August 2006 Archives

This morning I wrote at the Opium Den, as usual. I was going to work on Allie's chapter, but for the first time in the 5 or 6 years since I've owned my Alphasmart, the batteries conked out. Alphasmarts are amazing! They run on double A batteries and I sure can't complain about those batteries finally giving up the ghost. Here I am, working on my Alphie at the O.D. Many writers have taken to using Alphies to write. They're not very helpful when it comes to editing, but for quick and dirty drafting, they're dynamite. Plus they're very light, nearly indestructible, and can't be connected to the internet, so I have no distractions. When I come home, I click a button and whatever I've written is transferred to my computer. Anyhow, I didn't mean to do an advertisement for Alphasmart here! Since my batteries gave out, I put Allie's chapter aside and started looking through my handwritten notes for the various subplot ideas I've come up with for LOVING ANDY. I know my main storyline, but there are many, many layers that need to be developed. So I spent the morning searching the thirty or so pages of notes I have, seeing what resonates and what doesn't. It was overwhelming, but also fun to see the different directions I can go in. This is the process that creates twists and surprises in my stories. It requires a very open mind. I filled about five more sheets of paper with notes and ideas and a list of topics I need to research, and then drove to my rheumatologist's office to get Remicade, the infusion drug that keeps these fingers typing. Well, I've been getting Remicade every 6-8 weeks for as long as I've been using my Alphasmart. It's a piece of cake: the IV gets hooked up, I chat with the nurse, Pat, and fellow arthritis warriors, and while away the time for three hours or so. When Pat started my IV today, I knew instantly something was wrong. My arms and chest and face were suddenly on fire and my BP skyrocketed. I was having my very first "Remicade reaction". Yikes! Pat quickly stopped the drip, loaded me up with IV benadryl, and we started over again, verrrrry slowly. I was fine then, but I'm still a bit shaken up. I know lots of people who've had reactions, but I had no intention of becoming one of them! I came home and slept for most of the evening. Now, I finally feel clear-headed enough to do some more thinking about my story.

My oldest stepdaughter, Brittany, lives nearby. She's the one who just had the baby and is now mom to two boys. But my youngest, Caitlin, lives in California, so we're always thrilled when she can visit. She stayed for a few days and helped her sister out. So here we are, Brittany on the left and Caitlin on the right. If only my middle step, Alana, could have been there, it would have been perfect. Inside the Mei Tai Brittany's wearing is tiny little Baby G.          

  Yay, it's finally out! I know my readers who wait for my books to come out in paperback have been waiting a loooong time for this one. It looks great in trade paperback size, and it includes an interview with me about the story. Of course, there are reader discussion group questions available on my website. Here's a bonus! I've signed copies of BAY at my local bookstore, Quail Ridge Books and Music, and you can get one through them by ordering online or by phone 800-672-6780. The ISBN # is 0778323412  and the publisher is Mira Books. I still miss those characters. :(      

Well, the title above about sums up my day! It began at the Opium Den, where Allie told me her father was killed by a whale. Now that definitely perked me up. She's alluded to this before, but now I know how it happened. The first chapter, at this moment in time, is from Andy's POV. The second, from Allie's. Once I get these two chapters finished, it's time to outline the entire book. Usually I outline first, but these two characters are itching to tell me their story and I'm giving them the freedom to do so.  From the O.D. to the doctor's for my pre-remicade appointment. Then home, settling in to answer email. Our every-other-week housekeeper, Delilah, arrived, followed quickly by the mobile groomer. Thank heavens for the mobile groomer! The dogs love Delilah and were all over her when she showed up, but when poor Kim, the groomer, arrived, Jet hid under my desk and Keeper played keepaway all over the house. Finally, Kim and I caught them and dragged (literally, in Keeper's case) them to her van, which is equipped with air conditioning (95 degrees today), a tub and the most important item of all, the furminator. While the dogs are getting the treatment and Delilah's vaccuuming, I washed all the dog beds scattered throughout the house. A few hours later, Delilah's done and the dogs each look ten pounds thinner. Then I took off for my critique group. We meet in Cary, about fifteen miles away, every three weeks. About two miles from my house, I took a corner too sharply, caught my rear right tire on the curb and shredded it to bits. I called AAA and was told it would be about an hour and fifteen minutes wait. So much for critique group. I was about to call John to rescue me when I spotted the truck in my rearview mirror. Let's here it for AAA! They've bailed me out on too many occasions to count. The guy wouldn't let me take his picture as he changed my tire or I could share it with you. It was so hot--I was dripping and I was only watching him work. Turns out I had a full-sized spare, so I was able to go to critique group after all. It made me realize how much I like that group--I was bummed about missing it. It's always great to spend time with fellow writers. Now I'm going to watch a little of Spike Jone's documentary on Katrina, then read some of THE NAMESAKE, which I'm really enjoying, then start all over again in the morning.

