Becky Clark's Blog, page 9

Building Character—Literally

I’m working on a new series proposal and I thought you might be interested in how I populate this world.

First, I think of all the regular characters who will live and breathe there, noting everything I know about them on their character sheet: age, marital status, kids, where they live, how they dress, how they speak, their personal motto, what they’re good/bad at … whatever jumps into my head.

Then I imagine what they look like and go on the hunt for a photo, almost always using a celebrity or person I know. In this series I have Sigourney Weaver, a young Meg Ryan, Dom Delouise, Frida Kahlo, some writer pals of mine, an artist I know, JK Simmons, and Helena Bonham Carter’s hair.

When interviewers ask me that standard question of who would I want to be in the movie version of my book, I always laugh because it’s already cast!

It’s a lot of fun to fill out my character sheets. Like the ultimate Barbie Extravaganza. They do and say and wear exactly what I tell them, just like when I played Barbies.

photo from pexels.com

One of the character’s mottos is, “Speak loudly and carry a soft stick.” He’s a cop.

Another is, “What’s one more gonna hurt?” This from a man who has fostered and adopted so many kids he’s lost count.

And my sleuth? “Let’s just try.”

“Helena Bonham Carter” believes, “I’m not upset about my divorce. I’m upset that I’m not a widow.” Think that might get her in some trouble?

Then I spend some time on a juicy secret for each of them because everyone has secrets, large and small. The fun thing about these secrets is they may come out or they may not. But if they do, you can be darn sure it’ll be at the worst possible time.

The last thing I do are the names. I pull out my file of newspaper obituary listings and my big “Character Naming Sourcebook.”

The Sourcebook is an index to a ton of ethnic names, along with what some of them mean. Like, I could have a character who is wise or wealthy or pure and the book will give me a list of all the names with those meanings. It may never be apparent to the reader, but if it is, then we have an inside joke.

I remember when the Harry Potter books came out and people found out so many of the names had Latin roots that literally defined those characters. If you knew Latin, you had the inside scoop.

My obituary file is absolutely indispensable to me. The Sunday paper publishes the most. There’s a list at the beginning with just the names, which I clip after reading the display articles. I love reading the stories of these lives, which, of course, is another great way to find characters. Some are absolutely marvelous and it’s a shame their obit will be the only story written about some of them. These lists include many fabulous names. I mix and match first and last names and can always find a memorable one that speaks to the character but isn’t outlandish. Sometimes I’ll start with a perfect name and draw a character around that, but that’s pretty rare for me.

Choosing names is the most time consuming part for me because I try to make them match the traits I’ve just laid out for them, which, of course, never happens in the real world. When my kids were born, I had no idea who they might turn out to be. We had hopes, of course, but if everyone did that, every kid in America would be called Healthy, Wealthy, or Wise. But when I come at it from the other direction, I can give my readers a hint and/or reminder of who these characters are.

Names can change, but that’s hard for me. I’ve used placeholder names for characters in the past, but they become so real to me that it’s virtually impossible for me to think of them as anyone else. Because of this I’ve learned that even minor characters need some thought put into their names before I can ever write a word.

So that’s a little snapshot of my process of building character. They say adversity or playing sports or surviving middle school builds character, but now you know how it’s really done.

Do you like it or is it annoying when authors make the name match the character traits? Do you even realize you’re being manipulated that way? Which are the great character names, people you can’t imagine being named anything else? Writers, how do you come up with your character names?

Steinbeck’s Fictional Swamp Monster

I read an article by Heather Murphy in the New York Times recently about a lost manuscript of John Steinbeck’s. I’m never surprised to find out that famous authors have written other works, but this one piqued my interest because I think of Steinbeck as a very literary writer who explores deep themes in his work. Yet this newly discovered manuscript was a “lighthearted detective novel featuring a werewolf.”

Professor Gavin Jones unearthed it when he was researching a book he was writing about the author.

Steinbeck wrote “Murder at Full Moon” in nine days in 1930, and it includes illustrations by Steinbeck himself.

Not one of Steinbeck’s drawings, but rather from Giphy, something I’m sure he couldn’t have imagined.

