If You Cannot get rid of the Family Skeleton, you may as well make it Dance



If you cannot get rid of the family skeleton, you may as well make it dance ~ George Bernhard Shaw

If you ask most successful writers how they began or where to begin, they will tell you, write what you know. Sheila Roberts, Nicholas Sparks, and Kerry Riechs all write stories set in places near where they live or where they have visited. Marie Bostwick writes about quilting, which is a hobby of hers. I have thoroughly enjoyed all these author's works.

Especially if you are a beginning author, writing what you already know about will, help advance your plot, develop your characters, and create a story others will want to read. A Place to Call Their Own was inspired by a visit to the Pea Ridge National Military Park in 2008. After visiting the park and learning about this crucial battle, my ideas for the novel came together and I started writing. Again, I was living in the area at the time and I have an extreme interest in local history and the settlement of the West after the Civil War.

I'm spending the weekend in Eureka Springs, Arkansas. You can bet at some point in my writing career, at least one of my novels will be set in this beautiful, Victorian resort town.

Use what you already know to have the courage to step out of your box and go after your dreams.  For me that's writing a novel, what about you?

Enjoy your weekend!

Reflections After Reading Heartwood

Heartwood was Belva Plain's last published novel before she died in 2010. I received the book as a birthday present and thoroughly enjoyed it. Heartwood is the mother/daughter story of Iris Stern and Laura McAllister as Laura navigates marriage, family, and career in the 1970s and 1980s. Of course, Iris has her own demons to deal with as her life transitions from middle age into retirement age as well.

What's fascinating about this story is how both women try to cope with what's going on in their lives. Heartwood is a study of generational shifts and how differently Iris and Laura view marriage, motherhood, and themselves through the transitions presented in the novel.

If you're a writer, you'll want to read Heartwood to study the differing points of view. The author uses each character's point of view at just the right time during the story to advance the plot and give the reader more information about the situation. From Iris's nearly seventy year older husband to tween-aged Katie, Laura's daughter, we are allowed to know what each person is thinking at just the right time in the novel.

The final book of the Werner family saga, Heartwood stands alone as a beautiful story in and of itself. Now I'm going to have to go back and read about Anna Friedman, Iris' mother and Laura's grandmother.

I read Heartwood in just three days last weekend. I started Friday afternoon and almost finished Saturday night. It's a spectacular summer read.

...Look Foolish...Being Great

Until you're ready to look foolish, you'll never have the possibility of being great~Cher

What a great comment on success from one of the most popular pop artists of our time, in her sixties and still a beloved icon. What does it mean to us as writers, or for those of you that follow me on our parallel journey's to success?

To me, it means that I work tirelessly to balance a busy career with the dream of writing a novel. Not only does that mean working on writing every day, but it also includes blogging and developing a network on both Twitter and Facebook. I blog about this journey and pass on advice that I pick up and try to follow.

But even I don't follow the advice that I've passed along the way. The last eight weeks have seen sporadic blog posts and a non-existent presence on Twitter. The only routine I've kept going is reading everyday.

I've read three novels since the middle of May. All of them have been beautiful stories and well constructed by the authors. And all of them ended right when the characters realized their hopes and dreams. It's almost as if the universe is telling me that the journey is more important than the goal itself.

Don't be afraid to put yourself out there and declare to the world what you aim to be: writer, successful business person, direct sales leader. Don't be afraid to make mistakes and pick yourself up and keep going along the way.

Have a great week, everyone!

Reflections After Reading Letters From Home

Letters from Home, by Kristina McMorris, is the story of three young women and their relationships with each other and their families during the last year of World War II.  As the war comes to a close and the world finds peace again, Liz Stephens Julia Renard, and Betty Cordell find themselves.  Life will never be the same for any of them after the war.

