Ask the Author: Betsy Lowery
Answered Questions (9)
Betsy Lowery
In my second book, No Doubt It's Love, the minister counseling engaged couple Sam and Grace reminds them that they will gain from their sessions with him according to how much effort they invest. I'm finding that the same principle applies to being a new author. While it takes an incredible amount of time and creativity and hard work to produce a novel, that investment does not stop once the book is released. And I'm happy to report that it has been both fun and energizing to produce the "metadata" that includes social media posts, scripts for speaking engagements at libraries and at book clubs, and answers to questions like this one.
Sadly, COVID-19 has robbed me of at least three important engagements in 2020, such as author fairs and library events. Like so many folks, I am having to work from home, looking to find new ways to do what I otherwise would have been doing in a traditionally public setting. One of the most important and exciting ways I have used this time at home is to create an audiobook reading of each novel! I am only now beginning to experiment with distribution of these audio products, but I can tell you I had an absolute blast doing the reading in the best "studio" on my property over a period of weeks. Now... I'm not the greatest voice actor you'll ever hear in terms of the different characters' voices, but I did lower my pitch a notch when men were speaking. :0-) Furthermore, as author I feel I have the best understanding of how to read with every ounce of my characters' feelings in mind as I relived all of the events that happen in these two books.
A byproduct of the recording sessions was the motivation to engage seriously in "literary criticism" of the sequel, No Doubt It's Love. I'll be very transparent and humble here, telling you that defending some nagging discomfort about consistency or timeline issues was the starting point of that evaluation. I surely hope for more author speaking opportunities post-COVID during which I can explain what I mean by that. The good news is, I didn't actually reach the conclusion that there are "errors" of those types - just two or three things that happen basically behind the scenes, and pretty much logically so. There's one point in that category that remains open-ended (that is, the reader is welcome to supply his or her favorite explanation)! I cannot be more specific without spoiling, but it has to do with somebody's shoes!
Not everything in my 9-page "lit crit" is about the kind of matters just described. I extracted and listed 7 examples of characters' actions or words that tie directly to the book's theme about self-reliance. Hints: "control" "planning" "accomplishment"
I identified and explained cases of foreshadowing that I will really enjoy discussing with fans who have read the books - because, for anyone who knows the entire story, it's fun to look back and go, "Aha! I did or didn't connect that little detail with what came later."
I noted a wonderfully illustrative example (on page 80) of one character's really insensitive dialogue in the presence of another character, which type of tactlessness we hope the speaker will grow to recognize and to avoid thereafter! And I documented some cases where members of the same family, independently of one another, exhibit similar coping methods for similar challenges.
In contrast to that, I also found a stellar example of opposing opinions within the Ryan family, and I posted about that on Facebook on July 7. April (sister of the groom) feels one way about whom the wedding plans should appease (page 53), and her brother, the prospective groom, says something to the contrary on page 35. (#SiblingFriction I hope is worthy of comparison to what Betty Cavanna accomplished in Accent on April)
In summary, I've learned since release date that to be the best possible steward of the significant story that "really happened" in the pages of these two books means making the most of the finished product: finding new angles to talk about, telling new people what I have written and why, and accessing additional resources to help me get the word out. My inspirations Grace Livingston Hill, Betty Cavanna, and Beverly Cleary deserve no less.
Sadly, COVID-19 has robbed me of at least three important engagements in 2020, such as author fairs and library events. Like so many folks, I am having to work from home, looking to find new ways to do what I otherwise would have been doing in a traditionally public setting. One of the most important and exciting ways I have used this time at home is to create an audiobook reading of each novel! I am only now beginning to experiment with distribution of these audio products, but I can tell you I had an absolute blast doing the reading in the best "studio" on my property over a period of weeks. Now... I'm not the greatest voice actor you'll ever hear in terms of the different characters' voices, but I did lower my pitch a notch when men were speaking. :0-) Furthermore, as author I feel I have the best understanding of how to read with every ounce of my characters' feelings in mind as I relived all of the events that happen in these two books.