Jones was surprised by how good it was. The sleuths are a cub reporter and an eccentric sheriff who investigate the killing of a dog which kicks off a bunch more murders of people, all under a full moon, “near a spooky dismal marsh.” They begin to think the killer is some sort of swamp monster. “The investigators apply a theory of crime detection built on reading bad murder mysteries.” Jones said it gives the novel a postmodern, ironic feel.

I would LOVE to read that!

Unfortunately, the agency that handles Steinbeck’s work won’t publish it because even though he held on to the manuscript until he died in 1968, he never chose to release it himself, and they want to honor that.

But … he held on to the manuscript until he died in 1968. He could have destroyed it at any time, yet he didn’t. That makes me think he believed there was something noteworthy about it.

Jones and a few other scholars think it should be published because it has merit. He says, “It’s a lost piece of California noir. I think he was inventing something here.”

So, I’m torn.

I completely understand an author who achieves fame for classics like “The Grapes of Wrath,” “Cannery Row,” and “Of Mice and Men” might not want to dilute his brand during the height of his career by publishing what sounds like a delightfully goofy—but apparently well-written—genre mystery.

But on the other hand, he’s been dead for a long time. His place in the literary world is sealed. One lighthearted romp into the mystery genre would never dislodge him from that pedestal.

Steinbeck himself said he was a mere ten rejections away from quitting the business altogether around the time he wrote this. I’m glad he stuck it out, but I’d sure love to read about the fictional swamp monster of Steinbeck’s imagination.

What do you think? Should famous authors’ wishes about their unpublished manuscripts be vigilantly adhered to long after their deaths? Or is there inherent literary value in their unpublished works?

Despite all indications to the contrary

I’ve learned some things over the years.

Parents and children both get smarter as they age.The more dollars you exchange for euros on your vacation, the less likely you are to need them.Writing a book and typing a book are entirely different beasts.

And 4, I’ve learned I’m getting old. I’m not complaining exactly, but I can’t keep calling myself middle-aged unless I really am planning to live to be 120. I like the age I am, and I certainly can’t complain. I agree with Ellen Degeneres who said, “When I go hiking and get over the hill, that means I’m over the hard part and there’s a snack in my future.”

Or maybe aging is like a roller coaster. It’s so much effort climbing, with lots of scary groaning and creaking. But then you get to the top and see that fantastic view of your productive kids living in their own houses, and you can’t help but grin and squeal as you race down the other side.

It’s thrilling.

But whether we’re climbing up one side or racing down the other, writers—and other sedentary types—can keep aging at bay by eating right and exercising. But it’s difficult when you spend so much time at a computer.

Despite all indications to the contrary, being a writer is physically very challenging.

We look nice and comfy, don’t we, staring out the window (we’re plotting … really!) with our feet on our desk. Or lounging on the patio under a dappled sky with a pooch curled at our feet. Or in a wingback pulled close to the fireplace.

But those legs crossed on our desk cut off circulation. And that patio chair forces our neck in a weird position. And there is simply not enough light next to that wingback.

And there are so many other challenges. We type for excruciating stretches at a time. We sit or stand at our desks for long periods. We get in The Zone and forget to eat. We get fantastic ideas that make us pop up out of a sound sleep and stay awake the rest of the night to capture them.

And the thing I did recently … sat from about 5:30 in the morning until about 4:30 in the afternoon reading a manuscript straight through.

That’s part of my process. After I get my first draft written, revised, and polished—before anyone else sees it—I sit with it and read it in as few sessions as I can. I can find all kinds of continuity and logic problems when it’s all right in my face like that.

But that’s tough on the ‘ol bod. Your keister falls asleep. Your right pointer finger gets stiff from hitting that down arrow as you read. Your eyes get blurry. Your neck kinks.

I try to force myself to stop every couple of hours and stretch or at least move around, but NOT to graze on cookies or chips or cheese or ice cream.

