Month: November 2017

I’m currently working on a short story. Although this blog post was published in August, it has some timely information about short stories and the importance of nailing your ending.

I’ve read this before and I’ve probably posted this before (because I have a documented girl crush on Tina Fey), but this article came up in my Facebook feed recently and I wanted to read it again.  This part is particularly resonating with me as I think about my journey with my novel “Dragonfly”:  “The show doesn’t go on because it’s ready; it goes on because it’s eleven-thirty.”

This is one of those recipes that make me think “I can do that.”  And I probably can, but man … I need to clone myself if I think that such culinary excellence is in my near future.

 

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Listening: As I’m writing this, Julie Andrews and Christopher Plummer are crooning from my laptop speakers.  People think I’m joking, but the Sound of Music soundtrack is my “getting sh*t done” music.

Reading: Still reading Sherman Alexie’s memoir “You Don’t Have to Say You Love Me.”  Finished Wendy Webb’s “The End of Temperance Dare.”  And wow – that one gave me some bad dreams.  In a good way.

Writing Life: “Dragonfly” rewrites and churning away at a short story.  The short story is going better than the rewrites, but … I’m being creative.  That’s half the battle, right?

Have a good weekend, friends!

I shared this link awhile ago with a certain mentor of mine and told him that there’s a lot of Frances McDormand in the main character of my novel Dragonfly.  This woman is equal parts luminosity and sandpaper.  I adore Frances McDormand.

Thriller writer (and all around kick ass person) Cate Holahan contributed this piece to Miss Demeanors on “10 Bookstagrammers To Know”.  Instagram has emerged as an interesting medium for authors to promote their books.  Holahan’s piece spotlights a handful of them.

 

Finally, have a problem with clutter?  (Yeah, my office is something of a hovel / ready for a “Hoarders” intervention.)  Forget KonMari-ing everything, the New York Post sheds light on a new way to clean.  And who thought that the best thing to come out of Sweden were the Skarsgard men?

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Listening: See my “Reading” note below, but every time I type the title of the book I’m currently reading, my mind hears Dusty Springfield:

Reading: Sherman Alexie’s memoir “You Don’t Have to Say You Love Me.”  I had the pleasure of seeing Mr. Alexie speak up at Macalaster College in St. Paul a few years back.  He had either wrote or was in the process of writing this book and his talk featured stories about his late mother.  And man … when I remember was my amazement of how Alexie broke my heart one moment and then had me laughing until more tears were rolling down my face in the next.  His memoir is no different.

Writing Life: Girls’ weekend was a mad success.  I got some time to work on Dragonfly, as well as take notes and get inspiration for a project I’m working on with my friends Jessica Ellis Laine and Emily Gorman.  (H/T to Jessica for the photo below – although, technically it was my ridiculously long arms that captured the shot [ergo, why my face is hogging most of the frame.].)

https://www.instagram.com/p/BbIKDHfHGD5/?taken-by=jezgam

As I indicated last week, I’m using National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo) to finish rewrites on Dragonfly and am grateful for the Facebook group that’s helping me with accountability.  Mind you, work has been crazy SILLY busy this week, but even if I write 200 words – that’s still 200 words.

 

Have a good weekend, friends!

By the time some of you read this, I’ll be in my mom-mobile and heading north to northern Wisconsin with a pair of dear friends for a girls’ / writing weekend.  I have a penchant for GSD (getting sh*t done) while away on weekends, so I’m hoping to keep up with that winning streak.

In the meantime, the Interwebs have been good this week.  Here’s a couple links:

I’m proud to be an Iowan and I’m a Hawkeye fan by default.  To hear how people are reacting to Iowa’s “wave” to cancer patients and their families at the University of Iowa Children’s Hospital, it makes me proud and teary at the same time.

This girl is my hero.

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau dressed as Clark Kent for Halloween.  True to this article, I had all the feels.

I’ve been eating more low carb stuff lately for a variety of reasons.  And something that I’m secretly mad about … meatballs.  The perfect, portable food.  I made these meatballs the other day and they did not disappoint.

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Listening: I take comfort in hearing about the creative process for other artists.  That’s not limited to other authors.  So, the fact that it took Sam Beam (from Iron & Wine) ten years to write his song “Tree by the River.”  Well … it comforts me a little bit.  Listen to the song here.

Reading: I finished Jerry Spinelli’s YA book “The Warden’s Daughter.”  Young Adult is usually not my jam, but this book was immensely enjoyable.

Writing Life: I’m fortunate to have found Mystery Writer’s of America and I’m particularly in love with the Midwest chapter.  It’s National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo) and one of our members announced that she’s not writing a novel this month, but she’s re-writing.  We have a group formed for support and encouragement and although it’s only the first week, I’ve appreciated the sense of community.

So yeah – edits.  Beyond the writer’s weekend described above, my world is all about edits right now and that’s OK.