Terri Morgan's Blog, page 6
January 28, 2012
Novel Ideas Come Unexpectently
When people first discover my novel, Playing the Genetic Lottery, is about a 32-year-old wife and mother who grew up with two schizophrenic parents, one of the first questions they have for me "is this autobiographical?" The answer is no.
I'm much older than Caitlin, my protagonist, I don't have any children, and both my parents were quite sane when I was growing up. In fact, my one surviving parent is the picture of mental health. The next question is generally "How did you come to write about schizophrenia?" That question takes a little longer to answer.
I've always been fascinated with people, human behavior, and trying to figure out what makes people behave the way they do. One day my friend Kathy, who is also fascinated with the same things, called to tell me about a woman she'd met. The woman, who was the oldest of seven children, essentially raised her six younger siblings because both their parents had schizophrenia. Knowing that I'd written 8 non-fiction books during my career as a freelance journalist, Kathy suggested I work with this woman on a book. Suddenly, a light bulb went off in my head. Even though I hadn't written anything but non-fiction for the past three decades I said "no, I want to write a novel."
The words came out of my mouth before I even realized what I was saying. But once they were out I was obsessed with the idea. I started reading everything I could get my hands on about schizophrenia, and had lots of conversations with friends who had schizophrenic relatives. The one person I didn't talk to, however, was the woman Kathy had met. I was so worried about inadvertently stealing her story that I wouldn't even let Kathy tell me her name. Once I had enough material I sat down and started creating Caitlin and her world.
The book seemed to have a mind of its own. I had a general idea of the story I wanted to tell when I started, but the novel kept evolving as I finished more and more chapters.
The topic of schizophrenia wasn't completely new to me; as a journalist I had encountered a number of mentally ill people while covering the courts and crime beat, and writing general news stories about the homeless in our community. I have also known several people who are schizophrenic, and, being interested in human psychology, had done a little research over the years just to satisfy my own curiosity. But working on the novel taught me so much more about the disease and the impact it has on families. It also reinforced the fact people who are unfortunate enough to develop this devastating mental illness are individuals, people who have families and friends who love them, and should be respected like all the other people we share this planet with.
I originally wrote this guest post for Alberta Ross's blog. You can find an interview with me on her website at: http://albertaross.wordpress.com/2012...
I'm much older than Caitlin, my protagonist, I don't have any children, and both my parents were quite sane when I was growing up. In fact, my one surviving parent is the picture of mental health. The next question is generally "How did you come to write about schizophrenia?" That question takes a little longer to answer.
I've always been fascinated with people, human behavior, and trying to figure out what makes people behave the way they do. One day my friend Kathy, who is also fascinated with the same things, called to tell me about a woman she'd met. The woman, who was the oldest of seven children, essentially raised her six younger siblings because both their parents had schizophrenia. Knowing that I'd written 8 non-fiction books during my career as a freelance journalist, Kathy suggested I work with this woman on a book. Suddenly, a light bulb went off in my head. Even though I hadn't written anything but non-fiction for the past three decades I said "no, I want to write a novel."
The words came out of my mouth before I even realized what I was saying. But once they were out I was obsessed with the idea. I started reading everything I could get my hands on about schizophrenia, and had lots of conversations with friends who had schizophrenic relatives. The one person I didn't talk to, however, was the woman Kathy had met. I was so worried about inadvertently stealing her story that I wouldn't even let Kathy tell me her name. Once I had enough material I sat down and started creating Caitlin and her world.
The book seemed to have a mind of its own. I had a general idea of the story I wanted to tell when I started, but the novel kept evolving as I finished more and more chapters.
The topic of schizophrenia wasn't completely new to me; as a journalist I had encountered a number of mentally ill people while covering the courts and crime beat, and writing general news stories about the homeless in our community. I have also known several people who are schizophrenic, and, being interested in human psychology, had done a little research over the years just to satisfy my own curiosity. But working on the novel taught me so much more about the disease and the impact it has on families. It also reinforced the fact people who are unfortunate enough to develop this devastating mental illness are individuals, people who have families and friends who love them, and should be respected like all the other people we share this planet with.
I originally wrote this guest post for Alberta Ross's blog. You can find an interview with me on her website at: http://albertaross.wordpress.com/2012...
