Work In Progress Report

I realized the other day that it had been a while since I'd done a work in progress update, and thought it was probably time. So, here goes:

The King's Falcon (fantasy) -I finished editing in the wake of Dave Farland/ Wolverton's suggestions from his Novel ReWriting Workshop. One of my challenges on this one was that I needed to pull a plot line that hadn't started until after page 100 into the first fifty pages and blend it into the story structure better. Fingers crossed that I did this well since this story is currently out with an editor for review.

New Bohemia: Just One Night (Romance). The first draft is saved. I had a heart attack moment a while ago when I was posting this story in 1,000 word chunks to one of my writing groups. I hadn't realized that Word was pulling up the file from the remote backup device. So, when it opened on the screen the story only had 50,000 words rather than the 105,000 it should have had. Panic set in. About 20 minutes later I realized my mistake. Hands shaking, I saved a backup of the file and closed the computer for the night.  I haven't looked at this one in six weeks so it's about time to start edits.

Schrodinger Effect (Urban Fantasy Thriller). A wise friend, Lisa Scottoline, once said the difference between a murder mystery a thriller is in murder mystery someone is dead when the story starts, and in a thriller, someone dies after the narrative starts. By that definition, this WIP qualifies as a thriller. I tried picking at this story without the color wheel done, but kept having to stop to figure out the emotional resonance of what Vonna was seeing. So, I've finally finished my emotion color wheel, and outline. Now if I can keep the cat off my magnetic white board (although she's done some interesting things rearranging my outline), I should be able to get this one written. I'm about 5,000 words into it and so far so good.

Thanks for stopping by.

Resonance in Star Trek: Into Darkness

This weekend I went to see Star Trek: Into Darkness for the second time. The first time was part of an unofficial Superstars post-conference field trip. Let me tell you, seeing this kind of movie with a group of predominantly science fiction and fantasy writers was a blast. Unfortunately, exhaustion and a 6:00 am flight the next morning curtailed my ability to discuss the movie with them as much as  I would have liked.

The second viewing was with my husband and two boys. One of the great things about seeing a movie more than once is I tend to notice things I didn't the first time around. Star Trek: Into the Darkness didn't disappoint.

For all of you who are yelling at your computer - "WAIT. DON'T! I HAVEN'T SEEN IT YET." I'm going to stay fairly general so I don't give anything away.

Regardless of what you feel about the re-boot, one of the reasons the new movies work for me is the casting. All of the actors wear their characters well. There's enough of the original versions of them that I don't have to completely reset my thinking to follow along (unlike a female Starbuck).

At it's heart, Into Darkness is an action adventure in space movie. Each challenge is bigger than the one before. The movie starts with a moment that could have come from the Indian Jones franchise. That scenario builds to a peak and resolves. Just when you start to catch your breath, another crisis brews, bubbles over and explodes. By the end, you've been on such an adrenaline rollercoaster, you think that the final conflict CAN'T possibly build to a higher point. But it does.

The new movie is less Kirk dominated than the original series or movies. Spock, Uhura, Chekhov, and Scotty all have their own character arcs. In fact, I'd go so far to say that Spock is the protagonist. There are some charming moments with realistic dialog that have as much to do with character development as they do with moving the plot forward. This movie definitely has an ensemble feel to it. And it's stronger for it.

What struck me most on this second viewing though wasn't the story arc or character development. Rather it's the number of "call backs" or references to the original  series, original movies, other science fiction and fantasy movies, and other action adventure movies that struck me on the second go through. Some of them are so subtle that I missed them the first time around. Some sledgehammer you. Certain time line elements are consistent with the original and others aren't - with events had hadn't yet happened in the original already occurring before this movie started. One moment made me groan and giggle even though I'm sure that's not the emotion the writer was hoping to evoke. There's paraphrasing of a quote from The Princess Bride. And a tribble.

