Averil Dean's Blog, page 15

Arc

Today I’m getting started on the new proposal. I’m not entirely clear on how this works once you’ve got a couple of books under your belt and are angling for a new contract, but I’m pretty sure there’s a proposal involved. It’s just a detailed synopsis, really, a new book’s play-by-play, and maybe a couple of sample chapters if someone asks for them. This is one of the perks of having written a couple of books; people know you’re good for the work and will do what you say you’ll do, and they’...

Clean-Up Crew

This is one of those Mondays where I have so much to say that I can’t settle down and put the words together. My life is so quiet generally speaking that when anything at all happens I get an experiential rush and have to start writing in bullet points because it’s all been too much for me. Or, failing that, I just strip it down to the bare facts: we took two day trips this weekend. One to Ballard (shopping), the other to Mount Rainier (nature ogling). More about those later.

The other thing I...

Casting

What do you think about this idea? How many players in your company?

Talisman

If there’s a book you really want to read, but it hasn’t been written yet, then you must write it.

~Toni Morrison

Ain’t that the truth. I spent hours at Barnes & Noble last weekend and came away with nothing. Nothing! And not because there weren’t dozens of books calling my name, but because I had a particular craving and could not find a way to slake it. For every book I write there is a single book already written that evokes the mood I’m hoping to capture, something to return to when I need...

Virtuoso

Hot damn, people. I had no idea you were so tech savvy. What else are you holding back? Do you play the oud, sew your own clothes, have a minor in dolphin psychology? Can you climb a tree, do a back flip off a swing at its apex? Somersault across the living room without ending up in traction? Do you make chocolate-chip constellations in your five-year-old’s pancakes? Can you operate a lathe? A dowsing rod? A pasta machine? Can you locate true north by laying your palm on the ground, or sniffi...

Dog and Pup

A week ago Saturday my laptop gave up the ghost. That little Mac has been chugging along for so long I thought it would never die. It was the one I bought when I started my photography business, four houses and eight years and another lifetime ago, and in all that time it’s given me nothing but faithful service. Slow, but faithful. It was the ol’ Shep of laptops.

But the time has come to bury the poor old thing, plant a lilac over its grave and bring another puppy home from the store. I’ve bee...

Sputter

And, Monday. Two good things happened over the weekend:

1. I wrote an outline for the new book.

2. I found a vegan coffee creamer that I really like.

Of the two, I’m more excited about the creamer. That morning cup of coffee is pretty damn important, and it never did taste quite right without something rich and velvety to stir in. I tried almond milk, coconut, soy—all of which either vanillaed the flavor or thinned down my brew or both. But yesterday I discovered a soy coffee creamer with tapioc...

Screen Test

Oh, Junot!

What books have surprised you by being so. fucking. good? Why were you surprised?

Ones and Threes

I’m stirring a melting pot of ideas at the moment. The essential story, insistent enough now that I’m pretty sure I’m going to write it, can go any number of ways. Could be gritty or romantic, modern or post-apocalyptic, and it probably could slide into one of a handful of different genres depending on the age of the characters and how I choose to write them. But it will never be a thriller. That’s a problem, since the first two books I’ve put out there are psychological and literary suspense...