I read an article a while back about Feldenkrais, an alternative therapy for pain and mobility issues. I’d never heard of it but it’s basically a brain workout that can relieve years of discomfort through slow and subtle movements that retrain how you move, whether it’s walking or sitting or typing. The author of the article described her hip and neck pain and then the treatment, performed flat on her back while making tiny eye movements. It makes no sense, but after the session, despite no hip or neck stretches, her hip and neck had more mobility. The theory is that eye movement is vital in “coordinating the body’s musculature, particularly in how the neck muscles contract — one of Feldenkrais’ many counterintuitive approaches to learning to move differently.”

My chiropractor has me doing some similar things, for one, wearing some funky glasses that flash tiny lights. I’m also using something called an OKN app on my iPad that is kind of like watching telephone poles pass by out your car window. It forces your eyes and brain to do that rapid movement as you look from one to the next as they scroll past.

I also do an “eye clock” exercise where I look straight ahead and without moving my head, move my eyes to the extreme 1:00 position for 5 seconds, then back to neutral, then to 11:00 for 5 seconds. Then 2:00 and 10:00, 3 and 9, 4, and 8, 5 and 7. It’s really tiring! And I set a metronome for 54 bpm and for a couple of minutes, and perform random cross-body movements. Right hand taps left knee, right hand taps left shoulder, left hand taps right hip… etc. I do these while my coffee is perking every morning. Nala comes to make sure I’m okay before eating her breakfast. Then she tells me I look weird. Dogs are so judgy at 5am!

I won’t pretend to understand it, but it’s a fascinating and unusual way for folks to heal and care for themselves. And my balance has improved, so it must be working.

Another thing I’ve learned over the years is to keep an open mind, and that I’m all about the fascinating and unusual!

So, what fun things do you do to remain healthy and mobile? What do you do during your breaks from desk and computer? What healthy foods do you keep around to nosh on? Which are your favorite foods to indulge in when you don’t want to take time for an actual meal?

Dad’s Calendar

Many years ago, my dad took a tour of Ireland and was grousing to me after he got back that they rushed him through stuff he wanted to explore, but made him stay too long at other places.

I told him, “Next time, you pay me and I’ll be your guide.” I was joking, but a couple weeks later he called me and said he’d pay my way if I’d plan his next trip and go with him.

Um … okay! I didn’t realize it until that moment, but planning a trip on somebody else’s dime was my nirvana.

This was loooong before the internet put everything at your fingertips, so I went to the library and checked out all the Irish travel books. I sent away for a book listing all the bed-and-breakfasts, inns, and hotels on the island. I interviewed Dad about where he wanted to go and what he wanted to do.

And in October of 1997 we went.

It was a glorious trip. Dad was 67, hale and hearty. I was 36, pale and smarty, so I let him drive. We had an absolute ball. Started in Dublin where we stayed a few days, then rented a car and meandered around the southern half of the country until we got to Shannon.

When my husband and I were in college, we lived in England and my dad was so impressed that we traveled all over and never had advance reservations anywhere. He wanted to do that, have the B&B experience with innkeepers instead of a stuffy old hotel. So we’d roll into the town we wanted to stay in and I’d park him at the pub with a Guinness. He’d chat up the locals and I’d go find us rooms. I’d come back in ten minutes or so to find my right proper pour of Guinness waiting for me. He’d ask if I found a place. I’d point to a nearby house and he’d marvel at my prowess.

After we came home, I put together a calendar for him with some of the goofier pictures I’d collected.

I stumbled on my copy recently and it made me laugh, so I wanted to make sure to preserve it here. In 1997 there were none of the slick graphics programs we have now, so I fired up my Mac Classic and did a cut-and-paste job. I used stickers and colored paper for some spot color, and placed the finished pages on our fancy new color copier at our print shop. On the calendar days, I filled in the birthdays and anniversaries for Dad’s kids and grandkids.

I had fun making it and I know Dad got a kick out of it.  

“Seeing and Doing” is kind of a family joke. It’s how Dad labeled all of our vacation slides.

