Judith Arnold's Blog

It's been a longgggg time since I posted here. One big reason was that I was knocking myself out, writing a brand-new romance trilogy called The Magic Jukebox. Well, the books are finally complete, and they're published, and I'm surfacing. Currently, they're available as an Amazon exclusive. Early next year, they'll go on sale at the other retail venues. But in the meantime...they're done!

The Magic Jukebox sits in the Faulk Street Tavern in the quiet seaside town of Brogan’s Point, Massachusetts. No one knows what classic rock songs will come out of the jukebox when a coin is inserted, but every now and then, the jukebox will play a song that casts a spell on two bar patrons—a song that will change their lives and open their hearts to love.

The first three books in the series, named after the jukebox songs that bewitch the books' heroes and heroines, are CHANGES, TRUE COLORS, and WILD THING. I hope to be able to write some more Magic Jukebox romances next year. I'll keep you posted.

The rough draft of my new manuscript is done, done, done! In fact, it's gone through one round of revisions. Now I need to run a spell-check on it (even though I can spell better than my spell-check can) and print it out. I'll do the second round of revisions on hard copy.

Why is it that a book reads differently on paper than on a screen (computer or e-reader?) I love love love my e-reader, but books just seem...well, different when you're turning the pages, when your bookmark is a physical object, when you can evaluate how far along in a book you are by turning it sideways and studying the thickness of the pages read and the pages unread.

I'm currently reading Elizabeth Gilbert's The Signature Of All Things in a paper edition. I wonder what the experience of reading this book would be like if I'd downloaded it to my e-reader, instead.

I do know that reading a work-in-progress on paper enables me to look at it with fresh eyes and to give it the final polish it needs. So...within the next couple of days, I will be reading my manuscript on paper. There's still a bit of 20th century in me.

I haven't posted for a while, because I've been busy--traveling and writing. Mostly writing. Writing while traveling.

I've finally completed the rough draft of my new book, a light romance that will be part of a series I'm working on. Some books are easy to write. This one wasn't.

Now I'm recuperating , rebuilding my strength so I can forge back into the manuscript and start revising. Something tells me this one will require a lot of revising.

Onward!

I started reading Donna Tartt's THE GOLDFINCH a couple of days ago. Today the Pulitzer Prizes were announced, and THE GOLDFINCH won for fiction. Pure serendipity that the winner would be the book I've just dived into.

And pure joy that this is one of those rare occasions when I actually agree with the Pulitzer Prize judges. I've found some Pulitzer Prize winners painful to read--not because they rub my emotions raw but because they're tedious, sluggish, pretentious, or just plain not fun.

THE GOLDFINCH teems with characters I can believe in and care about--especially Theo, the hero at the heart of the story. I read for character, and Theo is a character I want to spend a long time with.

It's a long novel, so that wish will come true!

Congratulations, Donna Tartt!

DEAD BALL is discounted at Kindle this month. Only $1.99! I'm hoping this will attract some new readers. As I'm learning, it's not easy for a long-time romance writer to get mystery fans to try one of her books.

The genre may be different, but the voice and sensibility are the same. A Judith Arnold book is a Judith Arnold book.

Fingers crossed that readers will take advantage of this discounted price.

What a perfect way to recover from this verrry long winter--a long weekend at a hotel with a group of writers. Although called a writers' retreat, it's also a mini-conference, since there will be workshops (I'll be presenting two, on conflicts and on heroes and heroines), and an editor will be present to discuss her publisher and listen to pitches.

But the retreat aspect really appeals to me. We'll be a small group, informal, and we'll be talking, breathing, eating, drinking, and living writing.

Whenever I return home from a gathering of writers, I'm inspired and energized, ready to make serious progress on my current manuscript. By the end of this weekend escape will, I expect to be hoarse (from talking too much), weary (from not sleeping enough), and pumped full of creative adrenaline.

I'm currently polishing a speech for a workshop I'll be presenting at a writers' retreat in Maine next weekend. It's all about how to create characters who have depth, who are more than a collection of character traits. I've written a gazillion romances, a few women's fiction novels, a New Adult novel, and a couple of mysteries, the first of which is now available, and I've discovered that when it comes to characterization, the genre doesn't matter. Characters need to be more than the sum of their eye color, favorite food, greatest hope and greatest fear. They need souls.

So...next weekend, I'll climb onto my soapbox and (I hope!) convince the other writers in the room that they need to give their characters souls.

The thing about reading the Sunday paper is that you can stumble upon really useful stuff. Not that the news itself isn't useful--it IS. But this evening, while thumbing through the NY Times Sunday Magazine, I came upon an article about changes in the world of high-tech start-ups. Wouldn't you know, the hero of the novel I'm currently writing is a tech millionaire, and this magazine article is chock full of information that will help make my hero more credible.

This is why writers have to read, read, read. You never know where you're going to find an essential nugget of information you didn't even know you were looking for.

Yesterday I presented a workshop on using conflict to shape a plot for the New Hampshire chapter of RWA. I love preparing workshops because they make me analyze what I do instinctively, and this helps me to understand my craft.

When I'm writing, I'm not thinking, "Hmm--time to add a conflict so I can shape my plot." The writing happens on a subconscious level. It's all intuitive.

But when I'm invited to present a workshop to a writers' group, I have to take a step back and think deliberately about what I do and why I do it. I bet I learn more than my audience does about the craft of writing.

When I was young, I envied girls who were thinner than me, or more popular, or more athletic. I envied girls who seemed more comfortable in their skin than I was in mine. I envied girls who weren't oddballs and who had the confidence I lacked.

Now, I envy people who can read faster than I do, who can tear through a book in a day.

I used to be a faster reader. But as a writer, I read more critically. I can't just lose myself in a book. While reading, I'm thinking about how the author accomplished this or that, how the author made me gasp with surprise or joy, or how the author blew it.

Also, by the time I can quit for the day and curl up with a book, it's usually around nine-thirty or ten at night. I'm exhausted. One chapter, and I'm drifting off to sleep--even if it's a good book!

So, to all of you who read quickly--oh, how I envy you!