Friday, March 30, 2007

Mid-Newsletter Newsletter

Don't you just hate it when you're sitting at the computer, minding your own business and realize the pitter-patter of little feet in the hallway are not children, but goats?

Anyway, back to your semi-regularly scheduled mid-Newsletter Newsletter (and be sure the kids shut the back door ALL the way)...
______________________________________


The 4th annual LDStorymakers Writers' Conference is over, and I can breathe again. The apricot trees are blossoming, the words of my WIP are coming, my new batch of Bantam chicks are on order, I'm heading out for an anniversary overnighter with my sweetie tonight, and Soccer season doesn't start until next week. In a nutshell, life is good.

By way of sending a quick update on a few things (thank you to the newsletter recipients that followed the link :-) :

**Lady's night at Deseret Book is this Saturday (March 31) and if you've never been, boy, what an event! Scads of authors, drawings, FOOD--a complete lovefest of book-zealots like myself. Look up your closest DB and give it a try, it is a lot of fun. And if you happen to be in the proximity of the Layton Hills Mall, stop in and see me :-) You're welcome to bring in already-purchased books to have me sign and I'd love to see you. I'll be there from 6-8.

**Sheep's_Clothing isn't due to be out for a few more weeks but it is #125 on Deseret Book's website! If you're planning to buy from DB and would like to pre-order, follow this link and know that I'll love you forever!

http://deseretbook.com/store/product?sku=4981433

**The Opening night party for Sheep's_Clothing will be on Thursday, May 10 (right before mother's day) at my local bookstore Reflections of Utah. I absolutely love these Opening Night Parties. There are doorprizes, refreshments, a grand prize drawing and great discounts. I'm currently getting my prize donations gathered and my promotional items organized, so stay tuned!

**In addition to the Opening Night Party, I'll be having Book-signings in Salt Lake and Logan sometime in May.

That's all for now, hopefully I'll see some of you in one place or another. Thanks again for all the support

Monday, March 26, 2007

The lady in Green

Saturday night at the LDStorymaker conference, I had forgotten to get the projector into the ballroom for Janette Rallison's closing presentation. So I ran into room 309 (i.e. Broiler) and on my way out a cute lady in a green shirt, black pants (capris I think) with blonde hair and a forgiving nature asked if I could sign a book she had purchased. Because of my inability to do two things at once I told her I'd do it in a few minutes and that I'd find her, then I flew out of that room like a bat out of a broiler so I could get everything set up on time.

WELL, it was about three hours later when back at my hotel that I remembered. So I scanned my brain (it didn't take very long) to try and remember if she'd found me, since I hadn't remembered on my own and therefore hadn't found her like I said I would. I'm pretty sure that I didn't ever get around to signing her book.

So, I need help. If anyone reading this blog knows who it is I'm talking about, could you have her contact me. kilpack@gmail.com so that I can attempt to right this wrong of mine.

Thanks much,

Saturday, March 24, 2007

DONE!!

Well, the 2007 LDStorymakers writer's conference has been done for ...about 3 hours. I've been back in my hotel for...about one hour and I've got my latest novel open on my computer. and waiting patientlly while I take the time to blog this. I saw all of two presentations but I am more pumped than I've been for weeks. It was a great conference, I had a wonderful time and am renewed! What an amazing thing life can be, what a powerful influence is freindship and talents and a Father in Heaven that wants good things for us in this life. How grateful I am for a husband that supports me, for kids that forgive me, for people that make me laugh. Thanks to everyone that came, thanks to all the Storymakers that helped make this possible. I'm glad to look upon it and see good things there. I can't wait for next year.

Now, back to my book...

Tuesday, March 20, 2007

Inside Sessions



About six years ago I paid $99 to take an online course called “Inside Sessions”. I’d seen it advertised on TV and thought it sounded interesting. Whoever put it together did a video interview with several best selling national authors such as Ken Follett, Amy Tan, Tom Clancy, Sue Graphton and a few others. They asked them specific questions on different parts and points of writing, then cut the filmed interviews into topics. The course was split up into chapters, focusing on one topic and you got to hear the different authors way of doing things.

Absolutely fascinating stuff!

