Happy to me!

“It takes a long time to grow young.”
(Pablo Picasso)

Ohmigosh, today I am 32. It hasn't really sunken in yet, but it will!

("Happy to you" is how my son used to sing over candles and a cake. He was in too big of a hurry to eat the frosting to bother with remembering lyrics!)

Today I will blow out some candles, make a few wishes and celebrate the fact that I made it another rotation around the sun relatively unscathed and happier for the experience.

I got married this year. Man of my dreams material, folks. I joined a fantastic critique group and made some phenomenal friends. I put myself out there and joined a bunch of RWA groups that I'd been thinking about for years, but never did. I submitted to contests and agents and earned my own fair share of rejections, advice, and experience.

Oh, and to celebrate? Yesterday I continued the journey and mailed off a requested partial to an agent I love, love, love. (And this is after they read the first 15 pages, so that means something to me! ha!)

So to all my new friends and fellow writers and seekers, a big huge THANK YOU for making the past year so much fun and such a damn fine experience.

Here's to many more...

Happy writing,

h.

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Making the world smaller, one letter at a time

I’ve never been interviewed on the eve of a worldwide book release. Nobody has ever asked me what the best piece of writing advice was, or which one was my favorite “how-to” book on fiction writing. Shocking, isn’t it?

Every once in a while though, I stumble upon a blog post in which some lucky traveler (on the same road as me, just a bit further down) talks about a gem they were given early in their writing career.

Putting the cart before the horse, I’m going to share the best advice I ever read. It was in “Making a Literary Life” by Carolyn See and I read it way back in 2003-ish when I was sick of graduate school and my professors (for the most part.) I was a sort of ugly genre fiction-writing duckling in that sea of literary fiction-composing swans and I was not ever going to be like those people. It was lonely.

In her fantastic book, See has a chapter called “Charming Notes.” Cute, right? Along with her suggestion that writers produce 1,000 words a day, five days a week, for the rest of their lives, she also tasks us with “one charming note, five days a week, for the rest of your life.”

She means that it’s your duty as an emerging writer to appreciate others’ works and lives and to begin building a web that connects us all. Seems like an easy task in the age of e-mail, but she’s very specific about a tangible, real letter. Sent to an author, columnist, artist, creator…anybody living the life you want and living it well.

Read a great book today?

Fire off a note to Susan Elizabeth Phillips telling her that, as a writer, you appreciate her fantastic use of language. Or whatever. Gratitude. (And she was very specific that this wasn’t an exercise in schmoozing. There’s no room for “Hi, I liked your story. Can you send me the contact info for your agent?”

No. This is all about sending the positive vibes we all know the world is lacking some days.
In 2004, e-mail wasn’t as prevalent (which means, I had it, but author web sites were not as popular and I couldn’t always track them down.) I sent off notes to Carolyn See herself (I loved that book), Ariel Gore, Johanna Lindsey, and Karen Marie Moning. Not exactly, one per day, but I did buy into the fact that appreciation is a fantastic thing and everybody loves getting a piece of fan mail. I never heard back from any of them, as expected, but my notes were charming and hand-written as Ms. See instructed.

But I recently got back into the habit thanks to more user-friendly technology (I cheat with e-mail or comments on author blogs, and I’m sure Ms. See would forgive me) and I’ve found an entire WORLD pop up in front of me. Authors love hearing from their readers. I fired off a short email to an author a couple weeks ago thanking them for such a well-crafted book (it was a Regency) and got a response minutes later, thanking me and giving me links to awesome research sites. A Harlequin paranormal author appreciated my e-mail so much, she sent me a digital short story. Wow. Was this really what today's romance writers are all about? Graciousness and being part of a larger community? Looks like it.

There seems to be a whole world out there just waiting to connect with you…to inspire and cheer you on. And all Ms. See (and Ms. Bennett, I guess) is trying to say is “get out there and meet it!”

And that, dear friends, is the best advice you never asked me for.

Happy writing!
h.

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Muse Food Friday

I’m sick of studying craft at the moment. I’ve read and re-read “On Writing” for the fourth time in a year, and I’m plum burned out on the theory of good writing. I’d like to concentrate on the muse for a minute!

History can be dense. It can be overwhelming and mysterious and all-consuming when you’re trying to capture a “mood” in your story. Last week, I was writing about a royal banquet in Scotland and needed to understand what they’d be tasting…what they’d be eating. I found the fantastic site Medieval Cookery that gives popular recipes by century and by location.

