You know I couldn't leave without saying good bye (3 cheers for Blogger's schedule-a-post feature).
Know what would make me happy? If you'll just start up a conversation in the comment box and keep it going while I'm gone, it would be an amazing thing to return to. There is so much life in your words to each other (and sometimes laugh-out-loud humor).
You could, yanno, start a serial story. Or discuss your plans for taking the book world by storm. Or cheer each other on. Or take wild guesses about Authoress's real identity. Or chip together to buy me a small Caribbean island close to Johnny Depp's.
Anyway. I love you.
One more thing: Long-time community member Kirk Kraft has graciously interviewed me on his blog. You can read the interview HERE.
Have a wonderful couple of weeks! I'll see you when I get back.
HOLY CRAP. I thought you were actually stopping blogging. Jeez... Freaked me out.
ReplyDeleteYou're not allowed to stop. Ever. Hope you have a restful/productive (whichever one you're going for) two weeks! <3
We’ll miss you when you’re gone! Hoping you have a fabulous, refreshing time.
ReplyDeleteI’ll be slaving over my novel and picture book revisions, and (hopefully) querying in the next couple of weeks. Take care!
Kirk
Y'all know where she's going, right?
ReplyDeleteAll that beach stuff was just a front. What's really happened is that she cashed in her karma points from all she does for authors, and she ordered a time/fiction generating machine.
So right about...now she's been aged back to sixteen (not that she had far to go) and has just appeared in a world that desperately needs her to save it, with an ability only she has!
Annnnddddd, Go!
@ Leah
ReplyDeleteIN A WORLD where your very identity can pursue you to the edges of hell, many writers have forgotten the greatness of craft. Obsessed with platform building and media connections, hapless writers find themselves trapped in a world of follower counting. But for one woman, that is not enough. Her greatest power is her anonymity, and with it, she will change the very way words are put to paper.
AUTHORESS
(Coming soon to a blogosphere near you)
I, too, thought you were leaving for good. I'm glad you're not because I just subscribed to this blog a few days ago and am looking forward to getting to know you and the fellow commenters.
ReplyDeleteHave a good few weeks off.
Patti
My 9 year old was taking an extraordinarily long bath on Sunday night. I went in to pull her out, and found she had lined the inside of the tub rim with Post-It notes and was scrawling down story ideas. She clutched the pen in her wrinkly water-logged hand chirping "I get so many good ideas when I soak!"
ReplyDeleteAuthoress, I wish you the same relaxing success on your hiatus!
@Cathy, your comment made me laugh--as recently it seems I get my best ideas in the shower, and of course have no way to capture them before they escape my memory. Maybe I should bring a Rite in the Rain notebook--or some Post-its--in there with me!
ReplyDeleteAuthoress, I wish you a very relaxing, rejuvenating, and inspiring trip--after everything you do for us, you deserve it!
Have a lot of fun Authoress!
ReplyDeleteLol @ the bathtub Post-its.
Camp Nano is eating my brain. I'm using every spare minute I have to crank out 3x my normal week-day word quota, and with the rush and lack of editing (or thinking), it's just a huge mess.
I'm reminded of (and bolstered by) the somewhat recent post about the glory of the revision process. That's where I'm expecting (desperately expecting) to shine in all this.
Do you ever write a first draft and as you're writing it, know it's crap and freak out because you know how much work revision is going to be?
If Authoress is a sixteen-year-old heroine and Anonymity is her special power... who can the antagonist be?
ReplyDeleteI also get ideas in the shower, or tub. It never occurred to me to bring something to capture them. Post Its are a great idea. If you have a bar of soap I suppose you could use it to jot down some ideas.
ReplyDeleteI like to use an app on my phone that records my ideas for later review. I might start putting my phone in a zip-lock baggie and bring it in the shower with me. :-)
@ Heather, I think that makes google her enemy...
ReplyDeleteTalk about impossible challenges
@ Leah & Rena
ReplyDeleteDisguised as a mild-mannered 16-year-old, The Authoress enrolled at her local high school, bent on convincing her new peeps the fun of proper spelling and grammar, only to stare in amazement at the students and exclaim, "What's with all the zombies?"
PS~ LOVE the post-it note story! I keep a tablet and pen in the bathroom for that very reason, as creativity abounds in the 'loo, and not just with lip-gloss.
ReplyDeleteI never get ideas in the bathroom. I get them while I'm driving and while I'm at the beach.
