Robin Lee Hatcher's Write Thinking

The Fun Continues

I have been having such a ridiculously fun time with my WIP. Yes, I've enjoyed writing lots of my books. At least I've enjoyed lots of parts of lots of books. It isn't always a struggle with words. But this time seems different, and I know it isn't because this book is so much better than anything I've written before. I'm sure it isn't. Maybe as good as what readers would consider my best, but not better than my best.

So what is it? What is making this story so much fun to write? I had an ah-ha moment yesterday in answer to that question. I think I'm having extra special fun with this WIP because I've got readers on Facebook joining me in the process. I'm sharing and they're responding.

The book kicked off with what I think is one of my best opening lines for the first chapter that I've ever written. I shared with my Facebook friends that my agent read it and said, "WOW Robin this is a FABULOUS opening line!!!!" Even though they wished I would share it with them, they forgave me for keeping it under wraps until the book releases.

The next thing I shared was the floor plan for the house my hero purchased in Boise, Idaho in the spring of 1900. My Facebook friends really loved seeing the drawing and told me so through comments and likes. They also got a kick out of my update on "information I would never need in my ordinary every day life," which shared that "Employers and their children and guests addressed the butler by last name alone; fellow servants, retainers, and tradespersons as "Mr. [Surname]" and "The housekeeper was addressed as Mrs., regardless of marriage or otherwise." (Bet you knew that if you are a fan of Downton Abbey! You are a fan, aren't you?)

Horses always show up in my books. I can't help it. I think they are one of God's most beautiful creations. When my hero gave the heroine a horse and I discovered a photo of "her" mare, of course I wanted to share that with my friends. Isn't this horse a beauty?

A few days later, while writing about my heroine's breakfast, I just had to share some of the food combinations considered suitable for breakfast in 1896 America:

• Oranges, oatmeal with sugar & cream, broiled ham, creamed potatoes, popovers, coffee
• Quaker rolled oats with baked apples, sugar & cream, creamed fish, baked potatoes, golden corn cake, coffee
• Bananas, toasted wheat with sugar & cream, scrambled eggs, sautéed potatoes, graham gems, griddle cakes, coffee
• Grapefruit, wheatlet with sugar & cream, beefsteak, lyonnaise potatoes, twin mountain muffins, coffee

Our ancestors may not have had a Starbucks but they still loved their coffee!

But nothing I shared on Facebook about my WIP got the same reaction as when I brought up puppies and kittens. I posted that my heroine needed to take in a stray which will be a pest to the hero and asked if it should be a stray puppy or a stray kitten. The votes were heavily in favorite of a puppy (69%), but so many good things were shared in the comments that I decided both would find their way into this household. Hey, if one is a pest, two can be chaos. And here they are, Tiger (the kitten) and Trouble (the puppy).

If you're already a friend of my Facebook Page (known as a "Like" in FB language), thanks so much for having fun with me. If you aren't, I hope you'll join me and the rest of my vocal friends soon.

~robin

I Want to Stay Ahead of the Game

My mom retired about five years before I bought my first computer. When I got it, I offered to teach her how to use it. She refused. I always felt bad about that, especially once email became the chief way of communication. I was reminded of this last night at our HOA meeting when one retirement age couple said they don't have a computer and, therefore, don't have email. Wow. That seems so dark ages to me. Doesn't it to you?

Although I have yet to admit to being middle aged, let alone a "senior" (but I do like the discounts!), I realize that I have fewer years ahead of me than I have behind me. And one of the things I most hope I'm able to do for as long as possible is to stay current on technology. If I blink, I know I'll be left behind. I'm trying not to blink.

In 2012 I blog and Facebook and Twitter. I text my daughters and grandkids. My iPhone stays current with my iPad and MacBook via the cloud. I wonder what new and totally unexpected new thing I'll be putting to use five years from now. Kind of boggles the mind.

~robin

P.S. This blog post was written in the Blogsy app on my iPad. I would include a photo but haven't figured that out just yet. ;-)

P.S.S. I may not know how to do it in the app, but I know how to add a photo from my Mac. So here is a screenshot from my iPad as I wrote the post obtained through Photo Stream, just for fun.

 

As Time Goes By

By nature, I am not much of a saver. If something doesn't have a use, if I haven't worn it in five years, etc., give it away or throw it out. And because of that tendency of mine, I have actually gotten rid of a few treasures.

My grandmother Madge, about age 25

When I was still a kid, my mom had an old treadle sewing machine out in the garage. It had been her mother's. Mom had an electric sewing machine in the house. The one in the garage was junk in her mind. Oh, I wish I had that old junk sewing machine now. Not because it would have great monetary value, but so I could look at it and remember that my grandmother used to sit at it and make clothes for her daughters a hundred years ago.

