Moira Keith

Ok, so I wasn’t really the bad seed. Neither my mother nor my father ever called me that. I was just the difficult, determined, challenging, stubborn, and most importantly …. hard headed child. Yes, it came as no surprise to me. But to actually hear those words spoken. Out loud. In front of others.

Granted, my actions throughout my childhood pretty much speaks for itself.

The determination to have my way and defy my mother while I was still young enough to be in a walker just so I could touch a plant.

The refusal to let a single tear slip from my eyes when a slapping war ensued over an ashtray. (Again, I was at a young age.)

Move to my teenage years and my poor parents were dealing with sneaking out, breaking curfews, ditching school, falling grades, calls from the police, and dropping out of high school. Still, and this is by no means an endorsement for bad behavior, but I didn’t turn out so bad. It took many years, yet I know that the person I am today is a direct result of my parents guidance.

Sometimes, I guess being a bad seed isn’t so bad, if you have the right guidance with a dash of carefully administered love, you just might be like the ugly duckling and manage to transform into something those you love can be proud of. Hope I have managed to do that.

Now that I am done sharing my very round about thanks to my parents, the update is as follows-

1. I hereby forbid myself to work on any other story (outside of plotting) other than my paranormal WIP ~ Chosen. – Again, doing well I think. I have thought about my Young Adult Book, but no writing…but then again there has been little writing at all since the last update.

2. All current 117 pages of said story have been printed out. I realize this is working ass backwards, but I will use that to help fill in my plot structure and story arc. While doing so, I will not open up the original document and all notations will be made in either a notebook or in the side margins of the printed version. – Ok, hard to do bad on this when I haven’t opened the document or worked on the story at all.

3. The nights when the kids are with their dad…. I will limit my online time (i.e. the devil Facebook) outside of a brief check in or status update. The kid-free time will be utilized for writing and research. - This didn’t really happen due to the kids not being able to go to their dad’s in the last two weeks.

4. I will gag my internal editor as much as possible during this process so that I may actually have a finished draft before all is said and done. – This would have worked better if I hadn’t decided to change the setting for my story, which I did during the course of the last few days.

5. Once a week, I will blog about my progress. – Has been more than a week, but I did it, so it is all good.

My mother sent me an email today with the following story attached. I found it so poignant, that I thought I would share for those of you who may not have seen or heard the story. The link to the original story reported in The Washington Post follows.

~*~*~

..something to think about…

Washington, DC Metro Station on a cold January morning in 2007. The man with a violin played six Bach pieces for about 45 minutes. During that time approx. 2 thousand people went through the station, most of them on their way to work. After 3 minutes a middle aged man noticed there was a musician playing. He slowed his pace and stopped for a few seconds and then hurried to meet his schedule.

4 minutes later:
The violinist received his first dollar: a woman threw the money in the hat and, without stopping, continued to walk.

6 minutes:
A young man leaned against the wall to listen to him, then looked at his watch and started to walk again.

10 minutes:
A 3-year old boy stopped but his mother tugged him along hurriedly. The kid stopped to look at the violinist again, but the mother pushed hard and the child continued to walk, turning his head all the time. This action was
repeated by several other children. Every parent, without exception, forced their children to move on quickly.

45 minutes:
The musician played continuously.  Only 6 people stopped and listened for a short while. About 20 gave money but continued to walk at their normal pace. The man collected a total of $32.

1 hour:
He finished playing and silence took over. No one noticed. No one applauded, nor was there any recognition.
No one knew this, but the violinist was Joshua Bell, one of the greatest musicians in the world. He played one of the most intricate pieces ever written, with a violin valued at $3.5 million dollars. Two days before, Joshua Bell sold out a theater in Boston where the price of seats averaged $100.

This is a true story. Joshua Bell playing incognito in the metro station was organized by the Washington Post as part of a social experiment about perception, taste and people’s priorities. The questions raised: in a common
place environment at an inappropriate hour, do we perceive beauty? Do we stop to appreciate it? Do we recognize talent in an unexpected context?

One possible conclusion reached from this experiment could be this:  If we do not have a moment to stop and listen to one of the best musicians in the world, playing some of the finest music ever written, with one of the most beautiful instruments ever made…. what else are we missing?

~*~*~

If you would like to see the story please visit The Washington Post. Whatever else you may take away from this story, please take at least this… live in the moment, do not rush through it.

Scale back your long hopes to a short period. While we speak, envious time will have already fled. Seize the day and place no trust in tomorrow. ~ The Odes by Horace

While we all struggle to keep our heads above water as we tread the turbulent seas that are swirling in the financial arena, I believe it is important to embrace these words more now than ever before.  Why put off your dreams in hopes that tomorrow may be a better time to start the chase? It is all too common for us to postpone things and then the tomorrow we wait for never comes.

