Coming to Peace With Oneself As a Writer

It’s only because I’m a holistic doctor I believe I could better explain what to expect to an aspiring writer than how it was explained to me when I attended my first Writer’s Conference.

Sixteen, a classmate and fellow aspiring writer gave me The Writer’s Market for Chrismas and took me to my first Writer’s Conference at Oakland University.  Thank you, Eric H (Hoho).

Though my intention had been to be a novelist life intervened and I started out with nonfiction

Beginning in 2011 I released works, interspersing fiction and nonfiction.

I didn’t have any trouble bouncing between the two genres.  My problem circled back to one I’d been facing from the time I was 13 and wrote my first novel.

In a spiral notebook in blue ink.

The dilemma

If I wrote for an audience – to sell – I would be compromising my voice.

How did I get to this awful fork in the road?  Research.

Personal Research

Though I enjoyed reading fiction there was a single genre that put me off even as the stories and characters were fun if not cool.

Especially historical.

Fluff

From the first time someone put a romance novel in my hands …

I was 12 living with my mom and brother in a basement because my parents split and we had no money.

This well-meaning soul thought I might enjoy a break from life

And a break from what I what I was reading at the time – Kane and Abel and other awesome works…

I don’t think this kind woman understood I WAS getting a break by reading this stuff.

And that I’d been reading college level since I was 6.

While I enjoyed the story plots of the romance novels she gave me it was the characters I had issues with.

Like the stupid bodice ripping covers of the era, the characters were cardboard cutouts of reality.

A Turning Point

I remember how this lovely woman reacted when, after asking how I liked the stories, I responded

“When I become a writer I’m not going to write women as brainless twits.”

She laughed.

She also tried to explain the stuff I was reading was escapism.

Key Word:  Tried.

I told her all fiction is escapism and I preferred stories that painted characters – especially women – more realistically.

 The Cabinet

Instead of telling me I was too young to understand or trying to tell me why I was wrong

Or trying to dissuade me from my dreams of being a novelist

This woman took me to a room in her basement

Stage left: Irony

This lovely woman was a close family friend of the neighbor whose basement we were living in.

She opened a rather tall cabinet containing a lot of romance novels.

She suggested I might like what was in there.

In other words, keep reading – if not keep living and don’t give up on your dreams because your young life was yet again pushed off the rails.

I went through the entire cabinet in a period of 3 or so months (all the while living in that basement) and weirdly enough decided if this was what was published it must be what people wanted to read.

So Here We Are

“…in the backwater overflow…”Catch and Release, Silversun Pickups

The genre has evolved but what never changed was my desire to balance what I want to give readers with my view of how characters – especially females – should be.

Strong, independependent and educated either by life or some formal way such as military or secondary/higher education.

As I’m working through my Dragon Core project I’m reminded of this battle of wills.

A battle I can finally – having come into myself as a writer – address.

To my satisfaction. As a writer.

Stay tuned

Manifesting 101: Time to Travel

In his book I’m Rich Beyond My Wildest Dreams I am I am I am Thomas Pauley suggests adding the line (paraphrasing here) It is seeking me as I am seeking it when writing your goals.

The idea being what you want is attracting you as you are attracting it.  

I recently saw this in action.

As a novelist one of the first decisions I make after deciding on a plot and the characters is setting.  As part of my selection process I take into consideration whether or not I’ve been to the area I’m considering.

If not then I consisder whether I’ve been to a place close or in some other way similar location.

In the case of my Dragon Core series it wasn’t just deciding between Seattle and New Orleans it was deciding on the setting within the setting.

I lived in New Orleans but so long ago I didn’t feel I could do it justice.

When it came to Aesop’s Cove I had the perfect location in mind as a “stand-in.”

I planned on having it as a place I could go work at so I could really soak up the vibe for the story.

Excited to have this ironed out I went with hubby for a celebratory lunch only to learn we’d shown up on the last day.

