Laurie Lyons's Blog
November 24, 2016
THE WILDS
My new book "The Wilds" is set to be released on December 9 2016! Look for it here and on Amazon!
January 16, 2016
NEW NEW NEW NEWS!
I know I haven't posted in a while. Please do not interpret this to mean that I have given up on this whole writing thing. Quite the contrary. I am terribly busy with my full time job and these children keep popping up in my house asking for food and hugs so I have to take care of that too. I find time to write. As I always tell you to do, I find time to write. I have been working. WHAT? You ask. What have I been working on and where is it?
For a writer, there is a pressure to produce and indeed, the way to becoming a good writer is to produce crappy writing until you produce good writing. I have been producing. I have written several blog posts for Mommy Blogs (back to those ferral creatures playing x-box in my basement), I have been writing for my Celiac Blog www.areyoufreakingceliac.com and I completed my fourth novel.
Did you read that? I completed THE WILDS and have submitted it to my editor for publication. This is new and exciting news! I don't have a date yet for the publication of THE WILDS but I assume it will be sometime this year.
I have also started a new idea. well, to be honest, I have started it about three times. I know the general concept of this book and the message it is setting up to say but the characters and placement in time are what I keep changing. It's a great idea and I want to get it just right. Novels take time so simmer down you.
Meanwhile, read my other stuff, keep checking back here for updates and feel free to check out my facebook or twitter to stay up to date on my work.
For a writer, there is a pressure to produce and indeed, the way to becoming a good writer is to produce crappy writing until you produce good writing. I have been producing. I have written several blog posts for Mommy Blogs (back to those ferral creatures playing x-box in my basement), I have been writing for my Celiac Blog www.areyoufreakingceliac.com and I completed my fourth novel.
Did you read that? I completed THE WILDS and have submitted it to my editor for publication. This is new and exciting news! I don't have a date yet for the publication of THE WILDS but I assume it will be sometime this year.
I have also started a new idea. well, to be honest, I have started it about three times. I know the general concept of this book and the message it is setting up to say but the characters and placement in time are what I keep changing. It's a great idea and I want to get it just right. Novels take time so simmer down you.
Meanwhile, read my other stuff, keep checking back here for updates and feel free to check out my facebook or twitter to stay up to date on my work.
May 20, 2015
Ready. SET, Write
Setting can be one of the hardest aspects of your work to master. It is a challenge to give your reader a clear picture of where your story is taking place but not to get bogged down in the tiny details of a wall. I loved the settings I wrote in The Feather Trilogy. My favorite places were Nathaniel's cabin, Lucy's dorm and Malachi's castle in FAITH. My absolute favorite though, was writing Hell in Book 2, GATES. It wasn't easy and it took me months to get it just right. I wanted it to feel oppressively hot and dry but not in a natural way. It was important that the air felt toxic, and that this toxicity passed onto the characters, especially Lucy. I loved Random's ummmm....apartment? I guess you could call it that. I wanted his surroundings to be just as bizarre as his name and personality.
To this day, I read over the Hell portions of GATES and shake my head. I don't know if it speaks to my sanity when I know I wrote something so very demented.
I find that new authors struggle with setting so here are some tips for getting your setting just right.
1) Ask yourself how important this location is.
Don't spend a paragraph describing a convenience store that your character is going to be in for seven seconds. If it isn't important to your character, it isn't important to your reader. Don't describe things for the sake of describing them. If, however, this is the place where most of your action is taking place or where the heft of your emotional changes are going to occur, then describe it, well. Take as much time as you need to help your reader feel like they are a part of this place. The whole point is to draw your reader into the story. By describing vital settings, you help do that.
2) Pay attention to who your characters are.
If you are describing the setting of a little girl's grade one class room from the perspective of the child, don't use the word, 'pedagogical'. See the landscape through your character's eyes and this will help your reader do the same. When we describe setting with our characters in mind, it keeps the reader present and engaged in your work and your characters. A jarring description of something or an odd comment about a chair can pop your reader right out of the story and it's tough to get them back in again.
3) Be realistic.
Regardless of when or where your story is taking place, the basic understanding is that the standard laws of physics and gravity will apply. Therefore, your castle turret cannot be three miles high. This is physically impossible. A five thousand pound rock, cannot be resting on a twig. this too, is physically impossible and you will lose your reader. You never, ever, want your reader to stop reading, lean back and mutter, "bullshit". Never. So fact check your landscapes and your settings. Did they make maple chairs in Boston in the mid 17th century? I have no idea. If you want to write it into your book though, you better know. I thank the writing Gods often for the power of Google.
4) If you don't want to be realistic, than be specific.
