Friday Field Trip - Spring!

As I sit here watching snow flurries outside my window, I thought I'd share share some cheerier pictures of spring flowers. Thanks to Mom for sending them. Enjoy!

Pikes Peak Writers Conference 3

What I'm reading: The Player's Proposal, by Angie Daniels

Quick apology - we were without Internet for a good chunk of the day, and I'm making sure I get this post up in case it goes out again. That means I don't have time for any illustrations. Sorry.

Moving progress. We went to the Post Office yesterday, where we were told our mailbox keys would be ready. No curbside delivery here, so we'll have to schlep to a bank of mailboxes at the end of the street. The half-mile or so wouldn't be too bad, but the return trip is uphill all the way. We'll see how much exercise we want.

At any rate, the Postmaster (that's how she introduced herself, not as Postmistress, so I guess that's correct) was well aware of our arrival and knew exactly where we lived. Her house isn't far from ours, it turns out. She proceeded to fill us in on the neighbors, several of whom are from Florida. Her husband, as a matter of fact, does construction work there for a good part of the year. It took about 20 minutes before we were finished with advice, which included checking for antlers in the yard because the deer like to lie under the trees, and to make sure any bird feeders were hung out of the reach of bears.

Welcome to small-town, country living. Can't wait to get back to working on my manuscript. Plenty of character fodder!

Now, back to the Pikes Peak Writers Conference. Remember, these are simply recaps of what was presented, and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of management.

Pikes Peak Writers Conference 2

Thanks to Ann for giving us that insight into setting. I've got mixed feelings myself—the hardest book to write was Nowhere to Hide, my July release from The Wild Rose Press, because it was set in Orlando, where I'd been living, and I was being very careful to get all the details right. Making stuff up, while maintaining the flavor of a locale, seems to be my favorite approach.

First, a quick personal update. We will have been in the house 2 nights when you read this. We're getting acquainted with how everything works, and spending a lot of time and money at places like Wal-Mart, Costco, and BB&B! I have some new pots and pans, but we're still using paper plates. Tumblers, but no stemware. Clothes are stacked and heaped—not enough hangers. But we're slowly chiseling away at the basics, and hope to start on some of the upgrades soon.

Now, back to the Pikes Peak Writers Conference.

One interesting item I omitted on Monday was the final topic of Barbara Samuel's workshop on Story Design and Values. She presented the Principles of Antagonism as set forth by Robert McKee, in his book, Story.

Using Your Hometown to Set the Mood

Join me in welcoming Ann Ambrosio who shares her love for setting as character in writing.

Thank you for inviting me to your blog, Terry. The location of your story can set the mood and I like to “feel” the place before I write about it. I grew up in the Saratoga Springs, New York area and naturally place much emotion there; that’s why I like to have Saratoga as a setting for a story. I’d like to tell you a little about Saratoga Springs.

Saratoga has a long, rich history. It’s where an important battle took place during the Revolutionary War and where the British General Burgoyne surrendered. Perhaps that’s why I feel a freedom loving spirit in that area. It was first settled in 1776, and it was incorporated in 1819 as a town. It’s now a city of about 26,000 residents and the population swells in the summer with visitors.

During the Revolutionary War Native Americans brought a wounded British soldier to a spring in Saratoga to bathe his wounds. They felt the waters had medicinal properties. Interest in the springs spread through America and Europe.

Pikes Peak Writers Conference 1

What I'm reading: Like Mother, Like Daughter (but in a good way), by Jennifer Greene, Nancy Robards Thompson & Peggy Webb

Things got off to a shaky start as we awoke to about a foot of snow. No way my Honda Fit was getting up the steep driveway, and the roads were a mess. A semi couldn't make it up the hill of our street.

But, family is great. My daughter caught my Facebook update and picked me up, so I arrived in plenty of time to check in and get to the first workshops. Since I was a straight "attendee" and not giving any workshops, I went to a workshop in every session. Overall, the focus of this conference is on helping people along the road to publication, but there were plenty of offerings for every level of writer. We never stop learning.

The first was a bit "heavy" for early in the morning. Given by Susan Mitchell, it was about rhetoric and all the nuances of word usage. When someone starts off using Greek terminology, you know you're in for a dense amount of information. Thank goodness for handouts. The most memorable moment was when she mentioned one of her favorite sources, Kenneth Burke. That name was a weekly, if not daily, occurrence in my High School English Lit class. Here's to Mr. Holtby!