I found this recipe for Rice in Almond Milk and gave it a whirl. And it was a fantastic whirl.

In the Middle Ages, animal milk was not refrigerated and had a very short shelf life. Cow milk had to be used immediately or turned into cheese or butter. Instead, cooks turned to the milky liquid produced by grinding walnuts or almonds. It had a great fat content and could be store on the shelf with little fear of spoiling. (A common recipe was 1 cup ground nuts to 2 cups of boiling water. Steep. Stir. Sieve. Yield is 2 cups of nut milk.)

The following is the recipe for Rice in Almond Milk.

• 1 cup rice (uncooked)
• 1 cup almond milk
• 1/8 cup sugar
• 1/8 cup honey

The 14th century recipe instructions:
Rys. Take a porcyoun of Rys, & pyke hem clene, & sethe hem welle, & late hem kele; then take gode Mylke of Almaundys & do ther-to, & sethe & stere hem wyl; & do ther-to Sugre an hony, & serue forth.

The 21st century instructions:
Cook rice and let cool. Mix with almond milk, sugar and honey. Heat to a simmer, and serve.

Happy eating!

h.

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For the love of research

Some of us loathe research (and I’m sure it shows when I’m in that sort of mood). Lately, though, I’ve loved it. Loved it so much, that I tend to dawdle and linger around these resources longer than I should at the expense of the manuscript I’m editing.

*Le sigh*

Narrowing down topics in the Middle Ages is nearly fruitless—it covers everything from the 5th through the 15th centuries, and I’m pretty sure there were big changes going on in between those dots on the timeline.

For me, however, it gets easier when I pick a date. For my Highlander series, it starts in 1214. Well, now we’re going somewhere, right? I can locate the monarchs of the time (Bad King John of England and King William the Lyon of Scotland). Both of those are heavy with material, and John is such an interesting character, it’s hard not to dream up plots and subplots with the man.

The most surprising thing, however, is the fantastic number of blogs I’ve found dedicated solely to the Middle Ages. These blogs live, breath, and eat the Middle Ages and the random facts you can pick up at them are endless. Here are a few of my favorites:

Got Medieval: looks at the frequency with which the medieval shows up in pop culture. It’s even got a feature that highlights a “person” of the day and their role in medieval society. Ever wonder what a semperidem was? Yeah, me too!

Unlocked Wordhoard: is written by a professor medieval lit at Troy University. His posts often contain those odd little facts that have me thinking all day…like, why would they sacrifice children born on Friday. (Answer: To some, Friday was considered an unlucky day. Ick.)

Medieval Research with Joyce: the author here shares her favorite books and tidbits as she finds them. She does some great book reviews.

In the Middle: covers all aspects of Medieval Studies (in the academic sense).

Medieval News: Just what you think. News updates of interest to medievalists. (Can I consider myself a medievalist yet? I tended to skip those lit courses in college, but whatever, right?)

The Ruminate: Larry Swain's "place to report news, calls for papers, news items, and other things of interest to the Late Antique, Patristic, Early Medieval, and Book Arts folk and to just chat about things medieval."

What about you? Are you lucky enough in your research t o find blogs dedicated solely to your area? Do you utilize them as springboards into new materials?

Happy writing!

h.

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Sundays make for great "rainy days"

It's been raining all morning here in Alaska. That good, solid rain that never lets up or drive you mad with the "will it/won't it" thing waiting on sunshine. Nope. No sun. (Or storms, in Alaska. We have wind, but I've yet to hear thunder or see lightening in my five years here.)

I've spent the morning playing Warcraft with my bff (for a minute or 120) and then I popped open my WIP to the "saggy/flabby middle" phase I'm currently in. I've banged out a page or two. But still. Meh.

So instead of writing, I thought I'd take a moment and give a shout-out to my elementary school days with a good, old-fashioned book report.

I picked up "The Mercenary's Bride" at the grocery store on Friday. (I love Harlequin for that very reason, among others. Accessibility.)

I have this dream to see my own medieval make it to their Historicals line, so it never hurts to read what they're buying, right?

Author Terri Brisbane did a fantastic job. I've always liked the Norman/Saxon era and it's ripe with potential for conflict. Invader heros and proud, angry Saxon heroines. Delish!

