Writerly Pearls of Wisdom: Part 2--and Adieu!

Here it is, the culmination of three years of amazing insight, dedication, and utmost humility. (This last attribute is probably the most important for a writer because, if you choose this wonderful writer's life, you are going to have to withstand the slings and arrows of outrageous fortune.)

As I did yesterday, I leave you with the words of some of my dearest writer pals. And remember, the readiness is all. (Feeling so Hamlety today.)

From Jennifer Rumberger, one of my Marvelous Middle Grade Monday mates:

Never give up. No matter how hard the writing life gets, just keep at it! Also surround yourself with writing friends. Their support is invaluable.

Jennifer recommends: A book everyone should read in 2013 is Destiny, Rewritten by Kathryn Fitzmaurice. Her best book yet!

And, from another excellent middle grade writer and blogger, Barbara Watson: 

A quote that is probably well known in the writer's world but I just read on a blog last week. I didn't cross-reference the source to make sure it's worded properly and are, in fact, his exact words, but it's been helping me each time I place fingertips to keyboard since I read it: You can take for granted that people know more or less what a street, a shop, a beach, a sky, an oak tree looks like. Tell them what makes this one different. ~Neil Gaiman 

R.L. Saunders is an pal represented by Linda Epstein at The Jennifer De Chiara Literary Agency (same agency as me). Read her blog. She's funny as all get-out: Writers figure out what works for them: writing schedules, lighting, inspiring coffee creamer flavors, outlining, 67 crit partners, not outlining, magic query templates, lucky sweatpants--that sort of thing. Then they get really excited about figuring out what works and they write blog posts about it because it feels SO RIGHT. And it is right. For them. Your job is to work hard at figuring out what works for you. There are lots of rules and tips for writers at every stage of the process. Take them with a grain of salt (like the rule about avoiding idioms) because they're really only suggestions you might try on. Just remember that what looks hot on Michael G-G might make your ass look big.

But seriously, avoid idioms. And never, ever wear sweatpants that are fewer than seven years old while you write or you'll never be published.

One of our new Project Mayhem team, Dianne Salerni is the author of We Hear The Dead and The Caged Graves (Clarion 2013): "Success in writing requires patience and persistence. You have to accept that it will take longer than you want. Your books might not get published in the order you wrote them, and some might not get published at all. Without the patience to wait for the right opportunity or the persistence to keep writing book after book, you might lose out on what you seek most -- just before it arrives."

I have long sung Beth Kephart's praises. To my mind, she is one of the most lyrical writers around. (Go here to see my review of her masterful novels, You Are My Only and Small Damages): 

"Every now and then remember the fat black sleepy cats and worn rugs and handwritten signs of the nearest used book store.  Remember, in other words, the books that aren’t on today’s lists, in today’s blogs, in today’s fever.  Much of what is good and golden and teach-worthy and inspired was written years ago and should not be shunned for its age or yellow paper.  Paper, yes paper.  Visit a used bookstore.  Take something classic home.  Let the spine crack and the glue shimmer.  Let words be ageless for you."

Laura Stanfill is the genius behind Brave on the Page, Oregon Writers on Craft and the Creative Life. Meeting Laura and being part of her project was one of the great gifts of last year:

 "It's great fun to learn about how different writers approach the page, but there's no one right way. Do what works for you. Do it well. Do it consistently. Show up and work as often as you can. And don't worry if someone else swears that your method is wrong. If it works for you, then keep doing it. In putting together Brave on the Page, a collection of essays and interviews about the writer's life, I had forty-two people--including Michael--address different aspects of the craft from their own perspectives. Everyone had something different--and equally wonderful--to share about how they approach their work. We must remember to use others' journeys as inspiration, not as a way to find fault with ourselves. I learned this lesson, finally, when I became a mom. There are so many parenting books out there, and I spent the first few years worrying that I was doing something--or lots of things--wrong based on how self-assured many of those authors were with their one-size-fits-all advice. So focus on the page, on your own work, and question your methods in order to nurture your own growth as a writer--not because someone else tells you to." 

