Dear Diary Entry #3

Dear Diary,
Do you remember the journal entry that wouldn't end? Lord, do I ever and I'd consider it a personal favor if you'd not bring it up. Again. EVER. Right back atcha. The reason I mention it now is that yesterday's writing session triggered an epiphany. Oh yeah? What kind of epiphany? The kind that smacked me upside the head--like a Gibbs' slap?--yeah, exactly like that and made me realize that writing is a lot like flying with your eyes closed.  You don't say? Yeah, smartass, I do.

Ooooh, fiesty this morning, aren't we? Yeah, I am and I think I have every right to be. See, you and me we've been through a lot. True that. This road less traveled has had more than its fair share of bumps, potholes, and hitchhikers with opinions. Ugh, don't get me started on all those opinions. Do this. Do that. Change your process. Shed your comfort zone. Change how you think. Let nature take its course. The problem is on the inside. No wait, it's on the outside. No, it's both. Which reminds me. I added alcoholism to your bucket list for the year.  That's great, but did you add buying said alcohol to the grocery list? Naw, you've got too many things on your plate as it is. But if elves and fairies show up on your doorstep with a keg and nachos... you know who to thank. Will do and thanks for looking out for me. Eh, that's what an overactive subconscious mind does.

So back to this epiphany... years ago during my first stint working as a COOP student, I landed a gig in a molecular biology lab playing with DNA. Shudder. I remember. All those mice. BTW, thanks for going to confession. Last thing I wanted was that many rodents on my conscience. Hey, I still have nightmares about that day one of the guys in the lab was holding a radioactive solution and had a seizure. That was messy. I'm just grateful no one got seriously hurt or grew an extra arm in a less than ideal location.

But anyway, back to the DNA schtick... I walked into that job with a rudimentary--but very thorough according to your school grades--knowledge of how DNA synthesizes and replicates. Not long after that the post docs in the lab decimated my scientific foundation by showing me how what I'd learned was a great model, but didn't apply to real life situations. In a nutshell, everything I'd learned in school about DNA was wrong.

The post docs may have knocked down your wall of knowledge, but things weren't totally lost. You did have good building blocks. True, but I had to stop and rebuild everything from scratch. To do that I had to recognize what was at the core of the situation. And that was...? Chemistry. Everything that happens to DNA is triggered by chemistry. That in turn is driven by supply and demand. On the cellular level.

Lovely story, but what does this have to do with writing and the journal entry that would (shudder) never end? Everything and nothing.  I'm going to slap you. hehe, turn about is fair play. Smart ass. Get to the point. That is if you even have a point? I do and you're gonna like it. I'll be the judge of that.

The point is that it's a system. A system that has a root control mechanism regulated by supply and demand of chemicals to the cell. This same system works on a single or multi-cellular level.  So? I'm still waiting for the punchline. I know and I'm loving every minute of stringing this out for you. Yeah and payback will be pure undiluted hell, you imp of ill repute.

Promises, promises. But here you go, oh impatient watcher of tea kettles... to get to where I'm at with writing, I had to go through where I'd been. Meaning...? That I had to knock down everything I had previously learned to find the solid blocks of my story craft foundation. Then I picked up the pieces and went back to the story ideas. So now I know and understand why characters do the things they do. Each book is its own system that operates under supply and demand--or in story craft terms, action and reaction.

That's GREAT! I'm so proud of you and blah, blah, blah. But what does this have to do with writing being a lot like closing you eyes and flying? 

Absolutely nothing. Grrrrr... (hehe, I love you, too, o' subconscious mind o' mine) but before you break out the Nerf whip and target my posterior... writing for me is more than just hammering out random words on the keyboard. It includes brainstorming, plotting, revision, and front loading all the threads of a series and emotions of the characters before I ever sit down to type. To some my process appears anal and obsessive.

It IS anal and OCD. 

Whatever. But by the end of the front loading session, I know my system--or in this case, the story I'm working on. I know why (in the story) the dog barked at 3AM on the morning of the 2nd in the neighbor's yard. The reader may never see it, but I know why and that's what matters. Because it's about becoming an SME (subject matter expert) for the stories I own. And yeah, I own them. Through and through. So much so that if I send a draft to a critique partner before the whole book is done and they supply some words of wisdom, I can tell you exactly why I ignore what I do, then set back, close my eyes and... embrace the feeling of flying while I write the manuscript.

