Diving in

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Ahhh! I am diving into a revision of The Land of the Lost and Found and it feels so good! Finally! (And there - I also revealed my working title!) I have been waiting all summer to get back to my manuscript, and now, for the first time in months, the kids are in school all day, all week! The bus will be dropping them off in about half an hour, so I figure that this is the perfect time to blog.

I was intrigued by Natalie Whipple's blog post last week, where she talked about putting the cart before the horse and the temptation of acting like a writer at the expense of being a writer.

So this fall, I will be playing the role of reclusive writer, and not just social networker, mom, wife, house renovator. I have quite a few renovations on this manuscript to do. Yesterday, instead of editing the opening pages, I wrote completely new ones. We're starting with a party folks! (Of course, that could all change.) I have given myself a personal deadline of mid-October, so that means I will be living and breathing my characters. Walking in their footsteps. How would Bruno brush his teeth? How would Willow wash the dishes?

In other news, Barnes and Noble has bought a small amount of EDGES, which is good news, but only in the NYC area, which is not so good news. So that means, I really need your help to spread the word! Word-of-mouth is still evidently, the best way to sell books, and as my friend and the assistant editor on this book Beth Potter believes, "it will be championed by indies and librarians," which is what will give it longevity. Will you be my champions?

Time to meet the school bus!

Renovation & Synchronicity

This is our kitchen. Or, rather soon-to-be-one-of-these-days kitchen. Needs a floor, maybe an appliance or two - some cabinets and counters. A kitchen sink would be nice.

I've been mulling about renovation as a metaphor for life and writing this past week as it sinks into my tough noggin that this is indeed what we are doing, what most of us (or so I like to think) do when we move into a new home. The to-list is daunting, frightening even, as it becomes an a la carte process - what we have to do NOW, and what we can leave until later. The kitchen couldn't be left until later.

A renovation is a spiritual rebirth, making new again.

This house wanted us to come in and take care of it, revitalize it.

I am about to dust off an old manuscript, and "renovate" it. I am "renovating" myself out in Katonah. I must put myself out there and create community, reaching out and embracing other women, other moms, other writers; looking for kindred spirits. I must make new friendships and renew old ones.

I was planning on writing today about the similarities between home renovation and revision, but  I was stunned to read Judith Lindberg's blog yesterday, covering the very same thing. Synchronicity. We had spoken for the first time the day before - she had been one of my grandmother's writing students and was reaching out to talk about kids and the creative process, as she is also a writing teacher out in New Jersey. We were on the same wavelength. Then when she told me that she was the author of The Thrall's Tale, I gasped. "That's on my bedside table at my mom's!" I had picked it out to read next time I was at Crosswicks, which is this weekend! (Read my blog post My Mother, My Librarian)

So I'm in Katonah, but I have met a kindred spirit in New Jersey, and as I blog more, and reveal myself more, I widen the circle for myself, I renovate and renew. I myself am a Work In Progress, like a manuscript, and I'll never be finished. I never want to be finished with working on myself.

But the kitchen - well, that's another story.