Brice, our Norman conqueror, doesn't dissapoint. Dissapoint us, at least.

His first, um, "moment" with his new bride, however, is less than impressive. No, I'm serious!!! Can you imagine a romance where the hero doesn't completely satisfy his virgin bride, and instead, jumps off the cliff without her???

I was floored. And totally in book love with Ms. Brisbane. In all my years of reading romance, I've come to accept the fact that these lucky heroines get the annoying "magical and multi-orgasmic" first experiences. But not Gillian. Oh, poor girl.

The story takes off from there and it never lets up. This was my first by the author and I can't wait to track down her backlist. She had me at "Oops. Sorry...this never happens."

It also got me thinking about some of my favorite time periods to read about. Highlands during the medieval for sure. (Less than England, for some reason. I prefer Regency for any English tales.) I love Norman/Saxon. And Roman, for some reason. I read a time-travel set in Rome once and it knocked my socks off.

The trouble with having an attention-deficit brain like I do, is that as a writer, I doubt there is enough time in the world to learn enough about all the time periods I love so much to craft stories about them. I'm pretty sure I'm stuck in the British medievals for a while, as I was never the best student and I need to make use of all the research I've done so far.

So what am I missing? Westerns? Vikings? What other time periods hold romance gems?

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Fight on! My summer adventure begins.

I try not to cross-pollinate between the "real me" blog and the "more fun me" blog, but this post (MMA and the meaning of life) is one of my favorites and, at the same time, offers a little explanation of my inactivity the past week!

Happy summer. And happy writing! (And yep, that's me on the left, training my tail off!)

h.

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At least my closet is color-coded, right?

It's synopsis time around my house.

I know, right? You're incredibly jealous, I can tell.

I have two due. T-W-O, as in "O-M-G, get your a^% to the keyboard, Harper, and start typing."

A disciplined writer would be highly organized and attack the projects with discipline, gusto, enthusiasm, and professionalism.

But I tackle it with a 16-ounce vanilla latte, a spiral-bound notebook full of scribbles, scrawls, poorly drawn "mind maps", and the attention span of my kindergartner after a bottle of Mountain Dew.

I got about two pages into my medieval's synopsis and suddenly felt the uncontrollable urge to be very productive. In the following 90 minutes, I managed to achieve:

• rearranging my junk drawer
• dusting all the picture frames on the wall around my computer
• taking some really cute pirate pictures of my toddler
• leveling my shaman on Warcraft (don't you dare judge me!)
• cleaning the bird's cage
• balancing our bank account (ouch...)
• painting my toenails a "blushing bride" pink
• checking every blog I could think of and them some more
• deleting the outbox on my phone
• calling Kobe a dirtbag about a dozen times during the playoff game
  
• arranging the printer paper in more aesthetically pleasing manner
• drafting exactly TWO more paragraphs in said synopsis (HOOORAY!)

You get the point, right? I did everything BUT write the damn thing, despite how much passion I have for the project itself.

I had this overwhelming urge to insert a disclaimer every two or three sentences to the tune of something like "But it's totally more exciting/heart-wrenching/sexy in the actual story than it sounds here. K. Thanks. Bye."

Let alone the humbling experience of reading your own work written in some alien-sounding voice from the 10,000-foot level and thinking to yourself "Damn, that sounds like an incredibly boring story?" Yeah. Happened once or twice.

Fear not, the story is not incredibly boring, it just seems my "synopsis voice" is.

So here I sit, officially on page six of about 12...fighting with my alien-voice and chastising myself for giving in to the temptation to blog (but I missed you guys!) when I should be "synopsizing"...and I came to the conclusion that the only way thing to do when you're going through hell is to keep on going, shitty first draft and all. (Thanks, Natalie Goldberg.)

I've abandoned all hope of sounding brilliant and interesting in these first few drafts and I've found a really freeing sense of totally sucking as I unload paragraph after paragraph onto that poor, unsuspecting page.

It's fun and a little like dancing to Tone Loc in your living room. You're bad, you know you're bad, and you just don't care at the moment, neigbors be damned.

So to any of my comrades out there struggling through writing the perfect first draft of your synopsis or query, I say the heck with it. Bust out the Fine Young Cannibals and just get the damn thing out. You can make it pretty later.

With you in spirit and absolute terribleness on screen,

h.

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