At the time I watched this I was struggling to figure out my career (the very term was hard to utter, even in my mind). I had one book out that had done poorly, I’d gotten out of my contract and had just had my second novel rejected by a different publisher. I knew I was missing something and was sure that there was some secret formula out there that I needed to discover. And I did, through Inside Sessions—the secret? There is no secret! There is no one way that works for every writer. In fact, I dare say that no two writers do everything exactly the same.

During this online video course, they talked about outlining—one thing I was very interested in at the time. In fact I had bought a book called “”The Marshall Plan” which outlines every detail of the book you want to write. You fill out forms for each scene within each chapter, you have very specific character roles, and essentially map out the entire book before you write a word of it. I was trying to do this, but kept making changes, thus having to go back and change the entire thing (250 pages in a 3 ring binder). I know other authors that like this formula, but it wasn’t working for me and I wondered WHAT IS WRONG WITH ME? But did you know that Tom Clancy never outlines at all? Ken Follett on the other hand outlines first by thirds, then chapter, then scene, then character within the scene, then dialogue by the character in the scene. He spends an entire year outlining in this kind of detail, each item of his outline put on a 3X5 card and taped to a wall in his office. Two amazing writers, two completely different ways of writing.

Rewrites—Sue Graphton goes through several—Tom Clancy, not ONE. Some of the authors answered with long explanations, showing that even they don’t do things the same for every book they write, and other’s were exact and followed the same process for every thing they wrote.

Editing—some revised AS THEY WENT, which I had been told in writing conferences was impossible. Other’s were so well planned and plotted they didn’t revise a thing once they finished.

Time—Tom Clancy writes a book in about four months. Ken Follett spends an entire year outlining and another year writing it.

Why they write—Amy Tan writes to educate the world on Chinese culture and take her people from the shadows and into mainstream understanding. Sue Graphton writes to entertain and because she loves a good mystery.

By the time I finished this program (I was on dialup and could watch about two minutes at a time so it took awhile) I felt better about my writing than I had since being naïve enough to think my first book (the one that didn’t sell well, remember) was going to change the world! I put the binder of my Marshall Plan manuscript away—in fact I put the entire story away (it later became Tempest Tossed). And I sat down and wrote a brand new story that had been in my head. The next day I went to where I’d written the day before and revised it before starting my ‘fresh’ writing of that day—it had always driven me mad to know there was a change I needed to make but I felt I couldn’t make it yet OR I’d start writing and later find out I’d been repeating myself. A few days later I cut out ten pages and thought I was going to have a stroke, but I’d changed my mind about that particular direction and like trying to find the right dress, I needed to try this one on for size.

So here I am six or so years later and I’m still trying to figure out my groove. I wrote Star Struck in 3 months, revised it twice and sent it in. Unsung Lullaby was a work in progress for five full years and I had nearly 500 pages in my ‘cuts’ folder and 292 in the finished draft. I currently have parts of six different novels on my computer, each one will hopefully become a book one day, but I’m only working on one. I have 230 pages of cuts and 83 pages of finished product. I’m avoiding my writing today because I know there are two scenes that have to go. Ouch.

The point is that every writer writes in their own way and that’s a GOOD thing. If you don’t write like me, congrats! I wouldn’t wish it on anyone, and yet, it’s what works for me. If you don’t write like Sue Graphton, no worries, neither does Amy Tan. I continue to learn so many great ideas from other writers I associate with and love to ask them about their specific tricks and tips but amid taking notes on what they do, I take comfort in knowing that I have my own trail to blaze and can build any kind of wagon to take me there.

So, the big question: what works for you?

(I did also learn you can buy Inside Sessions on video--but Amazon only had one and I just picked it up. Sorry--but if you bring me chocolate covered cinnamon bears I might let you borrow it)

Wednesday, March 14, 2007

102 LDS books

Recently I found a blog-tag of 100 books—I believe they were the best selling books of all time (Harry Potter came in far ahead of The Bible, FWIW). The bloggers then marked the books they’d read, the ones they’d never heard of and the ones they highly recommended. I thought “Wouldn’t it be fun to do that with LDS books?”
I have no way of knowing the best selling LDS books, so I did the next best thing. I chose nine other authors who are each very well read in this market (list at the bottom of this blog) to send me a list of their ten favorite LDS books of all time. Then I combined the results into this list—102 books recommended by 10 authors. And I’ve used the following key:

