The Bits Add Up
We worked out the final version of the jacket copy for The Keep of Ages this week, and I redrew the map to send along to the artist. The book is currently with the proofreader. It feels like we’re getting closer and closer to finishing up this project, and I’m excited about it coming out in August. Four months! That’s not so long from now!
We also had an hour of sunshine here in Connecticut for the first time in weeks, and that’s worth celebrating!
Early Ideas
I’ve spent the past few weeks testing out possible ideas for my next novel, and as of today, none of them is the right one. This doesn’t mean I have failed. I simply need to keep exploring.
I once had an art teacher who assigned 100 watercolor paintings of the same object to be done in a week. It seemed like a lot of paintings. I picked an old fashioned drill, the kind that works by spinning a crank. Accustomed to working slowly and deliberately, I started out that way,… Continue reading
The Leafless Time
Harkness Memorial State Park, Waterford, CT, March 2017
In case you haven’t noticed, we in New England spend half of each year without leaves. This allows for countless opportunities to appreciate the moody grace of our trees. Here’s one, for instance, overlooking the churlish waves of Long Island Sound. Note, too, how nicely it compliments the leaden sky and dingy, dormant grass.
Gloomy? Of course. But it’s the kind of gloom that inspires and transports. I’m reminded that Heathcliff’s name was a combination of heath (the habitat), and cliff (a… Continue reading
Open Paths
When I turned in my manuscript of The Keep of Ages last Friday for it to go to copy edits, I was so elated with the book and so pleased to reach the milestone that I went out for hot chocolate with my husband to celebrate, and later in my chorus rehearsal, I sang exuberantly. It is amazing to reach a point with a story, after months and months of labor, when I’m deeply satisfied with the work and excited to see it moving onto the next stage. The energy… Continue reading
The Next Stage
Marginalia from my editor, in blue
I’m in a close editing stage now where I have marginal notes from my editor who has given me feedback at the sentence level for The Keep of Ages. It’s a shifting puzzle. If, for instance, my editor suggests that I move a greeting from the bottom of an airplane ramp to the top of the ramp, I may discover in the process that I have a character on stage too early, and I need to rework the passage to make it… Continue reading
Keeping Journals
Journal entry: New Year’s Day, 1975
Writing your thoughts down in private is a nifty way to discover what you think, especially if you’re puzzling through something complicated or emotionally charged. Recording events lets you relive them with a double ownership. Putting the words on paper or typing them letter by letter focuses your attention into concrete expression, and at the same time, it frees the mind to go racing ahead toward the next idea. It’s at once liberating and therapeutic.
By contrast, reading a journal can be a mixed… Continue reading
Ari & Milo, my serial novel, is now up on Wattpad! I drew illustrations to go with each chapter, and best of all, it’s free! Because of problematic themes, this novel is for mature readers age 17+.
Book Trailer for Promised