You may wish to create a world that doesn't follow the scientific laws of our planet. I tip my hat to you because that is a crazy amount of imagination. In some circles, I'm considered basically insane and I would never attempt to create a world without gravity. You win all the mental marbles for that one. If you wish to describe the setting of a place that is not earth and does not behave like earth, be specific. If you want to create this world, then create it well. Talk about every detail, breakdown the physicality of the experiences your characters are having. If physics is not a thing in your world, find a way to explain how your characters move and function in that space. Don't get too technical, we don't need an instruction manual, but be very specific.
5) Use the senses.
Don't just tell your reader what something looks like. Our memories are based on all five of our senses, so to merely use the eyes is a waste. Tell your reader how it smells and how the air feels on your character's skin. Tell them what this place reminds your characters of and why they like or don't like it. Craft your settings like a painter constructing a new piece of art. A touch of blue here, a whiff of lavender here, a hand traced lightly over a silk scarf or a carpet of grass. Use your talent and take your time.
6) Don't use words you don't know.
A thesaurus is a great resource but for the love of God, put it down every once in a while. Use it when you are stuck for another word. Use it when you feel like you have used the word, 'blue' way too many times. Don't use it every single sentence because eventually, you will become addicted to it and before you know it, you will be using, 'panache' , 'soporific' or 'agastopia' in a children's book and I'm going to have to come over there and beat your bloody with said thesaurus.
Don't be afraid to write settings, the more you do it, the better you will get at it. Promise. So, homework is for your to create a series of settings and see how it goes. Try writing settings for; an old house (possibly haunted), a beach cliff, a carnival and a modern apartment building. Let me know how it goes.
Ready...SET...write!
True Love
L
To this day, I read over the Hell portions of GATES and shake my head. I don't know if it speaks to my sanity when I know I wrote something so very demented.
I find that new authors struggle with setting so here are some tips for getting your setting just right.
1) Ask yourself how important this location is.
Don't spend a paragraph describing a convenience store that your character is going to be in for seven seconds. If it isn't important to your character, it isn't important to your reader. Don't describe things for the sake of describing them. If, however, this is the place where most of your action is taking place or where the heft of your emotional changes are going to occur, then describe it, well. Take as much time as you need to help your reader feel like they are a part of this place. The whole point is to draw your reader into the story. By describing vital settings, you help do that.
2) Pay attention to who your characters are.
If you are describing the setting of a little girl's grade one class room from the perspective of the child, don't use the word, 'pedagogical'. See the landscape through your character's eyes and this will help your reader do the same. When we describe setting with our characters in mind, it keeps the reader present and engaged in your work and your characters. A jarring description of something or an odd comment about a chair can pop your reader right out of the story and it's tough to get them back in again.
3) Be realistic.
Regardless of when or where your story is taking place, the basic understanding is that the standard laws of physics and gravity will apply. Therefore, your castle turret cannot be three miles high. This is physically impossible. A five thousand pound rock, cannot be resting on a twig. this too, is physically impossible and you will lose your reader. You never, ever, want your reader to stop reading, lean back and mutter, "bullshit". Never. So fact check your landscapes and your settings. Did they make maple chairs in Boston in the mid 17th century? I have no idea. If you want to write it into your book though, you better know. I thank the writing Gods often for the power of Google.
4) If you don't want to be realistic, than be specific.
You may wish to create a world that doesn't follow the scientific laws of our planet. I tip my hat to you because that is a crazy amount of imagination. In some circles, I'm considered basically insane and I would never attempt to create a world without gravity. You win all the mental marbles for that one. If you wish to describe the setting of a place that is not earth and does not behave like earth, be specific. If you want to create this world, then create it well. Talk about every detail, breakdown the physicality of the experiences your characters are having. If physics is not a thing in your world, find a way to explain how your characters move and function in that space. Don't get too technical, we don't need an instruction manual, but be very specific.
5) Use the senses.
Don't just tell your reader what something looks like. Our memories are based on all five of our senses, so to merely use the eyes is a waste. Tell your reader how it smells and how the air feels on your character's skin. Tell them what this place reminds your characters of and why they like or don't like it. Craft your settings like a painter constructing a new piece of art. A touch of blue here, a whiff of lavender here, a hand traced lightly over a silk scarf or a carpet of grass. Use your talent and take your time.
6) Don't use words you don't know.
A thesaurus is a great resource but for the love of God, put it down every once in a while. Use it when you are stuck for another word. Use it when you feel like you have used the word, 'blue' way too many times. Don't use it every single sentence because eventually, you will become addicted to it and before you know it, you will be using, 'panache' , 'soporific' or 'agastopia' in a children's book and I'm going to have to come over there and beat your bloody with said thesaurus.
Don't be afraid to write settings, the more you do it, the better you will get at it. Promise. So, homework is for your to create a series of settings and see how it goes. Try writing settings for; an old house (possibly haunted), a beach cliff, a carnival and a modern apartment building. Let me know how it goes.