ReplyDeleteI have also recently discovered this blog, and am enjoying it very much. I've even read (way too many please don't tell my family) of the older posts, and specifically why it is called MISS SNARK'S FIRST VICTIM (what an honor, really! I followed her right before she shut down so I am ESPECIALLY glad this is not a permanent hiatus.) (I went on my own hiatus for a few blogging years there, too.)
I do not know who authoress is but I don't think she's 16 or time traveling. I think she's famous, maybe...maybe she's Princess Kate.
I hear Kate loves the ocean...
Have a wonderful vacation, your highness! Hope you enjoyed the Diamond Jubilee.
Have a lovely holiday! All the very best!
ReplyDeleteLinda xo
Enjoy and recharge. Hear from you on your return.
ReplyDeleteI always get ideas in the shower and once in a while from a dream. Maybe if I fell asleep in the shower and had a dream I would come up with the ultimate story! Or maybe I'd just be wet behind the ears ...
ReplyDelete@storyline (i.e. Rena, DJ, Heather, et al.)
ReplyDeleteI take in the dry, desolate, colorless, and decidedly un-beachlike setting and sigh. “I was afraid of this.”
M.A. steps out of the door behind me. He follows my gaze, his nose wrinkled in distaste. “What is this?”
I sigh. “My guess is YA dystopian, darling. They’re dominating the market these days.”
I give him a long look-over. “You’re shorter than I thought you’d be.”
He scowls. “I’m not short. Girls hit their growth spurt before boys do, that’s all.”
“Hmmm,” I murmur. “I wonder what else you haven’t hit yet.” I reach for his waistband but he slaps my hand away.
“Never mind,” he growls. He crosses his arms and looks away, his cheeks tinged red. “So where are we?”
I try not to grin, looking around again. At first glance it looks like a stereotypical desert scene, but I know my writers better than that. I head for an outcropping of rock several dusty feet away. The jagged edge of the “rock” crumbles as I brush my fingers over the exposed rebar.
“I’d say it’s a post-apocalyptic.”
[cont. by...]
Any MYSTERY writers out there interested in doing short, informal critiques over the summer break?
ReplyDeleteI enjoyed receiving feedback and reading other's stories during the in-house critique sessions, and would love to get something going specific to mysteries, even if it's just two or three people.
If interested, please let me know!
To all those bathtub & shower writers: I think they must still
ReplyDeletemake soap crayons that kids use. If I remember correctly, they're like shaving cream.
My kids used to make pics and write with them in the bathtub. Does anyone know if something like that is still available? Or, you could write on the wall with shaving cream.
I keep a notepad/pen in my car,
by my bed, in my pocketbook and my
backpack, but I sure wish I could tape my crazy dreams.
Authorous: Rejuvenate on your well deserved vacation!
I get my best ideas and work through problems when I should be falling asleep. I have to try so hard not to think about my book when I turn out the light or I'm up for hours, either laying there thinking, jotting ideas or I just have to get up and get back to work.
ReplyDeleteI used to do that kind of thinking driving to work. Now my job is in the barn behind my house, so not enough creative driving time. And my horses don't exactly let my thoughts wander to other worlds!
Have a great vacation Authoress, we'll be here!
I bought you that island you wanted... or so I thought. I asked the realtor if the neighboring island to the south belonged to Johnny Depp, as advertised. She said, "yes." That was a lie. I now hold title on a property within spitting distance of someone named Ronny Depp. Worst of it is, I can't get Ronny to put his shirt (or his shorts) on and move back to his own island. Greenpeace has already shown up twice, TWICE, due to reports of a beached whale floundering about in the surf. It's Ronny, yet the Greenpeace staffers, confused by his bulk and his inability to articulate beyond the level of 'inbred moron' still try to roll him back into the sea. Fat jerk just keeps washing right back up on my shore again. *Sigh* Sorry Authoress, I tried.
ReplyDeleteAs a water sign person - I totally understand the need to connect, Authoress - especially at the ocean (I'm quite a fan myself of the sea). Soak it up and Enjoy!
ReplyDeleteAnyway, I have a inquiry I'd like to throw out there to anyone who has an idea on the how to:
Dream scenes .... italicized? Indented? Normal text?
Any thoughts?
I like to italicize them.
ReplyDeleteThanks, Heather...
ReplyDeleteAnyone else?
I usually italicize, as well.
ReplyDeleteHey all you bath/ shower writers. Look no further.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.perpetualkid.com/waterproof-shower-notebook.aspx