Channeling my Inner Teenager
In mid-November, a couple of days after I self-published my novel, Playing the Genetic Lottery, I was lucky enough to be interviewed on the radio in Honolulu by Carroll Cox for his talk show. I had sent him the first six chapters of my book, which is a memoir-style novel of a 32-year-old wife and mother who grew up with two schizophrenic parents, to read before we talked on the air. Noting that a good half of the book covers my protagonist's teenage years, Carroll asked me if it was challenging to write from a teen's point of view. I just smiled and said "that was the easy part."
Despite being in my 50s, I still have vivid memories of what it was like to be a kid. And since I have not yet reached senility, my memories of my teenage years are still very strong. Perhaps it's because I still am in contact with a lot of my friends from high school. Or, more likely, because one of my favorite sayings is "Getting older is mandatory, but growing up is optional."
That's an adage I've tried to live by. Before you envision a total slacker still living with their parents, using a scooter for transportation, and babysitting for pocket money, let me explain. I'm a responsible adult. I pay my bills on time, run my own business, maintain a household, use my turn signals when I drive, floss daily, pay taxes and my friends and family know they can rely on me to keep my word. Inside this aging body, however, is an inner child who just wants to have fun. So, at the risk of blowing my adult cover, I'm going to admit it. I not only wanna have fun, I make it a priority.
So in addition to washing dishes, reading the newspaper and deciding how to vote in the upcoming election, I play with my dog. I play outside, in my yard, at the beach or on one of the many hiking trails near my home. I play card games with my friends, and I try to laugh as much as possible. And I remember what it was like to be a kid. I remember how wonderful it was to spend hours lost in conversation with a friend, the spine tingling excitement of my first kiss, and how intensely certain songs touched my soul. I remember how good it felt to jump into a cool mountain stream on a hot day, and the thrill of riding waves at the beach. I remember trying out new identities, like Ava does in my book when she changes her name to Caitlin.
My teenage years weren't all fun and games. I clearly remember how my emotions ran wild, how impulsive and impatient I was, how much the approval of my classmates meant, and how much I worried about what my friends thought about me. I remember how my friends and I talked, sentences full of slang and four letter words. I remember, with a bit of embarrassment, how immature I was, despite thinking at the time I knew everything. I remember the frustration when my parents "just didn't understand." I remember reacting in irrational anger at sometimes minor irritants, like finding someone folded my pants in a way that left a crease down the front of each leg. Fortunately most of the angst has faded, but a lot of the fun remains.
So channeling my inner teenager was easy. She's still a big part of me.
Terri Morgan is a freelance journalist from Soquel, California. She is the author or co-author of eight books, including many for young adults. Playing the Genetic Lottery is her first novel. When not working, she enjoys surfing, romping with her dog, and shooting the bb gun her husband bought her for her 50th birthday. She can be found on the web at http://terrimorgan.net.
Hope you enjoyed this guest blog I wrote for Josh's blog, www.theneverendingchronicles.com
Despite being in my 50s, I still have vivid memories of what it was like to be a kid. And since I have not yet reached senility, my memories of my teenage years are still very strong. Perhaps it's because I still am in contact with a lot of my friends from high school. Or, more likely, because one of my favorite sayings is "Getting older is mandatory, but growing up is optional."
That's an adage I've tried to live by. Before you envision a total slacker still living with their parents, using a scooter for transportation, and babysitting for pocket money, let me explain. I'm a responsible adult. I pay my bills on time, run my own business, maintain a household, use my turn signals when I drive, floss daily, pay taxes and my friends and family know they can rely on me to keep my word. Inside this aging body, however, is an inner child who just wants to have fun. So, at the risk of blowing my adult cover, I'm going to admit it. I not only wanna have fun, I make it a priority.
So in addition to washing dishes, reading the newspaper and deciding how to vote in the upcoming election, I play with my dog. I play outside, in my yard, at the beach or on one of the many hiking trails near my home. I play card games with my friends, and I try to laugh as much as possible. And I remember what it was like to be a kid. I remember how wonderful it was to spend hours lost in conversation with a friend, the spine tingling excitement of my first kiss, and how intensely certain songs touched my soul. I remember how good it felt to jump into a cool mountain stream on a hot day, and the thrill of riding waves at the beach. I remember trying out new identities, like Ava does in my book when she changes her name to Caitlin.