I love research! I experimented at one time with having an assistant help me with it, but quickly discovered that I was missing out on one of the most pleasurable parts of writing. . . and that I'm a control freak and have to have my hands in everything. So while I was in New Jersey, I read a couple of books on Fetal Alcohol Syndrome, from which my character Andy will suffer. The books I read were circa 2000 and it seemed the terminology for FAS was in a state of flux, so I'll have to get some more up to date information, but what I read gave me some great insight into Andy's character and some new thoughts about storyline. That's what gets missed when writers don't do their own research: the research itself triggers new ideas. Now that I'm home, I'm researching fires and how to escape them. Kind of scary. Also while I was away, Andy came to me in a dream and I got to hear his voice and how he strings words together. Very kind of him! And I realized the name Pippa is simply not working for his sister, so she is now Allie, which was the name I originally wanted for her.  Things are coming along! 

John picked me up from the airport yesterday and we drove straight to the hospital. Here I am holding little GW, just a day and a half old. We're going to have such fun!              

My new agent and I met for lunch. What a warm and enthusiastic woman she is! I'm thrilled to be working with her. And on a slightly less important note, I had corn soup (to die for!) and endive salad with glazed pecans, slivers of pear and yummy gorgonzola. The restaurant is in Chatham (NJ) and is called Serenade. I left knowing that my career is in good hands, I have a new friend, and I don't need a thing for dinner!  

Well, all it took to drive my stepdaughter into labor was for me to leave town! My new yet-to-be-named grandson entered the world at 3:30 this morning. I sooo wanted to be there, but fortunately Brittany's mom, Shari, was visiting from Virginia so she can take care of NJ (the two year old) and keep the house running smoothly for a few more days. Everyone's healthy and now I can't wait to get home and see the little sweetie!

I'm off to New Jersey in the morning to visit my sister and brother-in-law, have dinner with my brother and lunch with my agent. Not sure how often I'll be able to get online there, so I thought I'd better check in now. It's interesting packing to fly these days. I just emptied hand lotion, chapstick and a few other odds and ends from my purse. Progress is being made on the big website overhaul. I'm hoping it will be up and running in a week or so. I also hope my new grandbaby doesn't arrive while I'm gone, although at this point, the day can't come soon enough for my stepdaughter. Being pregnant in August in the South is not fun! No one knows if it's a boy or a girl. I can't wait to find out! I hope to be checking in from NJ. Bye for now...

