create! Mark Childress is our April author. Robert McCammon is scheduled for May. Caroline Leavitt is June’s author. July features Rhys Bowen. Sue Grafton is August’s author and September will feature Tasha Alexander.
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To receive my posts sign up for my Go to the home page; On the right side you’ll see a box where you can enter your email address. Click on “join my blog”. You need to confirm in an email from ‘Writer at Play’ . Thanks!

Don’t Miss it! an Interview with Charles Bukowski on Tuesday

I would give much to interview great authors like Steinbeck, Bronte, Hemingway, Austen, Twain, London, Service, Chekov, Shakespeare. But at the top of my bucket list would be Henry Charles Bukowski {1920-1994}. So I asked myself would it be so very strange or inappropriate to imagine what it might have been like and then write an interview with “Hank” Bukowski?

Imagine that I am sitting with him, in a corner booth, in some neighborhood dive. Old die-hard drunks sit up at the bar and……………………
March 19th, Tuesday, don’t miss my interview with Henry Charles Bukowski.

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‘You begin saving the world by saving one man at a time; all else is grandiose romanticism or politics.’ ~~Bukowski
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Start your month off right!! DON’T MISS UPCOMING BLOGS. INTERVIEWS with other best-selling AUTHORS! A NEW SERIES, “The Writer’s Corner”

I have had a wonderful response from other authors and will feature an interview once a month . I have invited such luminaries as: Ann Purser, Susan Elia MacNeal, Maya Angelou, Mark Childress, Rhys Bowen, Dean Koontz, Sheryl Woods, Jo-Ann Mapson, Jeffrey Deaver, Elizabeth Gilbert, Amber Winckler, Robert McCammon, Walter Mosley, Nora Roberts, and many others.

So come along with me; we shall sneak into these writers’ special places, be a fly on the wall and watch them create! Mark Childress is our April author. Robert McCammon is scheduled for May. Caroline Leavitt is June‘s author. July features Rhys Bowen. Sue Grafton is August’s author and September will feature Tasha Alexander. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

A Word to ‘New-bee’ Writers, freshly hatched…..

“He was, in my opinion, the greatest American fiction writer of the last half of the 20th century. Fortunately for his book sales, most think of him as the archetypal drunk, misanthropic male pig. Whatever else he was, he was also the archetypal writer, a force of nature who knew exactly what to do to a blank page.

Bukowski attributed so much weight to the single line that it eclipsed all else in his philosophy of writing. If the single line was magnificent, the rest would take care of itself. In a 60,000 word novel, the
working focus was on the single line. In the sex stories he wrote and sold to skin mags for money, the working
focus was on the single line. In a small, immortal poem that 50 people might read, his working focus was
on the single line.

Do you possess this kind of love for your words? Do you respect your craft enough to narrow your focus
to the attention of a single line? It’s not easy. It’s not fast. But this must certainly be a path to immortal (and powerfully influential) writing. If you can stomach it.” Robert Bruce (copyblogger.com) about Henry Charles Bukowski, Jr.
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Well? Do you? Possess this kind of love and respect for your work?

I’ve used the words: “re-write” and “delete” and “edit” so much in my blogging you probably want to take a
‘delete’ key to me! BUT! It’s what makes a so-so writer into a good or great one.

Experienced writers know this and value the rewrite more than anything. That’s really when the magic happens.
In a recent interview here with Jo-Ann Mapson, she said, “I love rewriting. Just thank God for it every single day, because that is where good writing pokes its head up.”

A word to you aspiring writers: I’ve been there, believe me, when I was terrified to delete a single word.
Not that I was certain that everything I uttered was ‘gold’…..far from it….no, terrified that I had nothing better to replace it with. Now that I have found my ‘process’ I understand how I work. I write it in my head for days, then, when the moment comes I type (thank God for my secretarial skills of 75 wpm in a previous life). Once the story is laid down, I begin the re-writing, editing, adding, deleting.

Re-writing and deleting: some of my best work has been born in the re-write. Some of my worst work has been deleted. Get it?