Dad’s photos with his little instamatic camera were mostly abysmal. But he kept taking them! And then he ordered the double prints. Yanno, in case anyone else wanted one. Dad met Shirley on this trip. She was a madrigal singer at the Bunratty Folk Park during the medievel dinner we went to. Dad made many subsequent trips to Ireland after this one, and ran into Shirley several times. He was absolutely smitten with her. On one of his last trips, with two of my sisters, they ran into Shirley upstairs in the castle. Dad couldn’t climb stairs and she graciously came downstairs to say hello to him. Dad loved the Bed and Breakfast scene. He was a real people person and truly enjoyed meeting the proprietors and chatting about everything under the sun. Meeting Irish people was his favorite part of traveling there. Dad also loved the pub scene. We enjoyed a Guinness every day as we wound down, sipping one or two while we debriefed the events of the day and relaxed before dinner. We got a kick out of these very Irish blessings. A hodgepodge of business cards and ticket stubs from our days of Seeing and Doing.

Re-Re-Re-Research

Sheesh, how many times you gotta check facts??

I got an email recently from Rebecca, my production editor. She was alerting me that I might have a mistake in the manuscript for FATAL SOLUTIONS, the third Crossword Mystery that comes out in November.

She was getting it ready to go to typesetting, but something caught her eye.

In one scene Quinn Carr, my main character, was talking to her parents and said, “Did you want it to be a secret, so we don’t have a King Lear situation? Do you want me to go all Portia on you and publicly declare my love before I can get my share of the kingdom?”

Rebecca pointed out that Portia was a character from Merchant of Venice, but Cordelia, from King Lear, was the one it seemed I was referencing.

Mind you, everyone and their hair stylist has read this manuscript, and this didn’t jump out at any of us. Rebecca wanted to ask me about it, though, because of the possibility that it was Quinn’s mistake instead of mine.

Alas and alack, ‘twas mine own mistake.

I clearly felt so confident of my Portia reference, I didn’t even fact check it. If I had done the simplest thing and typed “Portia King Lear” into a search engine, the mistake would have been obvious. And I don’t blame anyone else for going along with my mistake because my daddy always told me, “You can say anything if you say it with authority.”

I’m thankful the mistake was caught early, but I wonder what would have happened. Would I have been buried under a deluge of hate mail from Shakespeare scholars? Would readers have fallen under my diabolical spell whereby I say wrong stuff with complete bravado, thus rendering it impervious to fact-checking?

Would anyone notice? Would anyone complain?

Neither Portia nor Cordelia is germane to my story. It’s not like mixing up weaponry in a police procedural, or sending your characters east into the sunset, or making a crossword puzzle without rotational symmetry or connectivity, ferpetesake. Some facts matter more.

I worry about typos in my books as much as I do factual errors. Weirdly though, mistakes don’t bother me in books by other authors.

Recently I read a published ebook that had a ton of typos in it. I registered the mistakes as I read, but didn’t particularly care about them. It didn’t diminish my enjoyment of the story. But I did wonder if I should mention it to the author, a friend of mine.

I ultimately decided not to, but I’m vacillating because I would want people to tell me if there were typos—or incorrect Shakespearian references—in my books. Mistakes can almost always be fixed these days, especially in ebooks.

But now I’m wondering … what do YOU do when you find mistakes—substantive or typos—in published books you read? Where are you on the scale from “meh, don’t care” to “throw the book across the room and vow to never read a book by that author ever again”?

In case you were wondering, Nala is clearly in the “beleaguered by typos” camp. Her manuscripts would be perfect…if only she had thumbs.

Reluctant Heroes

When I write — whether for kids or adults — I seem to be drawn to characters who are going about their normal, everyday lives, when BLAMMO, something weird happens and forces them into a different trajectory.

In my kids’ funny adventure series (no, don’t look for them, but I hope to update and publish them someday), they find themselves zapped back in time BLAMMO and have to figure out how to get back. They’re like Peabody and Sherman meet Quantum Leap. I’ve written one where they go back and meet Billy Shakespeare, one where they learn the how and why of the Easter Island statues, one where they meet a female Civil War spy, and one where they meet Mona Lisa.