I can tell that keeping track of what day I'm on is not going to work. Today, I finally told Pippa to take a break, as it was time to learn about her mother, Joanna. Joanna told me a lot about her son, Andy, and it's really kind of heartbreaking. Maybe you know people like Andy. They seem perfectly fine. . . delightful, even. . . and normal, but slowly you get the sense that something's just a bit off. Here's some of what Joanna told me today (reading directly from my notes): "Andy's the boy who will approach you--a stranger--in the mall. He'll smile and ask how you are, and he'll leave you a bit perplexed but touched by his attention.  He's the boy who thinks everyone is his friend, from the bagger at the grocery store to the woman who once said hello to him on the bus. He's the boy girls are drawn to . . . until they realize something is not quite right with him, and that's when he becomes the object of whispers, the subject of jokes, and the target of mean-hearted boys." So, Joanna told me plenty about Andy, and almost nothing about herself. Maybe this is the kind of person she is--focused on her child to the extent that she forgets her own needs? I don't think so, but I try to pay attention to what my character chooses to reveal in case she's giving me a hint to her true nature. For a very short time, I taught an exercise to my writing students called "Throw a Party for your Characters!" I intended it to be a way to learn more about our characters, but it ended up telling more about us as writers. . . as I guess most of our writing does. To do this exercise, if you can call it that, you close your eyes and get comfortable, focusing on your breathing until you've reached that floaty, trance-like place. Then you imagine standing in the doorway of a house where a loud party is going on behind you. You're watching the front door as your characters begin to arrive. What are they wearing? Who comes with whom? You watch them interact with each other. You pay attention to their affect. Are they shy? Boisterous? Do they head straight for the bar ...or the nearest dark corner? Finally, you interact with them yourself. The one and only time I did this exercise with any sincerity, my characters chewed me out. They were happy and jovial until they spotted me walking in their direction. That's when their smiles faded, and they moved toward me like a many-headed monster. "Why are you putting us through all this *%^$????" they screamed. They let me have it, and then they ignored me for the rest of the party. That part was just like high school. Anyway, you can see why I no longer teach this exercise. There are less humiliating ways to find out what our characters are all about! And tomorrow I'm going to dig a little deeper in Joanna's world.

I didn't get the work done this weekend that I needed to, mainly preparing website pages for the site remodeling. Nor did I get much done on my WIP. I like to work on it everyday. I got a little done yesterday, but today was a lost cause. My choir sang at a different church this morning and the congregation was on its feet. It was a lot of fun. My stepdaughter brought my 2 year-old grandson to hear us. During the meditation, when everything in the church was, and should be, totally still and silent, I could hear him call out "Where's Gammy Di, Mom?" It cracked me up. Anyway, onto the movies. My nephew, Chris, who is a screenwriter and movie buff, recommended The World's Fastest Indian. If you're an Anthony Hopkins fan, this is a must see movie. If you want to watch beautiful, understated acting, this is it. And if you simply want to feel good, rent it now. I didn't know anything about the story. I really can't stand seeing older people being taken advantage of--or suffering in any way--so I was worried as soon as the central storyline became apparent. Anthony Hopkins plays a bright, enthusiastic New Zealander who possesses a child-like innocence. His long-time dream is to travel to America to race his antiquated motorcycle at Utah's Bonneville Salt Flats.  I was initially ready to turn it off to protect myself from a sympathy overdose because I was so worried about Burt, Hopkins' character. But the movie quickly allows  Burt's winsome personality to put the viewer at ease. His journey from a small, weed-choked lot in New Zealand to the Salt Flats that he's dreamt about all his life is one to be savored. Hopkins is at his best. Totally believable and a joy to watch. I only realized at the end that the movie is based on a true story, which makes it all the better. Four and a half lighthouses.

 What an intriguing premise! Imagine your daughter has leukemia and needs a genetic match for blood, platelets, bone marrow, etc. No one in the family matches her. So you and your spouse create a genetically engineered baby who will be a perfect donor for anything your child needs. Everytime the sick daughter goes into medical crisis, part of the other daughter's body is used to save her. When the book opens, 13-year-old Anna is fed up with her role as her sister Kate's savior, especially now that her parents want her to part with one of her kidneys. Anna brings suit against her parents, fighting for medical emancipation. It's a brilliant plot and Picoult is a wonderful writer, bringing to life a family in perpetual crisis and a true dilemma in which there is no right or wrong, no black or white, only the cloudiest shades of gray in which a life hangs in the balance. You can't help but imagine yourself trapped in the decision makers' shoes. The ending will either bring a tear to your eye. . . or cause you to throw the book across the room.  A delicious book for a discussion group! Four and a half lighthouses.

