So check THIS out:  As you know, I’m taking a class at WritersStudio.com and I’m in the midst of my last assignment before leaving for vacation.  I noticed that there are some assignment where I really love the piece and some where I don’t.

But, even when I DON’T like the piece, I’m getting better at capturing the persona narrator, which is the aim of the course.  Which tells me that not only CAN I write well, I can write ANYTHING.  I’ve written pieces on a gay mafia daughter, cancer patient, a father, a teen with acne, a woman who was a girl scout as a kid, a girl growing up in a gang house, a creepy womanizer, and those are the first persons.  Third person, I did a group in a 1970s blackout, a severely injured hiker, an unhappy married couple.  Wow.  I don’t have ANYONE like these people in my stories.  In fact, I don’t even know where I came up with this stuff - some of it is very different than the assigned story.

Very cool.

Ok, this is last post before vacation, see y’all in a week or so…

How awesome!  This is what happened: I read my Holly Lisle newsletter yesterday, the last one, about how something was missing in her story and nothing she did brought a solution, and then in the shower, randomly, it came to her.

It took FOREVER yesterday to GET to the shower, but while I was there, I thought I might try to figure out a way to make worldbuilding fun, or at least a whole lot less like root canal or labor & delivery.  I begrudgingly built another typed out page, answering questions that I didn’t want to, knowing too well that a book that involves politics, a ruling monarchy and a coup needs to have it’s history, culture and foreign policy worked out.  Argh.

I finally got in the shower, plopped on the shampoo and let my mind wander back to Earth Science, a class I took 10 years ago, and thought about a planet accreting together from the dust in the cosmos.

Don’t ask me HOW, but that did it.  15 minutes later, I’d gotten all the way up to nearly modern times in my country, and even started to form the underpinning theology of the major religion, also critical to the book.  I still have big swatches to go through, like foreign affairs, but I went to bed, opened my notebook and let my world grow.  AWESOME!!

Ok, so recently I discussed “what” should I write as it relates to genre, and I did some thinkin’ today and realized that I may have been wrong.  A little.

I DO love to read literary fiction, true.  But it is true that I also love to read sf/fantasy.  Problem is, I’m a snob about it. It has to be amazing.  And that doesn’t necessarily mean Hugo winning or anything, Dune for example was pure torture for me.   Anything with time travel that’s GOOD and NOT romance is excellent, but let’s face it, time travel is tricky at best and ugly at it’s worst.  I surely won’t write it!

I can count the books that fall into this category that I love on 2 hands: The Sparrow (not its sequel) and Time Travellers Wife - neither written by sf/f authors.  Solitaire.  Kim Stanley Robinson’s first 2 Mars books (Red and I think Blue).  Neil Gaiman (oh hell anything by Neil).  Harry Potter series.  Used to love Diana Gabaldon but it became too romancy and too historical.  Loved Mysts of Avalon, but much of her books are depressing.  The Historian was fabulous, but it took me forever to read.  (Really I guess that’s horror though, hm more like Goth.)  Hm, what else?  Contact.  Cloud Atlas (not sure of genre with that one.)   Oh yea, and Jack Finney.  Former Anne Rice fan too,

That pretty  much covers it.  I haven’t much liked the other stuff, even the stuff I’m “supposed” to.  But let me give you a list of my ideas for novels:

-my work in progress, which has a 3 novel future, about a people who have race/class conflict over using mind powers - or as they see, them “magic” (fantasy)
-a woman doctor who falls in love with a killer (drama)
-a group of people who keep returning to life throughout the ages (fantasy)
-a woman who finds a ring that grants her the power to save lives (fantasy)

Add to that a few random ideas based on superhero themes (used to be a huge Xmen/Spiderman fan). So there. That’s it, that’s me.  Fantasy with some goth thrown in.  The scales weigh in at 3 to 4.  And if you look at my film and teleision preferences, you’d see more of this same trend times 10.

I GUESS my biggest issue with the fantasy genre is NOT that I don’t like it, it’s just that I can’t find BOOKS in it that I do like, or only rarely.  I don’t really like books with dragons or elves, or dwarves or hobbits or lycanthropes or too much magic - but demons and vampires are sometimes ok.  I like books in there here & now, or something that closely resembles the here & now, and have some twist to them that is fantastical.   If you have any recommendations on this, throw them at me.  Help!  I’m stuck in a genre I don’t read and can’t get out!

(Just kidding)

OK, as you know, I’m taking an online writing course, which costs a fair amount of money but is very good for me.  I might have mentioned before as well, I registered for an in-person non-fiction writing workshop at the local college which I’m courting.  It costs almost 3x as much as the online course, and if all goes well, I will be taking 1-2 classes there til I complete my degree.