Bold=I read it
Highlighted=I’ve never heard of it
Italics= A favorite that stayed with me a long time
(I chose to only bold the ones I’ve read and highlight the ones I hadn’t heard of because so many of my friends are on this list and I can’t choose favorites--but some of you might be braver than me)


1) A Heartbeat Away—Rachel Ann Nunes
2) Almost Sisters—Nancy Anderson, Lael J. Littke
and Carroll H. Morris
3) Angels Don't Knock—Dan Yates
4) An Old Fashioned Romance—Marcia Lynn McClure
5) A Question of consequence—Gordon Ryan
6) Ariana: The Making of a Queen—Rachel Ann Nunes
7) As the Ward Turns—Joni Hilton
8) At the Journey’s End—Annette Lyon
9) Baptists at Our Barbecue—Robert Farrell Smith
10) Charlie—Jack Weyland
11) Charley’s Monument—Blaine M. Yorgason)
12) Chickens in the Headlights—Matthew Buckley (on my to-read list)
13) Children of the Promise, Vol 1: Rumors of War—
Dean Hughes
14) Children of the Promise, Vol 2: Since You Were Gone—
Dean Hughes
15) Come Armageddon—Anne Perry
16) Daughter of a King—Rachel Ann Nunes (picture book)
17) Dead on Arrival--Jeffrey Savage
18) Double Cross--Betsy Brannon Green
19) Dusty Britches—Marcia Lynn McClure
20) Emeralds and Espionage—Lynn Gardner
21) Escaping the Shadows—Lisa J. Peck
22) Fablehaven—Brandon Mull (My daughter raved)
23) False Pretenses—Carole Thayne
24) Faraway Child—Amy Maida Wadsworth
25) Fire of the Covenant—Gerald Lund
26) First Love and Forever—Anita Stansfield
27) Flowers of the Winds--Dorothy Keddington
28) Ghost of a Chance—Kerry Blair
29) Gustavia Browne—Alene Roberts
30) Jimmy Fincher Saga Vol. 4: War of the Black Curtain—
James Dashner (My daughter LOVED it)
31) House on the Hill—Annette Lyon
32) House of Secrets—Jeff Savage
33) House on the Sound—Marilyn Brown
34) In a Dry Land—Elizabeth Petty Bentley
35) Lifted Up—Guy Morgan Galli
36) Love Beyond Time—Nancy Campbell Allen
37) Mary & Elisabeth—S. Kent Brown (Non-fiction)
38) MaCady—Jennie Hansen
39) Molly Mormon—Tamara Norton
40) Mummy's the Word—Kerry Blair (on my list)
41) My Body Fell Off—BJ Rowley (my daughter and I both loved this book)
42) My Not So Fairy Tale Life—Julie Wright (Great read)
43) No Longer Strangers—Rachel Nunes
44) Nothing to Regret—Tristi Pinkston
45) On a Whim—Lisa McKendrick
46) On Second Thought—Robison Wells (laughed my head off)
47) On the Edge--Julie Coulter Bellon
48) One in Thine Hand—Gerald Lund
49) One Tattered Angel—Blaine M. Yorgason
50) Out of Jerusalem 1 (Of Goodly Parents)—H.B. Moore
51) Out of Jerusalem 2 (A Light in the Wilderness) —H. B. Moore (on my to-read list)
52) Out of Jerusalem 3 (Towards the Promised Land)—
H. B. Moore
53) The Peacegiver—James L. Ferrell (on my to-read list)
54) Pillar of Fire—David Woolley
55) Poison—Betsy Brannon Green
56) Prodigal Journey—Linda Paulson Adams (really liked this book)
57) Pursuit of Justice—Willard Boyd Gardner
58) Return to Red Castle—Dorothy Keddington
59) Race Against Time—Willard Boyd Gardner
60) Sarah—Orson Scott Card
61) Saints—Orson Scott Card
62) Sixteen in no time—BJ Rowley (my daughter and I loved this)
63) Spies, Lies and a Pair of Ties—Sheralyn Pratt
64) Standing on the Promises Vol 1: One More River to Cross
--Margaret Young and Darius Gray
65) Strength to Endure—Tristi Pinkston (Excellent read)
66) Surprising Marcus—Donald S. Smurthwaite (Surprised me—I loved it)
67) Tathea—Anne Perry
68) Tempest Tossed—Josi S. Kilpack
69) Tennis Shoes Among the Nephites—Chris Heimerdinger
70) The Alliance—Gerald Lund (on my to-read list)
71) The Book of Mormon—Nephi thru Moroni (non-fiction)
72) The Believer—Stephanie Black
73) The Coming of Elijiah—Arianne Cope (fascinating)
74) The Counterfiet—Robison Wells
75) The Emerald--Jennie Hansen
76) The First year—Crystal Liechty (Loved this—very fresh)
77) The Fragrance of Her Name—Marcia Lynn McClure
78) The Killing of Greybird—Eric Swedin
79) The Last Days, Vol. 1: The Gathering Storm—
Kenneth R. Tarr
80) The Last Promise—Richard Paul Evans
81) The Looking Glass—Richard Paul Evans
82) The Miracle of Miss Willie—Alma J. Yates
83) The single Heart—Melinda Jennings
84) The Visions of Ransom Lake—Marcia Lynn McClure
85) The Work and the Glory Vol 1—Gerald Lund
86) The Work and the Glory Vol 2—Gerald Lund
87) The Work and the Glory Vol 3—Gerald Lund
88) The Work and the Glory Vol 4—Gerald Lund
89) The Work and the Glory Vol 5—Gerald Lund
90) The Work and the Glory Vol 6—Gerald Lund
91) The Work and the Glory Vol 7—Gerald Lund
92) The Work and the Glory Vol 8—Gerald Lund
93) This Just In—Kerry Blair (on my to-read list)
94) Time Riders—Sierra St. James
95) Time Will Tell by Julie Coulter Bellon
96) To Echo the Past—Marcia Lynn McClure
97) To Have or To Hold—Josi S. Kilpack
98) Towers of Brierley, Anita Stansfield
99) Twelve Sisters—Leslie Hedley (Loved Loved this book)
100) Unsung Lullaby—Josi S. Kilpack
101) Wake Me When it’s over—Robison Wells
102) Winter Fire—Rachel Ann Nunes


