My Characters Took a Vacation!

One thing you often hear me say is that I write becuse my characters wont' stop telling me thier stories.  Well, this July, I went on vacation--and they, did, too!

It was kind of weird, actually.  I expected to do a lot of writing on vacation, where I'd have some idle time, especially on the planes and trains.  I packed three notebooks, plus a small one for my purse, and I thought I'd have to buy some on the trip.  I didn't even fill one.  I wrote some non-fiction--blogs and reviews of all the books I read on the trip.  That's what I did with my idle time--read.  I haven't read so many books in years!  It was actually very nice to escape in someone else's world for a change.  You'll be seeing the reviews popping up now and then, at least for the small press books.

So why didn't I write fiction?  I was having too much fun just hanging out with my husband, Rob.  As you know, he spent the past year in Iraq, so, while we chatted every day in Skype, we weren't together.  Even just sitting around reading was a treat.  However, I can no longer write fiction in public, even in the presence of my husband.  The emotions of my characters show on my face, and it makes me self-consciouis.  I can get away with this writing on the computer while Rob is concentrating on his, but in a notebook on a cruise ship?  Not happening.  Non-fiction was easier:  I wrote 6 articles for my book tour, seven reviews and a few blog posts, all on paper, so now I'm transcribing.  I also made notes of names I liked, interesting facts I learned and story ideas.  I did manage a couple of scenes, usually when I woke up before everyone else, but as I said, my characters didn't talk to me over vacation.

It was kind of nice, actually, but I think if they went away like that permanently, I'd miss them.

What about you?  Can you write during vacation?  If so, how do you manage?

Woo-hoo! Neeta 2 is done!

On Tuesday, I put the finishing touches on Neeta Lyffe 2: I Left My Brains in San Francisco, and sent it off to writer friends for critique.

For the rest of the year, I intend to catch up on some stuff, figure out my schedule and tasks for at least 2 months, watch movies, enjoy my kids, read books and goof off.  (And if Penny sends the copy edits ofr Live and Let Fly, I'll do that, too.)  In January, I'll hit the keyboard again to finish The Old Man in the Void.

Sometimes, I must admit that I like having written even more than writing itself.  I get random sparks of happy for days just thinking that I've accomplished another novel and that I enjoy the story, too.   I know some writers get a kind of doldrums once the writing process is over, but for me, it a chance to rev up for the next dream.

Rapunzel: What if it's not everything I dreamed it would be?
Flynn Rider: It will be.
Rapunzel: And what if it is? What do I do then?
Flynn Rider: Well,that's the good part I guess. You get to go find a new dream.

How about you? If you're a writer, how do you feel after you put the last words in the file and know it's time to send it off?  If you're not a writer, how do you feel after finishing a big project?

My Novel's Journey: Neeta Lyffe 2 Gets new Life

This is my sister, Gina, modeling as Neeta.  How cool is that?

I had a rough time in the past week trying to get back into writing Neeta Lyffe II:  I Left My Brains in San Francisco.  The information I got from my contact at the oil refinery helped while confusing me at the same time.  I just didn't know how to get it all coordinated.  I also found that I needed to have more scenes earlier to set things up.  Finally, I was a little disgusted with the last couple of scenes I'd written at the end.  They were good scenes, but I didn't like Neeta taking charge of coordination when she really needed to be chopping zombie heads.

Here's the thing about us authors--sometimes, we really really hate discarding something we worked hard on.  But when we finally gut ourselves up to it, we can move on to write something even better.

The oil refinery analogy worked only up to a point, but they're making fuel out of manure in Neeta 2, so some stuff didn't work.  Rather than trying to shoehorn my refinery to an existing model, I needed to let go of it.  Then, of course, the perfect model presented itself--Digestion!  it will no longer be the more accurate refinery processes I'd been aiming at and had done hours of research on, but it's going to be a lot more fun--and this is humor, after all.

As I started putting in the scenes, which is really a medly of actions with several characters rather than a straight-line progression with Neeta, I realized that the scene I was sticking on wasn't going to work.  The old scene had an inexperienced zombie exterminator manager with a doctorate thesis trying to force his ideas for large scale zombie infestation on a situation that didn't fit.  Neeta was having to put him down and take over in order to save lives.  It was a good scene and I wanted her to have a situation where she asserted herself, but it made her coordinator instead of exterminator.  And why do we read about Neeta?  Because she kicks zombie butt.  I finally axed the scenes--about 2000 words--but once I did, other more natural situations showed up for her to regain her confidence.  As a bonus, Doctor Storm Matterston still got to be an admin weenie, only a slightly more successful one--and he even got to flirt with someone.  He's a happier character, now.

I'm building steam, and think I can finish this beast by the end of the year, which is my goal.  However, if I'd insisted on clinging to past work, research and ideas, I think I would have spent the week banging my head against the wall. 

So, if something you're doing isn't working, instead of trying to power through it, back up and try it from a new angle, even if it means tossing out a great idea, disregarding research or killing off a character.  You may find that something even better rises from the ruins.