Flashback to 1998!

I'm a little bit country, too!

And I'm not afraid to admit that.

There's just something about being a writer now (2010-present) that the longer I do it, the more I think about certain times in my life where a little bit of that inner writer has caused me to think about random things in my life that have led me up to this moment.

Let me take you back to 1998.

I was 24 and had become a certified personal trainer (a profession that quickly caused burnout), in college at Liberty University studying exercise science, and working part-time as a sales associate at Sears.  By this time, I had already a certified aerobics instructor. I spent the summer of 1998 teaching thirteen classes a week (yes, that number is not a typo). I would lead group exercise classes until a decade later when marathon running took over.

One thing I didn't want at all at the time: a boyfriend. Though I didn't have any dates, I did have a male friend whom I met through a friend I had at the time. He was in the Navy studying aviation in Millington, TN. We started writing to each other. We shared a mutual interest in being determined to set goals and country music. By this time, I had met him once, when he had had plans to pass through my neck of the woods (Lynchburg, VA).

Though nothing serious happened between us, looking back on this acquaintanceship I had had with him, he inspired me. I'm not sure what specifically it was, but he seemed to care about my well-being in spite of what had been going on with him.

One of the country singers I liked back then (and still do) was Aaron Tippin. Many of you are familiar with such hits as "You've Got to Stand for Something," "Kiss This," or "Working Man's PhD." But the one song I have always liked by him is "That's As Close As I'll Get to Loving You." There's just something about that song; I still don't know what it is. This was the song that brought out the romance writer in me. Though I never wrote down this plot, I still remember it after twenty years:

A young single woman meets a young man through a friend. He is in town on a break from flight school. Though she does have a boyfriend, they keep in touch, writing to and calling each other (because this was in the days before Facebook and e-mail). The one song they like is "That's As Close As I'll Get to Loving You." When they talk on the phone, they sing it to each other. The young woman eventually breaks up with her boyfriend and tells this young man. He writes her a detailed letter about how he was jealous of him and wanted the chance to go out with her. However, soon after that, he gets into a serious accident and is in the hospital. This young woman visits him. When she goes into the room, he is unconscious. She takes his hand and starts singing the first four lines of their favorite Aaron Tippin song. As she is doing so, he wakes up and recognizes her.

But darn those copyright laws! 

It was a good idea. I know I can always think of some other title and lyrics for it. 

In fact, it's such a great idea. After all, I still remember this twenty years later. There must be something to it. I'm on a roll now with writing romance. How about I tweak this and see what I can come up with?

Patrick Peterson, though I know we haven't spoken since 1999 and you might not even remember me, if you're reading this, in the short time I knew you, you inspired me. Look at what I'm doing now.

Now, for the featured song....

My Future Retreat Spot

By the end of the first weekend this month, I had everything ready for the big exciting weekend ahead. With all of the busyness involved in it, my husband and I decided to take a vacation afterward. Of course, I took my laptop with me. An author's work is never done. It takes no vacations. I knew where we were staying would be so conducive to writing. I spent as much time as possible writing in the mornings, which is the time of day I write when I'm home.

Something I've kept in the back of my mind to find was my go-to place for a writing retreat. I've kept seeking something out.

Well, my search is over!

I have chosen a cabin at Navy Lake in Lake Altoona, Georgia. 

To be more specific, the best place for me to write in the cabin was the screened-in porch. Though in the four-day, three-night vacation I opened my laptop a grand total of one time, ideas flowed out effortlessly for my work on Twofold Love Comeback.

What I like about the location is, it's not entirely out in the middle of nowhere. Just a mere twenty minutes from the cabin is Kennesaw, a suburb of Atlanta. There are some beautiful parks where I can go for a run or some restaurant I can try.

Now, it's time for me to set aside some money for me to go here on a crisp fall day. Just me, my laptop, and a notebook to write in. Whatever book I'll be working on at that time, I will be sure to mention part of it was written at Navy Lake.

What I Gave Up Today

Many of you who read my posts know that in order to be successful, you have to give up things. For authors like me, if you want to write a book, you have to do or not do things, such as not binge watch your favorite TV program or spend a lot of idle time on Facebook, sharing every good thing you see.

Though I don't watch much TV or spend a lot of needless time on Facebook, the one thing I have had a struggle with since the very beginning is housework. Not a day goes by that I don't wake up thinking about all of the things on my to-do list. I often feel pressured, especially when I'm bursting with inspiration. There are some days where it's easy to put it off, some not so.