Friday Field Trip: Hanging With Wolves

Jason's back, and I thank him for taking the time to send some more of his fantastic wildlife shots. When we were looking at homes in the Divide area, I did a little Googling, and discovered one of the local attractions was the Colorado Wolf and Wildlife Rescue Center. So when Jason told me he'd had a chance to go behind the scenes and get up close and personal with some of their critters, I thought it was the perfect time to share them. And I'm definitely putting a visit to the center on my "to do" list.

Closing smooth and fast.

Keeping the Author Invisible

First news: I received an email from the publisher for Where Danger Hides letting me know it'll be released a month early. So look for it in May of 2011, not June. This right after I got an email from my editor saying:

The novel is extremely clean and one of the most enjoyable edits I've had in a long time! Thank you for writing such a great novel, Terry!:-) I'll be in touch by the end of the week with the edits.

Quick personal customer service rant – on Monday, we'd spent hours getting our communications package set up. Most of what we ordered is hooked up at the house itself. But we did order 2 new cell phones. The company doesn't have them in stock at their mall outlet, so they ordered them and said they should be in Wednesday. Cutting to the chase, we did get them, but not easily, and not without 3 phone calls, the first two of which gave us incorrect information. But, we have the phones, and we'll deal with switching not only phones but carriers. I imagine it'll be a steep learning curve. After all, the provider offers classes in learning to use the phone. I don't think that would be necessary if it was intuitive.

OK – back to writing.

I wrote the first scene of chapter two, then let it sit overnight. But, as it tends to happen, lying in bed, I realized I had omitted some important tension between the characters. In the scene, the heroine is observing the hero and the way he's interacting with his sick child. My error was that I knew why the hero was behaving the way he was, which influenced what I wrote. But the heroine didn't, and she was superimposing her own interpretations based on her own experiences. I hadn't shown that, even though I was inside her head in the scene. It's important for the author to remember to keep off the page. That was the next day's rewriting.

Don't Get Bogged Down

What I'm reading: A Cinderella Affair, by A.C. Arthur.

Thanks, Debra for being my guest. Renovating is very much on my mind lately--both in writing and living quarters.

A brief house recap. Closing is still on schedule. We transferred the money to the title company. We got homeowner's insurance. We have the walk-through scheduled. We spent about two hours signing up for television, land phone lines, new cell phones (current carrier has very marginal coverage in that area), internet, and on and on. The Hubster has been diligent about calling the utility companies to make sure everything will be in our name. Meanwhile, I've been looking into the other creature comforts. New pots & pans, bedding, glasses, flatware, and on and on. We got rid of almost everything before we left, and we've been living in a furnished apartment. Bed Bath & Beyond is loving me. And I'm loving their never-expire coupons and rebates.


And, in what seems to be routine, I've got a conference that begins the day after closing. (Anyone else going to the Pikes Peak Writers Conference, search me out. I'll be the stressed out one, and it won't be because I'm worried about pitching.)

And on to writing:

I recently judged contest entries for a RWA chapter for unpublished authors. Since they submit no more than the 1st 25 pages of their manuscripts, I've been Atrying to make sure that the things I was critical of in their work don't show up in mine first few chapters. One of the most common mistakes was bogging down the opening pages in back story.

Renovating and Revising

Today it's my pleasure to welcome fellow Wild Rose Press author Debra St. John to Terry's Place. In between working full time and renovating her 1920's home, she sometimes finds time to pen romance novels. She is currently working on her fourth novel and making plans to remodel the dining room.

Terry, thanks so much for having me here at Terry’s Place today! As I’ve been following your recent journey of moving and house-hunting, it conjured up memories of the experiences we’ve had with our house over the years.

Not long after we were married, my husband and I purchased what some folks might label a “fixer-upper”. The eighty-plus year old (at the time) home had been a two-flat for the entire time of its existence. Thus, it showed the wear and tear of a succession of families moving in and out over time.

Our grand plan was to convert it into a single-family home. We weren’t total “virgins” coming into this. My husband is a painting contractor, so he has some experience in the rehab milieu. I was considerably a bit more wet behind the ears, but willing to learn.And what a learning experience it has been. Nine years later it’s still a work in progress, and it’s been a journey fraught with blood, sweat, and tears along the way. I vividly remember the day we signed the contract on the house. We’d headed out to a little hot dog place for lunch. As I stood in line waiting for my milkshake, my husband must have seen the tears pooling in my eyes. When he asked what was wrong, I looked over at him. I’m sure my dismay was clearly visible in my eyes as I cried, “I can’t believe we bought that place. What were we thinking?” My vision of a dream home had been lost to images of nasty shag carpet, duct taped windows, and cracked plaster.