The heart of the story is a love story inspired by the author's own grandparents.  It's a beautiful story, but I had to stop reading at many points along the way.  This was not because I was tired, not because it was late, not because I was bored.  I had to put the book down because I could no longer read through the tears I shared the emotions that the characters were feeling on their journeys during this turbulent time in history.

As a writer, I learned how to construct the plot around multiple characters in multiple locations.  The chapter headings help, but there's a bit more to the construction of the plot than just the chapter headings.  The choices on how what happens to each character, in each location, at each time, is integral in the telling of the story.

Letters from Home would be a great addition to your summer reading list.

Book Review - Cimarron Sunrise

I took a detour from my adult reading last night and read Cimarron Sunrise by Brenda Turner.  This is a delightful elementary-aged chapter book about a family's journey from Independence, Missouri to Arkansas City, Kansas to get ready for the first Oklahoma Land Rush in 1889.

The hopes, dreams, and fears of this story are told through the eyes of nine year old Maddy.  As readers, we get to experience most of the story through her point of view as she deals with the fear of traveling away from her familiar life at Granny and Grampa's.  Once the plans to move get going, she gets excited about the move West.  Even more refreshing is the fact that Maddy gets bored on the trail through the Nebraska prairie.  Most stories dealing with the westward expansion focus on the action and adventure.  Cimarron Sunrise deals with the boredom of day in day out travel across the limitless prairie.

Although most of the story is told through Maddy's point of view, boys will like reading this book as well.  There is plenty of adventure dealing with life on the trail, a bully along the way, and of course the Land Rush itself.  Maddy's brother, Nick, provides a character that young boys can look up to and admire while reading this story.

The heart of this story is an inspirational message of a young widow determined to make a better life for her and her children.  I've share before that I enjoy finding inspiration in fiction.  Brenda Turner provides two beautiful quotes that I've shared with my team at work:

"You are going to make history. Remember that and don't let fear take your dreams."

"We've got to have faith in our plan that things will work out."

If you're looking for a family story to read together this summer, Cimarron Sunrise is a great story that everyone can identify with and learn from.

Thanks once again, everyone, for sticking with me and returning to the blog.  Work is slowing down, team members are in place, and hopefully I'll be back on track with my blogging and writing soon.  Today's picture on the blog represents being back on track, enjoy!

Quote for the Day

When people don't believe in you, you have to believe in yourself - Pierce Brosnan

Book Launch - Motion to Kill

It's been a crazy few weeks at work, thanks for sticking with me.  I am so excited to be back again helping to launch the Kindle Edition of Motion to Kill by Joel Goldman. If you like mystery and crime stories, you’ll love Motion to Kill.

I am absolutely a fan of fiction set in places that I live or places that I’ve been.  I’m new to the Kansas City area and I just think it’s the coolest thing to read stories set here in my new city.  Whether you live here or not, you get a nice tour of our city, it’s landmarks, and a bit of the history surrounding some of our neighborhoods.  And it’s not forced or contrived, it all fits nicely into the story.

As an aspiring author myself, I loved how his characters pause at different parts of the story and recount what they know about the mystery and crime.  They keep summing it up as they go and reviewing the information so you don’t forget what’s going on or what they do know.  I was able to use this device recently in my own work in progress, and it’s not going to be a mystery-crime novel.  As far as the who-done-it goes, Joel Goldman always keeps you guessing and I didn’t figure it out until it was revealed in the end.  I hate mysteries that make it too obvious who did it (but I love it when I figure it out!). 

If you haven’t read Motion to Kill yet, I definitely recommend you download it for Kindle today.  And remember, you don’t have to have a Kindle e-reader, you can download the Kindle app on your PC, smartphone, or tablet to enjoy Motion to Kill and thousands more Kindle titles.  Here's a link to Amazon:

http://www.amazon.com/Motion-Kill-Lou-Mason-ebook/dp/B0055I10H4/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&m=AG56TWVU5XWC2&s=digital-text&qid=1307901438&sr=1-2.