Contributing authors: Tristi Pinkston, Julie Wright, Jeff Savage, Rachel Ann Nunes, Jewel Adams, Annette Lyon, Heather Moore, Stephanie Black,, Julie Bellon and Josi S. Kilpack

If you'd like to play, copy this onto your blog or into the comment section of this post. Be sure to tell me where you blog it so I can take a peek.

Sunday, March 11, 2007

What's in a name...game

I got this from Sariah S. Wilson on Six LDS Writers and a Frog blog

http://www.sixldswriters.blogspot.com/

Rules: Use the 1st letter of your name to answer each of the following...They MUST be real places, names, things...NOTHING made up! If you can't think of anything, skip it. You CAN'T use your name for the boy/girl name question.

Your Name: Josi

1. Famous Athlete: John Stockton

2. 4 letter Word: Jump

3. Street Name: Josephine Rd. Medford, Massachusetts

4. Color: (Yikes!) Jungle green (Crayola 190-1992--the same years my husband was on his mission in the Phillipines Jungle)

5. Animal: Jaguar (and did you know you can tell the difference between a Jaguar and a leopard because jaguar spots have a light spot in the middle of the black and a leopard does not—just a little FYI)

6. Vehicle: Jetta

7. Tropical Location: Jamaica-mon

8. College Major: Jewish Studies

9. Junk Food: Junior Mints—preferably frozen

10. Things in a Souvenir Shop: Jingly earrings with things like Eiffel towers and killer whales hanging from them.

11. Boy Name: Jose (which I’ve been called many many times)

12. Girl Name: Jaquie

13. Movie Title: Just married

14. Occupation: Janitor (story of my life)

15. Flower: Jacobean Lily

16. Celebrity: Julie Roberts—I’ve been told I look JUST like her except that I’m shorter, and stockier, and blonde, and blue eyed

17. Magazine: JEZEBEL Magazine (your guide to upscale living in Atlanta and beyond)

18. U.S. City or State: Jackson, Missouri

19. Pro Sports Team: Jacksonville Jaguars (do we sense a theme here, hmmmm)

20. Something Found in a Kitchen: Junk drawer

21. Reason for Being Late: Just lazy

22. Something You Throw Away: Juicy lettuce

23. Things You Shout: “Just kidding, gosh, can’t you take a joke?” (notice two J words in there, double points!)

24. Cartoon Character: Jasmine from Aladdin

If you use this on your blog, leave me the link in my comments so I can check it out

Thursday, March 08, 2007

Conference Shnaunfrence?