I remember first learning this aspect of time management in 2012. Simply put: Write first, then clean. Don't worry about cleaning. It can wait. 

Today was one of those harder days. It was my day off from my regular job.  My husband's work attire was unpressed, dinner was uncooked, and there is a sink load of dishes that need to be washed.  Also, due to time constraints I had had over the past week, I hadn't been able to work much on Twofold Love Comeback.  I know too well that if I go many days without working on it (or something), or if I have to watch my time while I write, I'll fall to pieces.  My sanity depended on writing as much as possible today; my characters were screaming at me (those who also write would understand that phrase).

This morning, as my husband and I were talking about plans for today, he reminded me he was going to be at a class this evening. He also reminded me that he was going to get only one ten-minute break. I had to really register what he said about dinner: "Don't go out of your way to fix me dinner."

As hard as it was to not cook more chicken breasts in the skillet, I didn't do it. I had to get over the fact that though my husband has worked so hard today and will have a busy evening, he won't be able to eat any of the homemade food he loves so much.  I loved how he showed continual support for me as a writer. 

I am so proud of myself for practicing this unusual self-restraint. This was a perfect opportunity to practice more of that "giving up," to take it to a higher level.

Therefore, I was able to accomplish the following today:

(1) Get toward the end of Twofold Love Comeback.
(2) Make announcements on Facebook about events I'm going to with my books.
(3) Broaden the options to have my books available digitally.
(4) See about other possibilities for events.
(5) Share a funny excerpt from Twofold Love Comeback on Facebook.
(6) Make this post.

As I'm drawing this post to a close, I can do so knowing I've had a very productive day. I'm satisfied and not frazzled or rushed. Tomorrow, on the other hand...but that's tomorrow. I will now eat the leftovers in the refrigerator, feeling good about not having to cook.

Character Profiles and Movie

I had a non-stop, action-packed Saturday. After a week of hard work at my day job, I decided to sleep in (until 7am). Not long after I woke up, I started a writing project that took longer than expected. After I got done, I ran some errands, cleaned the house, and unpacked a little bit more. It was 7pm before I decided to call it a day.  Since I had been on such a roll, I needed to make myself do that. Since David was out of town, I decided to enjoy a quiet evening at home watching a movie.

This was the first time I had seen a movie at our new home. I immediately decided on The Breakfast Club.  I love all of the '80s teen movies the late John Hughes directed. If I were to ever have any of my books made into a movie, I hope I'd meet a director like him. It seems like every time I watch it, I get inspired. Judd Nelson as "John Bender" just plain steals the show.  His character oozes with myriad ideas and inspiration.

There's something about when he says, "You couldn't ignore me if you tried" that made me get out a few sheets of paper and write two character profiles. I wrote them while watching the timeless movie about the brain, the athlete, the criminal, the basket case, and the princess.

While I'm still working on Twofold Love Comeback, I'm in the beginning stages of writing another contemporary romance book, Writing Soulmates. Leann Foster is a thirty-year old single woman who is a successful middle-school English teacher, but not so in love, for various reasons. She has a volunteer job teaching creative writing at the local library. She meets Brian Eastman, whose daughter Lauren is in this class. He is the lead singer of an emerging heavy metal band called The Beast Clan. The more they talk, the more Brian pursues her. But she has a hard time getting past his personal appearance, which is not what she had envisioned the man for her to look like. Plus, she doesn't want to date the father of one of her students. As they get to know each other, they realize they are supporting each other in their respective creative dreams.

Here are the character profiles for both Leann Foster and Brian Eastman:

Leann Foster's profile, page 1

Leann's profile, page 2

Brian Eastman's profile, page 1

Brian Eastman's profile, page 2

This Survived the Move

On February 23rd, I was faced with a challenge.  I had had a few weeks to think about how I was going to do it.  How I had been doing it was comfortable and simple, didn't require much thought.  I needed to think of a creative way to do this.  In that way, I wouldn't experience any heartache or distress.

I had to pack to get ready to move, to another city, to the next chapter of my life.  Though I had a special way to pack our wall clock, the drinking glasses and coffee mugs, the two cake domes, and the pictures (just to name a few things), there was one small thing I needed to pay even closer attention to:  My flash drive.

This contains eight years of hard work.

We knew this move was inevitable, we wanted it to happen.  The whole time, I had wondered where I was going to put this small but valuable device, which has all of my books, both past and present, on there.  

After all, although I can replace any of the fragile items, I cannot come close to restoring eight years of hard work.  Though I had backed up most of my books on Google Drive, I didn't want to lose this flash drive.  

