Amy Lillard's Blog, page 18

Ethridge, Tennessee–part 1

One of the first things I wanted to do when I went home to Alabama for our annual visit this summer was to travel to Tennessee to the Amish settlement in Ethridge. And I am so glad I did. For once the members of my family got to see first hand about the Amish and I got to visit a settlement that was ‘new’ to me.

I also planned to blog about this great experience, but realized when I sat down to tell you about it, that it was going to take more than one post. So I’m taking this in stages. First up, our wagon tour…

What a treat that we got to travel through part of the settlement in a horse drawn wagon! The young man who drove us down those dusty back roads was very knowledgeable about the Amish. There were certain houses he took us to who were friendly to the English, or non-Amish people.  We got to walk around one man’s wood shop where he made everything entirely out of cedar. I so wanted to bring one of the big wooden porch swings home with me. Ah, well, maybe next year.

We also got to see two very small girls take the family’s lunch scraps out to feed the goats. The girls couldn’t have been more than three and four, but they lugged the big five gallon bucket to the fence and called for the goats in their Pennsylvania Dutch. We were just driving away when the goats came running into the pen to be fed.

The Amish of Ethridge are very conservative, not even allowing their children to have a rumspringa or ‘run around’ time. They also would not let us take pictures of anything. And I mean anything. But how crazy must they think we are that we want to take pictures of their laundry. Or their wood-burning water heater. Or their endless rows of short popcorn stalks.

But being so conservative also means no phone shanties or phones in the barn in case of an emergency, no caution triangles on the back  of their buggies, and very little interaction with the outside community.

Still, the ones that we did get to visit with were very friendly, welcoming us into their world if only for a very brief time.

For more about the Amish settlement in Ethridge, TN, go to http://amishamerica.com/the-amish-of-ethridge-tennessee/

How to Tell that You Live with a Writer by Rob Lillard as told to Amy

This post is for all the spouses out there. All the sisters, brothers and moms whose writing family member falls off the radar a couple of times a year. You don’t know if you are one of these abandoned loved ones? There are certain key indicators that you may live with a writer. In any given week, you may find yourself saying something like this…

Monday:

“Do we have any Q-tips?”

What do you mean you don’t know you have a book due?

“What’s for supper?”

“Well, I guess a sandwich is okay. Sure…I can make it  myself.”

Tuesday:

Did you go to the store today? We need Q-tips.

Sure I can make a sandwich for supper, but..we’re out of lunch meat.

I’m out of underwear and socks. Can you wash a load of whites for me?

I know you are under a deadline,  but you can write while the clothes wash.

Wednesday:

Did you remember to get Q-tips?

I know you have a book due, but it’s been three days since I asked you.

You went to the store to get coffee but you forgot Q-tips? Yes, I do believe Q-tips are just as important as coffee.

Can you wash some whites?

Thursday:

I’m down to my last pair of underwear and socks. Did remember you wash some bleach clothes?

Have you taken a shower today? This week?

Honey, setting partially opened cans of cat food in the floor is not really feeding the cat.

Yeah, take out is fine. Yeah…I’ll go get it.

Friday:

I’m going to Walmart. We need lunch meat, Q-tips, and new underwear and socks.

How much longer before you hit your deadline?

If you can say yes, that any or all of the conversation above has taken part at your house, then most probably you live with a writer. Never fear, this insanity usually occurs at this magnitude only around deadline time, but beware of plotting a new book/series.

And good luck to you all. Living with a writer can be a challenge. Yet rewarding as well. After all, they know how to  spell everything.

Why writers hate edits so much

Once upon a time, columnist Red Smith was asked if writing a daily column was a difficult task for a writer. Red’s answer? A deadpanned “Why, no. You simply sit down at the typewriter, open your veins, and bleed.” *

And that is why writers hate edits so much. The End.

But seriously, I start off edits in a great frame of mind. I’ve got my editor’s fresh eyes looking over my work making sure all of the commas are in place and the pronouns are all correct. But some time during the editing process, the nice girl in me sort of…snaps and out pops this somewhat crazed, self-important ogre who can’t believe that there’s anyone alive that can’t see how brilliant that word choice really is. I mean, isnt it obvious? (Deep breath).

Ahem…What I mean to say is, writers are an insecure breed.  It’s hard to write a piece, even the less personal fiction, and put it out there for the world to see. Even harder when the ”world’ has a red felt-tipped pen. (Or Track Changes.)

But ‘putting it out there’ is a necessary part of the writing process. Most writers dream of being published. And being published means editors, which means edits, which means that ogre is going to show up now and again.

So when you see that post on Facebook or Twitter about your favorite author going through edits, be sure to hit the” like” button. Show them a little support and help them keep the ogre at bay.

BTW–I’m in edits right now, so I’d appreciate it if you would “like” this post. Please and thank you! :)

* taken from http://quoteinvestigator.com/2011/09/14/writing-bleed/

Amanda Flower « Marisa Cleveland

Amanda Flower « Marisa Cleveland.

It Is Done.

And after all the waiting and exercise of my patience, I finally got it–the real deal. The Contract. Dah, dah, dummm. How incredibly exciting. What a wonderful opportunity. Such a–Holy Cow, you want it when?!?!

