Change of Scenery

My friend Jenny and I went to Asheville for a couple of days. Our goal, besides just getting away for a few days, was to meet and greet several YA authors at Malaprops Bookstore who we read and admire: Beth Revis, Carrie Ryan, Megan Miranda, Alan Gratz, and others. It was a wonderful opportunity and we both got some great advice and ideas.  One comment Alan made on Thursday night about having a critique partner tell you whether your book is getting across the message you meant it to, sparked a lively conversation between Jenny and I on Friday. In response to other comments, we talked about our critique group and whether it was pushing us to the next level. We discussed the three main points of a story: a character, their goal, and what keeps him/her from getting to the goal and whether our books meet that simple criteria. We chatted about Carrie's ability to mix beautiful literary style with the suspense of her zombie apocalypse plot and vowed to get there ourselves someday. Jenny got the reassurance she needed to know that she's on the right track with her queries and what she needs to do next while I got the push I needed to get an agent.

But what I loved most about our two-day retreat was how a simple change of scenery will recharge my batteries and give me inspiration. Walking the charming streets of downtown Asheville, surrounded by beautiful blue hills, inhaling deep lungfuls of cool air while being warmed by sunshine--somehow it opened the creative outlet and I knew how my work-in-progress should end. I worked on a scene that had been bugging me while sitting at Malaprops sipping Blue Mountain spring water. To my amazement, I found that I like taking my laptop with me and letting the stimulation of having people around give me ideas. I can, and should, leave my comfy office some days and change my perspective!

At Thursday night’s event, the authors answered a question about what they loved most about the writing life. I wasn’t surprised when they each came up with something different while also agreeing with everyone else’s answer. There’s just so much to love about writing that anyone who does it could go on and on…right on to happily ever after.

Mental Meanderings

What made me want to become a writer? Actually it was Harry Potter. Something happened to me when I read Harry Potter. I may have just happened to read Harry at the write time (get it? ha!) Harry Potter woke up something deep inside me. It took me back to that time when I was a child in love with books. Suddenly, just to be in the company of people who do this thing called writing seemed like the most important thing in the world and I began to dabble, not having the first idea what I was doing. I mentioned this to one of my friends who had written a book. She encouraged me to come with her to the SCBWI conference. I did and listened mesmerized as Anita Silvey talked about all my favorite children’s books; Anne of Green Gables, Wind in the Willows, The Secret Garden, Little House on the Prairie and on and on.

I can remember details about what I was doing and how I felt about every one of those. For example, I remember curling up on my bed with Little House. My bed had a soft white bedspread. The heat vent was right underneath and warm air blew up beside the bed, keeping me from shivering right along with the little girls that lived on the cold, cold Prairie. I was in little-girl-reader-heaven.

I read the Secret Garden curled up on the couch in front of our picture window. It was fall and the weather was cool and misty, just like I imagined the Moors would be. To this day, I call that kind of day a “secret garden day” and so do my kids.

I didn’t read Wind in the Willows as a child—but I read it to my children sitting out on a blanket after having a picnic lunch. Every day we’d retire to the shady place under the dogwood tree and have adventures with Mole, Rat, and Badger.

I read Anne of Green Gables as a young girl. I found Anne to be a true kindred spirit. I think Anne may be the reason I write for young adults rather than children.

These days creating worlds and the people who live in them gives me just as much joy as reading my first books as a child. As Anne would say: Ah, such scope for the imagination!

To market, to market...

...to buy a fat pig, as the nursery rhyme goes. Pigs are good. Very cute. I actually collect them. And, I love ham. I would look forward to a nice ham much more than to market, to market to sell my book!

You see, I like characters I make up, not strangers. I like my quiet office, not crowds. I like home, not traveling. I am…an introvert.

Ursula LeGuin said: “Hardly anybody ever writes anything nice about introverts. Extroverts rule. This is rather odd when you realize that about nineteen writers out of twenty are introverts. We have been taught to be ashamed of not being ‘outgoing.’ But a writer’s job is ‘ingoing.’”

I’m not a complete introvert. I like being alone some—okay, a lot—but eventually I want to get out and do something, see people, and have experiences. But let’s keep it within my comfort zone.

An online presence is okay. I’ve discovered I do like blogging. I like following other people’s blogs and feeling a kinship with what they’re saying about writing. I love talking to other writers via e-mail and Facebook and finding out how the creative process works for them. I think Twitter might be fun; I mean who doesn’t like birds and tweeting and all that? Meeting a few writers here and there in person; that’s okay too. So far, so good.

What I don’t like is what comes next. Marketing teams at most publishers want you to be IN THE PUBLIC EYE. (Loud, booming voice.) It’s all about making connections, getting out there and talking about yourself and your book.

Me???? Scary! Stranger Danger!

I was contemplating this with my usual anxiety when another quote came into my head. My inner voice, the one that’s always trying to kick me out of my comfort zone so I can grow, said, “Strangers are just friends you haven’t met yet.”

Really? Wow. That’s a nice thought. Are you sure?

“Yes. Definitely.” My inner voice is often very firm with me.

Okay then. New friends are great!

Maybe…it will be fun.

Inspiration

Beautiful places play a big part in my book. My characters first meet at the Alligator River National Wildlife Refuge. They spend long summer days walking the trails and canoeing the waterways while they get to know each other. The Scuppernong River is across the road from Laney’s house and she does a lot of time thinking and dreaming on the river bank, mostly about Gabe :-).

This is because nature is such an inspiration to me. I’m definitely not a coffee-shop writer. I like the peace and quiet of my cozy office. My desk sits in front of a window where I have a view of the trees and the sky and can watch the birds having a bite at the feeder or taking a bath. Or I take my laptop to the back porch—screened, because I may love nature but that doesn’t mean I love all those buzzy critters to join me!

That reminds me of a funny story. My daughter Laura and I went to take some pictures of Columbia and the Refuge in November for the Facebook page. It was hunting season, so we wisely took our orange vests—which was good because my crazy daughter wore olive green. She truly looked like she had on camouflage gear. We got out there and put on our vests, ready to go. We only got a couple of hundred feet from the car before we were swarmed by mosquitoes. They were so thick that we were literally in a black cloud. Wow! We ran back to the car and tried to kill as many as we could with our hands before we dove inside. I can only imagine the hilarious picture we made, running and slapping each other, and hollering. Then once in the car, panting like we’d just been chased by a bear, we dissolved into giggles. Instead of orange vests, we should have brought mosquito netting. Or at least, the highest power bug spray on the market!

And of course, that reminds me of another funny story. When I first heard of the red wolves in North Carolina, my husband Tom and I went to investigate. He spent years as a scoutmaster, so being prepared is second nature to him. Before heading out to the Refuge, he suggested we go into Columbia Pharmacy to get some bug spray. Okay, I’m from Charlotte and spent the last twenty years in Raleigh, so it never occurred to us that there are still places that do cash only. We counted out our dollar bills, quarters and nickels to purchase the bug spray, which was eight dollars, mind you—but still, it’s the cutest little Pharmacy ever! I fell in love with the town, the people, the wolves, and the Refuge…

Thus, the book.