A byproduct of the recording sessions was the motivation to engage seriously in "literary criticism" of the sequel, No Doubt It's Love. I'll be very transparent and humble here, telling you that defending some nagging discomfort about consistency or timeline issues was the starting point of that evaluation. I surely hope for more author speaking opportunities post-COVID during which I can explain what I mean by that. The good news is, I didn't actually reach the conclusion that there are "errors" of those types - just two or three things that happen basically behind the scenes, and pretty much logically so. There's one point in that category that remains open-ended (that is, the reader is welcome to supply his or her favorite explanation)! I cannot be more specific without spoiling, but it has to do with somebody's shoes!
Not everything in my 9-page "lit crit" is about the kind of matters just described. I extracted and listed 7 examples of characters' actions or words that tie directly to the book's theme about self-reliance. Hints: "control" "planning" "accomplishment"
I identified and explained cases of foreshadowing that I will really enjoy discussing with fans who have read the books - because, for anyone who knows the entire story, it's fun to look back and go, "Aha! I did or didn't connect that little detail with what came later."
I noted a wonderfully illustrative example (on page 80) of one character's really insensitive dialogue in the presence of another character, which type of tactlessness we hope the speaker will grow to recognize and to avoid thereafter! And I documented some cases where members of the same family, independently of one another, exhibit similar coping methods for similar challenges.
In contrast to that, I also found a stellar example of opposing opinions within the Ryan family, and I posted about that on Facebook on July 7. April (sister of the groom) feels one way about whom the wedding plans should appease (page 53), and her brother, the prospective groom, says something to the contrary on page 35. (#SiblingFriction I hope is worthy of comparison to what Betty Cavanna accomplished in Accent on April)
In summary, I've learned since release date that to be the best possible steward of the significant story that "really happened" in the pages of these two books means making the most of the finished product: finding new angles to talk about, telling new people what I have written and why, and accessing additional resources to help me get the word out. My inspirations Grace Livingston Hill, Betty Cavanna, and Beverly Cleary deserve no less.
Betsy Lowery
Well, as a new novelist, this answer is entirely "obvious" and possible self-interested, but here goes: I would travel to Crook Mountain, Tennessee, the setting of my debut novel A Stranger's Promise - without a doubt! I would learn at last EXACTLY what the characters look like whose faces I have not been able to fully imagine. Like main character Joan Ryan, I would snap pictures of the Givenses' beautiful yard, I would eat at Crook Mountain Diner, and I TOTALLY would soak in the bluegrass benefit concert for Laynie Key on Easter Sunday night.
Betsy Lowery
As it happens, a family loss has influenced my current reading (it's still summer, as I write this, by a day or two!). My sweet aunt from North Carolina bequeathed to me some dozens of Nancy Drew books plus the bonus (to me!) of 3-4 The Dana Girls novels by the same author, Carolyn Keene. As I enjoy some of these books, I am finding a lot to note from the aspect of writing: for example, the most commonly-used POV (point of view) of that day, 3rd-person omniscient. Jean and Louise Dana, sisters, often are treated by the author collectively in their thoughts: "The girls disagreed with Mrs. Crandall, but kept their opinion to themselves." That could never happen in the modern-day POV style where an author must be in only one character's head at at time!
Betsy Lowery
I certainly don't have the greatest, sagest advice on this one. I haven't built the kind of career that has been made or broken on whether I could produce on deadline. I mean, seriously! It took me 8 years to write this pair of novels! So, I guess I dealt with writer's block by getting away from the project in order to let it simmer until the right time arrived for me to be productive with it again.
Aside from that, my advice is to pray for inspiration. Also, to brainstorm. If you must complete a scene or a chapter or a "think piece" of nonfiction, just get as many possible next scenarios (or outline points) down on paper and see if one of them jumps out as THE one to go with. Then forge ahead, and polish later.
Aside from that, my advice is to pray for inspiration. Also, to brainstorm. If you must complete a scene or a chapter or a "think piece" of nonfiction, just get as many possible next scenarios (or outline points) down on paper and see if one of them jumps out as THE one to go with. Then forge ahead, and polish later.