In a historical mystery I would LOVE to find a home for (because it’s very loosely based on my grandmother’s life), a young girl sets out to find the truth about her mother who has disappeared after a Kansas tornado, but nobody else seems concerned. BLAMMO.

In my Dunne Diehl Mysteries, BANANA BAMBOOZLE and MARSHMALLOW MAYHEM, Cassidy Dunne and Dan Diehl are middle-aged best friends from college. She’s straight, he’s gay. She’s short, he’s tall. She’s a secret eater, he tries to ignore it. She’s rash, he’s pragmatic. She hasn’t been on a date since the Reagan administration, he’s got a new boyfriend. But their lives are thrown into chaos when Cassidy is convinced she sees her teenage niece at a party. Problem is, that niece died in a house fire as an infant. Did she imbibe in too many Banana Bamboozles at the party like Dan thinks? BLAMMO. (Yes, the recipe is in the book!) In Marshmallow Mayhem, they’re on a road trip and the RV campground manager turns up dead and they’re prime suspects. BLAMMO.

In my Mystery Writer’s Mysteries, mystery writer Charlee Russo only wants to write mysteries, she doesn’t want to solve them. Too bad for her that her literary agent gets murdered in FICTION CAN BE MURDER, and her friend’s daughter gets kidnapped in FOUL PLAY ON WORDS, and an author she’s scheduled to do an event with gets on the train but never gets off. BLAMMO times three.

In PUZZLING INK, the first of my new crossword puzzle mysteries, Quinn Carr is back home, nursing her psychic wounds, trying to manage her OCD, and pull herself out of a deep depression. She can barely drag herself out of bed most days, but takes a job at a local diner in an attempt at a normal life. She’s going through the motions of putting her life back together, but is nowhere near done, when her boss at the diner is arrested for murder. BLAMMO. In the upcoming PUNNING WITH SCISSORS, Quinn is minding her own business when she’s asked to care for a suspect’s dog and clean up a crime scene. BLAMMO.

Can you see a theme here? Nobody wants to do any of this, solve any of these mysteries, leave their comfy cocoon. But they’re forced.

When I hear about women throughout history, I’d try to put myself in their place. Could I travel the Oregon Trail? Could I help Jews hide or escape during the Nazi era? Could I be a Civil War spy? Could I be a destitute tenant farm wife in 1930s Kansas? Could I solve a real-life crime?

I think writing these types of stories makes me feel like I could. But, really, could I?? I hope I never have to find out!

Who are your favorite reluctant heroes? Does it bug you when the protagonist is reluctant? Do you think you’d have been able to travel the Oregon Trail and make a new life for yourself? Or would you fall out of the wagon and just sit there bawling like Lucy Ricardo when Ricky wouldn’t let her perform with his band? Could you solve a real-life crime?

Do we need fictional villains when we have so many real ones?

Books, movies, and television are saturated with bad guys, some of whom we even like. Fagin. Beetlejuice. Shere Khan. Moby Dick. Macbeth. All the characters in Shameless.

But how can we write fictional villains when the world is teeming with real ones, walking invisibly among us? Apparently we talk to them, pour their coffee, greet them warmly, sell them guns, movie tickets, and muffins every day.

I’m struggling with this along with most of the rest of the world.

Of course. Of course people need stories to transport them out of their real lives. People need Scarlett O’Hara and Rhett Butler and Coraline and Madame Bovary and Leopold Bloom and Holden Caulfield and Atticus Finch.

But do we need another murderer? Another Norman Bates? Another Hannibal Lecter? Another Bill Sikes? Another Mr Ripley?

Do we?

And then it came to me.

Yes, we do.

We need the villains so the heroes can win. We need the bad guys to get some kind of comeuppance, whether that’s prison, their eye-for-an-eye death, or just a life spent looking over their shoulder, waiting for whatever avenging shoe will drop and smoosh them.

Unlike real life, fictional murders are almost always tied up within a few hundred pages, a logical bow waving in the righteous breeze. Our hero figures out what happened, whodunnit, and usually why they dunnit.

Unlike real life.

And we need that.

Don’t we?

