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Questions for Distraction

Today, I am miles away.

Literally. I am deep in the North Woods for the holiday. It’s likely that I’m sitting on a couch with a wild look in my eye, dressed in long sleeves and pants, smothered in deet, and gripping my coffee like a mad woman.

Don’t get me wrong, Up North is beautiful with its tall northern pines, the spring-fed lake, amazing sunsets and the loons. I love the quiet and the silhouette of the treeline against the night sky.

But, there’s a real tick-fest going on up here right now because of something like the warm winter or the dry spring. Whatever. All I know is that ticks are the devil. They are out to get me, I’m sure. So sure that I just might return to my Pentecostal roots and start praying in tongues to keep them away.

But, I didn’t set out to write a post about Dermacentor variabilis phobia (aka. fear of wood ticks. Okay, I made up that word, sort of).

A few weeks ago, Kate McIntire (known as @girlfrenkate on Twitter), tagged me with a list of five questions. I don’t know if I can answer the questions as cleverly as she answered them. But, what better time to try than when I desperately want to forget about you-know-what.

So, here goes.

1. Where were you five years ago?

  • On the cusp of 35 (a painful thought then, and an even worse realization now).
  • A mother of one, praying for two.
  • Without a blog.
  • Twitter-less.
  • Not writing.

2. Where would you like to be five years from now?

  • Not thinking about my age.
  • Signed with an agent.
  • A published Novelist.
  • Meeting face to face with other writers on a regular basis.
  • Dermacentor variabilis phobia free (anyone know a good therapist?).

3. What was on your to-do list today?

Most recently?

  • Get outside in the sun (check, the proof is in the sunburn).
  • Plant tomato seedlings and herbs (check, can’t wait for the pesto).
  • Send off questions for next Guest Author interview: Therese Walsh, author of The Last Will of Moira Leahy (check, post to be published soon).
  • Soak in the tub after kids go to bed (check, I am fully serene now, except for that little rant at the beginning of this post).
  • Answer five questions readers have been dying to ask, though they didn’t know it (check, aren’t you glad I’m almost finished?).

4. What five snacks do you enjoy?

  • Nothing healthy.
  • Preferably something salty.
  • Often something sweet.
  • On a destructive day, a candy bar and a coke.
  • A bowl of cereal when I stay up too late.

5. What five things would you do if you were a billionaire?

Why do you tease me so? Okay, fine….

  • Still work.
  • Buy myself an antique secretary’s desk for writing.
  • Vacation on the beach any time I darn well please.
  • Pay for my kids’ college.
  • Stare at my bank statement in disbelief, since I was a billionaire before that tuition bill came in and now I’m just a writer.

Now, enough about me. What about you? If you had to answer just one of those questions, how would you respond?

PS. Thanks, Kate, for the distraction!

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Back to Wednesday’s routine, sort of

Last week, I took a break from the usual Wednesday’s Word challenge, and hosted guest author Linda Lappin. Tomorrow, I will get back into the virtual ring with Wordsmith.org and his never predictable word of the day.

Well, it won’t be me in the ring exactly. I’ll be cheering from the corner.

For the last two months, I’ve invited another writer to participate in Wednesday’s Word of the day. E. Victoria Flynn started us out. Ann M. Lynn braved the second round. And, tomorrow,  I welcome my friend Dot Hearn.

Dot and I met through Ariel Gore’s Lit Star Training online writing course. During introductions, we discovered we were both new to the NaNoWriMo madness that year, that we both recently embarked on a serious commitment to write, and that we were both sign language interpreters. Of course, I connected with Dot right away.

But, it wasn’t until after Ariel’s class ended, when we embarked on a project together, that I understood the true depth of her commitment to writing and her unconditional support of other writers.

Dot and I, along with a small group of other Lit Star graduates, designed and self-published an anthology (On the Fly: Stories in Eight Minutes or Less) of quick writes that resulted from several writing exercises in Ariel’s class. We were all amazed at the kind of writing that came out of one prompt and an eight minute time limit, and we wanted to share that magic with others. The anthology project gave us all a taste of the publishing world and an even more solid connection to each other.

Dot continues to work with the same spirit and determination. She maintains a website called The Writing Vein, where she posts her own writing prompts every Friday – The Razor’s Edge. I love reading her prompts, as they tap into several avenues of inspiration by combining a written prompt with an image and a song.