Ready...SET...write!
True Love
L
January 14, 2014
I Don't Pick My Stories
I Don't Pick My Stories
Where is the story born? When is it born? How exactly, does it all take shape and maybe, less importantly, why?
|I often get my ideas from the world around me. A talk show had a guest with a photographic memory and that's where I got the idea of Lucy. I built three novels off that one character.
I like to people watch. I watch as two men lean together talking in a library, I have no idea what they are saying but I study the tilts of their heads, the slight and subtle movement of their eyebrows as they register what the other is saying. I fill in the gaps myself and try to remember what I saw. I scan crowds, watching for how people are walking, talking and laughing, wondering what their stories are and if I can make up one to tell all of you.
My ideas come in snippets usually, (Feather was different and you can read that post if you are so inclined) pieces that come together over time like an instruction manual that is missing steps. I see my books as clearly as you see a movie. I watch them in my head and try to find the words to match what I feel and hear when I take in the story. Sometimes it takes months to put it all together, like a tarot card reading that only makes sense later.
Sometimes, I close my eyes at night and the images assault my mind. I see random pictures; a woman's toes in deep grass, the curve of a man's stubbled jaw line leaning in to whisper something, water running lazily down a stream or snow landing on a peaked roof, layering like patterned lace.
I saw Nathaniel jumping off the cliff far before I even knew what he looked like. I see all these things and words seep out of them like fog. Sometimes, I scramble to write it all down, other times I see it and know that if it is meant to be, it will come to me again.
If it is a good story, I won't forget it.
A new idea is pervading my thoughts, causing interruption to the Faith edits, my short story deadlines and my sleep. It's not a story yet. Really, it's just a jumble of intentions at this point. Something with time travel and a girl who goes everywhere but still feels trapped. A boy who has gone no where and yet feels free. The concept of time passing, choices made that change the future and how someone could see both sides of the choice. I see a coin flipping lazily in the air, a small idyllic town with too many secrets and a huge mangled oak tree, sitting lonely in a quiet field. Those thoughts will sift through my mind over and over, being molded and reworked until something comes of them.
That's how the story is built for me. I never really worry about coming up with ideas for stories, for now, knock on wood, I have them in spades.
I often feel like I don't pick the stories, they pick me.
Where is the story born? When is it born? How exactly, does it all take shape and maybe, less importantly, why?
|I often get my ideas from the world around me. A talk show had a guest with a photographic memory and that's where I got the idea of Lucy. I built three novels off that one character.
I like to people watch. I watch as two men lean together talking in a library, I have no idea what they are saying but I study the tilts of their heads, the slight and subtle movement of their eyebrows as they register what the other is saying. I fill in the gaps myself and try to remember what I saw. I scan crowds, watching for how people are walking, talking and laughing, wondering what their stories are and if I can make up one to tell all of you.
My ideas come in snippets usually, (Feather was different and you can read that post if you are so inclined) pieces that come together over time like an instruction manual that is missing steps. I see my books as clearly as you see a movie. I watch them in my head and try to find the words to match what I feel and hear when I take in the story. Sometimes it takes months to put it all together, like a tarot card reading that only makes sense later.
Sometimes, I close my eyes at night and the images assault my mind. I see random pictures; a woman's toes in deep grass, the curve of a man's stubbled jaw line leaning in to whisper something, water running lazily down a stream or snow landing on a peaked roof, layering like patterned lace.
I saw Nathaniel jumping off the cliff far before I even knew what he looked like. I see all these things and words seep out of them like fog. Sometimes, I scramble to write it all down, other times I see it and know that if it is meant to be, it will come to me again.
If it is a good story, I won't forget it.
A new idea is pervading my thoughts, causing interruption to the Faith edits, my short story deadlines and my sleep. It's not a story yet. Really, it's just a jumble of intentions at this point. Something with time travel and a girl who goes everywhere but still feels trapped. A boy who has gone no where and yet feels free. The concept of time passing, choices made that change the future and how someone could see both sides of the choice. I see a coin flipping lazily in the air, a small idyllic town with too many secrets and a huge mangled oak tree, sitting lonely in a quiet field. Those thoughts will sift through my mind over and over, being molded and reworked until something comes of them.
That's how the story is built for me. I never really worry about coming up with ideas for stories, for now, knock on wood, I have them in spades.
I often feel like I don't pick the stories, they pick me.
October 6, 2013
A Good Idea....
A Great Idea Written Badly....
Okay people, we need to get real about something. I think that self publishing is wonderful and if Ring of Fire had not picked up FEATHER, self publishing was certainly an option for me. I was hesitant to self publish because I didn't think that I could edit my work to publishing polish alone.
