Back When...

I had a very nice phone call from an old friend the other day. He recently retired from the military and had decided it was high time to start writing again after putting it on the back burner for several years. He called to ask me what advice I had for an aspiring writer.

I admit that I was slightly dumbfounded for a minute. How long had it been since I had walked in his shoes and been an aspiring writer? Years. I started this writing journey in the sixth grade. That's a long time ago.

But as I talked, I became more and more excited, eager to share with him the joy that is writing. I was so glad that he was taking this step and I tried to encourage him not to worry too much about the craft right now, but just to get the words down and write without that internal editor breathing down his neck.

How long have you been on your writing journey? If you had a piece of advice to give to an aspiring writer, what would it be?

Why I'm Hibernating

This year's summer has been awful. We've had triple-temperatures some days - yes, over 100 degrees - and add the humidity in with that, and let's just say stepping foot outside literally becomes a health hazard.

My heart goes out to those people who have to work in this weather. My brother is a manager for a pool-building company and works outside every day building and maintaining pools. My other brother is a farmer, and spends a large chunk of his day outside working. Unfortunately, he's also smack in the middle of a severe drought which just makes the heat that much worse. And my husband is working outside at a temporary job while he's out of school for the summer. He sweats buckets and comes home just drained.

Me? I'm inside all day in an office. I have nothing, nothing to complain about.

But I'm going to anyway.

Ha!

Because summer drains me. I literally feel stagnant, like I can't move forward with anything. My motivation disappears. Maybe it's my body not being able to tolerate heat. Maybe it's my inability to go outside and enjoy nature because I feel like I'm in an oven when I do. Or maybe I have the reverse of seasonal affective disorder. In contrast to summer, I come alive during the fall and winter. My mood is exuberant and I'm literally filled with joy.

During the summer I am depressed. Each year gets worse and worse. This year, it's especially bad. I don't know if it's the day job, the rejection letters on my manuscript (I am thisclose to getting an agent, and it's taking an incredible amount of patience and perseverance to keep at it), or the fact that I really just need a vacation and have no money for it thanks to my surgery a few months ago, BUT, I cannot wait for autumn this year.

And it's only July.

Ohhhhh boy. It's going to be a long few months...

What Are You Reading? Sizzling Summer Edition

Tomorrow is the first day of summer. (It's also my dad's birthday and I forgot to mail his card. Gah!)

Anyway.

Since I'm not a summer person and heat agrees with me just about as much as poison ivy, I love to spend my days curled up inside my house reading or writing.

I've found that I've succumbed to the frightful habit of reading more than one book at a time. So my reading list right now is composed of these gems:

Between Shades of Gray by Ruta Sepetys - I normally don't read young adult novels, but this one is set in Lithuania and Siberia during World War II. I was hooked from the first page and had to stop myself from reading the entire thing last night so I could get some other things done.

The Sound of Paper by Julia Cameron - Sometimes, I need an artistic and creative boost. Julia Cameron unfailingly delivers it with her beautiful essays on writing and the creative life.

The Second World War by Antony Beevor - This is a brand new book and it's a mammoth one at 880 pages. It may take me awhile to get through, but I'm looking forward to it.

What are you reading?

Livin' the Dream

Back in 2005, a new magazine hit the stands called America in WWII. I had recently completed my MA in history with a focus on World War II, so I snatched it up, eager to see what it had to offer. I wasn't disappointed. It was printed on lovely, slick glossy paper, had wonderful photos, and incredible articles.

At that time, writing magazine articles wasn't on my radar. But as the years passed, I kept thinking, "Hmm. I'd love to be published in this magazine."

It soon became my dream publication. And when I finally had a story to offer them, I emailed my query. It took a few tries and some persistence on my part, but it paid off. My first article, "Government Girl" was published in the April 2012 issue. It was about Mary Lou Moorberg, a Nebraska girl in the 1940s who moved to Washington D.C. to work for the FBI during the war.

My second article on World War 2 combat artist Ed Reep,"Artist Under Fire" appeared in the August 2012 edition, available on newsstands now. Ed is an incredible man and my correspondence with him remains some of the most meaningful of my life.

It's an amazing feeling, to see my name in print in my dream publication, to read my words, and to realize that I did it.