What takes a story from "good" to "memorable"/ "fantastic?" It has to captivate us, has to have characters we want to root for, and a few we want to fail.  It also needs to hook into our collective unconscious - our shared experiences. My sons, who didn't catch most of the references, loved it. My husband who sort of watched the original series and liked it, but didn't love it (I know. And I still married him, go figure) enjoyed the movie, and caught a lot of the references. I completely geeked out, and spent the closing credits (with the other twenty people still in the theatre - not my husband or sons) talking about the call back moments.

The ability to appeal to a multi-generational audience makes for big sales. It's also the hallmark of good story telling. Dave Farland/ Wolverton talks about building resonance into your stories in his seminars and Million Dollar Outlines and Drawing on the Power of Resonance in Writing.  Into Darkness \excels at resonance. It's well worth learning from. If you're the kind who doesn't want to take a notepad into the movie, wait until it comes out in electronic format or video. It's well worth the effort of analyzing it for the references to other works or events it makes. Also, if you haven't checked out Dave's books, I highly recommend that since he does a much better job at explaining resonance than I do.

Memorial Day 2013

Today we take the time to remember and honor those members of our military who made the ultimate sacrifice. Politics doesn't play a part. These men and woman gave their lives so we can choose the life we want to live. We owe it to them to remember.

Thank you for your service and sacrifice, and the sacrifice of your families.

When does something go from being an event to something more?

We all have events in our lives - the kids need to be picked up from school, time to worm the animals- you know the every day in and outs of living. I've been to lots of events. Marketing meetings, seminars and fund raisers. I've seen some of the shows that redefined Broadway productions.Sometimes what we expect to be an event with the little "e" becomes an Event, capital "E." The capital E moments are the ones that leave their impression long after the incident is over. There are good Events - graduation day, wedding days, the moment your child is born - that often are the culmination of lots of small events. There are the horrible Events that steal your breath away and fundamentally change you - September 11, the death of a parent or child, the diagnosis of cancer or the loss of innocence.

But when does an occurrence cross the line from just something that happened to an Event?

For me, the crossover happens when there's a fundamental change in how I see or interact with the world. Sometimes we're lucky enough to realize when an Event is happening. Other times we only recognize the paradigm shift in its aftermath.

 The first time I heard Tracy Hickman tell his story about how one of his stories touched a soldier was one of those moments. The first time I heard James A. Owen tell his story and draw his dragon was another.

I spent the year between the 2012 Superstars and 2013 Superstars in professional turmoil for my day job. My law firm of 5 years was splitting up. I could join the D.C. office, but my title of "partner" would be just that - a title. Rather than do that, or go out on my own and face the uncertain income stream that entailed, I decided to join a firm that promised to treat me like an equal, and in six months we'd renegotiate my compensation (base salary plus a percentage of the collection) and my status in the hopes of making me a full equity partner.

That situation didn't work out like I'd hoped. After the managing partner blew off yet another meeting about my future with the firm to get a haircut - yes, you read that right, he left to get a haircut, or at least that's what he told me-, I had a decision to make. Having the managing partner skip out of a meeting with me for a haircut was a wake up call. Now what was I going to do about it?

The firm offered me insurance and a regular paycheck. I wanted those things for my family. My husband has run his own firm or been part of a two partner firm for most of his career. There are months where he won't bring home any income, followed by a month with LARGE checks from his court appointed work. Right now he's working on a case that, if he's lucky, will pay him in February 2014. Yup, you read that right too - 9 months from now. So, I thought about James.

James has a saying, "Never give up what you want most for what you want most right now."

What did I want most - to be part of a firm where what I could do and who I am was valued. Where I didn't feel like the partners were sabotaging me.

What did I want most right then? A paycheck so I could keep my kids in their school and keep their life somewhat stable.

When I thought about it that way, the choice was clear.

So, because the managing partner refused to meet with me, I quit by e-mail and gave him ten days' notice.  That decision caused about three months of hassle with the old firm and I still have a target on me as far as they are concerned. But, it was the right choice for LOTS of reasons.