I will say right up front that I love writer’s conferences. You are warned!

The first conference I attended was about a year after my first book was published. My book had not done too well, having sold a whopping 400 copies in that first year—far less than the 250,000 copies I had been counting on. The most common comment I’d received was that I didn’t know beans about grammar…but the story was good. Hardly what I was looking for. I was apparently not the brilliant writer I had thought myself to be. How IS that possible?
That first writer’s conference was hosted by Rachel Ann Nunes, Lisa Peck and Anita Stansfield and held in the basement of one of their homes. Myself and about fifteen other writers gathered together to glean some insights—and we got our money’s worth. It was the first time I’d ever met other writers, I ended up swapping manuscripts with one of the other attendees and learning how to get and give feedback because of it. I also learned the tricks these 3 women used in their own writing.

Since then I have attended League of Utah Writer’s Round-up, Association of Mormon Letters annual conference, and four years ago LDStorymakers posed the idea of doing our own writer’s conference. We were about 20 members strong at that time and had all learned so much from our association with one another that we thought it would be great to share that with even more people (and we needed money ☺)

So we looked around for a venue—hmmmm, hard to do when you don’t have any money, and found the Brown Theater in Springville. We taught our workshops surrounded by theater sets, everyone had to whisper in the halls because there was a lack of actual walls, and the two bathrooms were located in such a way that you had to walk through the workshops to get to them. Most of us that presented had never done a presentation in our lives. It was rough—and yet, it worked. The feedback we received was incredible, people loved the casualness of it, the networking yahoogroup we set up for the attendees was a hit—they even liked the food. The following year we had a little more money, but not enough to move anywhere else and we used the theatre again—hauling tables across the state and using chairs from one of our members storage bay so as to try and keep our attendee’s behinds from going to sleep. It went really well, again, and we were all a little better at it. I ran out of gas at midnight on I-15 though, my husband had to come rescue me but everything else was the bomb.

Last year we were able to have in a hotel, added a contest and Boot Camp. It was awesome—we had arrived! This year, I’m one of the co-queens and it is fabulous, if I do say so myself. We’re hosting at the Provo Library and very excited about it. Each year we have nearly doubled in the size of our attendees, and our presentations have more variety and because we have so many people that come back every year we've expanded to have both beginning and advanced level classes available.

However, despite my worship of writers' conferences, I hear some writers say that they're a waste of time because it’s just one more way in which they are NOT writing. They make a valid point--if all you do is go to a writer’s conference, you are wasting your time and money, but for me writer’s conferences are an incredible opportunity to learn about the craft of writing. I’ve been to enough that not every class interests me, so then I stay out in the halls with the other Riff Raff (all due respect to said Riff-Raff-Hall-loungers) and network—priceless!!

So, now that I’ve born my testimony, what do you think? I know that sounds loaded, but truly I'd like to hear people's opinions--and quite frankly I should have asked this ten months ago when we were planning the conference. Still, the info is valuable. Have writer’s conferences been helpful for you? What conferences are your favorite? Why? Do you think they are a waste of time? Why? I’m ready to hear all about it and take notes.

And with the LDStorymakers conference being only two weeks away, go to www.ldstorymakers.com for more information.

Tuesday, March 06, 2007

What have You Read?

I got this from tristipinkston's blog www.tristipinkston.blogspot.com and thought I'd give it a go. Of course, once I pasted it here all my bolding disappeared so I get to start over with that part. Grumble, Grumble. If your interested in doing this on your blog, instructions follow my list.