Now, we are going on vacation in 2 weeks and we are doing a few things right now that require an outpouring of cash, but are necessary for the value of our home.  (Long story i can’t get into.)  That means I had no idea how to pay my 4 digit tuition in July or August, whichever time its due.

Enter a friend giving me a lovely batch of work, enough to cover tuition (although some of it might also have to go the house thing).  And I was just wondering this morning aloud to God if I was on the right path with school…

This weekend, as you can read at mom-blog, was NOT what I expected, but something really neat happened.  My husband caught up with a former colleague of his.  It was really nice, Sean was an a great guy and so it was nice to find that he’d been naturalized (he’s a Brit, love those Brits!), and married, and expecting, and promoted.

The last time I hung out with him, I believe Amelia was already born and a baby, so maybe 4 years ago?  Maybe she hadn’t been born yet, though, I’m not sure.  That night, Chris, Sean and I went out for dinner and drinks and after a few rounds, I told him the plot of my novel.   I believe this was the first time I told Chris the story as well.  It was VERY well received by both of them.

On Thursday night, Sean asked Chris how my novel was going, was I pursuing it, etc.  WOW.  I’m totally jazzed that someone would remember the plot and ask about it AFTER ALL THESE YEARS, especially when these 2 guys apparently had a LOT to catch up on (they hung out for SEVEN hours). This gave me confidence about this story.

Maybe it’s not my preferred genre, but it is one I like (although I’m the fussiest reader EVER), the plot has action, romance, sacrifice, hot hero, flawed woman, and lots of other good stuff, like war and politics.  In fact, to be honest, I’m rather happy with it, and I’m happy with my sequel concepts as well.  So 3 cheers for ME, and my little story 

Augh.  The voices in my head, they say, “you can’t do this.  you can’t make a living doing this.  you have too much on your plate, too much to do, there’s work, kids, you need to potty train and read this, read that, pray, what about church?, husband needs you, your BLEEP-BLEEP house is a BLEEPING mess, how can you raise kids like that?, worry about that low valued home, and all your debt, and school again? how’s that gonna work, and why bother, and you’re sick again, and isn’t web design more appealing, and you haven’t downloaded the kid’s photos, or made up with every one you’ve lost touch with, or emailed so and so, or saved your kids, your husband, THE WORLD….”

So, voices, stop it NOW.  What YOU don’t know is this:  My writing?  It’s not a hobby.  It’s not a phase.  It’s not a pleasure-moment, a task, a chore, a “thing”, a fling.

It’s my calling.  That means, it’s a God thing.  Way back when, when he knitted me together, he put this talent-gift-fever in my gut, and built my body around it.   I’m done burying it deep, because it’s only taken root like a seed within me.  It’s not WHO I am, it’s just my Purpose.

Which means it can’t fail, even if the mountain before me looks like Everest in the winter.  Even if time is fleeting and hard to catch, even if duty and charity and loved ones and devotion come first in moments, even if my sinuses ache, my strength is gone, and my heart is pounding, this is what I will be doing, permanently, at least in this life.  Every other work is mere distraction.

I’m turning my back on other stuff, at least for a little while each day, 15 minutes at least, more if I can manage it.  It FEELS good to work magic with my pen.  It LOOKS like diamonds glittering in the dark when I read back what I wrote.

I can regret my past, but maybe I needed to wait these 30 years to get to this place, to live through the stroke and Mom’s Alzheimer’s and my husband’s heart attack and my kid’s disabilities and the debt and 9/11 and Pres Bush.  To get through all that crap and still fill like I’ve touched base, like I’m “safe”, because it gives me a place to work and a deep well of tears and laughter to draw from.

Or maybe I’m just bored of the mundane life and being a writer is so much cooler…lol..

I’ve been learning a lot since I’ve been hooked up with an accountability partner (hi Katrina!) and not only THAT, but I’ve been CREATING a lot, which is astounding to me.

Lessons I learned this last week:

1.  Outlines take many forms.  In reading some old notes, I decided to try an out outline for my novel.  I had taken a stab before a long time ago and failed miserably.  The directions in the writing class were that they were NOT to be extensive and that was my problem.  I googled about and learned about netlining or mind-mapping (Google or Wiki it for yourself).   It’s decidely NON-linear, which put my schoolish butt ill at ease, but funny thing, after just “doing it”, my split personality kicked in, and the funky ginabad part of my brain took over.  My bookworm side screwed up its face at the messiness, but I read it all through.

Then, I pulled out a sheet of paper and literally ZIPPED through my novel’s outline, which came EXACTLY to my projected 3 page, double spaced requirement on my task list.  Better than that, it helped me make some critical decisions, such as the groundwork for the civil war in my story is the coup the book begins with, rather than there is already one going on.  The king is warring with neighboring regions, while tensions are growing at home.  This way it makes more sense when he gets assassinated.  (That’s no reveal, it’s in the first page of the book.)