The Beauty of Flexibility

Flexibility. No, I'm not talking about the ability to touch your toes or do the splits - I can do neither - and I'm not talking about anything related to the writing craft.

Instead, I'm talking about your writing schedule and the need to make it flexible.

The longer I'm involved in this writing business, and the more writers I talk to, I understand that one method that works for me will be devastating to another writer and throw them off their game. So with that caveat out of the way, let me tell you why I think flexibility in a writing schedule is beautiful...

It involves this girl.

My daughter turned twelve last month. She just finished her first year of middle school. She's growing into a beautiful young lady and I completely adore her and love her with all my being.

Tuesday night, I had plans to write. I went on my evening walk and was about to hit the shower, then head on up to the office, when my daughter approached me. "Mom," she asked, "would you like to spend some time with me?"

My heart melted, and of course I said, "Absolutely." Any plans I had of writing went out the window. This was far more important, this moment, this time with my daughter who is growing so fast that sometimes I want to cry.

We played several games of UNO, laughed and talked. By the time 9:30 rolled around, I knew I wouldn't get much writing done - but I didn't care. I wrote about a half a page and that was fine.

Flexibility.

Last night, to my surprise, my daughter joined me on my walk. We always have a blast - her sense of humor and her incredible imagination are a delight to behold. When we got back, I was outside cooling down with my husband and she came out with her glove and softball. Suddenly, I was on my feet again, helping her with her pitching and her catching, and then the neighbor and my husband got involved, and we spent the next hour and a half playing softball in the backyard.

Did I have plans to write last night? Yes.

But this was more important.

I finally went inside around 9 p.m., took a shower, and  climbed into bed (I used some muscles I forgot I had while playing softball!) with my laptop and managed to write another page. It was enough.

That, my friends, is the beauty of flexibility. It's the ability to know when to put the writing aside for more important things. In this time when my daughter is growing so much and changing, I truly believe she needs her mama more than ever, more than even when she was a toddler. She needs me to be there for her emotionally and physically, and there is no way I will deny her that.

The writing can wait. It can be done in snatches of 30 minutes here and there. It can be done on lunch breaks at work, or during the weekend, or even when I really should go to bed after a long day, but decide to fight sleep and squeeze in just a few minutes of writing time.

The work will get done, some way, some how. It's important to me that it gets done. I'm not denying myself anything by putting it off for a few hours, not when I'm spending time with my daughter. There will come a day, not far from now, when she will fly from the nest and I will long for her sweet voice to ask me if I'd like to spend time with her.

Flexibility. Yes, it's a beautiful thing.

My Other Addiction

I'm addicted to writing, yes. But I'm also addicted to history. And if you didn't know, I'm addicted specifically to World War 2 history.

Pinterest has become my new favorite place for feeding that addiction. I have found lots of other WW2 enthusiasts out there, and I'm learning quite a few things I never knew before. One thing that fascinates me about this war is how all-encompassing it was. It really was a world war in every sense. Hardly a corner of the globe went untouched by it, and when you think about it, that is mind-boggling.

Thus, my learning about this conflict will never, ever be over. There will always be something new to discover, something new to unearth and research. Which means I can spend a lifetime studying it. Awe...some.

Lately, I've loved finding pictures of soldiers with animals. There's something rather beautiful about seeing a hardened man in combat snuggling with a dog or kitty, or taking time out to help an animal that has been wounded by the humans fighting around him.

Here's a few of those photos:

I love all these photos. They show humanity during a time of great upheaval.

So what are your addictions?

Jump Start

Did you happen to notice the little picture in my sidebar that says, "Camp NaNoWriMo Participant"?

NaNoWriMo is known in the writing world as National Novel Writing Month. As it always occurs in November and I can never participate because November is one of the worst months of the year for me, I was excited to see they offer a similar event in the summer.

Because as we all know (at least if you've been following my blog since its inception), I hate, despise, and loathe summer. Heat and I do not get along, and when the temps outside get grueling, I head inside into my air-conditioned house and become a hermit.

And, as I finished plotting my novel and am ready to work on it again, Camp NaNo came along at just the right time.

I'm eager to jump in and get going on the novel again after my recuperation from the hysterectomy, the sinus infection I got a week ago, school getting out, and various other activities derailed me from writing.