And that’s when I got the very real experience of a deadline. (Dah, Dah Dummm) It was September 12, Saving Gideon was at 67,000 words–a completed first draft. (Key word here, draft.) B&H wanted the completed manuscript by October 1. And at a word count between 80,000 and 85,000 words. Now for those of you out there who are mathematically challenged, that’s 13,000 to 18,000 (THOUSAND) *more* words. In eighteen–yes, eighteen days. That’s a thousand words a day–in addition to a full-time job, a husband, a child, cub scout meetings, guitar lessons, a cat who won’t eat, a dog who needs to lose weight, my birthday, and…life.

Being the consummate professional that I am, I panicked!!

Okay, not really, but I’m sure I was very hard to live with at times. But because I feed everyone in this household and in turn they fear my culinary wrath, they have yet to complain about the two weeks of chaos that followed the signing of the aforementioned contract. (Dah, Dah, Dummm)

But I do believe God was on my side. Maybe He’s who encouraged the boys to tiptoe around the house when I sat down to the computer. And He was responsible for making meals pop out of no groceries. And allowed me to retain as much of my sanity as possible until somehow…somehow…I got the words written and the manuscript sent in. Whew.

And yet…this is a trilogy. For those non-astute with math, that’s 3 books–tres. The next one’s due at the beginning of May 2012. I haven’t written a word on it. Just a one page synopsis to let the publisher know that I have an idea. And not a very detailed one.  That’s 212 days  minus Halloween, Thanksgiving, and Christmas, New Years, Valentines Day, and our wedding anniversary. Asa’s birthday, four doctor’s appointments and…uhum, I think I’d better go. I have another book to write! :)

Lots of

Waiting Some More

In the immortal words of Tom Petty and the Heart-breakers the waiting is the hardest part.

I have been waiting as patiently as I possibly can. And that really is the hard part. That and thinking about signing a contract on a book that isn’t ready to go to press. But I’ve been doing some deep breathing exercises, and I think I have that part under control.

But I’m waiting. And really expected to find out something today~hey, a girls’ gotta have hope! So when I get a call on my cell phone from an out-of-state number. I immediately think publisher. I don’t know why. They aren’t going to call me. They’re going to call my agent. But that’s what I thought, so I answered.

It wasn’t the publishing house wanting to offer me large amounts of money for Gideon~hey, a girl’s gotta dream. It was the contest coordinator for the Northwest Houston RWA’s Lone-star Writing Competition. Saving Gideon is a finalist in their inspirational category!!!

Whoo-hoo!

And even better–2 of the 3 judges gave Gideon a perfect score! WOW! I’m speechless. Okay, maybe not*speechless*, but I am really, really happy. Been floating on that cloud all day.

The third judge wasn’t quite as kind. But she gave me some straightforward comments and corrections. As much as I hate to admit it, she’s right about some of them. (okay, okay, *a lot* of them). Thankfully I get a chance to “correct” my contest entry before I have to submit it for the final judging.

And so while I wait, I get the chance to make Saving Gideon even better. So thank you, contest judges. Two for stroking my fragile writer’s ego and the other for giving it to me straight. I really appreciate you all.

Winners won’t be announced until October 15. So I’ll be waiting some more.  Ah, it’s the writer’s life fo me!

I’ll keep you posted! Lots of

The Call

I’ve been waiting, hoping, praying, and waiting some more, and I finally got “the call.”  My agent–queen of emails–actually called. I just happened to be on the phone at the time talking to the receptionist at the dentist’s office, I know, uber important–when the caller ID beeped. I was expecting a call from the roof man (you know, the guy who was contracting to repair my roof after our spring hail storms). Again important stuff. But I didn’t see whose name was on the caller ID, just that it didn’t say “private caller” which it does when my hubby calls from his cell phone. No worries, I’ll finish this conversation and call the roofer back and holy-schmoley! It’s my agent!

And thus begins the scramble to call her back on any phone I could find–like it made a difference. But I had to talk to her. ‘Cause if she was calling on the phone in lieu of the super quick email, then it was big. Beyond big. Enormous.

And it was. Broadman and Holman is interested in offering on my Amish romance, Saving Gideon.  Whoo-hoo! This is what I’ve been waiting for. After so many rejection letters. Publishers doubting I could make a Dallas socialite embrace the Amish way of life, even for just a couple of weeks. No one willing to take a chance on a no-name. I had done it–or rather she had done it. My wonderful agent had gotten me to an editor who could see through it all to the potential the story holds.

See writing is a lot like trying to find your first job after college. You have your diploma, all neat and pressed, an eager smile on your face, and the drive to conquer the world. But you don’t have the experience. You can talk a big talk, but everyone’s a little leery because no one has seen you walk the big walk. But there’s usually one–and for me this is B&H publishing–who’s willing to take the chance.

Now the question remains, will they offer on the single book or on the trilogy? Let’s hope the trilogy.

I actually got “the call” almost a month ago. And now I wait on the fianlized offer and who knows what other legal papers in addition to the contract. But I am beyond excited!

Finally. Finally…

And that’s what this blog is about–my journey from proposal to contract and on to the finished book. But to hold you over in the meantime, I’ve added a page to the blog that has the short synopsis for Saving Gideon and another that has an excerpt. I’m working on getting a website together, but that’s a little ways down the road.

So until I get the next call…

I’m glad you joined me!