What did I do?  I put it in my wallet; it has a pocket in there that has a zipper.  How can you tell you're a writer?  When you need to find a wallet that has a secure place to put an external hard drive.

This burden, the anxiety of working hard to keep this flash drive during a move, has now been lifted.  I'm now a stronger person, better able to focus on details, and most of all, a more passionate and dedicated writer.  I can't wait to see what even better things I will write.

My Mr. Holland's Opus Moment

I now have Wednesdays off from work so I can have some time to write during the week. At the moment, I'm still working on Twofold Love Comeback, in spite of feeling like I'm at a standstill with plot development.

Yesterday, I decided to "camp out" at the Chick-fil-a in Bearden, inside their study area.  However, when I got there, I was too wired to concentrate. (No, I had not had any caffeine.) It must have been because I had finally had a chance to write somewhere else other than at home and I had just had an edifying conversation with someone. 

If you know me, I can't write without music.  But nothing I played yesterday morning, from the Guess Who to Foreigner, seemed to work.

Then, I thought of this song:

Whenever I hear this song, the only thing I can think of is when Richard Dreyfuss plays a 45 of it in Mr. Holland's Opus.  I love how he says to his student, "These guys...can't sing...and have no harmonics...they're playing the same chords over and over...and I love it."  Because it's fun.  I have always thought the same way about this song ever since I first heard it.

I have to admit I was getting a little frustrated because I wanted to make good use of my day off, to have a productive, meaningful time to write.  But after I heard this popular song, I was relaxed and in a flow to write, though what I had written, in my humble opinion, didn't have much of that same thing.  But I didn't care.  I could always look at it later and change it.  Right now, I just needed to embrace a wonderful moment to pound on the keys as much as I could....because writing is fun.

What did I end up writing?  An idea for the start of the turning point in Twofold Love Comeback.  Approximately 1800 words later, I was satisfied, gathered up all my stuff, and went on to my other commitments for the afternoon.

I'm Considered His Equal

I've heard it said that after two weeks of something great happening to you, you are to put it behind you and look forward to something even better.  I will apply that principle to an awesome opportunity I had two weeks ago today.

Ever since 2014, I have gone to the Fan Boy Expo comic con, whether to go walk around and do my favorite pastime of people watching, to volunteer, or to sell my books.  It didn't occur to me at first that I could meet celebrities, and even attend their question-and-answer sessions and ask questions about anything about their career.  I recall attending the first one without meeting Sean Astin, one of my favorite actors from my childhood.  When I realized I could do this, I decided one of the reasons for me to attend this convention was to meet the celebrities.  In taking this up, I have met Anthony Michael Hall, Bruce Kulick (KISS, Grand Funk Railroad), Richard White (voice of the Gaston in Beauty and the Beast), Twiggy Ramirez (Marilyn Manson).

Two weeks ago, I met Dee Snider at this fall's Fan Boy Expo.  Those of you who are around my age range will remember him from the '80s, with that one much-controversial hit, "We're Not Gonna Take it Anymore".  Of course, Snider himself has gone on to many other things, not the least of which is publishing a few books and doing an unlimited number of things in the film industry.

Needless to say, I wanted to consider him a proud possessor of his own copy of Wise Turned Foolish.

But I had no idea it would exceed my expectations and...yes...even my dream. (I had had a great one a few weeks before this event.)

The following is the script of my few minutes with Dee Snider:

[Enter: Faye Wilson Walton]

Dee: Do you have something for me to sign?

Me:  No.  I have something for you that I will sign.

Dee:  Cool.  [Points to my Sinful Lilly t-shirt].  I love that t-shirt.

Me:  Thank you.  Sinful Lilly needs to open up for you someday. [Writes in book:  Dee- May you always want to rock!  Faye Wilson Walton October 2017.  Hands book to Dee.]

Dee:  As you may know, I've written some books, myself.  This is awesome what you're doing.  Keep it up.

Me:  Thank you. 

[Exit: Faye Wilson Walton]

I spent the rest of the weekend floating.  Why?  Because Dee, in the fast few minutes I had with him, considered me to be his equal.  

Ever since then, I've only wanted to write more and imagine myself talking with him about the great plans I have for my books.  

I'm sure it will happen...or something similar to that, which would be even better.

Based on the dream I had had prior to this meeting, and the reality being bigger and better than that, I only want to imagine things more.  

However, I will now move forward, considering my meeting Dee Snider as a stepping stone.  Yet it would blow my mind if our paths crossed again.  

All I can say is:  I can dream.