My teenage years weren't all fun and games. I clearly remember how my emotions ran wild, how impulsive and impatient I was, how much the approval of my classmates meant, and how much I worried about what my friends thought about me. I remember how my friends and I talked, sentences full of slang and four letter words. I remember, with a bit of embarrassment, how immature I was, despite thinking at the time I knew everything. I remember the frustration when my parents "just didn't understand." I remember reacting in irrational anger at sometimes minor irritants, like finding someone folded my pants in a way that left a crease down the front of each leg. Fortunately most of the angst has faded, but a lot of the fun remains.
So channeling my inner teenager was easy. She's still a big part of me.
Terri Morgan is a freelance journalist from Soquel, California. She is the author or co-author of eight books, including many for young adults. Playing the Genetic Lottery is her first novel. When not working, she enjoys surfing, romping with her dog, and shooting the bb gun her husband bought her for her 50th birthday. She can be found on the web at http://terrimorgan.net.
Hope you enjoyed this guest blog I wrote for Josh's blog, www.theneverendingchronicles.com
January 4, 2012
Bloggers
I'm discovering that there are some great blogs out there for readers and writers. I'm thrilled to have Ken at the Electronic Text & Literature Cloud include info on my novel Here's the link to my book. I would also encourage you to check out his blog. http://www.etlc.info/index.php/genera...
December 26, 2011
Silverdarts Press
I'm working on publishing my novel, Playing the Genetic Lottery, which I released as an e-book in December, as a paperback. It's a lot more work than I expected. I kept going back and forth on which Print on Demand service to use until my friend Suzy Witten (thank you!) told me about Lightning Source. The company only services publishers, so to qualify I had launch my own publishing company. So the first thing I did was name my new business Silverdarts Press. Why Silverdarts? 'Cause I like walking around the house singing "here we go Silverdarts, here we go." (clap, clap)
On a more serious side, I've applied for and received an ISBN for the paperback, and a Library of Congress number. When the county building reopens in January, I'll get my business license, and publish a DBA or doing business as statement in one of the local papers. In the meantime, I'm proofreading the novel one more time! getting the backcover and spine designed, writing the copyright and related information for the paperback version, and constantly adding to my to-do list. It seems like these days my to-do lists, and Facebook posts, are about the only things I write these days. The rest of the time is taken up with business details. Here we go Silverdarts, here we go....
On a more serious side, I've applied for and received an ISBN for the paperback, and a Library of Congress number. When the county building reopens in January, I'll get my business license, and publish a DBA or doing business as statement in one of the local papers. In the meantime, I'm proofreading the novel one more time! getting the backcover and spine designed, writing the copyright and related information for the paperback version, and constantly adding to my to-do list. It seems like these days my to-do lists, and Facebook posts, are about the only things I write these days. The rest of the time is taken up with business details. Here we go Silverdarts, here we go....
December 24, 2011
book review
I'm reading a fellow author's e-book and she's reading mine. We're doing a review exchange. I'm reading Faith and Trust by Suzanne Davis. Those who know me know I'm technologically challenged. But I was able to download her book from smashwords, and transfer it to my kindle. Started reading last night, and am enjoying her novel. I hope she likes Playing the Genetic Lottery as much as I like Faith and Trust.
November 18, 2011
The book is published
Playing the Genetic Lottery is now available as an ebook through smashwords and amazon. I published it on smashwords on 11-11-11, and reformatted it for amazon so it would be easier for Kindle readers to download.
October 20, 2011
Upcoming publication
Hey! I wrote a novel. I know lots of people write novels, but I'm especially excited about mine because it's my first work of fiction after more than 30 years of writing non-fiction. The book is called Playing the Genetic Lottery, and it's a fictional memoir of a 32-year-old wife and mother who grew up with two schizophrenic parents. I actually finished the book a while back, and got serious about getting my novel into the hands of readers about 3 months ago. After doing lots of research-as a non-fiction writer I've become an expert at researching stuff-I decided to e-publish my book myself. It's amazing how many details you have to do to get a novel ready to e-publish. Among other things, I hired a professional editor to proofread my work. Once she finishes proofing the final quarter of the book the fun begins. I get to format it-and formating has always been a mystery to me. But I think I'm up for the challenge. Because if I don't format it, I can't e-publish it. And if I don't publish the book, well, I'll be just another writer with the manuscript to my novel gathering dust in my desk drawer. So...stay tuned and I'll keep you posted on my progress. Oh, and I almost forgot. You can read excerpts from Playing the Genetic Lottery on my website: www.terrimorgan.net.
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