Oh and one more thing... about that closing the eyes thing... according to learning styles my subconscious mind is visual so when I close my eyes... it's like applying high quality duct tape to my overactive subconscious mind and her incessant chatterbox of an internal editor. Hey, I never said I wasn't an evil imp of ill repute.

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So now I'm tossing it out there to all my writer peep friends... how do you get your internal editor to shut off and embrace that feeling of flying while writing?

Taking it outside...

So a while back--when the kidlet got an ipod for Xmas--I linked it to my iPhone. That way I can keep track of what she's got going on in her pre-teen  world. Pretty cool, huh? Yeah, it helps me sleep at night. ;-)

But one of the things that shocked the daylights out of me was her snapping pictures of sayings like the one on the left. Seriously? My kid snapped that pic? Of that quote?

OMFG, she really has been listening to me.

Of course, when I questioned her on the pic, she explained that she thought it was funny... then she said:
     But I don't get one thing.
     What's that? I asked.
     Why did they say Blackberry? Why didn't they just say jelly?
     Well, it's a reference to---
     And why pick blackberry? Everyone knows that grape jelly is the best.
     Um, well, uh---
     And, mama, whoever made that picture wasn't very smart, because jelly and computers don't go together. I know, because a blob dropped onto the keyboard and it made it real sticky. So can I use your wireless keyboard? Oh and mama...? I'm hungry.

Naturally that entire conversation spanned maybe 3 seconds, because... yep, you guessed it. My kidlet is a talker. Honestly, she'd make a great lawyer. hehe, actually, she just might be the only kid in her age block in the county who recognizes the Perry Mason theme song and has watched more than a few episodes. Thank you, MeTV.

But the best part about her having found that pic... since then she's spent less time on the computer and more time out back on the swing set... which is just awesome.

Granted all that fresh air has kicked up her already bottomless pit metabolism, but hey... I'm good as long as she keeps her peanut butter and jelly sandwiches away from... MY laptop. ;-)

Until next time... happy reading and happy Spring!
~Elijana

Hello, Spring!

I'm so excited! Spring is here!!! Yay!!!!

As if looking at the calendar isn't enough, check out what bloomed last night in my front yard. That, my dear readers, is a Bradford Pear tree. The smelliest, stinkiest tree I have ever had the misfortune to meet. Lucky me has two of them in the front yard. Both just as big (and both in need of some pruning).

Oh don't get me wrong, I think they're beautiful. I love the way they look when I'm standing on the street looking up at the homestead, but oh-mi-word... do they stink when they bloom.

Which explains why I've been hanging out on the back porch (where there are no Bradford pear trees) working on the next manuscript... NOTHING ELSE MATTERS.

Yesterday's writing extravaganza exceeded my expectations--yay, me! I eeked out about 3,000 words on the laptop and about another 3K on paper. Today's fun with wordsmithing is rocking and rolling as well... so far on paper (and soon to be on the computer) I've managed probably around another 3-4K.

Yeah, that's what I'm talking about. A few more thousand words and then I'll be done, done, done with this draft.   I can't wait. 

So on that note, I'm off to grab some grub then get back to work.  Then after that I have homework to tackle. Then after that... well, you get the idea. lol. Until next time... Take care and--oh dear, I almost forgot again to mention something I meant to mention on the previous posts.

I tweaked the comment tool on the website. Now you'll be able to leave comments on posts using your facebook account. I'm giving the facebook commenting tool a trial run. So if you're looking for a way to comment... just click the link to today's post (Hello, Spring!), the page will reload and when you scroll down to the bottom of today's post you should see a facebook comment box. So far I've noticed that the comment box is post/link specific and won't show up when there are no comments when you load the main website (elijanakindel.com). Kind of sucks, but it's an experiment and that always makes my inner geek happy.
That and like I said, I'm giving it a trial run. I'll reevaluate things in about a month (gracious that seems so far away) and do what needs to be done.