Day 4 was actually yesterday and I wrote a post last night but got kicked off the internet before I saved it. Grrr. I was suggesting a couple of good books for fiction writers.

THE WRITER'S PARTNER by Martin Roth:  I carry this one to the Opium Den each day like some people carry their bibles (I'm in the bible belt, remember?). I had the first edition of this book, THE FICTION WRITER'S SILENT PARTNER, for many years. It was hardcover and the corners had been chewed by at least two different dogs. Inside, my notes were scribbled all over the place. When I realized this third edition was out with a new title, I gave the chomped-on one to a woman in my critique group.

THE WRITER'S PARTNER is like having a brainstorming friend you can carry around with you. It has everything, from lists of possible character names to what the cops will do when at a crime scene, to life in the military. The parts I like best though are the lists of "what ifs?" What if a man discovers his wife in bed with his bed friend? That sort of thing. As with all reading and movie watching, it sparks my creativity and can get me going when I'm stuck. I was sad to see in the foreward that Martin Roth has died. His book is a valuable addition to a writer's collection. It's a 4 lighthouse book. More later!

 

   

Unbelievable! As of yesterday, John and I have lived in North Carolina for a year. The decision to move here was even smarter than I thought. It's been a super twelve months. Here's what I love about the Raleigh area: being ten minutes from my grandson and his parents (and his soon-to-be sister or brother), the local Opium Den, the friendly, welcoming people, our neighborhood, our house surrounded by tall, mature trees, little traffic (at least in the areas we have to drive), the slower pace (remember, I moved from the D.C. area!), our screened porch, the natural beauty and hilly terrain, the nearby library, puny mortgage, living with my soulmate, my new church where everyone looks happy, lovely fellow writers. . . well, I realize I could go on and on! To celebrate, we went out to dinner at Lucky 32, which has quickly become a favorite. I had the blackened talapia, mostly to get the cheese grits that came with it! Yum. Lots of conversation about the art photography he's working on and my WIP. Speaking of the WIP, I need to get to work. . .

Today I asked Pippa to tell me more about herself, since she's been  trying to steal the show. I figured she just wanted attention, but I was in for a surprise. She gave me a first chapter. A tentative first chapter, but wow. When I want to know a character better, I have her write an "autobiography" of sorts. I channel her thoughts and feelings onto a piece of paper, and I always learn more than I bargained for. In the process, I also get that character's voice. So Pippa told me all kinds of information about her family and herself. (can you tell I'm struggling to not give things away? I really don't want to, because I never know what I'll keep and what I'll toss out, and I don't want you to be as confused as I am by the time the book comes out!). Anyhow, Pippa and I had a great morning. I was distressed, though because I wasn't sure what the climax of the book would be. Plus I realized it was becoming a very internal story without much action. Over dinner, John helped me brainstorm an important plot point. I didn't like his ideas and he didn't like mine. This is typical Diane/John brainstorming. LOL. I knew, though, that neither of us was on the mark. Then I went to choir practice. It's always good to get away from writing for awhile. Time away fills the creative well. It truly does. Driving home I was humming one of our songs while listening to a talk show on NPR. Two people were talking about very different life experiences, and suddenly I knew what the plot point was. Well, not exactly, but I knew the direction I needed to go with it. And even more suddenly, I saw the climax. Oh, my. Talk about action! Now who knows if this will all come together in the end, but I'm excited by the ideas I had today and I have more confidence that Pippa will be, if not always a reliable guide, an intriguing one. I also have a working title: LOVING ANDY. I'm 99.9 percent certain that will not be the final title, but it's nice to have something to call the folder on my desktop.

