Where to from here?

That looks easy enough, doesn't it? Yeah. Simple really. All the main ingredients of a good book just mapped out in neat little shapes. Well....I'm here to tell you, it isn't SO easy!!! Why..well, for starters, I'm not a mapper. I don't plan things out like this, not in my real life or in the lives I make up on a page. I never set out to be a mystery writer. REALLY. NEVER. My monaker always seemed to be, "If it ain't got no love, it ain't got no me..." more or less. Everything was swell when I believed that. I sat down in a day to write and was floored and excited about where and what my beloved characters were getting up to that day. It was magic on a page....or ten, whatever the case may be.

I never had a problem with that until now. Currently I'm working on FLASH, a mystery/ crime drama (which has romance, I'm still me people!;) Seeing as how I have all these loose ends to consider in this new genre I kinda have to know the where I'm going and/or the who in all of this. I did wing it for quite a while and it seemed to flow. At this point though, I am looking at only 1/4 of the book left to write and I'm finding a need to break down and....well.....MAP! Ugh!

I've resisted mapping up till now because I feel like it takes the imagination out of it. I've always loved how a book comes to me as I write it. It takes shape on the journey and that, to me, is part of the absolute wonder of writing it. I still think that is true, but maybe only to an extent. Creation is creation and whether it's actually written out or locked away in my crazy mind it's really the same, right? New content. I'm sure the loose dots I outline will have lots of room between them for that momentous scene I hadn't thought of to fit itself right into the story, right?

In order to do the mystery justice I think this must happen. What do you think? If you're a writer, do you map? Do you plan? Do you outline? What is your take on it? Don't get me confused with some other perfectly planned writer though. I still have a lot to learn about these characters and what they want to do. Will this make my story better?

I guess there is a first for everything. I gotta tell you...I'm shaking in my boots! I'm rolling up my sleeves....I'm goin' in! Wish me luck!

Music to get inspired too...

I guess. I was going through my Rhapsody account listening to music and I have some definite favorites. It's funny, I have some songs I just LOVE and I only love that one song by the artists. I could listen to these over and over. Maybe they inspire me, maybe they are great memories, I don;t know but I love, love, love them! Most of them are completely different but for some reason or another they keep me coming back for more....Where do you find inspiration?

Jeff Healey - Angel Eyes
K.D. Lang - Constant Craving
Alannah Miles - Black Velvet
Marc Cohn - Walking in Memphis
John Secada - Just Another Day
Elton John - Someone Saved My Life Tonight
Warrant - I Saw Red
Hubert Kah - The Picture
George Michael - Tonight
Mary Chapin Carpenter - Shut Up and Kiss Me
The Moody Blues - I Know You're Out There Somewhere
Frankie Goes To Hollywood - The Power of Love
Chris Isaak - Wicked Game
IceHouse - Electric Blue

These are just a few of the songs I could listen to on a forever loop and NEVER get sick of them. Music inspires me in so many ways and these are all old, old songs that I love. There are lots of current ones as well but they haven;t stood the test of time yet....

Awesome!

The book cover you see before you belongs to one, Ally Condie! Her book, Matched, comes out November 30 and you should definitely watch for it and READ it! It's awesome! (and I'm not just saying that cuz she's my friend) Anyway...I am so excited for her! The cover is so cool! Congrats Ally! :) Check out her blog http://www.allysoncondie.com because she is going places folks!!

Lock and Key?

I contemplated entering a few contests lately with my current WIP (work in progress). But for starters it isn't done yet. That's kind of a drawback, just ask any agent or editor! LOL Anyway, another thing holding me back is the whole secret nature of my idea. Writers and readers alike I know are plagued with heartache over secret revelation. For a published writer it means lawsuit. For an unpublished writer it can mean suicide. Basically all stories are the same. They are mostly the same basic elements built with new and different twists and turns. They all have similar elements, albeit in skeleton form. this is what makes books all the more intriguing to me. Peoples minds are the sole difference in what becomes the written page. It amazes me that people can come up with the ideas and stories that they do!

So right now, I'm wondering. As a yet unrepresented and unpublished writer how much should I give of my storyline, if anything? And how much do I keep under lock and key? I mean, we(unrepped and unpubbed writers) walk a very fine line in today's social media day and age. It can help us immensely and,, most of the time I think that's exactly what it does. I want to share my idea a little to see if it takes off. I want to see what kind of response I get to it. To me, what I'm writing right now is a very new and fresh idea than what is currently on the market. And then I think, "But doesn't every writer believe that in their heart about their work?"

So my question to other like me and readers alike, to anyone really is this: How much do you share? How much do you keep to yourself? How do you protect yourself from ugly idea stealing? How many contests do you enter? How much do you put out their on blogs/facebook/twitter in general? How do you protect yourself? Or do you just go for it and hope for the best?

The chances of someone stealing my idea and then writing it and querying it are pretty good really, if they have time. I find time to be a HUGE stumbling block in my writing so.... I know that may sound like I think my idea is the cats meow. So let me assure you, I DO! If I didn't I couldn't put the passion and power behind the words that tell the story the way it deserves to be told. And sadly, I know, at the end of the day, If I don't write it. Someone else surely will. It's all about time.

My completed novel was, for some reason, MUCH easier to share generously. I don't know why that was. I didn't worry about it like I do this one. Not sure whether I'm just more paranoid or crazy or what! Probably all of the above!

Ok - back to writing! :)

You know what I love?

Cosmic lightening writing. Yup, you read that right. And it's a real thing. At least to me, if no one else. What, you may ask, is that? It's the awesome thing I feel when I'm writing and the words are pouring out like constant flashes of lightening during a great summer storm. And it's the bestest thing in the whole wide universe. It makes you scratch your head and go..Wow, this might just be a GOOD book. Of course, if you didn't think that about every book you write then how would you ever write it? But still....
I'm reveling in it and since the book I'm writing is called Flash, it kinda gives me the shivers somewhere deep inside! YAY!

When you can't write it better yourself.....

Don't! This is a fabulous post that I could've written myself(except for the part about having an agent and/or book deal of course...cuz I DON'T (good thing I'm not bitter about that)). In fact, I may have even tried to get these very points across before, but it was as if she channeled me and made it sound better than I ever could so check out this post on Jody Hedlund's blog about writers guilt. It's so great! I totally feel exactly like that!

My first fan letter and the BEST I'll ever get....

When your confidence wanes (and it always will at some point) and you wonder if you're any good always remember someone, somewhere, loves you just the way you are. Maybe she'll be a writer someday too, but right now, my 7 year old daughter is my biggest fan and I think this may be just the very best I will ever get! This wasn't even about writing but I needed it and thought it was very special....It's always important when your in the day to day storm of constant rejection to keep things in perspective. This is a good way to do that!