Things I never get right on the first try

which direction the USB plugs inhow to spell ryth—riththm—rhythym—rhythm the proper remote for DVDsEpitaph vs EpithetBob Seger vs Pete SeegerParsnips vs RutabagasOdin vs OvidAver vs Avowwhich car is mine in the grocery store lotwhich button opens my trunk

What about you? Anything make you work twice to get right?

I’m Losing Sleep Wondering!

When I’m done with a manuscript, and the book is in print, I’m left with my 3-ring binder which holds the final draft, any research notes, character sketches, emails from my early readers, and all the other papers that pile up about it.

I’m running out of room on my shelf, so it made me wonder what other authors did with their stuff after the book was published.

I started with my Chicks on the Case blogmates, but I’m an uber-curious gal, so I asked a bunch of others.

JC Eaton

We take the printed manuscripts and put them in a dresser drawer. We used to have them bound with coil but that seemed a bit too ridiculous. We do save them on thumb drives as well. As for notes, we keep timelines and synopses plus our “murder notebook.” 

Vicki Delaney

I don’t keep much in the way of notes and I don’t print off copies. Just the way I’ve always worked. I do have outlines and timelines for each book, which is all electronic.

Sue Hinkin

I have a Ball jar with a jump drive for each book including the manuscript, research, marketing stuff etc. 

Tina Kashian

I put them in file folders and then boxes which go in the attic. But I always save everything on Dropbox or flash drives.

Catriona McPherson

I still remember the moment when I ran out of space to keep everything and had to steel myself to chuck out annotated drafts of published books. I thought it would bother me more than it has.

Now, when the book hits the shelves, I hoy the lot into the wheelie bin, all except research notes and contracts.

Until then, I keep the drafts in a pile on top of the filing cabinet. The rubbing alcohol is for my whiteboard, by the way, but I left it to give you a laugh.

[Becky’s note: the photo seemed perfectly reasonable to me. But “I hoy the lot into the wheelie bin” did make me laugh.]

Abby Vandiver, also writing as Abby Collette

I use spiral notebooks. Years ago I used to print my books out, take them to Kinko’s and have them coil bound to read. Now I load on my Kindle to read and make notes there. I don’t do “drafts,” so really don’t have to print. 

I had so many notebooks with notes from multiple books in them that I started buying 5-Subject ones. Once they’re full, I pack them in boxes and put them away. 

Liz Penney

I do nothing with them! They’re on my hard drive. I have notebooks stuffed with notes, ideas, outlines, etc. Nothing organized. I figure once it’s in print, why do I need a hard copy?

Chris Eboch

I used to keep all my manuscripts, but now I have eleven published novels for adults (written as Kris Bock), two more sold, and several more unsold. Add to that a dozen unsold and seven published middle grade novels (written as Chris Eboch), plus some fifty work for hire nonfiction and fiction titles—that’s a lot of manuscripts! So I merely keep the electronic documents and recycle the paper. I do keep research material in printed form, if I don’t have it on the computer and if I think I might use it again for something else. I might keep an older version or two of a manuscript on the computer, but in general, I’m going for clean and simple rather than trying to save everything I’ve ever done. I’ve never needed the supplemental materials after publication. Now when it comes to works in progress and notes on new ideas, I have a big stack of folders of those.

Mary Feliz

I have this delusional nightmare in which my books are so worth copying that someone else will print them and make billions, and I might have to prove I wrote them first. So I have binders with the final edit copies in them. Why, when I have them on my computer? Leave me alone, it’s my delusion.

[Becky’s note: Mary, I’ll see your delusion and raise you some paranoia. Often I save old drafts to burn in the backyard fire pit, but when I throw away my old marked up paper copies, I distribute them across several trash cans, and one shredder. Someone pawing through my beautiful, beautiful words at the dump might be able to get their hands on pages 27-35, 82-96, 145-163, 199-218, 256-277, and 342-355, but they’ll have to piece it together the rest of the way!  *steeples fingers in nefarious manner *

Donna Schlachter also writing as Leeann Betts

I keep mine in a file folder in a filing cabinet drawer. Yes, I recently had to buy another 4-drawer cabinet to keep me better organized. But I also keep in this file folder any publisher communication; copyright information for indie-published books; as well as calendars for time lines. I keep the Book Information Sheet with blurb, tagline, synopsis, details such as ISBN and publication date and links on my computer, as well as the final manuscript and cover images.