1. The DaVinci Code (Dan Brown)
2. Pride and Prejudice (Jane Austen) (I’m humiliated to admit I’ve never read it)
3. To Kill A Mockingbird (Harper Lee) **
4. Gone With The Wind (Margaret Mitchell) (see #2)
5. The Lord of the Rings: Return of the King (Tolkien) (see #2)
6. The Lord of the Rings: Fellowship of the Ring (Tolkien) (see #2)
7. The Lord of the Rings: Two Towers (Tolkien)8. Anne of Green Gables (L.M. Montgomery) (see #2)
9. OUTLANDER (Diana Gabaldon)
10. A FINE BALANCE (Rohinton Mistry)
11. Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire (Rowling)
12. Angels and Demons (Dan Brown)
13. Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix (Rowling)
14. A Prayer for Owen Meany (John Irving)
15. Memoirs of a Geisha (Arthur Golden)
16. Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone (Rowling) (is this one out yet?)
17. FALL ON YOUR KNEES (Ann-Marie MacDonald)
18. The Stand (Stephen King)
19. Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban (Rowling)
20. Jane Eyre (Charlotte Bronte) (I don’t apologize for not reading this one, I just can’t get into Bronte)
21. The Hobbit (Tolkien) (see #2)
22. The Catcher in the Rye (J.D. Salinger)
23. Little Women (Louisa May Alcott)
24. The Lovely Bones (Alice Sebold)
25. Life of Pi (Yann Martel)
26. The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy (Douglas Adams) (see #2)
27. Wuthering Heights (Emily Bronte) (Hated it—but I was 17)
28. The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe (C. S. Lewis)
29. East of Eden (John Steinbeck)
30. Tuesdays with Morrie (Mitch Albom)
31. Dune (Frank Herbert)
32. The Notebook (Nicholas Sparks)
33. ATLAS SHRUGGED (Ayn Rand)
34. 1984 (Orwell)
35. The Mists of Avalon (Marion Zimmer Bradley)
36. The Pillars of Earth (Ken Follett) (started, didn’t finish)
37. THE POWER OF ONE(Bryce Courtenay)
38. I KNOW THIS MUCH IS TRUE (Wally Lamb)
39. The Red Tent (Anita Diamant)
40. THE ALCHEMIST (Paulo Coelho)
41. The Clan of the Cave Bear (Jean M. Auel)
42. The Kite Runner (Khaled Hosseini)
43. Confessions of a Shopaholic (Sophie Kinsella
44. The Five People You Meet In Heaven (Mitch Albom)
45. The Bible **I highly reccomend this one :-)
46. Anna Karenina (Tolstoy) (see #2)
47. The Count of Monte Cristo (Alexandre Dumas)
48. Angela’s Ashes (Frank McCourt) I hated this book
49. The Grapes of Wrath (John Steinbeck)
50. She’s Come Undone (Wally Lamb) (started it, didn’t like where it was going, stopped0
51. The Poisonwood Bible (Barbara Kingsolver)
52. A Tale of Two Cities (Dickens)
53. Ender’s Game (Orson Scott Card) (see #2)
54. Great Expectations (Dickens) (see #2)
55. The Great Gatsby (Fitzgerald)
56. The Stone Angel (Margaret Laurence)
57. Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets (Rowling)
58. The Thorn Birds (Colleen McCullough)
59. THE HANDMAID'S TALE (Margaret Atwood)
60. The Time Traveller’s Wife (Audrew Niffenegger)
61. Crime and Punishment (Fyodor Dostoyevsky)
62. THE FOUNTAINHEAD (Ayn Rand)
63. War and Peace (Tolstoy)
64. Interview With The Vampire (Anne Rice)
65. FIFTH BUSINESS (Robertson Davis)
66. One Hundred Years Of Solitude (Gabriel Garcia Marquez)
67. The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants (Ann Brashares) (see #2)
68. Catch-22 (Joseph Heller)
69. Les Miserables (Hugo)(Didn't finish - I couldn't get into the language)
70. The Little Prince (Antoine de Saint-Exupery)
71. Bridget Jones’ Diary (Fielding)
72. LOVE IN THE TIME OF CHOLERA (Marquez) (sounds horrible)
73. Shogun (James Clavell)
74. The English Patient (Michael Ondaatje)
75. The Secret Garden (Frances Hodgson Burnett)
76. THE SUMMER TREE (Guy Gavriel Kay)
77. A Tree Grows in Brooklyn (Betty Smith)
78. The World According to Garp (John Irving)
79. THE DIVINERS Margaret Laurence)
80. Charlotte's Web (E.B. White) (don’t love the story, but how do you go through life without reading it?)
81. Not Wanted On The Voyage (Timothy Findley)
82. Of Mice And Men (Steinbeck)** (I recommend with reservations -- the writing is beautiful, the story is bleak. If you don't want bleak, don't read it.)
83. Rebecca (Daphne DuMaurier)**(Loved loved this book)
84. Wizard’s First Rule (Terry Goodkind)
85. Emma (Jane Austen) (see #2)
86. Watership Down(Richard Adams)** (found this story fascinating)
87. Brave New World (Aldous Huxley)
88. THE STONE DIARIES (Carol Shields)
89. BLINDNESS (Jose Saramago)
90. Kane and Abel (Jeffrey Archer)
91. In The Skin Of A Lion (Ondaatje)
92. Lord of the Flies (Golding) (Disturbing but beautifully written)
93. The Good Earth (Pearl S. Buck)
94. The Secret Life of Bees (Sue Monk Kidd)
95. The Bourne Identity (Robert Ludlum)
96. The Outsiders (S.E. Hinton)
97. White Oleander (Janet Fitch)
98. A Woman of Substance (Barbara Taylor Bradford)
99. The Celestine Prophecy (James Redfield) **(Enjoyed very much)
100. Ulysses (James Joyce)