Tess Gerritsen has a wonderful blog and her essay entitled 'Legume Literature' really hit home with me. I hear from many readers who tell me they hadn't read anything since childhood until discovering my books. They thank me for getting them reading again. Tess addresses why so many adults have lost the joy of reading. http://tessgerritsen.com/blog/2006/08/12/legume-literature/

First, he's still alive, so don't worry! On July 19th, I posted a link to a video clip of golden retriever, Rookie, and his owner, Carolyn, dancing together. Rookie is retired now, and 13 1/2 years old. The Musical Dog Sport Association put together this touching tribute to him. I'm still wiping my eyes. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TlKTYyjDwnI

Yes, I only got in half a day's work on the WIP because of the events reported in the previous post. But it was a good few hours. I'm still playing around with nearly every aspect of the story. And I have some names. The fifteen-year-old boy is Andy, subject to change of course. Andy is a good-looking, gentle soul whose Mom drank too much while pregnant with him. As a result, he has some developmental issues. I don't know him very well yet, though. Mom's name is Joanna, at least today. She's a good person who would give anything if she could take back the way she hurt her son with her drinking. She's sober now and probably a nurse or a midwife. It's the daughter, Pippa, who is really badgering me to give her the lead in this book. She's seventeen and an amazing girl in ways I'm not ready to reveal. I'm letting her push me around for now, but her mom and Andy will get a turn soon. I'm not crazy about the name Andy. He needs a name that suits him, and while Andy does, I just don't care for it. Either it'll grow on me or I'll change it when a better one comes along. Suggestions welcome! It's nearly midnight and I want to read a little Jodi Picoult before sleep, so I'll see y'all tomorrow.    

Most published authors I know are only able to write about fifty percent of their working hours. The rest of the time they're involved in some form of promotion. That surprises non-writers I speak to. They think our publishers promote us, and I guess that was true in the olden days. Not any more. Every author I know is working hard to keep his or her internet presence up to date, touring or at least signing books at bookstores, answering fan mail, and dreaming up ways to get discovered by new readers. I'm no different. I got up this morning (a little late, I admit), psyched to go to the Opium Den and continue work on my as-yet-untitled WIP. As I do every morning, I checked my email and discovered that I had about a million and one emails from my fab webmasters, Debra and Tara. I'm in the process of doing a complete overhaul on my website, and they're the magicians in charge of making it happen. But I'm in charge of making all the decisions that go into the overhaul. My characters were tugging at my t-shirt and I finally had to tell them to go away. I didn't get a break from the computer until 1:30. By that time, I'd caved in and eaten a bowl of cereal and a banana, but I was determined to hold off on the coffee until I made it to the O.D. (I wonder if I'd enjoy my coffee at home more if I had those cardboard cups and plastic lids? Maybe I'll get some and see). In addition to the website, I'm trying to educate myself to the finer points of bloggerdom. I'm really enjoying my new nearly-every-day blogging, but I had no idea there were directories one should be listed in and blog readers one should be using. As I've mentioned before, I am, like, so totally out of it! This complicated, crazy world of blogs is staggeringly huge! I'm stunned. Anyway, I can't wait for the unveiling of the new website design! It's so different. I've loved my old design with the beach scene painted by my stepdaughter, but even she admits it's time for a change. The new look will still be grounded by a lighthouse, of course, but it's much cleaner and more spare than the current design. I hope you'll like it.  Now to report on the WIP. . .   