Libby Klein

I have all my files backed up in various places on my computer. In Dropbox, in OneDrive, not to mention that every manuscript is saved as an attachment in an email to my agent and my publisher. When I’m finished with my final edit from the publisher, they go in a file in my desk. I’m either going to have to rethink that plan after one more book, or get a bigger desk.

Bigger desk seems easier, Libby, but that’s just me.

Leslie Budewitz

Once I’ve got the book in hand, there’s not much point in keeping a paper copy of the final manuscript. (I do keep all iterations on my hard drive, regularly backed up, in case I need to check a detail, or for some future scholar who wants to track the progress of my drafts. Ha.) But I’m a planner and a plotter. For each series and standalone, I create a “bible,” a 3″ 3-ring binder with sections for notes, calendars, outlines, sketches, and the initial proposal—anything I create while writing. Some are recurring, like the character notes and style sheets, while others, like the notes and outlines, are specific to the work-in-progress. Odd bits like newspaper clippings or magazine pages with a picture of a character’s kitchen or truck can go in a slide pocket in the front of the binder or a plastic sleeve. 

For a series, when the manuscript is done, I tuck the notes, outlines, and anything else specific to that book in a 1″ binder labeled, e.g. “Spice #5 Notes,” and start the process over again for the next in the series. (I have tons of binders leftover from my legal practice, but I can see a day when I might have to go shopping!)

There’s also no substitute for a physical notebook or sketchbook for each series or stand-alone and those get tucked on the shelf, too.

Leslie and I like our 3-ring binders!

So that’s a little peek backstage at some writers at work. I love learning how other authors work because—and this may surprise you—there’s no manual for writers. Weird, huh, since we’re, yanno, writers. I always say that if you put 100 writers in a room and ask how they do something, you’ll get 105 answers.

But that’s why I love them so!

What other backstage stuff are you curious about? Let me know and I’ll start asking!

Unknowns

Life is all about unknowns.

If I knew about my spinal tumor 15 years ago when it began growing would I have done anything differently? Nope. I still would have waited until it gave me trouble before pursuing surgery.

If I knew that the small business/three kids my husband and I started 30 years ago were going to be successful would I still have worried? Absolutely. If I hadn’t, I might not have worked so hard in those early years to launch it/them.

But also because I hold the world together with the mighty, mighty power of my worry.

I’m not a professional worrywort or anything, in that I tend not to worry about stuff over which I have no control. Meteors crashing into earth? My plane plummeting from the sky? Hordes of locusts? How my hair looks on any given day? None of the above. But if a kid doesn’t check in on time, or Nala the Wonder Dog starts limping, or my credit card looks compromised, you can bet my spidey senses start tingling.

When whatever I’m worried about turns out to be a non-event, my husband likes to point out that I needn’t have worried. To which I reply, “How do you know that my worry didn’t solve the crisis, huh?” Wait a beat. “That’s what I thought.”

Some logic is irrefutable.

Do I know how long I’ll live? Nope. Do I know if I’ll have grandkids? Nope. Do I know when the refrigerator will go kaput? Nope. Do I know if my next book will crack any bestseller list? Nope.

But I’ll know soon enough.

There is one thing, however, that I might have done differently, if only I’d known. I might have started writing mysteries sooner.

But who’s to say that I would have been in the right place back then? Maybe I would have been too stressed to do it justice. Maybe I wouldn’t have found my tribe to give me the support absolutely essential to success. Maybe I needed to have the life experiences behind me to have anything interesting to say. (And I’m making an assumption here.)  Maybe I would have been swayed by some enigmatic Svengali to give up writing to pursue a career in tap dancing or welding or Olympic-caliber dressage instead.

Life is all about unknowns.

That’s what makes it fun.

Is there anything in your life you would have done differently? Are you sure it would have been a better path?