May HodgePodge

April showers bring May...allergies.

But better things are on the horizon for me.

At this writing, I'm still overcoming seasonal allergy symptoms. I've been tired a lot, my throat feels raw and scratchy, my eyes are itchy and puffy, and I "feel" fluid in my ears. None of that stops me from giving it all I got every morning, promoting myself every chance I get. In this post, I'm going to share some things that are progressing, some more than others.

I'm working on the first eight chapters of The Unknown Beautiful Missing Piece. Each time I work on it, I've been able to tighten it or add more depth to some parts and to some supporting characters. There's more content I want to add, but I haven't figured that out yet where to put it, how to word it. I'm working my way past those chapters. I've also been working on the second book full of my journal entries from 2015, Light & Momentary Troubles. I was hoping to have made more progress by now, but--life and allergies.

In addition to my own works in progress, Nick Clemente is seeking a publisher for the memoir we wrote. If you've been following my posts, you may have seen videos called Backstory with Quig and Danny. (Please subscribe to the Melody Records channel on YouTube.) At the beginning of June, Nick will let the cat out of the bag in a Backstory video  about what we've been working on. Afterward, Nick and I will, as he said in a recent conversation, "Go crazy," ie, make the announcement.

I try my best to be positive and hopeful in all my social media posts. With this ongoing pandemic I've sometimes been challenged. I haven't been to any events with my books in over a year and a half. Therefore, I made a post like this a time or two...

On April 1, my husband and I attended the East Tennessee Mopar club monthly meeting. As I read a copy of their newsletter, they announced a show for Saturday, June 26th. They were still taking the one word that got my attention:

VENDORS!

About a week and a half ago, I signed up. And this is no April Fool's Joke! If you're local, I hope to see you there (even if you don't like cars).

Though I haven't made any plans about sales or giveaways, I've changed the pricing of my physical copies:

It goes without saying I want you to have the books more than I do the money.

To sum it up, I have some works in progress that are taking me longer than expected to finish; I keep showing up. After waiting a long time for another event, I finally found one. 

Good things come to those who work hard to go to the next level to pursue their goals and dreams.

Writing > Life Changes

While watching the morning news earlier this week, I saw a car commercial that had the simple math equation with the > (greater than) sign. They had several of them, one of which was adventure > daily. What caught my attention was the last one: now > never. 

What my life is like now:

Inspiration  > Time

Distractions > Solitude

For those of you who read last month's post, what's going on now is polar opposite. I'm rushed and distracted. Therefore I've been out of sorts and moody. It can't be entirely because of the rain or the beginning of daylight saving's time.

Then it dawned on me... 

My husband and I have had some more life changes this year. In fact, we've had a lot of them since we moved back to Knoxville in 2018. The more we've had, the more I've been challenged to stay focused on writing. This is a problem; I need to figure out how to solve it.

I realized this in a conversation I had with a friend, who's also a writer...

I had loads of time when I first started writing. Back then, I wrote loads of words in each book. I was was also overwhelmed: what advice am I going to heed to improve my craft?

I've now refined my writing; it's now clearer.  That's an accomplishment considering all I've been through over the past few years. It must mean something to me; my fight for my right to write is on a higher level now. I refuse to quit because of the daily frequent interruptions I hadn't had until now.

I know in time, my writing time will be restored and will look more like this:

Writing > Life changes

Writing now > Writing later

Solitude > Distractions

Every Five Februaries

 A recording studio, a place where singers and musicians lay down tracks and engineers mix music at a console.

(photo extracted from Pinterest)

It's also a place to think of an idea for a romance novel. 

That's where I was and what I thought of five years ago February. Up till that time, I had never considered writing romance. Two and a half years later, I published Twofold Love Comeback. And little did I know I'd publish another romance novel

In the first half of February, I had more time than usual to write, especially in my journal. Lately, I've been wondering about why I write so much in my journal every morning. Do I just write in circles? Should I take a break from it for a while and work on something else? I have unapologetically wasted a lot of trees over the years. 

A few Sundays ago, I closed my journal for the day and opened the notebook where I've written devotions. I started writing raw versions of essays. They are about what I've learned about myself and others during COVID-19, and how it has impacted me as an author. 

As I wrote, I realized it was the middle of February, exactly five years, almost to the day, after my recording studio epiphany. Only I wasn't in one this time.

Will I naturally write in a different genre five years from now? If so, which one? Where will I be and who will I be with when that moment comes? 

I'll find out in mid-February 2026.

Acting Like a 12-Year-Old and Proud of It

The #1 hit on the week of your 12th birthday defines your life. 

This is a silly Facebook game. My answer is "Papa Don't Preach" by Madonna.

Though I don't take stock in the cheesy answers to these offbeat games on social media, I still think it's amusing. 

I turned 12 in 1986 (Please don't do the math to figure out how young I still am). Though I did listen frequently to "Papa Don't Preach" back in the day, the musical impact it had on me pales compared to that of the Bangles. I got Different Light on cassette for my 12th birthday. As any 12-year-old would do, I played that so much. I'm surprised I didn't have to get another copy.