I was right.
If you are going to self publish a novel, or send one to an agent for that matter, make sure that your writing is perfect. A popular quote amongst English professors is, "a great idea written badly becomes a bad idea." If you haven't written much before, maybe take some writing classes or have a friend who is a grammar Nazi read over your work.
People think that writing is some natural talent that doesn't need to be honed. Michael Jordan had a great deal of natural talent when he started playing basketball but he still went to practice. He still ran drills, he still took the time to perfect his craft.
As a writer, you should too.
Major issues that need to be addressed in your work but would most likely be solved with some practice.
- GRAMMAR - learn the difference between "there" "they're" and "their" - learn the difference between "your" and "you're". Understand when to use "that" and when to use "which". Know what a preposition is and why it is important. Grammar is the wheels on your bus. If it doesn't turn easily, you won't get anywhere.
- TENSES and VOICE - if your story is in past tense first person, you can not change this half way through, even if you want to. Authors have limitations too and changing the perspective of the story telling is one of those limitations. If you don't know what I am talking about in regards to tense and voice, you have a problem.
- WORD USE - IRRIGARDLESS is NOT a word and please stop using it as one. Other word use problems seem to be coming from the over use of the thesaurus. I use a thesaurus religiously however, one must be cautious that the new word is appropriate for the story and the characters. A modern teenage girl would not walk into a McDonalds and say it was "serried" and there was no where to sit. Don't try to make your work too fancy.
- QUOTATION USE - learn how to use quotations! No one should ever have to remind you that quotations marks are needed in your work. Additionally, too much dialogue on one page makes it a blur of chaos for the reader. You must find a balance between using dialogue and the narrative voice to portray the story.
- CONSISTENCY - I have read some works that move characters from one setting to another with no explanation. I have also read some books that fail to explain a detail. Suddenly a gold coin is important in the last five pages and the gold coin has never been mentioned before. Your time setting can not change during the story. Your characters names certainly should stay consistent.
- FACT CHECKS - If there is a fact to be known, find it. If your character is carrying a handgun, find out about handguns. Don't say that a 65 Camaro can fly, because it can't. You can certainly make up an alien hover craft that can fly. One of the joys of writing is that you are the master of your world. However, if your world is this world and it contains human items, get your facts straight.
Goggle is a great resource for this and I am often laughing at the crazy stuff I Goggle. If you can get a first person account of the facts (your high-school buddy is a cop, your cousin is a mechanic) do so.
A bible for writers should be the Blue Book of Grammar. It's the instruction manual for words. I think it is on it's tenth edition ( I have the fifth) and it is an invaluable resource for all things writing. Get one, use it and your writing will improve.
Take the time to make your writing the best it can be. A reader devoting their energy and imagination to your work is one of the best compliments that can be given. It is a great honor for someone to read your work, don't ruin it for them by not being ready. Practice your writing, hone it, have honest strangers read it, pay them if you have to and then rewrite it over and over and over again.
Anyone who tells you that writing is easy, isn't a very good writer
Okay people, we need to get real about something. I think that self publishing is wonderful and if Ring of Fire had not picked up FEATHER, self publishing was certainly an option for me. I was hesitant to self publish because I didn't think that I could edit my work to publishing polish alone.
I was right.
If you are going to self publish a novel, or send one to an agent for that matter, make sure that your writing is perfect. A popular quote amongst English professors is, "a great idea written badly becomes a bad idea." If you haven't written much before, maybe take some writing classes or have a friend who is a grammar Nazi read over your work.
People think that writing is some natural talent that doesn't need to be honed. Michael Jordan had a great deal of natural talent when he started playing basketball but he still went to practice. He still ran drills, he still took the time to perfect his craft.
As a writer, you should too.
Major issues that need to be addressed in your work but would most likely be solved with some practice.
- GRAMMAR - learn the difference between "there" "they're" and "their" - learn the difference between "your" and "you're". Understand when to use "that" and when to use "which". Know what a preposition is and why it is important. Grammar is the wheels on your bus. If it doesn't turn easily, you won't get anywhere.
- TENSES and VOICE - if your story is in past tense first person, you can not change this half way through, even if you want to. Authors have limitations too and changing the perspective of the story telling is one of those limitations. If you don't know what I am talking about in regards to tense and voice, you have a problem.
- WORD USE - IRRIGARDLESS is NOT a word and please stop using it as one. Other word use problems seem to be coming from the over use of the thesaurus. I use a thesaurus religiously however, one must be cautious that the new word is appropriate for the story and the characters. A modern teenage girl would not walk into a McDonalds and say it was "serried" and there was no where to sit. Don't try to make your work too fancy.