Each of us has a dream, or we should have, that instantly elicits feelings of excitement or butterflies in our stomachs. One that makes you want to crawl out of bed in the morning, and look at the world with a renewed sense of hope and motivation. My dream has always revolved around using my creative side. My head is forever in the clouds and when I was younger it came out in the form of drawing and writing. Though my dreams have changed or evolved, they have never strayed far from the original. Now I have the joy of pursuing my dream on a daily basis when I sit down and put fingers to keys to pen my manuscripts. Something that started out as a dream and gives me hope every day that all things are possible. This is my proof that I will take to my kids when they tell me of a dream they have and feel is unattainable.

Dreams push us forward, keep us young at heart, nurture our inner child, teach us to love and embrace life, and inspire us to reach farther than we ever thought possible. If you aren’t taking steps to achieving your dream, then I must ask you why? After all, what good is a dream if it is kept a secret never to be pursued? Think about it…. everyone’s dreams deserve a chance at being fulfilled, even yours. So I challenge you to go out and chase the dream, breathe a little life into them, and most importantly seize the day!

How many times do you slave away at the keyboard, only to second guess elements of your story? Please do not tell me I am the only nut job out there suffering from this affliction. Over the course of the last few months I have been working my fingers to the bone on my paranormal story, in between edit rounds of course , wondering if I am headed in the right direction. I find that my rounds of ‘questioning’ follow pretty much the same pattern 

1. Unhappy with a story element
2. Try to fix and questions arise regarding the plot points
3. While attempting to navigate through murky waters of said questions, I contemplate what would happen if I lose one of the elements of the story.
4. Begin to write element out and start to second guess the decision. 
5. Turn to trusted friends and crit partners, who tell me they think the element should stay, but that I am the author. 
6. One or more of them slap me senseless and tell me to stop second guessing the very elements that make my story unique and interesting. 
7. A few rounds of brainstorming and I go back to the manuscript with a renewed fervor that will sustain me until i can start this glorious process all over again. 

So, I ask all of the enlightened and inspiring writers out there-

How do you deal with second guessing yourself? Or do you even second guess yourself? Have you learned to control that nagging little voice in the back of your head or simply gagged and hog tied her until you reached the end? I’ve tried locking mine up but it would seem the art of lock picking has not surpassed my dear inner voice. I throw myself at the mercy of my peers and beg for you to share your wisdom!

Do you ever find yourself in a rut? My biggest one comes to reading. I tend to stick to the same genre-paranormal romance or something not too far left of that. I recently indulged in a little genre expanding. Not that you could tell by my bookshelf or to be read pile, as my expansion can primarily be witnessed through my eBook reading. For example, I recently read Land of Falling Stars by Keta Diablo (which, shameless plug coming…. you can read my review at TGOB). I have said Historical Romance is not my bag, however when I think back on some of my reading choices, I find that some of my past choices have had historical elements. Take the Circle trilogy by the beloved Nora Roberts or any of the books from the Highlander series by Karen Marie Moning. They both take you to times past are well written and much to my delight have ties to paranormal romance elements. *Squee* 

In the past I found myself in a similar rut with Romantic Suspense and Mystery. In those genres I found myself falling prey to the likes of Kay Hooper and J.D. Robb (yes I am not immune to any of Ms Robert’s personas). The key to getting out of the rut? Don’t know, I haven’t found it yet. Though on occasion I am lucky enough to have something fall in my lap that aides in the process.

Do you find yourself in similar ruts? How do you break out of them?

I mean if you are a writer of course. I sent off my first round of edits today, pondering what would I work on next. The paranormal? Plot issues abound there I am afraid, but whether they are fabricated or true is yet to be seen. I am overly critical of my work in the paranormal genre. I read a lot of it, love the genre, and therefore have high expectations. Maybe I am overly critical because I compare myself to the authors I admire. Whatever the reason, I have put that story to the side. 

My mother asked me about a story I hadn’t thought about in some time. A nice romantic tale I have high hopes for. Scenes have fallen into place in my mind and although they aren’t really in any particular order, I can see the story taking shape. It just might be what I focus on next. (Afterall, my mothers opinion has hardly failed me yet.)

Ideas for stories laden with romantic entanglements are of no short supply over here. However, they ping pong (something I do quite frequently-just ask Heidi) from contemporary to paranormal. This got me thinking.

I’ve heard there are benefits to staying with a particular genre once you are published. As a writer, each story benefits from the things learned while working magic on the previous woven tale. Sticking with a particular genre also allows you to build a following of readers. But the ability to write cross genre has its appeal as well. If you can do it effectively, it allows you as an author to write whatever story comes your way. However many questions arise from these thought processes. 