Okay and on that note... I'm off for food and then back to the manuscript! Take care and have a great day!
~Elijana

PS-Feel free to pass the word along that I've got my first book, Emily's Affair, up on Amazon for a month long celebration. The price is discounted to $0.99... so if you haven't snagged yourself a copy, this would be the month to do it. Because once April Fool's day hits... the price goes back up. Happy Spring!

The Cats and My Desk

I've never been one of those people whose first instinct is to snap a pic when the weirdness is happening. I don't really know why I don't do it. Probably has something to do with weirdness being an almost every day occurrence for me. Of course, that's usually tied hand in hand with me being too shocked stupid to respond from said weirdness.And that goes hand in hand with the training I received at a young age on the importance of a good sense of humor.

My sense of humor--warped as it is--got its start in my pre-teen years. La, those were some tough times and, seriously folks, I would have gone insane had I (and my family) not learned to laugh at the little things which make normal people wanna tear their hair out. Actually I was talking about this very topic with my mother the other day. The reason for the topic happened to be this very scene that I walked into my office to find.

Really? Seriously? I was only gone for 5 minutes! How in the world could you two cats get that comfortable in MY CHAIR and on MY DESK and---hey, wait where did my file go? I was working on a manuscript! <grumble, grumble, complain, complain>

You're probably thinking this scene is pretty normal--especially if you're a person who resides in a household owned by a cat. Or two. So this sort of scene would fall into a normal everyday occurrence. And normally I would agree with you, but this time... and after I spent a week of rerunning this same routine... it's no longer normal and has moved to the realm of being a real pain in the ass. Literally.

So you see the cat in the chair? That's Little Bit--which is short for Little Bitch. The name fits. Totally fits. So the first three times I walked in on this scene, I was able to get Ella (The Cat Group Tech Specialist who has a taste for plastic... as in electrical cords and ear bud cords...I see a bright frazzled future for her in the near... um, future).. so where was I? Oh yeah, I got Ella off the desk and my computer. No problem. She was lured by a swift toss of a rumpled up post it note--hey, she is a writer's cat, after all. Now for Little Bit in the chair... for three days, the only way to get her to move was to sit on her. Or rather to almost sit on her. Do that and she'd get irritated, hiss at me, then mosey on over to some other plush spot to claim as her own.

For three days that worked. Three whole days!!! The fourth day... not so much. This time when I walked into the office and saw her there, I pulled back the chair and started to sit and... damn if that cat didn't just roll over on her back and extend all her claws at my posterior.

Seriously??!!! You had to go there, Little Bit?!!! Let go of my butt, you durn cat! For crying out loud it's a yoga pants day and I'm not your personal scratching post and... ow, you obnoxious overbearing... let go!

Finally she let go. Granted it took longer than 30 seconds to get her to retract her claws from my posterior... but she let go. And yeah, now, I can laugh about it. Mostly because I learned my lesson.

Never try and sit on Little Bit when wearing yoga pants. Jeans provide much better protection.

Update

Okay, so anyone who's read my bio knows I'm allergic to social media, right? Right. But I wonder if I also mentioned that I have hermit-like tendencies? No? Well, consider yourself enlightened. Because I do. Sometimes out of choice, but most of the time just because I'm so durn busy.

And if I haven't mentioned it, my application to become a time lord was turned down by the powers that be who rule this universe. That totally sucked. I mean who wouldn't have loved to have had an extra 15 minutes in the morning to just indulge yourself and not have to do... well, anything. (See me with my hand raised high the air, because I'd so love to have the powers of a time lord.)

So yeah, no big surprise... life has been chaotic lately. Not bad chaotic (I keep telling myself) just busy with a lot of little things. And big things. lol, lots and lots of big things. ;-)

For the latest, here's my list of what's cooking right now...

1. Brenda Novak's Online Auction for Diabetes. I'm signed up to participate in this wonderful program. This is a cause near and dear to my heart ever since I lost a cousin to juvenile diabetes. If you've never heard of it, I urge you to click the link and find out how one woman set out on a crusade to help fund a cure for diabetes and help her son. The auction runs May 1-May 31, 2013.