2. Sitting in the passenger seat on long trips with no “aids” (ipod, notebook, book) really DOES allow you to create.  I started a nice little vampire story (not something I’ll really write, just for my own pleasure…I do this from time to time), and finished a concept in my head for an awesome short story.  Kicker ending too, now I just have to write it.  Must earn some gas money and plan long trips with Chris driving

3. Writing generates writing.  I had a task list, and I was working on one task (do one assignment from old class, which was “just start writing”) and - without even realizing - finished another (start writing that short story).  Cool.  Since I finished the concept on the trip, I now have some nice beginning bones to work with, and a promising plot that I can send to contests or lit mags.  Wow.

4.  Having an accountability partner works.  Really!  See Above!!  cool beans…

Ilana has tagged me, so here we go:

Here are the rules:
1. Pick up the nearest fiction book. (Following Ilana’s lead here.)
2. Open to page 123.
3. Find the fifth sentence.
4. Post the next three sentences.
5. Tag five people and post a comment to the person who tagged you once you’ve posted your three sentences.

My laptop is near my bookshelf, so this took some measuring. The nearest fiction book is Coraline by Neil Gaiman. (Yes it is a youth book, but I like Gaiman, Ok?)

Beside the decapitated rat, a smug expression on his face, was the black cat. It rested one paw on the gray glass marble.

‘I think I once mentioned,’ said the cat, ‘that I don’t like rats at the best of times.’

ROFL!! I love it.

OK, then, whom am I going to tag? gina b from mom-blog tags Katrina, WonderMom, Lynn, Jenny, and Feener.  (Not sure who knows about this blog, lol!!

I want to thank everyone who posted last time - Ilana, Katrina and Pam -you guys really helped me clear my head.  So I have decided to:

1. continue on with part 2 of my online course, which has so far generated about 6 or 7 pieces for short stories.  So in my daydreaming time I will build those ideas.

2. continue on my seed of an idea for a novel that has a long way to go, also for daydreaming time.  This is nice because I’ve had some WONDERFUL ideas, but it’s all under wraps for now. Shhhh!  Code  name is “Reprieve”, but I am notorious for picking titles that absolutely suck. Note: Last week I heard that it’s critical that you write a good title, which contradics what I heard earlier, that editors write the title.  AUGH!

3. since I’m not really WRITING, I can still work through the editing and worldbuilding process for my little sf novel.  I’ve already taught myself how to generate a decent outline, which already let me ditch some things.  I might as well see it through for the learning process.  Can’t hurt, as long as there’s time.

4. am zooming along in marketing my mom blog, which will generate an audience or, if not, at least some adsense revenue, right?  I mean, I hope…

And that’s it.  Life is EXCELLENT.  I love being a writer, don’t you?

Ladies, you will all get REAL links on my high ranking blog…this one is like rank 1  billion, lol, so it won’t help…

Ok, I must confess: I DO like SF/F, a little, but I’m not sure - even though that’s the genre of my novel that is completed - how much I should do on it.

Here’s why:

This is not really the genre I want to write.  I WANT to write literary fiction.

OK, now stop laughing.  I am 100% aware of the odds of making a living as a literary fiction author.

And my little story, which needs massive amounts of work, is good and deep and has lovely conflict, true growth and sacrifice in the protagonist, sequels which I like, and is possibly marketable.  It’s a story I like, and today a SF/F writer at a group I’m attending offered to help me with it.

Thanks to working full time and the commitment with my kids and also my own furthering of my education, the novel probably needs 10-12 months to get into shape, before I can start sending it out in this genre that I’m not too interested in.

This week, I subscribed to Holly Lisle’s newsletter, and her advice was  basically:
“Know thyself” (with regard to your genre)  Do the work of the genre you’re writing (world building), don’t skimp, don’t use stock medieval footage, and so on.  Write a genre you WANT to write.

A few paragraphs down she wrote:

Any book you write is going to be the first book of yours some reader picks up.

So what if I write a genre and then it’s the WRONG ONE?  What if I start publishing the short stories I’m considering writing (not even remotely fantastical) and then come out with fantasy novel and everyone’s like “huh?”.  Or will I be typecast and doomed to never publish in the genre I love?

FWIW, though my little novel in NO WAY resembles the greatness of these two books, two of my favorite SF/F books are by authors NOT in that genre:

“The Time Travellers Wife” and
“The Sparrow”

It’s a lot to think about, because THEN it means I don’t even have a novel together…well, ok, not completely true, I do have another thing I’ve been working on, but it’s no where NEAR complete, nor can it remotely compete with my latest ideas.

AUGH.   I guess no One ever said this would be easy…