I remember staring at the waitress in shock as she told me they were going out of business.

Timing

What are the chances?

She brought the boss over after I explained why we were there.  He was polite but strained.

No wonder.

Though I was ready to go forward with the story I knew I had to find a suitable place as a stand-in for Aesop’s.

To serve as a place to go when I needed an energy tune-up during times of writing fatigue.

Weeks turned to months and I could not find a suitable location.

A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Waterfront

For a variety of reasons including serious career burnout I took time off from writing.

A lot of time.

During this time I focused on self-care.

lot of walking.

As I walked I sorted through challenges, mysteries, and solutions to those mysteries.

Many of those mysteries related to manifesting goals.

What I didn’t do was focus on the challenge of finding a suitable location to be a stand-in for such an important plot element.

I just kept walking and “not” thinking.

One day I decided to try to get a bit of work done.  At the time I was more thrilled with the idea I’d be able to do a bit of writing than where. As a result I gave little thought before slipping into a local haunt and sitting down to work.

Ch-ch-ch-changes

It had been some time since I’d been there.

Thank you Covid lockdown.

On some of these occasions I struck up conversations with visitors either local or not.  While I occasionally mentioned what I was doing more often than not I just enjoyed listening to their stories.

I love hearing people’s stories.

I continued this trend and came to see the location was becoming key in my recovery from burnout.

Likely because while I was working there I didn’t associate it with work.

I associated it with relaxing and the opportunity for spontaneous conversation.

I tuned into the music playing, the conversations.

Conversations that took my mind off my troubles.

And then it hit me.  I’d found my Aesop’s.

It only took about a year of not looking for it.

On a recent walk I pondered the mystery of how this happened.  I’d been in that place before burnout and never considered it a suitable stand-in for the Cove.  No sooner had that thought surfaced then Pauley’s words came to mind.

It is seeking me as I am seeking it.

During the time away from writing due to events beyond anyone’s control the place underwent a shift.

Thank you Covid shutdown.

I came to understand that as I was changing through my focus on self-care and health and wellness the location and its employees were also changing.  By the time I circled back around it had become what I needed.

The Lesson  

If only I had changed or only that location had changed it’s doubtful I would have found it to be a suitable stand-in.  It’s because we were both pulling mutual energy for the same or similar goal that I was able to manifest what I needed.

One of the bigger changes was that they wanted to be more than just a place to hangout.  They wanted to serve their diverse customers’ needs in ways I feel is friendlier.

Warmer, more inviting.

More like how I pictured Aesop’s Cove.

In coming to understand this need for transformtive change not just in myself but in some other aspect of the goal I found myself relaxing about a key element in the manifestation game.

Time

I’m more relaxed about how long the goal may take to manifest because I now truly understand it won’t til things are in place.

And that may take time.

Cradle of Love – A Study in EMF Sensitivity

A child** of the 80s I recently decided to revisit Billy Idol’s Cradle of Love video.

A classic.

An interesting factoid came to the cosmic surface.

Factoid – fun.

It sounded more pleasing through the Youtube video.

Note:  Engineer Derek Gauger (author of the Foreward to my book Riding the Waves) once tried to explain the sometimes painful audio experiences I had listening to digital – especially satellite music – was due to compression ratio.

When I listen to satellite radio I hear a high-pitched (awful/painful) squeal and any male singer sounds as if he’s wearing his Speedos too tight.  Needless to say I’m not a fan.

Fiction V Nonfiction.

Though I’m working on a Dragon Core project I never miss the opportunity to learn.

Especially when it comes to EMF Sensitivity.

Something was niggling at the back of my mind.

An EMF something.

Donning a cherished Christmas gift 

Headphones from Grado Labs.

I compared listening to the same song via Youtube video V Apple Music.

Apple doesn’t offer the music video which would have offered me an apples to – no pun intended – apples comparison.

Note:  Every time I read “remastered” when searching for music I want to puke.