1. If you jump genres do you as an author benefit? What about your readers? 

2. Is there a time in a writer’s career that is more conducive to genre hopping?

3. As a reader, how do you perceive a writer who jumps around? (Jump around… Jump around… Jump up jump up and get down… jump jump jump…. oh sorry)

4. In a genre like romance, there are many sub-genres. Where do you draw the line? Would Paranormal Romance and Contemporary Romance count as two separate genres or just a smaller part of the Romance genre? 

Ok, really my mind could go on forever with this line of thinking and I beg your forgiveness and understanding. I am firing on few cylinders right now, as my lack of sleep over the last two weeks is catching up to me. (Thank god I lurve my Editor Could you imagine if she were a real slave driver? This post would make even less sense than it does now.) Now that the rambling has set in, or rather, has surpassed what I consider acceptable, I am off to bed. Sound off if you please! 

P.S. Pop on over to The Girls on Books and check out Penelope Holt, our Author of the month. Betty has dished with the lovely Ms Holt and is spilling the beans.

I don’t know about you, but I have often been accused of this. In a world where unfortunately, many people have lost touch with their inner child, is it really a bad thing to have one’s head in the clouds? Thank God, I never have to wonder where my inner child is. Why? Well I owe complete gratitude to my mom and dad. They ensure I remain in touch with that little girl who always dreamed of magic, unicorns, faeries, flying brooms, and other ‘impossibilities’. To this day, I still believe in such things. The world would be a pretty boring place if we all stopped believing.

Having my head in the clouds just provides me with a whole magical garden full of whatif flowers, just waiting for those like me, to help them bloom. The ‘what-ifs’ are food for dreamers and writers alike. Each whatif flower can give bloom  to more, simply through our belief. So what exists in your garden in the clouds? Are your whatifs made of magic and fantasy? Heartache and woe? Retribution? Mystery? Or perhaps they are made up of something else entirely.

Now with all of the talk of gardens in the clouds and what not, I must give my allegiance to the whatif flower which inspired this post… Margay Leah Justice

Thanks for inspiring me mom, dad, and of course …Margay! Oh and don’t forget to share!

On my recent tousle with the muse (namely-my desperate attempts to bribe my way back into her good graces) I realized that somewhere along the way, I lost touch with who my characters were. I’ve penned over one hundred glorious pages only to find myself wondering what the heroines inner conflict was, or why the hero doesn’t come off as ‘alpha’ to the heroine as he does to everyone else. So I sat, contemplated, read, questioned, re-read, and then it happened. The epiphany came and slapped me upside the head. Hard! My characters lacked consistency in their behaviour… or possibly their mannerisms…or something. I know it’s there, just under the surface and yet I can’t seem to grasp hold of it. 

This happens to me more than I care to admit. So many articles, books, and topics out there cover this very thing, but what works? Only you the great and powerful author hiding behind the curtain can reveal that. Why you ask? Because as with many things in writing and life it self, more than likely it is different for ever author, character, or story. Just getting the basics down-height, weight, age, hair color, eye color, you get the picture- isn’t always enough.

In the past I’ve toyed with writing character interviews. Always starting at the moment I first spot them walking into our ‘arranged’ meeting space. Something along the lines of this:

Sasha rushes into the French sidewalk café that was located at the famed Paris hotel in the heart of the city. She spots me waving her over, says a few things to the maître d’, smiles, and heads my direction. Heads turn to watch her as she weaves her way through the tables and stops next to my table.

“I am so sorry I am late.” She says as she slides her feet out the flip flops, and sits tucking one leg underneath and drawing the knee of her other leg up in front of her. The waiter quickly brings over a tomato and mozzarella salad with a glass of iced tea. Sasha thanks the waiter by name and returns her attention to me, politely ignoring the stares from the passersby on the strip and our fellow café patrons. “I’m ready whenever you are.”

“Alright then Sasha, let’s get the show on the road.  Who was your first boyfriend and what did you like most about them?”

“Boy you jump right into the nitty gritty of it all don’t you?” she says with a laugh, but I don’t fail to notice the gleam in her eye. There is a story there she is dying to get out. 

Other times, it is as simple as rough sketching each characters conflicts, goals, and motivation. The point is, when you are developing your characters, you need to truly know your characters, but it shouldn’t be boring. Have fun with it. Or at least that is my intention. I wonder if this is the golden key which will elicit more cooperation from the ever growing characters cramming their way into my head. 

So give it up, share, divulge the info, because you know what? I am not as smart as I pretend to be.