- QUOTATION USE - learn how to use quotations! No one should ever have to remind you that quotations marks are needed in your work. Additionally, too much dialogue on one page makes it a blur of chaos for the reader. You must find a balance between using dialogue and the narrative voice to portray the story.
- CONSISTENCY - I have read some works that move characters from one setting to another with no explanation. I have also read some books that fail to explain a detail. Suddenly a gold coin is important in the last five pages and the gold coin has never been mentioned before. Your time setting can not change during the story. Your characters names certainly should stay consistent.
- FACT CHECKS - If there is a fact to be known, find it. If your character is carrying a handgun, find out about handguns. Don't say that a 65 Camaro can fly, because it can't. You can certainly make up an alien hover craft that can fly. One of the joys of writing is that you are the master of your world. However, if your world is this world and it contains human items, get your facts straight.
Goggle is a great resource for this and I am often laughing at the crazy stuff I Goggle. If you can get a first person account of the facts (your high-school buddy is a cop, your cousin is a mechanic) do so.
A bible for writers should be the Blue Book of Grammar. It's the instruction manual for words. I think it is on it's tenth edition ( I have the fifth) and it is an invaluable resource for all things writing. Get one, use it and your writing will improve.
Take the time to make your writing the best it can be. A reader devoting their energy and imagination to your work is one of the best compliments that can be given. It is a great honor for someone to read your work, don't ruin it for them by not being ready. Practice your writing, hone it, have honest strangers read it, pay them if you have to and then rewrite it over and over and over again.
Anyone who tells you that writing is easy, isn't a very good writer
August 19, 2013
The Big Question
One question I am asked above all others is, “What made you decide to become a writer?” It is difficult to answer because I have always BEEN a writer. I often give a quip of an answer like, ‘For the money.” And then I laugh until I fall down. I began writing stories around the age of eight and therefore have been working on my writing for thirty years so. I wasn't bored one day and decided to write a novel. Frankly, that’s not the way it works.
I would never write what the assignment was in elementary school. I thought stories about an owl or ‘what I did this summer’ were stupid. I had ideas in my head for the fantastical and bizarre and baffled more than one teacher with pages of random creatures and rivers made of grape soda.
At twelve, I wrote a short story that my Auntie Marilou took into work with her, typed up and copied for me. She handed me ten copies, made me sign one for her and announced me to be ‘published’.
I was hooked and I promised myself right then and there that I would see my name on a spine in a book store.
In junior high I wrote notebook after notebook of fan fiction for my favorite TV show or book. I still have them, no you may not see them. It's important for you to know that they are written in bright pink pen. I think fan fiction is a great way for people to hone their writing skills and when I visit schools I encourage young writers to try it. There are websites that you can share your work. I never did, being of such an age that things like that didn't exist (insert prehistoric joke of choice here). In high-school, my English teacher pulled me aside after an essay assignment to look me dead in the eye and make it clear that I was an excellent writer.
I started to cry.
I have my degree in English from the University of Calgary, not because the Engineering Department wouldn't take me (although they wouldn't because I am not even clear about what Engineers do) but I went for my English degree because I am a writer. I loved every single second of it.
I have started many novels but would get stuck or busy or drunk and forget all about them. I may still finish them, who knows? After my son was born I wrote a children’s /YA book about a little boy and a fly that he meets on an airplane. It’s cute and I even shopped it out halfheartedly with a nursing baby on my hip but nothing came of it.
FEATHER came to me in a spark of genius one day and I obsessively wrote it down by hand in a series of notebooks - not in pink pen in case you were wondering. Once done, I was thrilled that I wrote a novel and prepared to tuck it away somewhere for a future generation of archaeologist aliens to find it and base a religion off of. However, my husband read it and insisted that I send it out. And so I did. I sent it and sent it and sent it. Becoming a published author does not happen over-night and don’t believe anyone who tells you that it does. It is work.
Writing is a heartbreaking, thick-skin building exercise.
People often say to me, ‘You never mentioned that you write!”, this is said in an almost accusatory tone that implies there was a party they weren't invited to. And I often shrug this off but really, before Ring of Fire Publishing picked up FEATHER, I wasn't a successful writer. How many of you would discuss your failed projects? “Well, I feel this compulsion to tap dance but can’t seem to figure out how the shoes work.”
FEATHER got revamped several times before Ring of Fire took it. I ingested every single critique offered by agents and publishers alike and wrote and re-wrote huge chunks of it. I think I wrote the prologue about fifty seven times.Because that’s what you do when you are a writer.
It’s work. Joyful, encompassing, beautiful work but work all the same.
So when I hear about people who read Twilight and figure that they can sit down and replicate that formula, I shake my head. I have been honing my craft for thirty years and I could not replicate that magic. No one could.