Over the years, I kept toying with what updated format to get it in. The last I checked, YouTube had only the videos of the hits. I then considered the following ways:

(1) Find the tape, but I know it's nowhere in my house; it's...somewhere.

(2) Order the CD on Amazon. 

(3) Get it on vinyl.

(4) Download it on Amazon Music

I know I'll get nowhere with option #1 and don't see the feasibility of option #2. For reasons I won't disclose, I can't physically go to a local record store right now to hunt for the vinyl copy. 

That left me with option #4, which I satisfied a little over a week ago.

The moment I heard this album for the first time in a long time, I felt like I was 12 years old all over again. Though, like the rest of you, I don't care to be that age all over again. But I'll take the music from the 80s any day. Finding this gem, as well as many others on Amazon Music, has relieved tension and uncertainty in a personal situation. I need as many moments as I can to think back to when life was a bit simpler, the music was awesome, and the sky was the limit to what I could dream.

I loved how I still remember all of the words to all the songs, especially to the two in the above pictures. And I've sung them with the same enthusiasm as I had back in the day.

Music and headphones on, world off. A good friend reminded me of that a few days ago. What did I do? I downloaded "In Your Room." It feels good in my room (ie, office) because I've let the world out. Nothing ever made me crazy like this.

Well, I've been crazy-busy writing each morning this past week. I've picked back up on writing The Unknown Beautiful Missing Piece. It's only gotten better now that I have Different Light (among other albums and songs) in my Amazon Music repertoire, as I wait out my current situation.

I've made up my mind...I like The Bangles more than Madonna.

I also made up my mind this past weekend when I played a similar funny game, What Your Favorite 80s Band Says About You  In spite of a very long list of names from the 80s, I chose The Bangles. What my eternal flame of love for their music says about me: You have chewed gum while delivering a keynote speech or eulogy.

Therefore, if I deliver either of those in the future, and you see my jaws moving a little bit more, please understand I'm doing that because I am a lifetime Bangles fan. {Laughing}

P.S. I'm still thinking about Stone Solid. I do believe that's the longest work in progress I've had. Over the past few months, I've looked more into how to write better. There's something about listening to all-female bands that will help me with the plot. 

 

Eloquent Phrases

 A decade or better ago, I was in a local Toastmasters chapter. After an introduction, someone presented the word of the day. Everyone who was either called on for table topics (impromptu, one-minute speeches) or scheduled to make a speech was challenged to say that word in their speech.

Toastmasters meetings also had a grammarian. After everyone spoke, they would point out certain phrases that stood out, facial expressions, and tones of voice.

During my writing hiatus, I'm reading books. A few weeks ago, I read Year of the Monkey, by Patti Smith, and am now re-reading it. It comprises reflections of Patti's life the year before she turned 70, which was in 2016, the Year of the Monkey. So far, I've read only two of her books, the other M Train. What I've found fascinating and captivating is her stream of consciousness and her way with words. 

Here are a few of them...

"a moment of sorrow's vertigo"

"Havoc, an uppercase game with a lowercase deity"

"anesthetizing scent"

"the coma's thick veil"

"artificial silence of hospital settings"

"a redundant train of errant vowels ended an unfinished sentence"

"projecting constellations of words onto his white sheets"

"each blank page, offering escape, the pen serving, fluid and constant"

"a talisman on a necklace of continuous travels"

I plan to return to my full schedule of writing sometime next month. I now challenge myself to use phrases equally as eloquent in my novels in progress.  

Not Hanging Up My Author Shoes

 The summer of 1984. 

It was the summer of Ghostbusters and The Muppets Take Manhattan (I know I'm showing my young age here). Such R&B ballads as "If Ever You're In My Arms Again" by Peabo Bryson and "What's Love Got to do With It?" by Tina Tuner played in heavy rotation on the radio. Mary Lou Retton scored a perfect 10 at the Los Angeles Olympics. 

And HBO was a new TV channel.

I saw Eddie and The Cruisers on there almost every day. I loved (and still do) "On the Dark Side," "Wild Summer Nights," and "Tender Years" and I had a bit of a crush on Michael Pare.

About a year ago, I saw the movie for the first time in a very long time. And I still remember some of the quotes and lyrics from the songs--as if I hadn't left the couch in 1984. 

Now that I'm an author, there are some things in movies that had never "spoken" to me, that are now resonating. And there is an unlimited number of them in Eddie and The Cruisers.

One example is the scene where the band is at Satin Records. They're playing "A Season in Hell." The producers hate it and hold nothing back in letting the band know it. Reminder: it's 1964; no one is ready for heavy, hair-raising, goosebump-inducing music like this.

And maybe I wasn't ready for something I had heard and learned about many times over the past several years that authors must do to get their name out there. Many authors had done it. The ones I personally interact with had persuaded me, till they were purple in the face, about its importance. I'd wanted to do it but had never had an opportunity.