I cut my own casettes from album so don’t go there.

What I concluded is the Billy Idol video is far less painful – audially – than any remastered whatever.

I guarantee it has to do with that EMF context that gets caught up in the audio compression rate soup.

Conclusion

At this point?  Doest it matter?***   What I do know is I  won’t be downloading the mp3 anytime soon.

Given the video isn’t available for purchase I suppose I can play it in the background while working on Messenger of the Gods.

Audially?  I bow to no one.

Not when it comes it listening quality.  

** I was not a “child” then

*** Neil Young and his Pono project do.

I Get Every Season – But Why Now?

Growing up with Hippie parents – not to mention LIVING through some of the times in question – child that I was – gives a unique perspective on life.

The gift that keeps on giving.

To Every Season

Turn Turn Turn

Dragon Core

For whatever reason I stumbled when trying to find the vibe for Aesop’s Cove.

The heartbeat of Dragon Core

I wanted – needed – to sit in a place that felt like the Seattle centerpiece of the series. 

To bask in vibes I could wear as I wrote.

No Dice

Damn Goldilocks

Like other Creatives the Muse is in charge

For years I traveled to and visited venues in and around the Seattle Metro Area

Dive bars, places that landed in one periodical or another…

Disrupting various lives – including my own – in search of the physical embodiment of of what I lived while writing those scenes.

Like I said – the Muse is in charge.

Turn turn turn

Unable to find the right locale [read vibe] I forged a way through a path of pain and uncertainty.

I couldn’t write until I had the soul pieces in place.

Muse again ya?

Turn turn turn

Enter Covid

The path forced me to take a break.

Or was it the Muse?

Turn turn turn

And so it came to pass that while I healed the world healed and – changed.

The one constant right?

One day I ventured to a place I’d been to but never thought of as a possibility for the Aesop’s Cove vibe.  Lo and behold they’d evolved and the locale was now a solid physical option to wrap myself in the vibe.

Weirdly Enough

On the other side of the post Covid energy evolution …

I stopped by the place that had been a place holder for Aesop’s Cove only to find I no longer connected to it.

Still wrestling with that and what it means

Circle Back

A tool I use in my writing

Years ago I asked an engineer friend of mine living in A2 whether – when we move – do we change or does what we left behind change?  His answer?  Both

Which at the time was totally irritating.

I now understand what my friend was trying to convey.

Relativity revisited.

I couldn’t find my Aesop’s Cove before now because not only did the place not exist I was not ready; something the theory of relativity explains perfectly.

Thanks G3!

And so life happens.

When and as we need it.

Old (Working) Habits Die Hard

Decided to head to a local place to do a bit of a working lunch.

In addition to good food and good service it has a good vibe.

Unplanned

I wasn’t anticipating that the moment I stepped through the door I would be invited to sit near someone already there.  After a brief reflection – I’d planned on working – I decided perhaps the Universe was sending a message:  Don’t work through lunch – enjoy it.

The patron was a delightful conversationalist.

He left before my lunch arrived.

In his absence I got quite a bit accomplished toward the current project

Messenger of the Gods, a Dragon Core novel.

As I ate I considered the break in an activity I’d been doing since elementary school

Working Lunch

It was the nuns who first suggested we utilize time eating to study or otherwise do schoolwork, going so far as to suggest we learn to eat with our nondominant hand while writing with the other.

Forgoing time outdoors to focus on studies whenever possible.

Long after I left Catholic school I continued the tradition of working through lunch.

Corporate = Right At Home

In some respects corporate success depends on the ability to work through lunch.

I don’t mean lunch meetings.  

Many were the months spent working alongside fellow techies catching up or getting a head start, to the degree it was not only the norm, it was expected.

As were working nights and weekends.

If you wanted a Meets or Exceeds Standards on your review.

When considered in this context I realized that while I enjoyed the break, albeit a temporary one, to try to change such a habit would be to go against something I’ve done for decades.

