Katherine Reay's Blog, page 11

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year

I know many of you may not be at your computers right now … but I want to wish you all a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.

It’s a busy time and the family and I are on the move… visiting family and friends. But I wanted to share a couple pictures of our adventures.

God bless you all and I will be much more articulate next week. Lizzy and Jane edits are due on Monday, January 6, 2014. Strange to write that date and even more strange to think that book #2 is already well in the works. Very thrilling.

Keep in touch and Happy 2014.

… Katherine

 

Happy Birthday, Jane!

On my blog today, I ponder a bunch of the stuff Jane Austen has taught me over the years…

So Happy Birthday, Jane! I owe you…

http://www.katherinereay.com/blog/

Happy Birthday, Jane! You taught me much . . .

We learn a lot in high school, much in college – but in terms of life lessons we probably could’ve captured it all in middle school if we’d been paying attention and not simply striving trying to keep our heads above water and our faces clear of acne. Those were the years in which I discovered Jane Austen so I’m a little fuzzy about who taught me the most – my friends, my teachers, my parents or dear Jane. In terms of practical enduring truths – I’m siding with Jane. Here are a few of her well worn, proven by 200 years of durability, bits of advice:

Let’s talk marriage – not falling in love. Marriage. The difference comes from the fact that we might let young men “impose” on us, but we should never let them “injure” us. Thank you, Emma, for the distinction. So date Willoughbys, Wickhams and Crawfords, with their charming manners, if you must, but look closely because often their words don’t match their actions and they always put their needs and desires first – and even put their professed ladyloves in compromising situations. And when the chips are down, they’re long gone – not a good choice for a lifetime commitment.

But Jane showed us the true men and we swooned: the Darcys, Knightleys, Betrams (Edmund) and Ferrars (Edward) and even sweet Henry Tilney.  Although seriously flawed their honorable actions spoke louder than their words (Snobby sounding Darcy did save Lizzy’s family.) and they were willing to learn from their mistakes. These men grew – they lived more, gave more and loved more by the time we read of their happy endings.

Don’t forget friendships – C.S. Lewis would say this is a high love because it isn’t one we necessarily need, but one that we choose and one that enriches our lives exponentially. Therefore, I say, choose the best – and so did Austen. Look for a fun, intelligent, loyal, and honest friend who brings something to the table, maybe something you haven’t got. For instance, Jane Bennet embodies all of the above and I’d like to be friends with her. But since I am not “apt to like people in general” we would probably not be besties. But like the every woman who has ever read Pride and Prejudice, I’m sure Elizabeth and I would hit it off famously. But let’s consider another – Charlotte Lucas. I’d take her for a good friend any day. She didn’t betray Elizabeth when she sought out Mr. Collins – she simply made a practical choice to solve a serious problem (poverty) and I commend her for that. She remained a loyal friend and confidant to Elizabeth and gave her some pretty solid advice – as evidenced by her sage admonition “not to be a simpleton” at the Netherfield Ball.

Austen never gives us the good without the bad – thank goodness. Just like the duplicitous men, each book is chock full of catty and petty women. Avoid anyone resembling Mariah Bertram, Isabella Thorpe, Lucy Steele, Lydia Bennet, Caroline Bingley… the list can go on. In fact, Austen’s sheer preponderance of bad friend material should caution us. A good friend seems hard to find – so be selective.

I also learned how to treat others from Austen’s novels. The good, the bad and the mediocre her stories never succeeded until they saw others clearly and put their interests second to those around them – if you can’t do that, you’re not heroine material. Emma didn’t find love and happiness until her care for others came from her heart and not her ego. The same can be said for Elizabeth, Elinor, Marianne, and Catherine… Fanny may have always had her perspective correct, but that only made her less approachable. My point here is that the way we see and treat others is an extension of our heart, so Austen seems to advise keeping it in soft working order.

But let that be the only thing soft – for you must get plenty of exercise!  Austen clearly contends that nothing good happens without a good walk. You need look no further than Emma and Pride and Prejudice to see the truth in that. So get out there – and if you can find a nice hedgerow, all the better!

Faith is the last area of guidance I’ll mention here. She seems so quiet on this subject and, oftentimes; you must read between the lines for Austen’s faith is organic – it resides in a life lived rather than a word spoken. In fact her most vocal characters, such as Mary Bennet, Mr. Collins and Mr. Elton, don’t come off well – they are didactic and annoying. Faith and love do not infuse their lives; they put on it display like an ill-fitting coat. But check out the heroes and heroines – they change, they grow, they become infused with greater understanding, greater charity and a greater capacity for love – all love. And that is a good place to begin…

So I guess, while I definitely listened to my parents and teachers – perhaps not enough – and my friends – perhaps too much – I’d say Austen taught me some pretty important stuff. And my hope is that you “may draw from it this useful lesson…” and that I haven’t been as annoying as Mary Bennet in delivering it.

Are you kidding me?!