I finally did it--and my plans failed.

 

Over the past ten years, I've had many times I've wanted to quit writing. I was so disappointed in what I had hoped would exceed my expectations I wanted to declare this as, in the late Regis Philbin's words. my final answer. Never going back, no one will miss me.

However, soon afterward, I sat down to a warm homemade dinner that had smashed potatoes, my go-to comfort food. I vented to my husband and a trusting friend about this certain fiasco. 

In addition to the above-mentioned scene, another one from the sequel reeled through my mind. It was the one where Eddie is at that look-alike contest at the beginning of the movie. I kept telling myself it wasn't the right time for me. I can always do this again, and when I do it will be successful.

I went to bed--and woke up at my usual time the next morning (4am). Apparently, the one-liner "The sun is still going to come up tomorrow morning" had finally sunk in.

Photo credit Julia Pope

I wouldn't allow myself to think I was the only author who had experienced what I had. Soon into the early morning, I learned I was in good company.

At this moment I'm on a writing hiatus. Well, I'm supposed to be; I'm still trying to figure out what I should or shouldn't do. Maybe to keep from writing and keeping up appearances on Facebook and Instagram, I'll watch movies instead. That's one of the ways I relax and even get ideas for my novels in progress. I think two of the movies should be Eddie and The Cruisers and Eddie and The Cruisers II: Eddie Lives. I now have both movies on DVD. And I wish I had an unlimited amount of time to watch them.

Like Eddie, with nostrils flaring and through clenched teeth, I want to say, "I want something great. I want something no one's ever done before." I want a "Joann" to tell me, "Your books are great," lest I shout "Here's to nothing, fellas!" pumping my fists in the air, as if that's my fate.

As you can see, I have a hunger and a cold desire. And I know someday it's going to take me higher. I'm just another small flame running through the fire. Therefore I refuse to hang up my author shoes. I may get that feeling every time I get the blues, but it's just a matter of time before some better opportunity comes along.

Enjoy this video...

 

1,095 Days Later

Several months ago, I was at lunch with my wonderful Word Weaver buddies. As we ate, someone asked a question for all of us to answer: Why do you write? My answer: It's the ideal thing for me to do for my self-starter personality and the enviable trait of finishing what I've started. At the time, those two character traits were challenged

One of the things that has amazed me about being an author is I think of ideas in the most unusual circumstances. Such was the case for my upcoming novel, Writing Soulmates.

Here is how and when I came up with the idea...

In July 2017, I was in Gatlinburg, Tennessee, at a big weekend-long convention for a women's auxiliary for a military organization. I went from one meeting to another (the ones I could legally and ethically go to) and interacted with a lot of military family members. One evening when I was on my way to get a bite of dinner with everyone else from the auxiliary chapter I was a member of, I thought of an idea for another romance book. I already knew the title and some of the plot: Writing Soulmates and a high-school English teacher who meets the lead singer of a new local rock band.

It bears mentioning that while I was at this convention between meetings, I worked as much as I could on what is now Professional Fans and Twofold Love Comeback . And I couldn't believe I had conceived another idea for a book.

Since the summer of 2017, in addition to a few major personal life changes, I published not only the two above-mentioned books but also Active Waiting ...all in 2018. I thought since 2018 was a great publishing year for me, 2019 would be even better. However, though I wrote on a nearly daily basis I didn't publish anything. I felt discouraged and wondered if I really had what it took to be an author. Was my chance at being a better author gone and the stories I had been working on would only be ones I'd never publish. And if I publish them several years from now, everyone would lose interest in me.

Yet I still wrote...and rewrote...and continued doing so day after day, regardless of how I felt. On Black Friday last year, I finished the first draft of Writing Soulmates. I thought during the long, cold winter, someone would read and critique it. In that way, I could publish it just before Valentine's Day. That plan fell through. Without going into too much detail, I just didn't "feel" it. At the beginning of February, I decided to publish it on April 25. Again, nothing materialized.

At the end of June, I finally got someone to read it. However, she read only the first two chapters and said she wasn't into it. She then challenged me to write a more detailed and compelling first two chapters. After all the hard work I had done to grab the reader's attention at chapter 1, I get this?! In thinking about it for a few days, I realized those first two chapters had content I had never written before. Therefore I booted up my laptop again and, in a matter of days, wrote an even better first two chapters...and beyond.

As a result, most of the remainder of the book changed, not to mention how I took feedback from others. With renewed determination, I got to rewriting Writing Soulmates and set another goal...

It no accident that I finished this "literary child" of mine three years after its conception. I mentioned earlier that I thought I didn't have what it took to be an author. I beg to differ; I didn't give up when my best-laid plans failed.

What is going on in your life right now that is taking longer than expected?  What have you learned? What things have you had to change to make your goal come to pass?

If you'd like to download an advance reader copy of Writing Soulmates, please click on this link. https://dl.bookfunnel.com/865zkji9jv