My grandfather Walter, about age 21

But I have managed to hang onto a few possessions that matter. Two of them reside in my lighted curio cabinet, among my china and crystal and collection of Cherished Bears. One is the pocket watch that belonged to my father. Dad was killed in a plane crash when I was 4 months old, and I like having something that was his. The other is the wrist watch that belonged to my maternal grandmother. She was a tiny thing. Just barely 5 feet tall. And she still wore a corset in her 70s (I remember watching her put it on).

My grandparents w/3 daughters (Calif.)

My mom had few possessions by the time she passed away at age 96. She'd divested herself again and again, first when she sold the home where I grew up, next when she sold her last home, next when she moved in with me in her 80's, and again when I downsized from a large, two-story home to a smaller one-level. But I discovered a few gems as I went through her things after her passing, one being letters written in Swedish from my maternal great-grandfather to my grandfather.

My mom & aunts (Idaho)

But I think what I love most among the things I kept from Mom's keepsakes are her dad's property tax receipts from 1909 (Iowa) through 1914 (California) because they revealed something I hadn't known before. The stories I knew about my maternal grandparents were mostly about their lives in Idaho where they moved around 1920. They rented homes and farmland while raising their daughters. It wasn't until their nest was empty that they bought a 40 acre farm with a teeny-tiny house on it. Anyway, I thought they'd always been poor.

Well, it turns out that Grandpa owned land in Iowa, then moved to California where he owned a lemon grove. My one surviving aunt told me that it was her illness and hospitalizations as a child that nearly bankrupted the family and forced their move from California to Idaho. More info I hadn't known before.

Grandpa was 25 years old when he made his last tax payment in Iowa in February 1910 (almost 102 years ago!). The receipt (different from the one shown above) includes a list of taxed personal property. What a treasure for this history-nut! Grandpa owned and was taxed for: 1 colt (2 yrs old); 3 horses (3 yrs & older); 3 heifers (2 yrs old); 4 cows; 1 steer (2 yrs old); 5 swine (over 6 months); and 1 other (musical instruments, watches, jewelry, threshing machines, engines, old grain, etc.). Net value of the personal property listed was $644. Quite substantial for a man of 25 in 1910.

My paternal grandparents and my maternal grandfather were all dead before I was born. My maternal grandmother lived with us until her passing when I was 12. But she left something I prize most of all. An example of her faith. The most persistent memory I have of Grandma is of her seated in her chair near the fireplace with her Bible open on her lap.

Time rushes by. Those old watches no longer keep time. The land my family once possessed belongs to someone else. Only what's done for Christ will last.

~robin

But a Print Book Doesn't Freeze-up

My beloved Kindle 3 (now called the Kindle Keyboard) developed a problem over the past six months (or maybe it was there all along and I didn't know it). When I highlight or make notes, the screen freezes up for about two minutes. Not a big deal if I only highlight once in a while, but when reading a research book where I'm highlighting a lot, a huge problem. Two minutes is a surprisingly long time.

Silly me, I put up with it rather than contacting Amazon right away. When I finally had it happen once too often and contacted Kindle's Customer Service, I learned that my device (determined by its serial number) has a glitch that requires it be replaced. My new Kindle will arrive next week, free of charge.

I hesitated even saying anything about it on my blog because I know there are print book lovers out there who would tell me in an instant that their books don't freeze up on them. LOL! I know. It's true. I thought the same thing a time or two while I was lying in bed, waiting for the screen to "unfreeze" so I could continue reading.

On the other hand, I am currently judging books for a professional writers' organization's contest, and I have found myself hating to have to hold the books as I read in bed because of their extra weight and also hating that I need two hands when turning pages. Also I can't read them easily on the treadmill the way I can my Kindle. Then there is the reading light problem (I do most of my reading in bed). I'm used to the super lightweight one build into my Kindle cover. My old fashioned light that clips to the back of a book is much heavier (because of the batteries) and doesn't work well with mass market paperbacks (too large and poor angle). This has all made the reading of these books a much less pleasant experience. Enough so that I've even gone so far as to price the books for the Kindle. (So far I've resisted spending the money since I have the print books already, but it is tempting.)

Apple's venture into the textbook market for the iPad has had some writers carrying on a discussion about it. Is it a good thing or not? Some have said they don't want to give up the ability to write in the margins. Actually, you already can write in the margins with the right app on the iPad. Someone brought up the resistance in the '80s when PCs began being introduced to the work place and those who loved their IBM Selectrics were horrified. They would never want to write on a computer. A couple of others talked about their kids who weigh 100 lbs having to lug around 30 lbs of textbooks in backpacks every school day and how they have to take them to the chiropractor because of back pain.

