  There are few things as fun as having writing friends close enough that you can participate in events together. Every time Sarahlyn Bruck and I have had a chance to connect, has been an absolute blast. Sadly, no getting together in person lately, but that doesn't mean we can't have fun with a virtual coffee chat ... If we were at a coffee shop, what would you order? Oh man, it’s been so long since I’ve had coffee outside of my house! I would order a flat white with whole milk—so creamy and yummy. I miss those. At home, do you have one go-to mug or do you pick by mood or whatever is within reach? I usually pick by mood and by what I’m drinking. If it’s coffee, we have these Fiestaware mugs I like—they’re the perfect size—in all different bright colors. Lately, I’ve been using the sunny yellow mug—a little brightness in winter. But for afternoon tea or the occasional hot chocolate, I prefer my favorite mug that my daughter gave me for my birthday many years ago. It makes me so happy. And holds, like, 16 ounces! As a writer, I’m obsessed with writing process. I love hearing how others work their magic. What’s your process like? Do you have certain routines/rituals? Ideally, I like to write in the mornings. I’d typically see my family off to work/school, walk the dog, grab a cup of coffee, and get to work. But during this pandemic, my routine has been totally thrown. We’re all home. The house is noisy. We’re all interrupting each other. So now I’ve reintroduced a daily to-do list, and my daily writing goals are part of it. If it gets done in the morning, great. If I don’t have a quiet moment until my daughter’s soccer practice, I’ll write in the parking lot. And you know what? It’s fine. It (mostly) works, lol.  I remember the first time you mentioned the concept for DAYTIME DRAMA and I’m so excited that it’s now being released. What was the idea (or coffee bean maybe? :-) ) that triggered this story?
I’m a California native now living in Philadelphia, and I’ve never gotten used to the winter weather. To put it simply, I was cold! Sunny Los Angeles sounded really nice in January-February of 2017, so I decided to “visit” in my mind. Your first novel, DESIGNER YOU, was set in Philadelphia which is where you currently live. I loved how personal that one felt. What made you decide on Hollywood as the setting for DAYTIME DRAMA? So part of reason I set the novel in Hollywood was because of chilly Philly, but also because my husband worked in the entertainment industry as an editor while I attended grad school. Most of our friends were part of the industry in some way, and it was such a hoot hanging around these fast, funny, creative people. That was a world I knew and loved—and wanted to write about. Can you give us a hint about what you’re working on next? Oh, yes! The book I’m finishing now is set in the world of girls’ and women’s soccer. It’s about an injured professional soccer player who is desperate to get back in the game, but when her father suffers a stroke, she’s forced to return home, and in turn, confront a horrible secret from her past. Revealing the truth will upend her soccer dreams and ruin her relationship with her best friend. But how can she keep their secret knowing what they did? Back to the coffee shop. Do you eavesdrop on folks at neighboring tables or tune everyone out? Great question! I do both. When I’m focused, I’m pretty good at tuning out the world. But sometimes my mind wanders, especially if the next table is having an especially juicy conversation. Finally tell me something about yourself that will make the people at the next table scoot closer to hear better … or maybe scoot further away. ;-) Ha! I’m so boring and quiet, especially at a coffee shop, I would suppose someone would need to scoot closer if they wanted to hear anything I had to say out loud. But it won’t be much!
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  I sent the revision back to the editor I'm working with yesterday (and totally failed to post a new blog as a result). Revision is stretching it a bit ... I basically rewrote the entire book - in 5 weeks! I've never written so much in such a short time. My brain is mush, my bum is numb, my eyes burn. And honestly, the only thing I wanted to do after hitting that send button was collapse on the couch and binge watch Firefly Lane. Okay, okay, and clean my house because it's been totally neglected for 5 weeks (well, that doesn't count as "wanted to do" but details!!).
The editor, however, not only inspired a fresh direction for the manuscript, she also re-ignited my creative spark. I seriously had every intention of taking a week off to read, clean, catch up on work I've let slide. But there are a couple of stories that just won't leave me alone and this morning, I jumped into a new project. After a long writing slump where I doubted every word that came out of my fingers, it's a good feeling to want to write. And I'm crazy excited about this new project. It's been bubbling in my brain for a couple of years now. So yeah, logically, a rest makes sense. But I'm going to ride this wave while it's hot. I can hang on the beach and rest when the waves die down. :-)  It's the last Monday of the month means sharing something that's making me particularly happy at the moment. I've been on a writing marathon this past month and every once in a while, I find myself craving something other than coffee (gasp, I know). I have a soft spot for tea and tend to buy more than I drink. But times like this, that buying problem comes in handy. And this particular tea has been making me very happy. Because, (a) look how pretty it is ...  And (b) it's yummy. Plus the name ... Bee the Change ... how can I not buy into that?! I'm not the only one who appreciates this tea!    Sometimes you pick up a book without really knowing much about it and it steals your heart. MEET ME AT THE MUSEUM was just that kind of book for me. I read it in a day which is unusual for me. I was absolutely charmed by this lovely story and characters.
From Goodreads: When Tina Hopgood writes a letter of regret to a man she has never met, she doesn't expect a reply. When Anders Larsen, a lonely museum curator, answers it, neither does he. They're both searching for something - they just don't know it yet. Anders has lost his wife, along with his hopes and dreams for the future. Tina is trapped in a marriage she doesn't remember choosing. Slowly their correspondence blossoms as they bare their souls to each other with stories of joy, anguish and discovery. But then Tina's letters suddenly cease, and Anders is thrown into despair. Can their unexpected friendship survive? A deep and luminous novel of self-discovery and second chances, MEET ME AT THE MUSEUM is a heartbreaking celebration of love, life and the surprises it throws at us. In a story that is at once urgent and tender, Anne Youngson polishes the everyday until it gleams.  I have a love-hate relationship with word counts. If you've read any of my posts, you know I'm planner. I like my project plans and deadlines and those, obviously, include how many words I need to write on any given day in order to meet said deadlines.
