S.T. Underdahl's Blog

It's ALI-I-I-I-I-VE!

Turns out that the prep-work for NaNoWriMo has primed the pump after all, bolstered by a very motivating and positive critique of the experimental first chapter I threw together to submit to last weekend's SCBWI workshop. I find myself constantly thinking of the storyline and characters, watching them get acquainted in my head as they discuss how to work out the plot kinks while I go about my other life. Yes, I'm actually starting to feel like a writer-coming-out-of-retirement...still a li...

The Big Question

I've been flying under the radar for quite some time now, due to a variety of distractions/challenges/problems/stressors, including but not limited to: narrowly avoided financial ruin; a late-spring flood that filled our basement and main floor with smelly, muddy water; several weeks spent living in hotels and the basement of a generous friend; the search for a new home and the requisite packing and moving; and, as if all that weren't enough, the illness and unexpected sudden loss of my mothe...

Still Taking On Oxygen

Wow, it's been a long time since I've posted here! Time tends to slip away like sand, and although there were many occasions where I thought about posting, something else would inevitably call my name and I'd be off in another direction. Also, I've had some eye-opening experiences over the past year with a relative who has chosen to use her blog as a platform to defame and denigrate other family members, which has left me with a rather bad taste in my mouth about blogs in general. Neverthel...

Ready to Push the Button

G-L-O-R-Y B-E!!! I never thought I'd see the day, but tomorrow my beloved agent, David Forrer, is sending out Summer On Lake Tulaby to editors at seven publishing houses (William Morrow/HarperCollins, Grant Central/Warner Books, St. Martins, Pocket, Ballantine, Putnam, and Bantam.) He said that he 'doesn't want to send it to too many,' since the London Book Fair is coming up in April (although seven still sounds like 'many' to me.)

And because this is the most delicious thing anyone has ev...

And on Friday Night, She Rested

It's Friday night, and I'm reflecting on a productive day: dementia evals and therapy clients, a two hour tele-conference conducting oral exams as a member of the ND Board of Psychologist Examiners, emailing my revised 460-page manuscript for Summer On Lake Tulaby to my agent in NYC... the evals went smoothly, the therapy was productive, the licensure candidates passed their exams, and the agent emailed back to say he was going to begin reading the manuscript immediately.

The older kids are ...

Life Intrudes...

Just when it seems like the runway is straight and the sky is free of clouds, the demands of 'normal' life bring all planes and projects to a screeching halt. I headed into October grandly thinking 'I'll just wrap up the revisions on the Lucy book and then probably have some time left over for Summer On Lake Tulaby', only to find out that every single day seemed to be crowded with distractions. Not only were there a rather unusual number of work-related responsibilities (including a talk to...

Notes from the Trenches

Good writing news and bad writing news:
1)The good news is that the 'soft' offer from Flux on my National Write A Novel In A Month manuscript turned into a concrete offer (complete with an advance!), so look for another S.T. Underdahl book next fall! The book has no name yet; we simply refer to it as 'the Lucy book', since two of the main characters are named Lucy (which probably sounds like a bad idea, but read the book and you'll understand.)

2)Perhaps calling it 'bad' news is an overstatem...

That's All She Wrote

Last night I finished rewriting Summer On Lake Tulaby, complete with a spankin' new main character, and sent it off to the NYC agent, accompanied by an implied threat on his life if he asks me to do a third rewrite. I'm completely spent after this major overhaul, and I really don't think I can do it again. I never thought I'd say this, but if this isn't what he's looking for I may have to realize that he and I don't have the same vision for the story. Ugh, I hope it doesn't come to that.

On...

Be Careful What You Wish For...

Remember my last, dreamy post in mid-June where I was talking about how doing a rewrite made me feel "like a real writer at last"? Well, I'm ruing the day I ever uttered those fateful words.



I finished the rewrite for Summer On Lake Tulaby in a record-setting two weeks, thinking of pretty much nothing else in the time I wasn't at work or in family-related activities. When I finished it, I breathlessly turned it in to the agent, David F. He read it...and said that while I'd made the manusrip...

Evolution

Up until now I've felt kind of like a psychologist who just stumbled into this writing thing and has somehow gotten one lucky break after another (okay, the rejections don't feel that lucky, but the rest of it does.) I wrote a manuscript that was picked up by a publisher within a few months after its completion, the editing process turned out to be minimal and easy, and it's gotten great response and sold very well for a debut novel (from what I'm told). I've done book signings and events, ev...