The Delete key: I know, I know, I’m a tired old record. But it can’t be said enough. Get to know and love your
delete key. Every word you write isn’t going to be ‘golden’. Before you push your child (story) out into traffic
(the world) you are the only critic and editor in the room. Be certain that you critique yourself; keep polishing,
keep editing.

I’m of the school of writers that believes my work is never finished; I could and have found something to re-write in everything I have published. It’s a demon I have to live with.

The Mocking Bird by Charles Bukowski ©

The mocking bird had been following the cat
all summer
mocking, mocking, mocking

Teasing and cocksure;
the cat crawled under rockers on porches
tail flashing
and said something angry to the mocking bird
which I didn’t understand

Yesterday the cat walked calmly up the driveway
with the mocking bird alive in its mouth
wings fanned, wings fanned and flopping
feathers parted like a woman’s legs
and the bird was no longer mocking… (from his book of poetry: The Pleasures of the Damned)
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Start your month off right!! DON’T MISS UPCOMING BLOGS. INTERVIEWS with other best-selling AUTHORS! A NEW SERIES, “The Writer’s Corner”

I have had a wonderful response from other authors and plan on featuring an interview once a month . I have invited such luminaries as: Ann Purser, Susan Elia MacNeal, Maya Angelou, Robert McCammon, Mark Childress, Sue Grafton, Rhys Bowen, Dean Koontz, Sheryl Woods, Jo-Ann Mapson, Jeffrey Deaver, Elizabeth Gilbert, Amber Winckler, Walter Mosley, Nora Roberts, and many others.

So come along with me; we shall sneak into these writers’ special places, be a fly on the wall and watch them create! Mark Childress is our April author. Robert McCammon is scheduled for May. Caroline Leavitt is June‘s author.
July features Rhys Bowen. Sue Grafton is August’s author and September will feature Tasha Alexander.
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Interview with author, Susan Elia MacNeal (part 3)

(continued) The conclusion of this fascinating interview with Susan………..

Susan Elia MacNeal is the author of the Maggie Hope mystery series, including her debut novel, “Mr. Churchill’s Secretary” and newly released “Princess Elizabeth’s Spy”. She lives in Brooklyn, New York, with her husband and child.

Q. Where/when did you first discover your character, Maggie Hope?

SM. I knew I wanted to write about a young woman who becomes a secretary for Winston Churchill. The name Margaret, or Maggie, was a tribute to my writing mentor Judith Merkle Riley and the heroine of her first book, Margaret in A Vision of Light. Margaret was also a popular name for baby girls in the early 20th century, so it worked for someone in her early twenties in 1940. I discovered her last name, Hope, by looking through a list of famous Britons—and there was Bob Hope. It was perfect.

Maggie’s personality is very much inspired by the late Judith Merkle Riley. She was definitely a woman ahead of her time – brilliant and working in economics, a male-dominated field, in the 60s and 70s. She was also a painter, spoke Russian, played the piano and danced the tango. Honestly, I think she worked as a spy at one point, but she would never talk about it! But there’s a lot of Judith in Maggie, especially her humor.

Q. What inspired the mysteries and why Winston Churchill and WWII?

SM. You know, it was somewhat random—I happened to be in London and a British friend of mine said, “You might want to visit the Cabinet War Rooms—World War II didn’t start with Pearl Harbor, you know.” So, I really just went as a tourist. It’s an amazing museum, though, in the actual bomb proof bunker where Winston Churchill and his War Cabinet and staff planned the war. I was absolutely mesmerized and there was a moment—a brief moment, outside the typists’ room—where I swore I could hear the typewriters, smell the cigarette smoke, feel the tension. It lasted a mere moment, but it changed my life completely. I knew I had to write about the war rooms.

Q. You’re so young for an interest in WWII (I was a little girl) Is your interest based at all on family stories; perhaps an American grandfather in the war or English branch on the family tree?

SM. Both my paternal father and grandfather served in the war, but, really, it was that trip to the Cabinet War Rooms that was the catalyst. Jacqueline Winspear calls these experiences “moments of grace.” I’m just glad it wasn’t schizophrenia!