I didn't wake up one morning and say, ‘Gee, I've nailed knitting, what should I do now?’ Writing, like any other talent, takes practice. Now, I am sure that there are authors who are the exception to this rule. The first thing they wrote was fantastic but I bet my bottom dollar that their third book was worlds better than their first book. The beauty of writing is that you get to practice at what you love to do and you will keep practicing because you love it. It feeds upon itself.
I, in no way, am an expert in this as I have just completed my fourth novel and my second published short story. In the big scheme of things, this is peanuts and I bow down to the long standing authors who could build furniture with their work. This is my opinion. Writing isn't my hobby, it isn't something that I just decided to do one day. The word ‘writer’ will be on my tombstone (paired of course with mother, wife, friend and champion lobster eater).
I hope to one day have the success that other authors have but for me, every contract is a glass of wine and every publication date is a party. My ideas could dry up at any moment and I will relish every second until they do. That’s not a hobby.
So in answer to the question, “What made you decide to be a writer?”
I reply simply, “I had no choice in the matter.”
I would never write what the assignment was in elementary school. I thought stories about an owl or ‘what I did this summer’ were stupid. I had ideas in my head for the fantastical and bizarre and baffled more than one teacher with pages of random creatures and rivers made of grape soda.
At twelve, I wrote a short story that my Auntie Marilou took into work with her, typed up and copied for me. She handed me ten copies, made me sign one for her and announced me to be ‘published’.
I was hooked and I promised myself right then and there that I would see my name on a spine in a book store.
In junior high I wrote notebook after notebook of fan fiction for my favorite TV show or book. I still have them, no you may not see them. It's important for you to know that they are written in bright pink pen. I think fan fiction is a great way for people to hone their writing skills and when I visit schools I encourage young writers to try it. There are websites that you can share your work. I never did, being of such an age that things like that didn't exist (insert prehistoric joke of choice here). In high-school, my English teacher pulled me aside after an essay assignment to look me dead in the eye and make it clear that I was an excellent writer.
I started to cry.
I have my degree in English from the University of Calgary, not because the Engineering Department wouldn't take me (although they wouldn't because I am not even clear about what Engineers do) but I went for my English degree because I am a writer. I loved every single second of it.
I have started many novels but would get stuck or busy or drunk and forget all about them. I may still finish them, who knows? After my son was born I wrote a children’s /YA book about a little boy and a fly that he meets on an airplane. It’s cute and I even shopped it out halfheartedly with a nursing baby on my hip but nothing came of it.
FEATHER came to me in a spark of genius one day and I obsessively wrote it down by hand in a series of notebooks - not in pink pen in case you were wondering. Once done, I was thrilled that I wrote a novel and prepared to tuck it away somewhere for a future generation of archaeologist aliens to find it and base a religion off of. However, my husband read it and insisted that I send it out. And so I did. I sent it and sent it and sent it. Becoming a published author does not happen over-night and don’t believe anyone who tells you that it does. It is work.
Writing is a heartbreaking, thick-skin building exercise.
People often say to me, ‘You never mentioned that you write!”, this is said in an almost accusatory tone that implies there was a party they weren't invited to. And I often shrug this off but really, before Ring of Fire Publishing picked up FEATHER, I wasn't a successful writer. How many of you would discuss your failed projects? “Well, I feel this compulsion to tap dance but can’t seem to figure out how the shoes work.”
FEATHER got revamped several times before Ring of Fire took it. I ingested every single critique offered by agents and publishers alike and wrote and re-wrote huge chunks of it. I think I wrote the prologue about fifty seven times.Because that’s what you do when you are a writer.
It’s work. Joyful, encompassing, beautiful work but work all the same.
So when I hear about people who read Twilight and figure that they can sit down and replicate that formula, I shake my head. I have been honing my craft for thirty years and I could not replicate that magic. No one could.
I didn't wake up one morning and say, ‘Gee, I've nailed knitting, what should I do now?’ Writing, like any other talent, takes practice. Now, I am sure that there are authors who are the exception to this rule. The first thing they wrote was fantastic but I bet my bottom dollar that their third book was worlds better than their first book. The beauty of writing is that you get to practice at what you love to do and you will keep practicing because you love it. It feeds upon itself.
I, in no way, am an expert in this as I have just completed my fourth novel and my second published short story. In the big scheme of things, this is peanuts and I bow down to the long standing authors who could build furniture with their work. This is my opinion. Writing isn't my hobby, it isn't something that I just decided to do one day. The word ‘writer’ will be on my tombstone (paired of course with mother, wife, friend and champion lobster eater).
I hope to one day have the success that other authors have but for me, every contract is a glass of wine and every publication date is a party. My ideas could dry up at any moment and I will relish every second until they do. That’s not a hobby.
So in answer to the question, “What made you decide to be a writer?”
