The Game of Risk

I don't know a single person who would describe me as a "wild child" or a risk taker.  (I'm just boring that way!) I want to grow old and grey, see my kids graduate college, heck I even want to live to see the Arizona Cardinals win a Superbowl.  (See this is as risky as I get, dissing my husband's favorite team on a blog he doesn't read!)

So when a colleague of mine (of whom I've never met in person, but talk to almost daily) asked why I don't self-publish, my reply came spewing out of my mouth before I even realized I said it.  Going traditional vs. self-publishing is a personal decision.  To me publishing is a game.  The strategy is simple, you can either wait for the coach to approach you to play or you can jump right into the ring and start fighting.

For some the learning comes from fighting.  I am just not that way.  I want to watch my competition, I want to learn from their mistakes and, most importantly, I want the coach to tell me I am ready to fight.  I want him to believe me.



The risk, of course, in going the traditional route is that I may never be published.  I may never see my book(s) sitting on the shelves at Barnes & Noble, I may never hear the words, "I want to publish your book" - and as strange as it is, I'm okay with that.  Not to say that I don't want to hear those words, because believe me, I WANT TO!

But I am okay with risking not being published for the satisfaction of knowing that there's someone out there who WANTS to publish my work.

Because I'm just risky that way :)

Motivation Monday

"Make voyages! Attempt them! There's nothing else."
- Tennessee Williams

Fools Rush In

Confessional time: I've been a fool.  No one knows this more than my poor sister-in-law (aka the luckless soul who has read every version of every book I've ever written)  Each and every time I finish a book, I give her some ridiculously short and unrealistic time frame to read it and tell me what she thinks.  Bless her sweet soul.  (Love your guts, Melissa) 

SO I am going to try something new!!!  (No she didn't threaten me, beat me over the head with a hammer, or burn every word I've ever written) I came up with this one all on my own!!  

I haven't had/made time to write lately, and while in my semi-induced writing lull I realized something - I ALWAYS rush into finishing my books.  I don't know what it is, the idea that I'm finally done or the notion that some agent is out there waiting to reject it.  Whoever or whatever is driving my delusional dream has got to learn to use the brakes.   

I have got to learn to use the brakes!

SO, rather than rush into my latest YA book (about a small town that is cursed) I am giving myself a year to finish it!  Yes!  I said a year.  Here's my thinking.  Great, amazing, (already published)  authors say it shouldn't take more than 3 months to write a book.  Cool.  Happy for you.  But I can't hold myself to the same standards.  I work full time, have a husband, three growing, active, and time-devouring boys, a house.... the list could go on, but I think you get the point.  If one day I am blessed enough to say my job is being an author, THEN I will think about holding myself to the 3 month concept, but for now, I need to slow down, let the ideas simmer, and write when I have time.  

I need to finish what I've started and re-visit it weeks later, I need to polish and buff my ideas until what I have left is truly remarkable.  

And more than anything I need to make sure I give my family and friends adequate time to read my books (before one day my sister-in-law writes an ironically realistic novel about an annoying family member who wrote too many books, who goes missing, and is found at the bottom of some deserted lake tied to a concrete covered laptop) 

Motivation Monday

"Every child is an artist.  The problem is how to remain an artist once he grows up."
- Pablo Picasso

Bruised rib cages, writing ideas, and a nap....

I can hear it now...the silent scrawling of my admittance form being filled out at the local looney farm.  In the mean time let me explain, no really, trust me bruised ribs, writing, and a nap all fit, harmoniously, in this scattered brain of mine.  

Late Saturday afternoon my twins were "horsing" around, and in an effort to keep this post about writing and not my crazy boys, I will just say that "horsing" around apparently involves Twister like moves and the notion that knees are harder than rib cages.  Needless to say it was an interesting night.  By Sunday morning it was obvious his ribs weren't cracked just well bruised.  

By Sunday afternoon he (the bruised twin) was tired (hard night and pain medicine) so I agreed to take a nap with him.  (Honestly, he didn't need to go and bruise his ribs if all he wanted to do was take a nap, but whatever.)  We decided to read and low and behold what was on my bookshelf? (ok,so there's about 30 books on my bookshelf and 20 more stacked, crawling up the wall, BUT that's besides the point) 

Harry Potter.  