Q. Have you? Or do you want to write in another genre`?

SM. Right now I’m completely dedicated to telling the story of Maggie Hope and her friends, wherever it may lead. But recently, when I was in Scotland doing research, I had this sudden urge to leave New York and move to one of the sparsely inhabited western islands. I asked my husband, “So, if I’m able to sell a memoir about a crazy New York City family who leaves it all for rural Scotland, would you be willing to move for a year?” He seemed game. You never know…

I’ll close by saying, thank you so much for your interest in the Maggie Hope books!

http://www.susaneliamacneal.com/
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Start your month off right!! DON’T MISS UPCOMING BLOGS. INTERVIEWS with other best-selling AUTHORS!

I have had a wonderful response from other authors and plan on featuring an interview once a month . I have invited such luminaries as: Ann Purser, Susan Elia MacNeal, Mark Childress, Rhys Bowen, Dean Koontz, Sheryl Woods, Jo-Ann Mapson, Jeffrey Deaver, Sue Grafton, Elizabeth Gilbert, Walter Mosley, Nora Roberts, and many others.

So come along with me; we shall sneak into these writers’ special places, be a fly on the wall and watch them create! Mark Childress is my April author. Robert McCammon is scheduled for May. Caroline Leavitt is June‘s author.
July features Rhys Bowen. Sue Grafton is August’s author and September will feature Tasha Alexander.
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Don’t miss the final segment with best selling author!

This coming Tuesday will conclude our interview with Susan. Her newest book, “His Majesty’s Hope” will be available for sale on May 21st.

This has been a fascinating and funny interview and I know you join me in wishing Susan great success with her new book.

‘For fans of Jacqueline Winspear, Laurie R. King, and Anne Perry, whip-smart heroine Maggie Hope returns to embark on a clandestine mission behind enemy lines where no one can be trusted, and even the smallest indiscretion can be deadly.

World War II has finally come home to Britain, but it takes more than nightly air raids to rattle intrepid spy and expert code breaker Maggie Hope. After serving as a secret agent to protect Princess Elizabeth at Windsor Castle, Maggie is now an elite member of the Special Operations Executive—a black ops organization designed to aid the British effort abroad—and her first assignment sends her straight into Nazi-controlled Berlin, the very heart of the German war machine. Relying on her quick wit and keen instincts, Maggie infiltrates the highest level of Berlin society, gathering information to pass on to London headquarters. But the secrets she unveils will expose a darker, more dangerous side of the war—and of her own past.’

MacNeal’s publishers, Random House have asked me to review it so look for that in May.

Coming Soon! April 2nd will start off my interview with Mark Childress whose books were made into movies!
(Crazy in Alabama!)
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Start your month off right!! DON’T MISS UPCOMING BLOGS. INTERVIEWS with other best-selling AUTHORS! A NEW SERIES, “The Writer’s Corner”

I have had a wonderful response from other authors and plan on featuring an interview once a month . I have invited such luminaries as: Ann Purser, Susan Elia MacNeal, Robert McCammon, Rhys Bowen, Mark Childress, Dean Koontz, Sheryl Woods, Jo-Ann Mapson, Jeffrey Deaver, Elizabeth Gilbert, Sue Grafton, Amber Winckler, Walter Mosley, Nora Roberts, and many others.

So come along with me; we shall sneak into these writers’ special places, be a fly on the wall and watch them create! Mark Childress is our April author. Robert MacCammon is scheduled for May. Caroline Leavitt is June‘s author. July features Rhys Bowen. Sue Grafton is August’s author and September will feature Tasha Alexander.
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Interview with Susan Elia MacNeal (part 2)

Part II ** An Interview with Susan Elia MacNeal (Part I * March 5th)

Q. Do you have any special rituals when you sit down to write? (sharpened #2 pencils, legal pad, cup of tea, glass of brandy, favorite pajamas, etc.)

A. I do love a good cup of coffee, I must admit—milk, no sugar. No rituals, but if I get anxious about starting, I’ll often just open the document and run spell check—that way, I usually get over any stress. Occasionally, I’ll put on NPR or some sort of talk radio in the background for company. And generally I have a cat or two nearby.

Q. What is your mode of writing? (long hand? Pencil? Computer? Etc.)

A. I like writing directly into the computer, and I particularly love my laptop. Sometimes I’ll do notes or outlining on a yellow legal pad with a pen or pencil (but mostly because we have yellow legal pads around at home, not because of any ritual!).