April Henry has been a mentor of mine ever since our children attended the same elementary school. She is the New York Times best-selling author of over a dozen novels. Her latest is The Night She Disappeared. April was on deadline when I contacted her, but her blog has a ton of good advice. The one thing she stressed was: Tenacity is as important as talent. I heartily agree!

C.Alexander London is the author of the An Accidental Adventure Series. He is the sort of wildly funny middle grade writer I aspire to be. Here's what he had to say: The worst writing you ever do is better than the best writing you never do. 

The author of May B., and a Project Mayhem stalwart, Caroline Starr Rose, always has wise words to share: 

"The piece of writerly advice I've clung to the last few years is this: Learn to write this book. It's attributed to Elizabeth Bear but came to me via J. Anderson Coats. It has been hugely freeing for me to discover that while systems and goals and blah blah blah sometimes work, sometimes they don't. Each book is its own animal. You really do start over every time. And it's OKAY."

I've known Rosanne Parry, the author of Heart of a Shepherd and Second Fiddle,  for many years, and she is a dear friend, mentor and supporter. We share the same critique group as well as the same agent, Stephen Fraser. "Our agent is my preferred vendor of literary pearls. Here are a few favorites. "You're making art, it's supposed to take time." and "I find the authors who enjoy longevity are the ones who do not stop writing." (Rosanne's new novel, Written in Stone, will be published in June 2013.)

Another critique group member and friend is Barbara Liles. Barbara was the recipient of the 2011 Oregon Literary Fellowship, has written a great novel about the Norse in Greenland which any editor worth their salt should publish, and was recently a contestant on a Norwegian reality TV show. Her pearl is the one on which I choose to end because, really, where has the time gone?: "Do not be surprised, that time, for a writer, is a strange and flexible dimension."

Thank you all for being my companions on this wonderful writer's journey. I hope you will continue to visit me at Middle Grade Mafioso and Project Mayhem. Till then, may your writing be dangerous and your spirits stalwart. Adieu.

A PENULTIMATE BLOG POST

Happy New Year and all that. As I wrote over on Middle Grade Mafioso, it's been a hard few weeks, what with brain surgery (my wife), vertigo (me), and overall winter blahs (the whole family). But my time away from blogging put things in perspective, and I realized that the time has come to put The Year of Writing Dangerously to bed.

Yes, I know you're all crying and sad, but let me explain. This was supposed to be the chronicle of a writing year and it's been going on for nearly three. In the meantime I have another blog (Middle Grade Mafioso) which seems to be garnering a following, and a group blog--Project Mayhem--which is completely awesome, and for which I only have to write once a month. Which is about the extent, blogging-wise, which I seem able to bestir myself nowadays. (Since I spend all my time spouting off on Twitter and Facebook.)

To blog well, you have to blog consistently and often. It got to the point with TYOWD, where I would feel guilty because I hadn't posted in weeks, and I felt like a neglectful parent. And I'm anti-guilt.

So, I will count my blessings and bid this blog adieu. And the blessings have been many:

• Since I started in February 2010, I've "met" a whole bunch of great people. I'm blessed to call a lot of them friends. 
• I've learned a lot about writing from reading and blogging about "craft" books.
• Microfiction Monday honed my skills as a 140-character writer, which is why I rock at Twitter.
• Because of this blog, and particularly my friendship with Matt MacNish, I got the opportunity to be part of Project Mayhem, and to meet even more spectacular writers and good people.

There have also been major changes in my writing life:

• When I started blogging I didn't have a literary agent. Now I do.
• I am even more wedded to creating new writing. (I have two manuscripts in various stages of revision, and ideas for a third.)
• I am much more astute about the value of social media. As an "outgoing introvert" I enjoy connecting with others on this writing journey through blogs, Facebook, and Twitter.
• And my blogging led to a connection with the great Laura Stanfill, a Portland writer and mentor extraordinaire, who published a book called BRAVE ON THE PAGE, in which I have a small chapter, and for which I was part of a well-attended public reading.