If Camp NaNo is something you're interested in, check out the site, www.campnanowrimo.org, and sign up. Or don't and do it on your own terms. ;-) Be a rebel! They're hosting it in June and August.

I don't plan to write 50,000 words (the goal). Instead, I tailor NaNo to my particular needs. And my need is to simply write as much as possible, and not a bunch of goop that I'll have to get rid of with a scythe come editing time.

Want to join me?

Writing Quote

This is perhaps my most favorite writing quote of all time. I love that I can change what I write, smooth it, and polish it until it shines.

It also relieves the pressure of getting it right the first time. That phrase or paragraph that doesn't quite convey what I want it to can easily be changed.

What is your favorite writing quote?

Is Blogging Dying?

I admit it. I probably interact on Facebook with friends - writing and otherwise - more than I do on my blog. Why? It's an easier way to communicate. I haven't hit Twitter yet, as I'm not sure I like the format, and I also haven't tried out Tumblr (mostly because I don't understand this micro-blogging phenomenon).

But it got me to wondering: are personal blogs dying? I've posted less and less as the years go by, and that's a far cry from where I started out. I used to post every day. Now I'm lucky to get one a week.

However, I don't want to give it up because I have met so many amazing people through this form of communication. I still enjoy blogging, but now I only do it when I have a good post in mind. Sadly, I have probably lost followers due to my limited posts. But on the other hand, I don't want this blog to become another obligation. My plate is full to the brim with those. I'd rather it be a fun place for me to go when I have something I want to say.

What do you think? Is traditional blogging on the way out? Are you blogging more now than you did when you started, or less? Are there other ways you prefer to connect with people that blogging just doesn't facilitate?

You Know You're A Writer When...

Every day I leave work at 2:30 p.m. to go pick up my daughter. It's a nice time of the day to get out of the office for my "lunch break" and I only have an hour and a half left of work by the time I get back.

It's also a perfect time for me to connect with my writing.

On the drive to my daughter's school, I've thought through plot snags, rearranged scenes in my head, and mused how I can make my characters' lives worse. While waiting at the school, I've made lots of notes and done research for my WIP, madly scribbling away before my daughter arrives.

Yesterday, though, was a new one for me.

After I took my daughter home, I was driving back to work and had some amazing ideas that completely created a new aspect to my novel. The ideas kept coming and as I stopped at the stoplight, I grabbed my notebook and started scribbling.

Then I looked up and realized the light had turned green and I was about to make the drivers behind me very upset.

This happened not once, but twice.

Whoops.

What's your favorite "d'oh!" moment as a writer?

The Six Week Milestone

We went to see The Avengers movie for my daughter's b'day on Saturday. It was AWESOME. And so is this picture...

Yesterday was the magic six-week mark since my surgery. They say you will begin to feel back to your old self once this day hits.

And gloriously, they (whoever "they" is) were right.

I felt pretty darn good yesterday. Even though I was still at work, I didn't need my heating pad on my tummy, didn't need to eat copious amounts of chocolate (though I did eat my fair share), and didn't feel the need to crawl into bed and cry.

Of course, I am still dealing with withdrawal symptoms from Vicodin, the pain killer I was on, which isn't any fun. If you've ever heard of or dealt with Restless Leg Syndrome, you will have an idea what I'm going through - except it's not confined to my legs, but my entire body. Thanks, doc, for forgetting to tell me about that.

BUT.

We are thinking positive here.

Yesterday morning I received proofs for my next article that will be appearing in the magazine, America in WWII and that got me energized more than anything has in the past month. I'm researching two more articles for this magazine and I've had a swell time gathering sources and digging into them.

Last night, my daughter and I took a long, leisurely walk through the park, then I headed upstairs to my lovely office, turned on some good '40s big band music, and started working on my novel. I made a lot of progress (I'm still in the plotting stages) and didn't want to go to bed.

I'd say that's a good thing.

Today I get to visit my doctor to see how my internal stitches are healing, and to see if I can begin exercising again. Crunches have been a no-no (and believe me, there's no way I'd do them at this stage!), but lifting weights would be nice. I put on a few pounds since the surgery, which is no surprise considering I was bedridden and barely moving for a month, but now it's time to start getting rid of them.

So! That's the update from this end. Even though I'm still not 100%, I'm headed that direction!