Q. Do you have a set time each day to write or do you write only when you are feeling creative?

A. I like to write first thing in the morning. I think that time in between dreaming and full waking is really good for fiction. So I usually write early in the morning and then do editing and reply to emails and whatnot in the afternoon. That is, until 3 p.m. — then I’m back in the mommy role.

Q. Do you ‘get lost’ in your writing and for how long?

A. Yes, and it’s the most amazing experience in the world when that happens! Usually I find it a hard state to achieve when first starting a novel, because I don’t know my characters and settings as well. But later on, usually when I’m more than a hundred pages in or so, it’s really fun to “get lost” with my characters. That’s the absolute best part of being a writer.

Q. When did you begin to write seriously?

A. I’ve always loved writing, but I first started taking myself a bit more seriously when I was an editor at Dance Magazine, and then became a staff writer as well. I did a lot of pieces for the magazine and also for the web site. It was at Dance Magazine that I started to think of myself as a professional, and I thank then-editor Richard Philp for taking a chance on me and then giving me so much freedom to pursue and write stories.

Q. How long after that were you published?

A. Well, when Dance Magazine moved to San Francisco, I, with the rest of the New York staff, lost my job. I’d just gotten married, so I had health insurance. So, that was when I decided to freelance. I did a lot of magazine pieces and editing, and wrote two non-fiction books – one about weddings and one about cocktails. But I was always working on fiction.

Q. What does the process of going from “no book” to “finished book” look like?

A. Hmm, well, Mr. Churchill’s Secretary took more than ten years, and each subsequent book has taken about two years. (Random House held Mr. Churchill’s Secretary until Princess Elizabeth’s Spy was pretty far along, so they could publish them back-to-back.) I guess it takes me a few months to immerse myself in research, then a few months to write a beginning, then additional time to realize I hate the beginning and delete it—then back to the drawing board to rewrite.

About nine months later, my editor, the amazing and patient Kate Miciak gets it, and she takes a pass through and gives me an editorial letter. I work on it some more, and it goes back to Kate, who either okays it or sends it back to me, which takes a few months. Then it goes through a six-month period where it goes through a number of passes of copy-editing, then an Advanced Readers Edition, and then, finally, the finished book.

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Part III of this fascinating interview will post on March 12th. Don’t miss it!! http://www.susaneliamacneal.com/
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Start your month off right!! DON’T MISS UPCOMING BLOGS. INTERVIEWS with other best-selling AUTHORS! A NEW SERIES, “The Writer’s Corner”

I have had a wonderful response from other authors and plan on featuring an interview once a month . I have invited such luminaries as: Ann Purser, Susan Elia MacNeal, Robert McCammon, Rhys Bowen, Mark Childress, Dean Koontz, Sheryl Woods, Jo-Ann Mapson, Jeffrey Deaver, Sue Grafton, Elizabeth Gilbert, Amber Winckler, Walter Mosley, Nora Roberts, and many others.

So come along with me; we shall sneak into these writers’ special places, be a fly on the wall and watch them create!
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Interview with Author, Susan Elia MacNeal

Do other writers find themselves at 4 in the afternoon, still in their pajamas, lost in their writing ? Hopefully it only happens at home and not at the corner coffee shop…

My readers are enjoying hearing about other authors‘ writing processes. I created a Question & Answer-type Interview and then began contacting some of my favorite authors to ask them to participate. It turns out that not only do these other writers want to share their writing life with us, but they are equally interested in the stories from other authors.

In this three-part post, my interview is with Susan Elia MacNeal. I am especially honored as Susan and her publicist have asked me to review her next book, “His Majesty’s Hope”, to be released in May of this year. Please sit back and enjoy a chat with Susan……..

Q. Where do you write? Do you have a special room, shed, barn, special space for your writing?

A. I work in my beautiful library, with floor-to-ceiling bookshelves, overstuffed velvet sofas, a fireplace, two cats, and a handsome young manservant to fetch me tea and coffee. Okay, that’s not true. But I do have two cats. I live in New York, and space is definitely at a premium. Before our son was born, my husband and I used our guest bedroom as an office. After it became a kid’s room, I started working at the kitchen table, or sometimes cross-legged on the living room sofa.