Yep, I am a huge Harry Potter fan and I keep it on my bookshelf next to my bed.  (Nerd or no nerd, if I could help as many reluctant readers as Harry Potter my life's ambition would be fulfilled!) So I started reading to him.  We read all about that strange and mysterious day and the secret the Dursley's didn't want anyone to uncover and then......

Viola! 

An idea hit me!  Now this is not the first time Harry Potter has invoked an idea, but it was something that hadn't happened in awhile.  I smiled as I kept reading and, as most things go in my life, the idea started to dissolve into my hectic life.  My son wasn't tired anymore, lunch needed to be made, and there was laundry to do.  

And here's where the nap really comes into play.

Later I decided to go lay down anyway (after all the other fun stuff was done, of course) and as soon as I closed my eyes, the idea came back.  I know I was asleep for a little while, but mostly I just lay there letting the idea run its course.  

I've been asked several time where my ideas come from.  I suppose I don't really take notice when my ideas do come, so my answer is usually pretty lame.  Most of the time my answer is "Um.  I don't really know" or "I just thought of it".  So now you know, ideas come from life and the small, crazy moment in them, that's what makes books real.  And who knows, someday maybe you'll be reading one of my books and be able to tell people that the books's idea started on a strange and mysterious day in the Moxley household that involved a bruised rib cage, writing, and a nap!     

  

There's a new favorite in the house!

My little wee ones absolutely love The Gingerbread Man: Loose in the School by Laura Murray. It's a quirky, cute tale of a Gingerbread Man created and baked by a classroom but heaven forbid left him alone during recess. The bewildered Gingerbread Man runs "trying to find, the children who made me and left me behind." My boys love the adventures and mishaps the Gingerbread Man runs, rolls and slides into. They beg to have this fun story read over and over and the book cover is already showing signs of love and wear.

The pre-published author in me wonders how this great story came to be. Who is Laura Murray and what is her publishing story? Her story is a classic one! Laura Murray is a teacher, wife and mom. While pursuing her teaching degree, she took a children's literature class and was inspired to write. Several years, a hubby and kids later, she joined SCBWI and started some "serious" writing. She worked on The Gingerbread Man manuscript for 2 years and through 50 drafts. (I wish we knew how many times her story was rejected too.) Through her hard work and perseverance, the literary world has  scored another amazing story. I wonder how many times she had to tell herself to just keep going and move forward! I wonder how many times it will be for me..... or you!

To read more about Laura Murray, click here to go to her website.

She has several tabs for writers with helpful tips!
Thank you Laura!

Motivation Monday

"So divinely is the world organized that every one of us, in our place and time, is in balance with everything else."
- Johann Wofgang von Goethe

Perspective

Today was a rough day at work.  I came home in a grumpy mood topped with a killer headache.  Much to my surprise (and delight) my kids were cleaning the house and my husband was cooking dinner. Their thoughtfulness started to melt away my stresses and I felt a little better.  By the time I was changing into my signature (and by signature I mean habitual) outfit of jeans and a hooded sweatshirt, I thought alright, it's Monday, the day sucked lemons, but hey, I don't have to cook!!!

And then...

Yep.  Sitting on the counter - not 1 BUT 2 (yes, I said 2!!!) rejection letters.  Ugh. All of my family's good deeds were trampled on by 2 pieces of lowly mail.  My headache came back and all I wanted to do was crawl into bed and sleep.

But I didn't.  I couldn't walk away from a clean house and warm meal :) After eating my sweetly prepared dinner and running my white glove across the mantel (just kidding) my phone rang and it was my sister.  (Who, by the way, just got married - whooohoooo!!!  Congrats Sissy-Poo!)  We were talking about the wedding, and jobs, and husbands when she mentioned a friend who lived on the East Coast dealing with Hurricane Sandy.  With all my insignificant, little woes I had totally forgotten about the millions of people that were already without power and who were worrying about, not only their livelihoods, but their lives.



I've never been in and/or near a hurricane but I can imagine that there would be so much to think about and plan for, that things like rejection letters seem trivial.  Where I was worried about a book never getting published, others were forced to think of what to take with them when they left their homes, should they leave, could they afford to leave?  What will things be like when the storm is over?  Will I still have a job, a car, a home?

By the time this is posted Hurricane Sandy will be fizzling out somewhere over the Atlantic Ocean (hopefully well before this is posted) and most East Coasters will have the answers to all their questions (I pray they are good answers) - and I will still have 2 rejection letters - but I will have something else....

Perspective.

And sometimes, that's all it takes to not care about rejections.