When I started this crazy month-long rewrite, I calculated that I'd need to write about 3,000 words a day. Now, for me, that's insane. I've attempted NaNoWriMo on numerous occasions but never completed it (although, truth be told, I've never been at the starting point of a manuscript when November rolled around; somehow I'm always revising). But this time, I didn't have a choice. So I took a dry erase calendar and marked down how many words I needed per day, giving myself a smaller count on days I knew I had less time, and more words on the days I didn't have to go anywhere. Every day, I write how many words I did that day as well as the total for the manuscript. Here's why ... Some days, the words flow and I crush my goal. But, predictably, there are days when I feel like I'm deleting more than I'm writing. Seeing the low number under the goal frustrates me. On those days, especially, I focus on the total word count for the manuscript. Seeing how much I've actually managed to write in a short period is the boost I need to keep going. If I only focused on the less-than numbers, it would be too easy to see the failure. So, yeah, I cringe when setting word count goals, but I also know it's a necessary part of the process for me.  First a quick bit of background. When I was four, we moved from Israel to England. When we moved back to Israel, three years later, we took a few items back with us, including books that I couldn't part with. But when we moved to the United States a couple of years later, there were things that didn't make sense to schlep (and pay for shipping). Makes sense, right?! Fast forward many years (like thirty-some, cough, sputter), and I get an excited call from my cousin in Israel. She'd been in a used bookstore looking for English books for her daughter and guess what she discovered ...
Seriously ... what are the odds! This book now has a special spot on the bookshelf in my office where I can see it every day. It reminds me that some books choose us.
  One of the best perks of being a writer is making friends with amazingly talented writer and, when you're lucky, getting to read an advance copy of an upcoming book. This fabulous book releases on April 13 and I can't wait for the world to get their hands on it!
From Goodreads: When Paige Meyer gets an email from a DNA testing website announcing that her father is a man she never met, she is convinced there must be a mistake. But as she digs deeper into her mother’s past and her own feelings of being the odd child out growing up, Paige begins to question everything she thought she knew. Could this be why Paige never felt like she fit in her family, and why her mother always seemed to keep her at an arm’s length? And what does it mean for Paige’s memories of her father, a man she idolized and whose death she is still grieving? Back in 1975, Betsy Kaplan, Paige’s mom, is a straightlaced sophomore at the University of Kansas. When her sweet but boring boyfriend disappoints her, Betsy decides she wants more out of life, and is tired of playing it safe. Enter Andy Abrams, the golden boy on campus with a potentially devastating secret. After their night together has unexpected consequences, Betsy is determined to bury the truth and rebuild a stable life for her unborn child, whatever the cost. When Paige can’t get answers from her mother, she goes looking for the only other person who was there that night. The more she learns about what happened, the more she sees her unflappable, distant mother as a real person faced with an impossible choice. But will it be enough to mend their broken relationship? Told in dual timelines, Little Pieces of Me examines identity and how the way we define ourselves changes (or not) through our life experiences.   Last week, I mentioned the editorial feedback that sent me into a wee bit of a tailspin and a not so wee rewrite. What happens when a pantser who learns about her story through writing the draft has to write a new draft in one month? She tightens channels her inner nerd and plots. Step 1: Take notes on the editorial letter. I highlighted the feedback that jumped out and waved a "me, me" flag. And I prioritized the big changes and the not so big but still important ones. Step 2: Decide what stays. There were scenes or details in the original that I wanted to keep so those pages got marked. Whenever I pulled a scene from the old version, I'd mark what new chapter it went into. By the time I'm done with the rewrite, all of those stickies will have been discarded.  Step 3: Planning Boards. I pulled out the lovely W-plot chart that, honestly, I haven't used in a couple of manuscripts. Each yellow sticky is a finished chapter. Because my story revolves around a specific timeline, I printed calendar sheets and used the pink stickies to help track when things are happening. The blue and green stickies are chapter/scene notes that are still to be written and when I think they'll happen. Once the become real scenes, I transfer that information to a yellow note and up on the W graph it goes.
And that bottom calendar is to keep me honest on progress. It's insanely satisfying seeing the number grow. Bonus, it's given me a far better appreciation for what I can achieve and and what affects my productivity. What have I learned from this process?
 It's hard to believe we've been in this surreal state of isolation for almost a year now. There are so many things I miss about life pre-COVID. One of the biggest ... hugs.  So I made my own. One day, we'll be able to hug again! In the meantime, sending virtual hugs to anyone who needs one!
  This book has been a double dose of awesome -- not only is the story fabulous but I loved every minute listening to the narrator. And I promptly ordered a tree version because there were passages I had to read, not just hear.
From Goodreads: A novel of survival, love, loss, triumph—and the sisters who changed fashion forever Antoinette and Gabrielle “Coco” Chanel know they’re destined for something better. Abandoned by their family years before, they’ve grown up under the guidance of pious nuns preparing them for simple lives as the wives of tradesmen or shopkeepers. At night, their secret stash of romantic novels and magazine cutouts beneath the floorboards are all they have to keep their dreams of the future alive. The walls of the convent can’t shield them forever, and when they’re finally of age, the Chanel sisters set out together with a fierce determination to prove themselves worthy to a society that has never accepted them. Their journey propels them out of poverty and to the stylish cafés of Moulins, the dazzling performance halls of Vichy - and to a small hat shop on the rue Cambon in Paris, where a business takes hold and expands to the glamorous French resort towns. But when World War I breaks out, their lives are irrevocably changed, and the sisters must gather the courage to fashion their own places in the world, even if apart from each other. |
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