I joined the New York Writers Room in the West Village for a while and had many happy days there with a view of the Empire State building, but I’m not currently working there. (My son has asthma, and I like being closer to his school in case of emergencies.) I also love a little café near us—best coffee in the world, plus big tables full of other writers. I also like to work at our local public library, which is one of the old Carnegie libraries.

I’ve also written at a lot of friends’ homes, while they’ve been on vacation – some of them famous. So, parts of my books have been written at actor/writer John Hodgman’s apartment (I also looked after their cat), composer Kristin Andersen Lopez and Robert Lopez’s apartment (yes, of course I picked up his Tony award for Avenue Q and pretended to make an acceptance speech), and Ron Lieber and Jodi Kantor’s apartment. (They’re both journalists for the New York Times, and Jodi’s the author of The Obamas.)

I’ve also written with Josh Axelrad, the author of Repeat Until Rich, which was fun, because we’d break for bourbon at six p.m. But he was always saying, “I’m afraid you’re listening to me not typing and thinking I’m lazy!” I tried to tell him I have too many of my own issues to even thinking about listening to his typing or not typing!

The most amazing place I’ve ever written was just recently at Arisaig House, which is a former manor house, now a bed and breakfast, on the west coast of Scotland. It was also used as an SOE spy training camp during World War II. I was talking to a lot of people alive and living in the area during that period of time, and doing research, but I also wrote in a beautiful room with oriental rugs, a crackling fire, a view of the grounds and shoreline, and three big napping golden labs. Heaven!

But I’ve also written on trains planes and waiting rooms. Basically, I’ve learned to write anywhere and everywhere.

http://www.susaneliamacneal.com/

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Join us to read part two of this wonderful interview (March 7th.) with best-seller author Susan Elia MacNeal .
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Start your month off right!! DON’T MISS UPCOMING BLOGS. A NEW SERIES, “The Writer’s Corner” INTERVIEWS with other best-selling AUTHORS!

I have had a wonderful response from other authors and plan on featuring an interview once a month . I have invited such luminaries as: Anne Purser, Dean Koontz, Sheryl Woods, Jo-Ann Mapson, Robert McCammon, Susan Elia MacNeal, Mark Childress, Sue Grafton, Jeffrey Deaver, Rhys Bowen, Elizabeth Gilbert, Amber Winckler, Walter Mosley, Nora Roberts, and many others.

So come along with me; we shall sneak into these writers’ special places, be a fly on the wall and watch them create!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
To receive my posts sign up for my Go to the home page; On the right side you’ll see a box where you can enter your email address. Click on “join my blog”. You need to confirm in an email from ‘Writer at Play’ . Thanks!

Don’t Miss It! Tuesday, an Interview with Susan Elia MacNeal

Walk the halls at #10 Downing Street with Winston Churchill during the War years in
these clever and historic mysteries.

Just a reminder!

Author, MacNeal shares her writing world with us beginning this Tuesday, March 5th
in a three-part interview.

You won’t be disappointed!!

The Big Top! Nostalgia (part 3)

I grew up in an era when ‘the Big Top’ meant huge canvas tents, sawdust, the smell of animal dung and the ‘side-show’ of freaks. Barkers calling out to you in whiskey, smoke- ruined voices. “Step right this way, see the tallest man, the fattest woman, the calf with two heads, the strongest man in the world…..See the eighth wonder of the world.” And for ten cents you could see it all. This was long before the circus was housed in the ‘civic center’ or the ‘Super Dome’.

You drove out-of-town to the cleared pastures of some farmer. Even before you paid your fare and entered you caught the excitement when you saw the colorful trucks and trailers parked off to the side, promising wild animals and the man on the flying trapeze.

Every year my Dad would buy me a chameleon lizard on a string with a tiny safety-pin so I could wear it home. It was like any other pet; I loved it dearly. One year a drunken friend (Irish household, remember) of my Dad’s killed my little pet. I was heartbroken.

But to this day I remember those happy days. “The Circus Was Coming To Town!!”