Short story… because it’s the Christmas season and I know we are all busy.

So I went out of town recently and came home to find all three bathrooms in the house out of toilet paper. Well, not that horrid… toilet paper was there. But the new rolls were sitting atop the old empty roll. No one had bothered to install (a 3 second job) the new roll.

So I start yelping, “Are you all kidding me? Can no one do this job? Come on, folks…” as I stomped from bathroom to bathroom lamenting the laziness of my family.

I reached the third bathroom and my daughter followed me in – it’s the size of a postage stamp – and I felt instantly cramped.

I turned to her. “Do you want to see how to put a new roll in?”

“I know how, but it works just as well not snapped in place.”

“Then why are you in here?” I turn back to the task at hand.

“If you’re going to bother putting it in, I want to make sure you do it right.” She delivered this line with a straight face, and no hint of sarcasm, BECAUSE she was completely serious.

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Proper “draping” according to the Daughter

It seemed that not only did my daughter know how to install the roll, but really felt installation held no value, she knew the roll was to drape over the front.

So, once more, I asked, “Are you kidding me?”

Life is never dull with children. I’m sure one of them will teach me something new tomorrow — even if it’s that much of my stomping and yelping has little value.

That’s all. I’ll be much more erudite next week and hope that everyone is having a wonderful Christmas season!

Clean Up Time

Last evening, I hosted my first Facebook party -- and it was tremendous fun. I didn't know quite what to expect, but it turned out to be a wonderful time of chatting with new friends, discussing Dear Mr. Knightley and answering and posing questions.

On my blog, I again announce the winners of some gifts and prize packs offered and just wrap up what proved to be a delightful event.

http://www.katherinereay.com/blog/

For those who attended... Thank you. For those unable to make it... There will be another someday. It was too fun not to repeat.

C.S. Lewis: An Homage

On my website, I've posted thoughts on a few of my favorite Lewis books.

I found it appropriate for tomorrow marks not only the 50th anniversary of JFK's death, but that for Lewis as well.

I hope you enjoy it and dig into some of his works -- I really believe he was one of those thinkers and writers blessed with the skill to reach readers from multiple angles, multiple genres and on multiple fronts. A truly gifted individual.

http://www.katherinereay.com/blog/

I do promise to keep working at linking the posts directly here... next project :)

Learning Lessons...

One week out from Dear Mr. Knightley’s release and I’ve been thinking about what I’ve learned in this process – what I keep learning in this process…


1. Accept help. Terribly hard sometimes for the Type A folks. I learned this one, following an injury in 2009, but it’s amazing how quickly one can forget. I have found my friends and family love to help me -- editing, cooking, relaxing, cleaning (okay, no one is really jumping at that one), and brainstorming… As a writer there are things you do alone – without doubt – but there are also things that benefit from the input of friends, family, critique partners and colleagues.

2. Run. I am little biased on this one. I get my best ideas when running. But I think this really comes down to getting some exercise. It helps release frustration and untangles stymied characters if nothing else.

3. Write. Write. Write. This is fairly new to me. While writing Dear Mr. Knightley, there were no expectations and no deadline. After all, I had no guarantee it would ever make it off my computer. Now there are both expectations and deadlines – and I love that. It’s inspiring, but also a little terrifying. So day in and day out, I write. Some days it feels the effort yields little in value and on other days – sheer brilliance. (Hehehehe… I’m trying to convince myself of that last one.)

4. Read. I write better when I stay close to good books and well-written ideas. Blogs, books, magazines, and newspapers … simply keep reading.

5. Study the Craft. I continually read articles about writing, characters, story construction, plot… and I always learn something new. I love The Breakout Novel by Donald Maass and the ideas I find here. Our ACFW community is so good about sharing. I love that!

6. Enjoy yourself. Writing is tremendous fun and actually having deadlines is thrilling for me. I don’t want to ever forget that or take this opportunity, this gift, for granted. So I will savor it!

Thanks for reading. I don’t know if any of this was helpful, but getting such reminders helps me. I forget the important stuff quite quickly when faced with the seemingly urgent. I’d love to hear fro you if you have any tips that help as well. Come find me at www.katherinereay.com, on Twitter @katherine_reay or on Facebook at /Katherinereaybooks or right here… Thanks… KBR

It's all in the details... Take 2

Okay, this is exactly what I'm talking about... About five minutes ago, I wrote a post and believe I published it -- but can't find it. So either you all are reading basically the same thing twice or I really did mess up the first time. So I'll try again.

What I was trying to say was that I'm about a month out from the release for DEAR MR. KNIGHTLEY. Very excited about that - and I am trying to get myself out there along with it. And that is proving difficult for this technology challenged introvert -- as demonstrated by the failed blog post moments ago.

But please bear with me. I have a website, www.katherinereay.com, and I would love to connect with you there. And I am trying to link it here to Goodreads. I think that would be fun -- more chances to chat :)

So here we go... Let's all hope we don't have to endure a Take 3...