I could blather on and on about Dot, but I’ll let her tell you – in her own words – how she came to love writing:

Writing has been one constant throughout my life. Sure, I’ve taken a little time off here and there, but I wrote my first stage script at age 9 and hand-wrote my first novel – all 72 pages – at age 10.

As a teenager and during my early adult years, I submitted poems and a few of them were published. My early college days were spent in journalism, the middle college years brought a sign language interpreting degree, and my most recent college degree included a minor in theater and a minor in writing.

Right now I have one novel in revision; a memoir still being written; short stories and flash fiction and poems floating around on editors’ and contest judges’ desks; a produced radio script, freewrites galore – and more. And I am into the fourth year of a ten-year commitment to write no matter what; I think writing is becoming a habit I don’t want to shake.

I am a writer in the spaces between work and working out. Current projects are completion of a memoir and revision of a mystery novel, alongside writing short stories and poetry. I hope soon to tip the balance of work and writing life, so that work will happen in the spaces between writing and outdoor adventures.

Thank you, Christi, for giving me this opportunity to step outside of my box to participate in your Wednesday’s Word. I’ve been a fan since it’s inception and I’m excited to be able to participate in this way. You are an inspiration.

Thank you, Dot! I can’t wait to see how you wrangle Wordsmith into a crafty creative submission tomorrow!

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Becky Levine and the Basement of a Mall

A while ago, I ordered Becky Levine’s The Writing & Critique Group Survival Guide.  Because I ordered it to be delivered along with the more-than-popular LEGO Star Wars: The Visual Dictionary (on back order for all you hard-core LEGO and Star Wars fans), I didn’t receive the book until last week.

I’m not far into Becky Levine’s book yet, but I read just enough to carry me through my first meeting with a local writing group this afternoon.

She writes:

Take care to make the meeting worth your time and money. Talk to people. Too often, at these events, writers give in to their nervousness, shyness, or just their uncertainty about their own writing.

…[R]emember: This is your writing. It’s important. I’m not advocating shoving yourself into the middle of someone else’s discussion or waving a red flag in the bathroom line, but put yourself out there (pgs. 14-15).

The woman who runs this particular local group emailed me the room information, said I was welcome to attend, and mentioned that they would all be bringing a sample of their work to share.

Yesterday, I worked a split shift at my paying job and was gone most of the day. My daughter cried both times I had to leave, so the decision to steal away for another two hours today wasn’t easy. Add, to that guilt, the anxiety about sitting in a room with strangers and reading a short story out loud (for the first time to someone other than myself), and I could have easily backed out. But, something in my gut told me – and Becky Levine’s words encouraged me – to go to this meeting.

When I got to the building, I came upon another woman looking for the meeting room. She smiled, told me her name, and immediately set me at ease. We made our way to the basement of the building and walked into the meeting together. She introduced me to her friends as a “fellow traveler.”

It was a small group, and I mostly just listened. When it came time to read our samples of work, I hesitated. A few of the members were aging adults, and the conversation, in the beginning, drifted from writing to assisted living. In the story I brought to read aloud, a young woman visits her grandmother in a nursing home. I thought maybe they wouldn’t like the story, that they would think I was rude to read that kind of story to this group. Worse yet, I worried they might not like my writing style.

Then, I remembered,

This is your writing.
It’s important.
Put yourself out there.

So, in the basement of a shopping mall, I sat around a table with six other writers and read my work. My face grew hot and my voice wavered. But, I pushed off that feeling of insecurity and panic and kept my eyes on the words.

After I finished, one person noted a place where I might change the wording to make it more clear. Everyone else sat quiet. Someone got up to leave. I tried to interpret the silence, then I decided, Oh well, at least I took the action.

I can’t control their response.
Nor, can I assume I know what it means.

And, isn’t that the way it is with every story a writer sends out into the world?

Before the meeting ended, the woman who introduced me earlier offered some kind words about my story. The man across the table suggested my published works will be filed in the group’s archives one day. I left the meeting with a few phone numbers and an invitation to come back.

I don’t know that I had much in common with the people there today, other than writing itself. But, when Becky Levine talks about finding a writing or critique group, she doesn’t mention we should search for people like ourselves: with kids or without, working day jobs or not, old or young. Instead, she emphasizes that we follow our gut instinct.

Find a group where we feel welcomed and supported – a group that will meet our writing needs.

My gut tells me that I found several good souls sitting at a table in a mall basement today, who passed kind words around the circle and who didn’t kick me out after my first reading. I can’t wait to go back.

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