Ahhhh. . . four wonderful hours at the Opium Den this morning. Me, all curled up in a cushy purple chair with a maple oat nut scone, too many cups of coffee, and a fresh pad of yellow lined paper. Heaven.  I'm serious! My subconscious and I work so well together sometimes! Since I am working on both story and character simultaneously at this early point , here's how I spent my time. I skimmed/read/skipped through parts of Gail Saltz's book, THE ANATOMY OF A SECRET LIFE. Ideas came to me as I read and I wrote them down. It's such a strange and interesting thing that happens when you're lucky enough to be blessed with an out-of-control imagination. If anyone read my notes and also read Saltz's book, they'd never connect the two. It's just that reading anything short of cereal boxes at this point in the process inspires new ideas. It's such fun.  I know the central players now, but they are pale shadows of who'll they'll become. A new and intriguing character came to me who will play an important role, and some of the plot twists are popping into my brain. I'm trying to make three very important decisions: who is the central character, the protagonist? who has a POV (point of view)? and will I write in first or third person? The answer to the first question should be obvious, one would think. Who's story is it? Who has the most at stake? But I am frankly not yet certain. Is it the mother, as yet unnamed? Is it her seventeen year-old-daughter? Her fifteen-year-old son? They're fighting inside for the right to be most important. They'll have to fight a little longer. The POV question is also unsettled for me. Definitely Mom has a POV. And definitely daughter. Does son? Does the new intriguing character, who lives elsewhere? Not sure yet. First or third person? Oh, dear. I've written one book from first person, using three different characters. That was THE BAY AT MIDNIGHT. I absolutely loved writing in first person. It puts me instantly closer to the characters. And BAY will be re-released in paperback on the 29th of August, so it's foremost in my mind right now. Plus, I'm reading Jodi Picoult's MY SISTER'S KEEPER, also written from several POV's, all in first person, and I love getting snugly inside each character's head. The bottom line is. . . the characters will let me know. One of them will start speaking in first person and I'll know I have no choice. Or else a third person narrative will drift into my mind and make the decision for me. So, as you can see, I have a lot of decisions to make tomorrow morning at the Opium Den. I can't wait to curl up with my subconscious again.   

I left one thing out of my previous post: We also shopped for a sectional. Do you guys like either of these? Whoops, I mean do y'all like either of these? I really have to let some Carolina into my speech! Anyhow, this one is black leather, but we'd get it in a milk or dark chocolate brown. It's big. Maybe too big. It's John's fave. And this one is a nice dark brown leather that we'd probably stick with, only we'd add another piece on the short side to give us more seating. I'm open to any and all design advice! My neighbor, who is a wonderful designer, thinks we should do the two sofa thing and that a sectional (which we actually have now in a sage green upholstery) makes one side of the room too heavy, but we LIKE sectionals.  Decisions, decisions.

What a great day! It began with singing in the choir at my new church. It's so much fun to sing at this church because everyone in the congregation looks so happy and it fills me up with joy. Then we spent time (hours, really) at two bookstores. A two-bookstore day is a very good day indeed. Here's what I bought: THE ANATOMY OF A SECRET LIFE by Gail Saltz, non-fiction, for research purposes. Of course, I consider all my reading to be research as I study how different authors structure, plot, write, create, etc. The rest of the books I bought are fiction: SANDCASTLES by Luanne Rice. I've liked Luanne's books since her very early days with CRAZY IN LOVE and the much more sober, STONE HEART. I think our books have a similar nature. THE ART OF MENDING by Elizabeth Berg. Elizabeth Berg is another favorite of mine and I somehow missed this book when it first came out, so time to catch up. MY SISTER'S KEEPER by Jodi Picoult. I really like Picoult's writing and creativity, and I love when my agent compares me to her. :) I don't know how I missed this book, but I did. I'm going to start it first.   THE MEMORY KEEPER'S DAUGHTER by Kim Edwards. I'm drawn to this book by the title and the description on the back. I'm not familiar with the author--yet. THE NAMESAKE by Jhumpa Lahiri. I'd not heard of this book, but my neighborhood book group is reading it this month. It's about immigrants from Calcutta as they adapt to America. Lahiri's a Pulitzer Prize-winning author and I look forward to reading this. LOST IN THE FOREST by Sue Miller. I once loved Sue Miller's writing (THE GOOD MOTHER, INVENTING THE ABBOTTS, FAMILY PICTURES, etc) but then read a few of her books that simply didn't engage me. I thought it was time to give her another try, and this book appears to focus on a teenaged girl, and I'm always drawn in by coming of age type stories, so we'll see. . . SLIPSTREAM by Leslie Larson. I never heard of this author, and this book is a thriller--not my usual reading material--but it received a starred review in Publishers Weekly and something about the review caught my interest enough to write down the title on a now-crumpled little piece of paper. I'll let you know what I think. Finally, SWEETWATER CREEK, by Anne Rivers Siddons. She's a perennial favorite of mine. Her books always have a strong sense of place (Outer Banks, Charleston, the Low Country) and characters who care about preservation of the environment as well as of their relationships. A friend told me this is one of her best, so I'm excited to get to it. So, it was a great day, except for the guilt I feel over not working. Tomorrow, I'll start my WIP reports again. . . a bit anxiously after my last aborted attempt. Wish me luck.