Betsy Lowery
Never dismiss an idea - for a piece of writing, or for how to get that piece of writing in front of the folks who will honestly want to read it and benefit from it. I'm not the person who can deliver an inspiring "Cinderella story" example of how to "succeed" as an author with the glittering, golden-egg product everybody hopes to produce and become rich and famous from. One of the very freeing aspects of my experience as a debut novelist in my late fifties is that I am not required to make that crucial financial decision of whether this is to be my "bread and butter" career. The overwhelming consensus at a couple of writers' conferences I attended a few years ago while attempting to interest an agent or a publisher in my novels was "Don't quit your day job." For many, that's a literal decision about dollars and sense. For some of us, however, it may carry more the sense of "Writing is one part of your life." Sound familiar? Mike Brady advised Greg in The Brady Bunch S2E1 (The Dropout), "Baseball is a great game! But make it one part of your life."
As important as authorship is to me, and as important as the messages contained within my overall "light and entertaining" books are, writing books definitely is just one part of my life alongside faith, family, knitting, housekeeping, and playing with my granddog - #pettherapy #highlyrecommend That furry critter-person requires me to live in the present like nothing I've ever seen! He is patient, affectionate, smart, and loyal.
(And there you go... from writing and publishing to granddog. One of the BEST things about writing is that you just never know where "point B" is going to be when you begin a paragraph (or a scene) at "point A"!)
As important as authorship is to me, and as important as the messages contained within my overall "light and entertaining" books are, writing books definitely is just one part of my life alongside faith, family, knitting, housekeeping, and playing with my granddog - #pettherapy #highlyrecommend That furry critter-person requires me to live in the present like nothing I've ever seen! He is patient, affectionate, smart, and loyal.
(And there you go... from writing and publishing to granddog. One of the BEST things about writing is that you just never know where "point B" is going to be when you begin a paragraph (or a scene) at "point A"!)
Betsy Lowery
While I assemble potential plot development ideas for a next book in the same series, I am also working on future posts for my devotional website, Called-Out Life E-devotional. Besides that, I am writing daily "stuff" in a personal journal that has proved more than once to be a reference source of factual background when my not-exactly-what-you'd-call-young memory cannot be depended upon!
Betsy Lowery
Regardless of the fact that my debut novel pair is self-published, I am so humbled and delighted by the doors that seem to open for a person who has books in print. This situation has been "a long time coming," and the very most fun, now that the difficult hurdle of getting my books finished and to market has been cleared, is all of the "metadata" I'm creating through social media and when invited to speak. Writing ABOUT my writing is, as a Brady Bunch character might say, the most! And, with a plethora of characters who are quite "real" to me, I'm enjoying their personalities greatly and am just beginning to explore what may be up next for some of them if there is a book 3.
Betsy Lowery
Since I released books 1 and 2 at the same time, the answer is tied up together with both. A Stranger's Promise was inspired in Gatlinburg, Tennessee, in 2011. The actual plot and characters came to me very gradually during a period of years when I was awfully busy being a wife, mom, and employee. Inspiration is such an ethereal experience, so I'm being perfectly honest when I tell you that how "Joan" and "Dove" and "the Muellers" came into existence is as much a mystery to me as it is to anybody else!
Betsy Lowery
Regarding nonfiction, it's usually a personal experience or something I have read that provokes a response so heartfelt within me that I must respond. Sometimes, that’s a statement by someone else with which I either heartily agree or heartily disagree. That kind of inspiration frequently leads to the articles I post on WordPress at Called-Out Life.
As for fiction, here is some of what inspires me. So far, not so much experiences or the people I encounter, but:
// blank paper and empty journals!
// empty or nearly empty coffee shops or restaurants at off-peak business hours, especially if any music broadcast is soft and has NO VOCALS!
// picturesque settings like a shaded bench at Callaway Gardens, the upstairs lobby at Battle House historic hotel in downtown Mobile, Alabama, or any of the many lavishly-furnished seating areas at The Greenbrier in West Virginia.
// and - really - any quiet, uncluttered, comfortable setting to sit, stand, or WALK and concentrate. Voice recording on a mobile device makes mobile writing so convenient! I definitely include my area's beautiful public library facilities on the list of conducive places.