Probably not worth the energy it would take to undo decades of programming.

Begs the Question

Does it Need to be Changed?

If I thought – or got feedback – the practice was harmful I would definitely be looking to change but given stepping out to a different environment has been tremendously beneficial to my well-being and my career, I have to think that in general, it’s not a bad habit.

One thing I know.  Spontaneity is never dull.

Valentine’s Thank You

Just taking time to wish readers and visitors a Happy Valentine’s Day and to thank you for all the wonderful support you’ve given over the years.

I feel very fortunate to have had lifelong support for my dream of being a novelist

  • Family

Especially my parents and grandparents

  • Neighbors

Who encouraged my love of reading as well as writing and were ready to discuss books 

  • Teachers

Math and science teachers who took time to discuss universal what-ifs? and others who advised me on how to do proper research or just gave encouragement 

  • Classmates

Including those who weren’t close friends but who were quick with an encouraging word

  • Coworkers 

Some of whom were also aspiring writers and who never tired of listening to me talk of my dream

  • Readers

Without whom this wouldn’t be possible

I hope everyone has a wonderful day!

Elizabeth

Project Update

Hello everyone!  Wanted to provide a quick update on various projects.

After much consideration I’ve decided to decomission Metatron’s Army.  

For details including an audio message from me, click here.

I will be releasing new material in both my Dragon Core and Port Gallatan series.

I’m excited about the new projects and anticipate new material being available by or before autumn.

Stay tuned!

To Find Your Voice Ignore the Rules

I’ve known I wanted to be a writer since I was 3.  What I didn’t know was the convoluted path it would take.  Even as I was praised as a storyteller, winning fiction writing awards beginning at 6 of years age, I was getting pushback, the harshest coming from a woman of influence – my paternal grandmother.

I now understand she was putting the burden of her need to live in reflected glory/accomplishment on my young shoulders.

My education drove very strict grammatical rules into my head.

Most of which didn’t and still doesn’t apply to published works.

I excelled.

Was reading college level at age 7 – tested 99th percentile in the country – qualified for the new Mensa for children program.

All of which did little to help with my dream of becoming a published storyteller.

Arbitrare This!

Oh – is arbitrare a word?

Fast Forward through a successful multi-decade career in tech to 2003.

Enter Fate!

A merger from hell led me to know that if it was ever going to be –

The Time to Write is Now!

I’d wanted this for as long as I could remember and yes – I remember being 3 and giving my mom a poem I’d written [to her] in gold crayon on a red construction paper heart I cut myself and declaring I was going to be a writer.

Yeah but

Back to 2003

Even as I was working to publish Kerry’s Game – I was working on a doctoral thesis in holstic medicine.

Another passion.

This necessitated I not only spend hours in the scary basement of the science library at Stanford

Hey – it’s dark and creepy in that corner!

It required I purchase a book on the accepted writing style and grammer for a doctoral thesis.

My Masters’ thesis didn’t require this.

Detour Ahead!

My literary plans were derailed by Fate when an adjunct professor who read my thesis encouraged me to turn it into a book.

Which I did.

And detoured further via EMF Sensitivity which led me to publish nonfiction first.

I had multiple individuals begging me to give them unfinished work which I refused to do – on ethical grounds among other reasons; as in it wasn’t finished.

Skipping around a bit – including the impact of Smashwords on the industry …

Once I  published and subsequently dealt with the fallout of that lifetime achievement award I returned to my original dream.

Published storyteller.

I invested in my dream.

Time and money.  LOTS of money

Classes and conferences and more time.  

I ran into rather interesting challenges.

No one told me not to quit my dayjob. Quite the opposite.

I received a hand-written letter from an editor at Tor-Forge explaining their slots for a particular paranormal fiction angle were currently filled and inviting me to submit more of my work for consideration.  

Aspiring published writer gold.