Anyway, I hung out my shingle on February 1, 2013. I agonized about taking a week off for Superstars 2013, but then I'd already committed to Kevin J. Anderson and Rebecca Moesta to help out. What I want most is to be a person of her word. Again, the choice was clear.

Superstars 2013 was an EVENT. Not just for me, but for lots of people.

I could quote all the blog posts about it., but it's better, I think, just to send you to them.

Nathan Barra wrote - Expectations and Hope Rewarded - you can find his post at:  http://www.nathanbarra.com/2013/05/expectations-and-hopes-rewarded-superstars-writing-seminar-2013-in-review/

Sam Knight wrote "A Lightning Strike on Your Writing Career: Seriously you NEED to read this one." You can read it.here.  If you've read my short story collection, Paths Less Traveled, you know lightning strikes has a special place in my heart.

Terry Odell shared her insights from the seminar in a multipost blog starting here.

Mark Leslie wrote - Top 10 Takeaways from Superstars Writing Seminar. You can find that post here

To Mark's quotes, I'll add the following:

"It does not matter if you are published, it matters if you are READ." - Tracy Hickman.

"It's the bad books that make you a better writer." - Joan Ann Johnson.

Superstars  is an Event for me. Not only did I get to see lots of friends from previous Superstars and meet fabulous new people. I got to look behind the curtain and make Kevin and Rebecca's life easier. As part of the non-session outing to Star Trek, I met a lovely family and got to talk to a young man about his dream about being a writer. And discovered that his father also harbored the dream.

Like Sam, I saw the lightning sparkle and strike for many people this year. Sure, some of those strikes won't ignite the rocket Sam refers to, but surprising number will.

Really, people. Why weren't you there? I hope I'll see you next year.

The Garden of the Gods

One of the perks of going to Superstars Writing Seminars this year was I got to visit The Garden of the Gods in Colorado Springs, Co. To borrow from its website:

Garden of the Gods Park is a registered National Natural Landmark. Imagine dramatic views, 300' towering sandstone rock formations against a backdrop of snow-capped Pikes Peak and brilliant blue skies.

The park has become one of my favorite places. Not only are there amazing rock formations (and the pictures in the post don't do justice to the place or give you a sense of the sheer size of these rocks. I went shortly after sunrise. The sound of the pigeons in the cliff face was a constant thrum in the background. Rabbits calmly cropped grass while I stood less than five feet away.

I'd heard the rocks change as the lights hit them. And they did.  Even though the main track through the park was only a mile long, I spent three hours meandering through the cliffs. I'm going to try to swing by again before the conference ends.

If you are ever in Colorado Springs, The Garden of the Gods is well worth the trip. I know I'll be back.

Musa Publishing: Dirty Little Secrets

I never thought I'd be writing romance themes in my stories. To find out how my tag line became "stories about characters that live and love" please check out my post today on the Musa Blog.

Musa Publishing: Dirty Little Secrets: by Nancy DiMauro   

Getting Geared Up for Superstars

After a lovely breakfast in bed and the gift of flowers from my boys (all three of them), I spent the better part of my day on a plane headed to Colorado Springs, Colorado for the Superstars Writing Seminar. The seminar officially kicks off on Tuesday, but there's lots of unofficial getting together and airport runs tomorrow.

Kevin J Anderson just posted the updated schedule. And I have to say, we have some great presenters this year - Kevin, of course, Rebecca Moesta, Eric Flint, James A. Owen, Tracy Hickman, Lisa Mangum, Joan Johnston, Jim Minz, Mark Leslie Lefebvre, Peter Wacks, and Superstars Alumni -  M. Scott Boone, and Moses Siregar.

Superstars is still by far the best way to learn about the business of writing.

I'm taking bets on who wrings more tears from  the audience - Tracy or James. I'm going to be posting from the seminar. So  stay tuned this week.