I wrote my first two and a half books longhand on legal pads and then typed them on the Selectric (with onionskin carbon copies). When I bought my first computer (it had two 7¼" floppy drives, no hard drive, was slow as molasses, had orange type on a black screen), I didn't believe I would ever write on it. I thought I would continue to write longhand and then enter the book into the computer later. I figured it would save me time in the editing process but not the writing. But I learned to use the computer while entering the first half of my third book, and by the time I got to the end of what I'd already written, I just kept going and haven't stopped since.

When I got my first Kindle almost four years ago, I thought I would mostly use it to read documents on (books I read for endorsement, for instance). Even though I'm kind of a techie, I never expected the Kindle to become the primary way I read books, but that's just what happened.

Makes me wonder what new technology we'll be loving five years from now, ten years from now, fifteen years from now.

~robin

Business & Busyness of the Writing Life

Yesterday after BSF, while the snowstorm was causing over 100 accidents in Boise, I got caught up on some of my accounting "stuff." First I paid bills, but then I got to work making a gazillion (okay, slight exaggeration) entries into QuickBooks so that I'll eventually be ready to take my 2011 corporation and personal files to the accountant for tax preparation.

Let me tell you, if I don't keep current with this part of my life throughout the year, it's a killer to play catch-up. I know better. The bookkeeper in me (I was one in my pre-writing life) used to balance statements and get expenses entered the first second I had records of same. But the last two years of health challenges and life challenges created some bad habits. These must change!

It's just three weeks until the Facebook Launch Party for Heart of Gold . (Lots of great prizes to give away that night, Feb 9th from 5 to 7 pm MST, so save the date.) And whenever a new book releases, there are always a hundred things that need done yesterday. So my goal is to write like crazy on my current WIP now so that I won't fall behind on my word count when the busyness strikes.

One thing that is difficult for me is that the just released book, which interviewers want to talk about, is not the freshest story in my mind. Since turning in Heart of Gold, I have completed the second book in the Where the Heart Lives series and am already well into the third book in that same series. Two more heroes. Two more heroines. Two more story lines to keep straight. I am always in dread of a question that I won't be able to answer because it's something I've momentarily forgotten.

************

On a completely unrelated topic, American Idol returned last night for the start of its 11th season. I watched the first hour and was glad to see that they didn't show as many wretched singers as usual. Hope that is a trend they keep up. In that first hour I only recall them having to bleep one person and block out the finger (I think for the same singer although can't say for certain). I wish they wouldn't give the contestants who act like that even one minute of screen time. I mean really. Why reward them? I don't get it. It's one thing for someone to be deluded enough to think they can carry a tune in a bucket. It's another for someone to be turned down, and then they go all crude and rude. Which is the main reason I often just record and then speed through these early audition shows. Don't want to have to wash my mind out with soap. {{grin}}

Okay, time to write. Hero and heroine are still on their horseback ride in the foothills, and she is about to learn about his time in Cuba with Teddy Roosevelt's Rough Riders. (Still lovin' the research!)

~robin

When Writing is Magic

I don't wish to dampen the spirits of any aspiring writers, but the truth is, writing is hard work. And the more books you write, the harder it can become. Oh, you get better at your craft. Your knowledge increases. You're more aware of plot points and beats and character development and such. But you also are trying to write something fresh and unique each time. You want to please your readers, so the pressure increases.

Some people think a writer waits for the muse to show up and then the book just happens. Sorry. Isn't true. A writer can't wait for the muse. A writer sits down and writes, whether they feel inspired or not. Just like a bookkeeper goes to the office and keeps books everyday, whether they feel like it or not.

I've written through some difficult times over the course of my career. I've had a few books (out of 65+) that were bears to write. Not fun. I don't recommend it.

But every so often, writing is magic.

That's how I'm feeling about my current WIP (the third book in the Where the Heart Lives series). I wish I could nail down what is different about the writing of this story over the last one (not the story itself but the process of getting it "on paper"). If I could, I would bottle an elixir from the enjoyment I'm feeling each day and drink of it for every future book. Or maybe I'd sell that elixir on the Internet and become rich. LOL!

Well, there is no elixir, and I'm not going to get rich from selling what I don't have. So I'd best return to the writing. My hero and heroine are about to go for a ride in the foothills on a soft spring morning. He wants to win her trust and affection. She has many reasons not to rely on or forgive him. As I get their story into my computer document, I can hardly wait to discover how they will find their way to each other.

And right now, I'm feeling the magic!

~robin