My only trepidation about working in any of the public settings above named is that I tend to move my lips, make funny facial expressions, and gesture with my head and hands when imagining action or selecting the one correct word! People may think I'm eccentric!
How DID I get inspired to write is easier to answer because it's a matter of past fact, not future "if/when". I have been a writer for about as long as I can remember. In and among a pogo stick and Barbie dolls for Christmas, I also requested a typewriter from my parents when around middle-school age. I sent terribly amateur anecdotes, unsuccessfully, to Reader’s Digest when I was in high school. It wasn’t until my early 20s that I got paid for a writing assignment: a children’s summer church camp quiet time devotional booklet. Occasional magazine articles within the scope of my Baptist employment followed, and, eventually, an actual nonfiction title. My manuscript for that book, Pause: Everyday Prayers for Everyday Women, was handled by an agent.
I also did break through into one genre of popular magazines in the early 1990s, contributing original puzzle formats “What’s the Difference?” and “Phone Words” to Dell (now Penny Press) magazines for more than a decade. Maybe you have seen and worked some of the word puzzles I wrote! To have grown up a frequent consumer of that very material, and then to have the opportunity to be a writer of some of it…how cool is that?!
But not all writing is for publication, of course. Using the full extent of vocabulary to ponder and to process life events has proved a coping mechanism. And I speak of processing the good events - expressing positive reactions, and gratitude - as well as the not-so-good. Are you like me in this? You walk away from a situation or a conversation and wish you’d been able to express your thoughts and feelings more eloquently, or at all. To retreat to pen and paper or to pen and journal and put it all down “the right way” can be cathartic. And, then, we have the option of sending that finished product, after the fact, to the person we wish to know our most composed thoughts on the matter.
As for fiction, here is some of what inspires me. So far, not so much experiences or the people I encounter, but:
// blank paper and empty journals!
// empty or nearly empty coffee shops or restaurants at off-peak business hours, especially if any music broadcast is soft and has NO VOCALS!
// picturesque settings like a shaded bench at Callaway Gardens, the upstairs lobby at Battle House historic hotel in downtown Mobile, Alabama, or any of the many lavishly-furnished seating areas at The Greenbrier in West Virginia.
// and - really - any quiet, uncluttered, comfortable setting to sit, stand, or WALK and concentrate. Voice recording on a mobile device makes mobile writing so convenient! I definitely include my area's beautiful public library facilities on the list of conducive places.
My only trepidation about working in any of the public settings above named is that I tend to move my lips, make funny facial expressions, and gesture with my head and hands when imagining action or selecting the one correct word! People may think I'm eccentric!
How DID I get inspired to write is easier to answer because it's a matter of past fact, not future "if/when". I have been a writer for about as long as I can remember. In and among a pogo stick and Barbie dolls for Christmas, I also requested a typewriter from my parents when around middle-school age. I sent terribly amateur anecdotes, unsuccessfully, to Reader’s Digest when I was in high school. It wasn’t until my early 20s that I got paid for a writing assignment: a children’s summer church camp quiet time devotional booklet. Occasional magazine articles within the scope of my Baptist employment followed, and, eventually, an actual nonfiction title. My manuscript for that book, Pause: Everyday Prayers for Everyday Women, was handled by an agent.
I also did break through into one genre of popular magazines in the early 1990s, contributing original puzzle formats “What’s the Difference?” and “Phone Words” to Dell (now Penny Press) magazines for more than a decade. Maybe you have seen and worked some of the word puzzles I wrote! To have grown up a frequent consumer of that very material, and then to have the opportunity to be a writer of some of it…how cool is that?!
But not all writing is for publication, of course. Using the full extent of vocabulary to ponder and to process life events has proved a coping mechanism. And I speak of processing the good events - expressing positive reactions, and gratitude - as well as the not-so-good. Are you like me in this? You walk away from a situation or a conversation and wish you’d been able to express your thoughts and feelings more eloquently, or at all. To retreat to pen and paper or to pen and journal and put it all down “the right way” can be cathartic. And, then, we have the option of sending that finished product, after the fact, to the person we wish to know our most composed thoughts on the matter.
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