Patricia Rice's Blog, page 5

Frustration

I have made no secret that I am an extreme introvert with no ability to recognize faces or remember names. But I have other advantages, like a perversely stubborn single-minded focus on accomplishing what I want done—as long as it only involves me and no one else. So I can stifle my shyness and learn to attend conferences and meet readers, but I am incapable of organizing one!

I admire those intrepid souls who see a need and strike out to raise funds or run for public office to accomplish great things, but I am genetically incapable of organizing anyone but myself. And I hate that, because it leaves me frustrated and helpless when I see so much desperation and need around me.

At times like these, I can seek my happy place—my sunny garden—and smell the roses and clear the weeds and drink in the beauty. What do you do when feeling frustrated?

 

Not A Garden Party

The life of an author isn’t all boas and fascinators and book signings. . . Well, actually, it hasn’t been that way since before Covid. Even the not-so-glamorous research trips have been curtailed for years. These days, I’m tied to my desk or laptop pretty much ten hours a day. I try to write my book pages in the morning, while fielding business e-mails from fellow authors, assistants, and whatever I’m working on that day (and for the last two months, from the bookstore I mentioned above). I research as I write, so there are days when not many words reach the page!

In the afternoons, I write newsletters, blogs, post on social media, edit, revise, do busy work like file for copyrights and update websites. Since I’m utterly incompetent at graphics, I have an assistant who creates those for me. (Waving thank you at Monica!) And then there is the sheer drudgery of proofing formatted files on books I’ve just spent a year of writing and rewriting. . .

It’s no wonder writers are driven to drink. It’s the only excitement we get all day! Except I’m allergic to a lot of the things that go into wine and the like and I settle for a decadent cup of doctored coffee and half a cookie, if I bothered to bake any.

So writing is a job just like any job, except we get to make our own hours and do it in our pajamas, if we want. How do you find small pleasures in your daily routine?

If nothing else, I have the first book in my new Psychic Solutions Mystery series ready and up for pre-order. . .

Inspiration

Writers get their ideas from life: snippets of conversation, the behavior of people in a restaurant or airport, reading the news, just watching the scenery go by from a car. . . Quite often just a line or two I’ve read in a book or heard in a play or song will trigger an entire scene.

So you can understand the dismay of all authors (or any creative) when we’re confined or limited in where we go and what we do. I read dozens of books a week all the time. That isn’t enough to trigger all those great “what if. . .” questions that generate stories, especially if I’m writing contemporary books. I can get pretty far if I’m doing historical research, but contemporary novels require actually experiencing contemporary times. And since no one wants to read about Covid isolation. . . I have to get out of the house.

So recently we’ve dipped our toes in returning to the theater. I dearly love musicals—story and song and dance at the same time! My head spins with colors and people and ideas. And then there’s the audience and all that lovely people watching. . .  As in supporting our small restaurants, as long as everyone is masked and vaxed, we will continue to support our theaters that are hurting so badly right now. We can take the risk where so many others can’t.

And I’ll selfishly continue to slurp up ideas anywhere I can find them!

If nothing else, I have the first book in my new Psychic Solutions Mystery series ready and up for pre-order. . .

 

Happy Holidays and a Little Help for My Friends

In our family, we’ve always done a lot of adjusting holidays to our lives. Travel at holiday time is hair-raising and everyone has more than one family to visit. So we just pretty much declare the days from Thanksgiving to after New Year’s Day as Holiday Time. When a bunch of us can gather on the same day, in the same place, we celebrate. So when I say Happy Holidays, I’m covering a whole lot of territory!

As we plan for our celebrations, I hope you’ll keep in mind my hometown of Mayfield, KY, which was nearly obliterated by a tornado. Even those who still have roofs over their heads have no electricity or heat. Others are homeless. With businesses destroyed, many are without an income in this season that should bring cheer. If you can, visit this website to see if there is anything you can do to help: https://www.wlky.com/article/want-to-help-western-kentucky-red-cross-sets-up-online-donations-for-victims-of-tornado-outbreak/38491592
Thank you, and may the blessings of the season be upon you!

Travels to Italy!

I’m back from Italy and learned so very, very much! Not just history, although I wallowed in that, but the differences in our cultures. Take food, for instance. . . Our guide warned us that most Italians prefer a small cup of espresso and something sweet for breakfast, not eggs and bacon. Although our hotels kindly provided soft scrambled eggs, their enormous breakfast buffets consisted of cakes and sweet rolls and charcuterie. After a while, I longed for a good solid wheat bagel or toast, even though I’m a sugar addict!

If you sign up for my newsletter, you’ll hear more of my stories. But for now, let me just say, it really does take getting out in the world to learn to respect our differences!

Flying Into the Unknown

Remember how we used to plan trips and jump on planes, boats, and trains with scarcely a second thought? I miss meeting with readers and bookstore owners. I miss seeing my far-flung friends. (image is of me and the Word Wenches at an RWA conference in NYC) And I miss the research trips that always provided me with more ideas than I could ever possibly write.

These days, every trip requires detailed planning and research into local laws and requirements for dealing with this pandemic. Now we need a passport, a vaccine card, a Covid test pass, a form to say where we’re from and where we’re going. . . And expect me to remember all this!

If all goes well, I’ll be visiting Italy this fall. Already, plans are changing for various museums and hotels as they tighten restrictions. Would you like to see my characters visit Italy?

Arggghhh!

Merely Magic pre-orders downloaded this month with the wrong book! Those of you who received MAGIC MAN–besides getting a free read–need to contact Kindle support at http://www.amazon.com/kindlesupport and ask for the correct book. I have no idea how this happened, and I pray it never happens again, but thank you so much for your patience in fixing this matter!

WHERE DOES THE TIME GO.��.��.

How did I lose July? Since last year, time has developed a flexibility that���s not quite real. One day simply looks like the next. The garden isn���t helping! We usually have tomatoes by early July, along with a ton of peppers and onions so I can make salsa. This year, the tomatoes hung there green the whole month. They���re just now getting ripe. But the onions are already dug and drying, and the peppers aren���t growing at all. I really don���t have the equipment anymore for processing canned tomatoes���I need salsa. So I think the garden kind of skipped July, too.

Are you feeling the time warp?

WHERE DOES THE TIME GO. . .

How did I lose July? Since last year, time has developed a flexibility that’s not quite real. One day simply looks like the next. The garden isn’t helping! We usually have tomatoes by early July, along with a ton of peppers and onions so I can make salsa. This year, the tomatoes hung there green the whole month. They’re just now getting ripe. But the onions are already dug and drying, and the peppers aren’t growing at all. I really don’t have the equipment anymore for processing canned tomatoes—I need salsa. So I think the garden kind of skipped July, too.

Are you feeling the time warp?

Here Comes the Sun!

Thank you everyone who sent me cheery messages after last month’s complaint about humorlessness. I think a quick vacation to Maine—a state I’ve never visited—has cleared my head. I’m still not convinced my current WIP is a book, but beta readers are telling me it might be. And I’m back to writing, even if it’s not as humorous as I’d hoped. So things are looking up here. The June gloom is fading, and I’m actually seeing sun in the morning garden!