I reply simply, “I had no choice in the matter.”
July 1, 2013
KINDLE BOOK REVIEW
We are thrilled to announce that FEATHER is a semi-finalist with the Kindle Book Review Awards!
It's amazing!
It's amazing!
June 23, 2013
ANNOUCEMENT!
Hi Calgary!
The Book Signing for Laurie at Chapters Shawnessy is STILL ON for today from 11-5. If you have been home for the last few days and need a little break, please come by for a visit.
If you have too much going on, if the roads are too crazy or if it is in any way unsafe for you to travel, please don't.
Chapters Shawnessy will be stocking FEATHER AND GATES indefinitely. If you can't get down and you want your book signed, please contact Laurie (here or on the website) and she will find a way to get to you.
Also, due to the changes in school schedules, Laurie's Author Presentations scheduled for this week have been cancelled. They will be rescheduled in the fall.
Hope to see you later today
The Book Signing for Laurie at Chapters Shawnessy is STILL ON for today from 11-5. If you have been home for the last few days and need a little break, please come by for a visit.
If you have too much going on, if the roads are too crazy or if it is in any way unsafe for you to travel, please don't.
Chapters Shawnessy will be stocking FEATHER AND GATES indefinitely. If you can't get down and you want your book signed, please contact Laurie (here or on the website) and she will find a way to get to you.
Also, due to the changes in school schedules, Laurie's Author Presentations scheduled for this week have been cancelled. They will be rescheduled in the fall.
Hope to see you later today
June 5, 2013
Finding Time!
I just did an interview with a fandom called IFandomsCollide. In it, they asked me "What is the hardest part of writing for you" and without hesitation, I replied, "Finding time to write."
That is my biggest challenge. I have never had writers block, I have never struggled to figure out where my characters should live or what they should look like or even what their motivations are for the things they do. For that, I am eternally grateful.
But I never feel like I have enough time to write....never....ever ....ever.
I always feel left hanging, like my bus stop came too early or my PVR stopped recording 5 minutes before the end of 'Game of Thrones (do NOT get me started on that one).
I never feel like I have enough time to write what I want to write and finish a thought.
I dream of the day that I can wake up, do some yoga, drink some coffee and sit down to write until dinner time. I dream of that day like some people dream of winning the lottery. For me, that is the lottery; unbridled writing with nothing to stop me.
It doesn't help that I write every day. That's right. Every single day including Christmas, and my birthday and when I am sick. I write. I have to. I fully admit that it is an obsession but one that I think is beneficial to me. I think writing feeds my soul. I write anywhere I can. I write in the car while waiting for my kids to come out of school, I write in bed first thing in the morning, I write while dinner is cooking, and when I should be doing laundry. I write in snippets everyday. I have no idea if my writing would excel if I got more time to do it, maybe my brain works best in these little snippets of work.
Things that interrupt my writing include but are not limited to:
- eating
- sleeping
- emailing
- TWITTER (gah twitter you evil evil mistress you)
- "Mom, I need to make an igloo out of sugar cubes for school tomorrow" - that was today - variations on this theme include "snacks for the class", "an art creation made out of chicken wire" or "a lip sync routine with a costume"
- The garden
- Voting
- Working out so I don't get that weird butt thing that some writers have where they look totally normal at the shoulders but their butt looks like, well, like it has been sitting in a chair writing a novel for five years.
- 30- Second dance parties ( will NEVER give these up)
- reading other peoples work because I love that too
- working (although I like my job and work part time, it still feels like a time sucker when I have a great idea)
- having book parties (again, will NEVER give these up)
- visiting my books at Chapters to coo over them (yes I do and you would too, don't play it cool)
- the Cinderella list - dishes, laundry, sewing cub badges, cleaning bathrooms, vacuuming, dusting cooking etc (this is the list that most people say I should leave but when I do, I am always worried that someone will call child protective services because this beautiful house can turn feral really quickly)
Once I get all that stuff done, I feel like I can get down to the business of writing. So it happens in bits and pieces and sometimes while I am balancing a laundry basket on my hip but it happens and I love every second of it.
Find time to write, even if it's the last thing you do.
That is my biggest challenge. I have never had writers block, I have never struggled to figure out where my characters should live or what they should look like or even what their motivations are for the things they do. For that, I am eternally grateful.
But I never feel like I have enough time to write....never....ever ....ever.
I always feel left hanging, like my bus stop came too early or my PVR stopped recording 5 minutes before the end of 'Game of Thrones (do NOT get me started on that one).
I never feel like I have enough time to write what I want to write and finish a thought.
I dream of the day that I can wake up, do some yoga, drink some coffee and sit down to write until dinner time. I dream of that day like some people dream of winning the lottery. For me, that is the lottery; unbridled writing with nothing to stop me.