Fate intervened

Beyond the scope of this article.  

Then intervened again.

Cue Mark Coker founder of Smashwords.

The man who upended the industry I was just breaking into had watched his wife suffer the hoops of fire aspiring novelists are put through and decided to do something about it.

For details visit his site.

By the time I was listening to him speak at a conference in Anaheim I was self-pubished and on my way to a flourishing writing career.

My dream.

I didn’t feel an imposter.  That didn’t mean I wasn’t ill at ease. 

I was writing by someone else’s rules and the vernacular that went with those rules.I hadn’t found my voice.

Full Circle

It was while reading one of my favorite books [I’d written] that it came to me. I’d written my stories as if I was working for the Big 5 when I wasn’t!

Their rules. Their voice.

Smiling from the Aha! moment I began editing with the warm feeling of someone who has found their voice!

I can finally write as me as opposed to a representative of a corporate standards list.

Stay tuned!

A Smidgen of This: Writing Real Life

Just reading Redemption, a Dragon Core novel,and appreciating a scene.

Brought back memories.

I wrote from experience for this one.

In the scene the heroine is explaining to the hero she’s taking a “staycation” to do a bit of painting.

Gilotti’s – core to the plot of the series – are some of my favorite characters to write!

She elaborates she’s behind in unpacking because she spent Thanksgiving and Christmas holidays working.

So colleagues with families could spend time with them.

As did I

Once upon a time.

I drew from this experience for a plot device that fit nicely into the bigger novel picture.

Lived It

It started as a great way to earn money.

I was doing the work of a salaried professional while paid hourly wages.

I didn’t mind.

It was good money!

I was single; they had families.  

I had a lot more flexibility.

It was a great way to learn on the job.

I had to do some quick thinking for some of those emergency (sometimes middle-of-the-night) customer calls.

It became a wonderful yearly tradition.

I connected with customers and coworkers who were in the same boat including some out-of-the-country or from cultures that didn’t observe our holidays.

It played a significant role in becoming a Supply Chain expert.

I fielded calls from people across the globe – including C-suite folks – flabbergasted if not outraged the automotive industry as a whole followed GM’s mandatory 2 week shutdown and that it bled over into tech – and a number of other industries and companies.

When I told my boss at a subsequent employer I was more than happy to work holidays he was thrilled.

Then called me at home to ask what the deal was. There had to be a catch, right? Nope.

Plot Device

Though my character’s industry, along with the region she lives/works in, are different, it was easy to tap real life experience to create a believable scene.

Believable in the explanations if not arguments she gives as to why she’s spending her vacation working.

I have fond memories of those days.

Memories that live on in my work.

And maybe – just maybe – someone somewhere on our big blue marble remembers “that woman” who picked up the phone over the holidays.

And saved their sanity.

I worked Halloweens too.

So they could be home to take their kids Trick-or-Treating

C’est la vie.

Cool song by Emerson Lake & Palmer.

Plot Why Knot: A Piece of the Whole

Untangle this.

Rereadinng Shadow of the Gods.

One of my favorite Dragon Core novels.

I love the characters.

Though I pay attention to every detail character development is a particular passion for me.

Characters are people and the myriad complexities associated with.

A brilliant challenge plucked from life.

A Little Goes a Long Way

Less is more.

Though I’ve included longer snippets  from novels in previous posts I felt – after reading this scene – it did the job nicely.

Illustrating my style.

Context

It’s Christmas

Hey, it’s after Halloween.  Tis the season!

Details

Cayden is a raven shifter.  Mica?  Human.

From Shadow of the Gods.

“I love you, Cayden.”

“If you think -.”

She gave him an understanding smile.  “What I think, Cayden, is that you have nothing from your childhood, though you definitely had one.  You did not hatch from an egg.”

He didn’t appreciate the levity but at least she had his attention.  Or that could have been that she’d unbuttoned the top two buttons of her blouse.