I’m a little bummed that movies don’t count. If they did I’d be considered well read ☺


To blog: copy the list and...

* Bold the ones you’ve read
* Italicize the ones you want to read
* Leave blank the ones that you aren’t interested in
* Highlight those you haven't heard of (I'm going to put in capitals. I haven't figured out how to type in color yet!)
* Put a couple of astericks by the ones you recommend. (Rule added by Framed and Booked - I like it!)

Thursday, March 01, 2007

Author pages take...three...for five...or eighteen

Lucky you and lucky me this is my last day. Fact is I don't have time for author pages, funny how that works, doesn't seem to be rocket science that if I don't have time to write I won't have time to blog either--but there is good news--I think the pages work.

Seriously, I wrote a short story last night in one sitting and fixed a few chapters in my book today. I've figured out a format that will work with my new book and I'm having that little burbling of excitment to find time to write again--dang have I missed it. But since I said I'd do a week I better do four days, right?

So here are my author pages for the day.

I realized today that I've been working on this book for 7 months, is that not sad? And yet, who cares so long as it turns out, right? I've been pondering the concept of 'one step at a time' over the last few months, when I find myself looking ahead and getting overwhemled by the "what if..." and "suppose that..." and I'm really trying hard to look at just one step at a time, one day at a time. It's not easy for me to do. I'm a planner, I like to know ahead of time mostly because I'm just arrogant enough to think I have a super power that allows me to control my future. Now in theory, that's true, since the future is really just a building up of all the things I do every day, but that's not a bullet proof theory. Crap's gunna happen anyway.

Then the other day on the LDStormakers yahoo group we discussed the concept of Grace, how we do all we can and the Lord does the rest. Now granted writing books isn't quite equal to Eternal Salvation, but I don't think the concept is too different. I look at the pages of cuts I have (198) and the pages of keeper stuff (61) and feel depressed and pessimistic, wondeirng how I could possibly write an entire novel when I'm trashing three times what I'm writing. But the fact is I can't write a whole book today--it would be impossible. But I can write a chapter, or fix a chapter, or cut a chapter--I can do something, can't I? Yesturday I did quite a lot of somethings and it felt great. Today I did a little something more and my book isn't finished but it's taking shape. I once told a freind that if she were told she had to date 200 guys before she met Mr.Right, (or Mr. Wright if you happen to be Julie Wright) woudln't she start asking guys out left and right? If I were told that it would take me a year and 300 cut pages before I'd get this book written, wouldn't I be doing anything I could to get those 300 pages out of the way? It's not hard to look at my own track record and see that the fact is I cut an average of 300 pages per book. I end up with a 300 page final draft and 300 pages of wordy garbage, but if that's what it takes for me, then cut away, right? And if I can't write an entire book today, why beat myself up about the little bit I do?
So that's where I'm at and I'm okay. Now next week I'll be making a list of ten things I like about myself to keep from drinking the Listerine, but for today I'm good and isn't that what it's about? I can't change yesturday and I have no influence over tomorrow other than having a good today so that's my plan.
Might you also take off the binoculars and look at today for just...one day.