2.  BTR--Blog Talk Radio. I was invited to join a team over at Marketing for Romance Writers and become a Blog Talk Radio host. I made through the training and now we're in the process of setting up schedules.  Okay, that sounds great but what does it mean for my readers and writer friends? Great question and I'm glad you asked! I'll be interviewing writers about their latest releases and getting to know them in a short, 30 minute program that I'm calling... Author's Voice: Spotlight on (insert author's name). I'll be back on the blog (and other blogs) over the next few months to promote the program, but for right now we're in the scheduling phase... and for the record, I'm excited to do this program as I love the idea of being able to listen to a podcast and hear the voice of your favorite author so the next time you pick up one of their books... you have a voice you can associate the words to.

3. School. Yep, I'm still enrolled. My grad school app has been submitted and am just waiting on one more letter of recommendation to make it in so they can finish up reviewing my app. In the meantime, I'm still chugging away on the lessons and prepping for two more exams.

4. Website. It's on my to-do list to revamp the website for some new elements and pages. I don't have a specific roll out date for the new site, but I'm targeting May. But considering everything I have going on this year, I'll be ecstatic if I get it done before December. ;-)

5. Writing... oh yeah, this is what I've been itching to get to. The reason I haven't been online much has everything to do with spending my free time working on the next manuscript. It's coming along nicely. I'd give you a word count on what I'm up to, but by the time you read this post that'll be way outdated. ;-)

I mentioned in a previous blog that (at least I think I did, la my days are running together) the next set of books I'm working on have some paramilitary elements to them. I'm really excited about this new series. It's one I've been toying with over the past few years and... it's just about ready to roll out. There's also a lot of cross over with the books I've already got out. Which is just cool on so many fronts--IMHO, that is.

The new series is a transition for me on several different levels. On one front... the voice--my voice--has shifted. Oye, discussing the trials and tribulations of executing a voice shift is a blog post all unto itself. Talk about being freaked out and having moments of pure panic. I had them and in spades.

Then there's the heat level. These books are hot. (ohmiword, hot, hot, hot.) Hotter than anything I've published to date. That alone has been freaky to deal with. It's not that I'm uncomfortable with have a hotter heat level--it's just that I had to adjust to writing the new heat level. Bottomline... it's been unnerving as hell writing the new hotter scenes and I needed a lot of hand holding from my critique partners. A lot of hand holding. Not because I'm afraid, but that I want to get it right. The first time. (And yeah, that's sort of a personal creed of mine. For reasons that probably definitely deserve their own blog post. lol.)

Now for what you've been waiting for... a (teeny, tiny) snippet of the new voice from the opening to the new manuscript, NOTHING ELSE MATTERS. (and yes, oh lordy yes, it's a rough, rough, rough draft)

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Washington, DC—Sunday, 14:45(2:45 PM)

Mission after mission, the routine was the same.

Andrew Jackson "Jax" Hopewell entered his Georgetown apartment, checked the flat for evidence of visitors, and then, after finding none, he’d reset the alarm and reach for the secure cell phone hidden in a cubby hole above his bed. For five years, he’d waited for a message to show up on that damn cell phone. For five fucking years, there’d been nothing. Not a word, not a peep, and certainly no mention of a goddamn thing that would have informed him that the woman he’d nearly given up his career to be with had fucking had his child.

Jax pushed back the red hot anger churning in his gut and willed himself to calm down. A small part buried deep inside him could almost understand why Meredith hadn’t told him she’d been pregnant. Their last encounter had left more scars than either one of them had wanted to deal with. What he couldn’t fathom was why her brother, the closest thing he had to a best friend in this godforsaken world, hadn’t told him?

He cranked up the volume on the phone and then replayed the voicemail message.

Jax, it’s Ian. You and Meredith… fuck me, there’s no easy way to say this. Damn, I wish you’d picked up. Fuck. Ok, look, you have a son. His name is Drew. I get this is a shock and you’re pissed as hell, but Drew’s been kidnapped, Meredith’s a basket case, and I’ve tracked the bastards to Paris. My spidey senses are tingling and not in a good way. It’s going down today—Sunday the fourth at sunset. Shit. I’ve got to go. Call me when you get this and I’ll explain everything. And Jax… for what it’s worth, I’m sorry.

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I hope you enjoyed that brief glimpse into Jax's hell. I'll be back soon with more info on the release date for NOTHING ELSE MATTERS. 

Until next time... take care and happy reading!

~Elijana