The first time I ever saw Cirque du’ Soleil was in 1990. A large tent had been erected in the parking lot at a Mall in Orange County, CA.
Never having lost my love of the circus we detoured over to see what it was all about. A French circus? No one had ever heard of this now world-famous circus. Even in those early days the show was spectacular! The audience had never seen anything like it. This was a circus but infinitely BETTER!!

Steaming manure in fresh straw,
roasted peanuts filled the air
pink, spun, sugary sweet

the pungent animals stalk the cage
Sawdust under old canvas glows like
burnished gold
in a shaft of wintry sun light

The Big Top!
Childhood rushes back

‘What’s she trying to tell me?’, you ask. Just this: a good place to begin, to start the art of writing is to go back to your own experiences. Use something (like my circus memories) you lived through and write a story around it. It will come across as honest and true because you started with truth.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Start your month off right!! DON’T MISS UPCOMING BLOGS. A NEW SERIES, “The Writer’s Corner” INTERVIEWS with other best-selling AUTHORS!

I have had a wonderful response from other authors and plan on featuring an interview once a month . I have invited such luminaries as: Ann Purser, Susan Elia MacNeal, Mark Childress, Robert McCammon, Rhys Bowen, Dean Koontz, Sheryl Woods, Jo-Ann Mapson, Jeffrey Deaver, Elizabeth Gilbert, Amber Winckler, Walter Mosley, Natasha Solomons, Nora Roberts, and many others.

My Creative Self has ADD!

Here I sit, once again, in my night T-shirt……….. and it’s 2 o’clock in the afternoon.

It was just fifteen minutes ago (six hours ago) that I sat down to read and respond to email while my morning tea brewed.

As I was replying to my mail, a new author interview response came in and I couldn’t wait to read it and prepare it for my blog. It was from Jo-Ann Mapson and was so rich with details about her writing life that I couldn’t wait to put it on the blog’s calendar for this month. (February)

I am also in the middle of editing a new short play, “A Dime Bag of Weed“. As I mentioned before I write things in my head for several days, then slam it down on paper, (in my case, computer screen), and then I begin editing. It’s been the toughest one (of the 25) to write because I didn’t want the story line to become a cliché. I had to find a way to approach it from a teen’s prospective and not mine; ‘Parents against drugs’….’adults know better’…lecture, lecture, blah, blah, blah. A sure-fire turn off for teenagers.

I’m also editing (once again) my second children’s book for the AUDIO market place. Every time I go through the editing process, a better book pops out the other side.

An idea for a murder mystery bubbles up and I push it away…..’Go away, wait a bit, I’ve got enough to do….‘ but it is insistent!

And then I began to write this posting in my head …….and then thought of a few more authors I want to contact to ask them for an interview….see? bona fide ADD.

Is this cerebral chaos a bad thing?…I don’t think so…it seems to work for me. I wanted to tell you just how crazed my writing life can be so that any pressure you might be feeling will ease. There is no right or wrong way to how we work when we are writing. The most important thing is to keep writing, every day if you can, even if you think what you are writing is not important; it just might be someday. I think even now, in the early days of my interviews with other authors, that fact is shining through.

…….so guess I’d better go shower, eat something, play with the dogs, (a tennis ball is calling) and turn off my brain for awhile. HA! Fat chance of that!!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Start your month off right!! DON’T MISS UPCOMING BLOGS. The NEW SERIES, “The Writer’s Corner” INTERVIEWS with other best-selling AUTHORS!

I have had a wonderful response from other authors and plan on featuring an interview once a month . I have invited such luminaries as: Ann Purser, Susan Elia MacNeal, Mark Childress, Robert McCammon, Rhys Bowen, Dean Koontz, Sheryl Woods, Jo-Ann Mapson, Elizabeth Gilbert, Amber Winckler, Walter Mosley, Natasha Solomons, Nora Roberts, Jeffrey Deaver and many others.

So come along with me; we shall sneak into these writers’ special places, be a fly on the wall and watch them create!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
To receive my posts sign up for my Go to the home page; On the right side you’ll see a box where you can enter your email address. Click on “join my blog”. You need to confirm in an email from ‘Writer at Play’ . Thanks!

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