I plan to do one final post on February 6th, which will be my three-year blogoversary to the day. I hope to have as many pals as possible share pearls of writerly wisdom which will live on in the blogdom for all eternity. Thanks for being part of this amazing journey. 

I Love My Writing Community

One of the huge blessings of blogging is meeting so many interesting, entertaining, and just darn nice people. Pre-blogging, I lived in that kind of writerly bubble where one suspects there are other forms of writerly life out there, but they're about as easy to glimpse as Bigfoot. And then, two plus years later, you're part of a great crowd of folks who are willing to chat with you, exchange information, and just plain old support you. Thanks, pals.

One of the greatest stories to come from this bloggy thing we do, is my striking up a correspondence with a writer called Laura Stanfill. Laura, a former journalist, heard of me through a mutual friend and contacted me to be part of her 7 Questions for Writers interview series. (I mentioned this in a previous post.) She then produced a book, and being the amazing promoter that she is, last week she got a whole bunch of contributors together for a reading in a local community center. There were about 90 people in the audience!

Laura asked me to read something from my novel, so I treated them to the first chapter of my middle grade novel, SHAKESPEARE ON THE LAM, which is still (sigh!) out on submission. I kid you not, I felt like a rock star. Here's a video of me, getting all excited with the words on the page:



The best thing, though, was listening to and then meeting a bunch of amazingly talented writers who are also in Brave on the Page--people like Liz Prato; Duncan Ellis; Nancy Townsley and her husband, Gregg; Bart King; Stevan Allred; Kristen Forbes; and Shasta Kearns Moore. And many of them signed my book!! (Sorry if I'm beginning to sound like a squealing fan boy.)

There is, I believe, nothing better than being in a room full of writers. We are appreciative of each other, because we know how hard it is to put ourselves out there and write. I want to give Laura Stanfill huge credit for being such a visionary, and for all the time and effort she has put into making this book a reality, and for making our writing community stronger. I have never been so proud of being a writer.

Look! Look! I'm In A Book!

A little over a year ago, a writer named Laura Stanfill interviewed me for her "Seven Questions Series" on her blog "Laura Stanfill. Writing. Reading. Community". It was a fun interview, and I enjoyed answering her questions on blogging and the difference between middle grade and YA fiction.

Fast forward 12 months. Laura is a visionary and had the idea to collect all her interviews, as well as invite other writers to pen what she calls "flash essays," and gather them together in book form. She decided that the focus would be on Oregon writers--of which there are many: this state is fertile ground for scribes. She also decided to set up her own publishing company, Forest Avenue Press, and print her books using some spiffy new technology, the Espresso Book Machine, located in the Purple Room at Powell's Books.

So it was that on Tuesday a whole bunch of us gathered giddily at Powell's to watch "our" book appear, literally hot off the presses. The cover, designed by Gigi Little, is beautiful--and there's some crazy good flash essaying going on between the covers. Laura has plans for readings and other promotions. A journalist in a former life, she is just amazing with her press releases, and has been a tremendous editor as well as an advocate for her writing "tribe." As she says in her Foreword:

"Oregon is full of writers who support one another. The forty two authors in this collection all live in the state or have roots here. They are novelists and journalists. They are essayists and travel writers and poets. They are funny, smart, sad, and wise. Some have been traditionally published. Some have been published by small presses or literary journals. Others are unpublished. And yet we all commit the same brave act--confronting the blank page every day. No matter what the cost, no matter what the outcome, we set our other obligations aside to write. And that's something to celebrate." 

Thank you, Laura, for welcoming me into your "tribe." I got a great thrill seeing my name "on the page."

I'm interviewed (again)!

To my east coast readers, apologies for posting late. I just wanted to make sure that the interview with me was up at Laura Stanfill's blog.

I've not yet met Laura, even though she is a fellow Portland writer. But her blog is great. She employs "Seven Questions" to get to know her interviewees. And today is my turn.

Please pop over and tell Laura what you think!

(Tomorrow I'm doing a special post on "What a Man Should Wear to a Writer's Conference." And there will be a special sartorial giveaway. Please join me and enter for a chance to win.)