It doesn't help that I write every day. That's right. Every single day including Christmas, and my birthday and when I am sick. I write. I have to. I fully admit that it is an obsession but one that I think is beneficial to me. I think writing feeds my soul. I write anywhere I can. I write in the car while waiting for my kids to come out of school, I write in bed first thing in the morning, I write while dinner is cooking, and when I should be doing laundry. I write in snippets everyday. I have no idea if my writing would excel if I got more time to do it, maybe my brain works best in these little snippets of work.
Things that interrupt my writing include but are not limited to:
- eating
- sleeping
- emailing
- TWITTER (gah twitter you evil evil mistress you)
- "Mom, I need to make an igloo out of sugar cubes for school tomorrow" - that was today - variations on this theme include "snacks for the class", "an art creation made out of chicken wire" or "a lip sync routine with a costume"
- The garden
- Voting
- Working out so I don't get that weird butt thing that some writers have where they look totally normal at the shoulders but their butt looks like, well, like it has been sitting in a chair writing a novel for five years.
- 30- Second dance parties ( will NEVER give these up)
- reading other peoples work because I love that too
- working (although I like my job and work part time, it still feels like a time sucker when I have a great idea)
- having book parties (again, will NEVER give these up)
- visiting my books at Chapters to coo over them (yes I do and you would too, don't play it cool)
- the Cinderella list - dishes, laundry, sewing cub badges, cleaning bathrooms, vacuuming, dusting cooking etc (this is the list that most people say I should leave but when I do, I am always worried that someone will call child protective services because this beautiful house can turn feral really quickly)
Once I get all that stuff done, I feel like I can get down to the business of writing. So it happens in bits and pieces and sometimes while I am balancing a laundry basket on my hip but it happens and I love every second of it.
Find time to write, even if it's the last thing you do.
May 21, 2013
To U or not to U
I am Canadian. Yup, that is a fact. I am a Canadian girl, born and bred. However, The Feather Trilogy takes place at Mulbridge University which is just outside the city of Chicago. Why? Why would a Canadian girl write a book in a country she has never lived in? I don't know to be honest. This is one of those things that just settled into the plot of the story and it seemed natural. I thought the climate of Illinois would contribute to the seasonal changes that happen in the series (in case you haven't noticed, the books occur over one or two celestial seasons). In all honesty though, a setting near my birthplace of Toronto would lend the same weather and seasonal patterns so I am not sure why I picked the United States as Lucy and Nathaniel's home but it just felt right and it has played well in the plot.
It has caused some problems though and problems that I had not anticipated.
When editing FEATHER, the team at Ring of Fire sent me an email that outlined some of the Canadian vs American nuances that I had completely missed. I knew that Americans called "pop" "soda" but I didn't know they said "yeah" rather than "ya". Turns out my characters say "ya" a great deal because it was a pain to change them all.
In GATES, I have run into another issue. The issue of the U.
Ah that U - so annoying. Here in Canada, we spell "color" with a U, thus making it "colour". This is also the same for "behaviour" and "flavour". When I received the edits from RofF, I considered changing these to the American spelling but I JUST COULDN'T do it! The English major in me would not send a manuscript to be printed with all those red underlined words in it! I had to tip my hat to all my teachers and professors and leave the "U"s in.
But people keep thinking I can't spell.
So please, if the "U" offends thee, accept my apologies. I meant no offense. My characters love being American and I love them being American (wait until the third book and you will see why) I just have to put the "U" in there. I have to, because I am Canadian.
True Love
Laurie
xoxo
PS GATES officially comes out on May 24 so U get your butts to Amazon to get a copy.
It has caused some problems though and problems that I had not anticipated.
When editing FEATHER, the team at Ring of Fire sent me an email that outlined some of the Canadian vs American nuances that I had completely missed. I knew that Americans called "pop" "soda" but I didn't know they said "yeah" rather than "ya". Turns out my characters say "ya" a great deal because it was a pain to change them all.
In GATES, I have run into another issue. The issue of the U.
Ah that U - so annoying. Here in Canada, we spell "color" with a U, thus making it "colour". This is also the same for "behaviour" and "flavour". When I received the edits from RofF, I considered changing these to the American spelling but I JUST COULDN'T do it! The English major in me would not send a manuscript to be printed with all those red underlined words in it! I had to tip my hat to all my teachers and professors and leave the "U"s in.
But people keep thinking I can't spell.
So please, if the "U" offends thee, accept my apologies. I meant no offense. My characters love being American and I love them being American (wait until the third book and you will see why) I just have to put the "U" in there. I have to, because I am Canadian.
True Love
Laurie
xoxo
PS GATES officially comes out on May 24 so U get your butts to Amazon to get a copy.