I had lunch today at a new Raleigh restaurant called The Grape, with a group of writers and one very savvy bookseller. This group has been together for a long time, but they've welcomed me into their midst and they're just super! Nancy Olson, owner of my favorite Raleigh bookstore, Quail Ridge Books and Music, is a true friend to  local writers, holding events for them in her store and handselling books she loves. Margaret Maron is the author of the long-running Deborah Knott mystery series, Sarah Shaber writes the Professor Simon Shaw mystery series, Kathy Trobeck writes very funny books as Mary Kay Andrews, Brenda Witchger writes  mystery and southern fiction as Brynn Bonner, and finally, Alex Sokoloff is another newbie to the group and her first novel, THE HARROWING will be out September 1st. That'a quite a group, isn't it? I love getting to know them all and look forward to hours of brainstorming fun and lunch-eating with all of them. ps  I had the shrimp and crab salad, changing my order only 3 times as I heard what others ordered. A record.   It was yummy.  

                                                 We had a visit from my oldest (as in, I've known her since kindergarten) friend, Barbara (DeCamp) Hammach and her husband Bill and very cool teenaged kids, Jamie and Libby. They live in Chicago and I hadn't seen them in 7 years. Too long! Here we are (with one of John's art photographs behind us). Barb and I used to set up obstacles in her back yard and jump over them, neighing, pretending we were horses. We had fairs in my yard, giving the neighborhood kids wheelbarrow rides, etc, to make money for the cancer society. And most notably, I dared her to drink sand, which she did. It wasn't pretty! We were Brownies together, got in trouble together, dated the same guy (not at the same time, though). Wow, was he a jerk. We also saw the Beatles together in Atlantic City, 1964. We remember everything differently, though, which doesn't bode well for the memoir I'm writing. LOL. Isn't it great to have old friends?  

The more I thought about my story and my friend's story, the more I realized I needed to let mine go and start fresh. So I said goodbye to Natalie and Haley, who had so much promise. They may return in some other form one of these days, but for now, it's back to the drawing board. :(

Last  night, a good friend and I were emailing back and forth. She and I write for the same publisher, and we began describing our works-in-progress to one another. To our horror, we discovered that a major plot element in our stories is very, very similar. Frighteningly so. No publisher would publish two similar stories close together, so we knew we were in trouble. Or, more to the point, we knew I was in trouble. Since she is writing a series and has already set up this plot element in an existing book, she has legitimate dibs on the idea--and she'll do a great job with it. So, after freaking out all night, I was able to interrupt my agent's vacation with a phone call. She feels the books are dissimilar enough to be okay, and of course, our style of writing is completely different. She suggested I capitalize on the differences, so I spent most of today thinking and getting in better touch with one particular character. I love what I came up with! Tomorrow my agent and editor will talk about the situation and I'll await the "go ahead" or the "come up with another idea." Keep your fingers crossed for me that this story will be a GO, because it's a good one!

If you're familiar with my blog commenters, you know that I have a very faithful fan in Margo Petrus. Well, Margo is also a terrific artist, and at my request, she sent me some pictures from a recent art fair where she displayed her work. Here she is sketching a portrait of her dog, Kramer, with a beautiful painting of macaws in the foreground. And here is a recent painting of hot air balloons. Margo and I have never met, but we have a mutual admiration thing going on. I'm lucky to own a couple of her paintings. Isn't she terrific?