Scotland Photos
A few people have been asking me to see photos of my trip to Scotland in May. I flew to Edinburgh, and from there worked my way up to Elgin, where I met up with my parents, who were touring around, too, to spend several days touring all the family history areas of the country in Morayshire and the West Highlands. After that, I worked my way down the west and back to where I started, ending my trip in Dunfermline, with a day trip to St. Andrews on my last full day before I flew out of Edinburgh for home. You can see a gallery of my pictures here, if you’re interested. Share...
Stopping to Listen
I’m not writing today. I’m tempted. I have a story that’s been talking to me for a couple of weeks now, asserting itself with scene ideas when I’m trying to sleep, keeping my mind occupied when I’m running errands or working out or doing any of the thousand things we do in a day that don’t need our full, undivided attention. It’s alluring, the thought of opening up the word processor and getting some of it down on paper. And I will. But not yet. A month ago, just before I went away to Scotland for two weeks, I turned in a manuscript to my agent. I’d spent weeks rewriting and editing it, and was thrilled to get it off my plate before I left. Once I hit send, I was free to take a holiday from writing. None of the other projects I have on the back burner were talking to me, and it was time for a much-needed break. While I was away, I took time to breathe, to look, to see new things and soak in all I could. Apart from keeping a journal of how I spent my days, I didn’t even think about writing until the second-last night, when an unexpected conversation with new acquaintances meandered wonderfully for hours. Even then, I was in the moment, enjoying terrific people I’d never have met if I hadn’t taken this trip. At one point, one of them said, “this will all be fodder for your next novel,” and we all laughed and continued on to other things. Two days later, on the flight home, I got an inkling that he could be right. A new story started to whisper in my ear, the genesis of it formed in those few hours in the company of strangers who seemed like friends. In the couple of weeks since I got home, I’ve discovered afresh something I tend to forget in the busyness of life and the desire to fit writing into any available minute, always looking for forward progress: there is a difference between procrastination and stillness. Writers are notorious for the former. Not writing is so much easier than writing that we can easily become masters of procrastination. But when we try too hard to battle against that, making ourselves write even when we’re not ready, we can get stuck in the idea that only words=progress, forgetting that thinking and listening and percolating are all part of the job, too. Sometimes, it’s good just to listen to the world around us and to what our subconscious sends up for us to think about along the way, to let an idea grow quietly and assert itself until listening isn’t enough and it demands to be transcribed. I’ve consciously stayed away from starting this story, focusing instead on jotting down notes and ideas as they come to me. If I’d started it when I got home and the idea was too fresh, I’d have struggled through part of a scene, with no idea where I was going next, and stalled. I’ve killed other ideas that way, so I know exactly how easily that can happen. But now, with a couple of weeks to let the idea grow and gel in my thoughts, I have at least half a dozen characters who are pretty clear in my mind, a setting, a sense of what this story might look like, and ideas for at least a handful of scenes. I still don’t know where it’s going, but I have enough to go on. Soon, I’ll put pen to paper, or fingers to keyboard, and start. But I’ll try to remember to stop once in awhile, too, and listen. Share...
Query Tips From My Inbox
I don’t claim to be an expert on query letters, and I’m not a literary agent. But in my day job as a conference coordinator, I get a LOT of inquiries from people who are interested in being part of our conference. Most of these are perfectly reasonable emails, but by around this time every year, enough problematic ones have arrived that the common mistakes people make in writing and sending queries become astoundingly obvious. And if they’re obvious to me, with my relatively small number of queries received, imagine how they look to literary agents who deal with thousands of queries every year. So, for what it’s worth, here are a few of my tips for cleaning up your queries, based on the repeated mistakes I encounter: 1. Follow the directions. Yes, hoop jumping can be frustrating. But showing you can jump through the requested hoop shows you’re reasonable to work with and avoids annoying the recipient by wasting his or her time. There are reasons for the directions. One of the things I ask for, for example, is for proposals to include where the person lives. This is important information for our board in allocating travel budget, and I don’t want to have to go hunting for it. It may seem like a nothing thing, but including that bit of requested information puts you ahead of the people who don’t bother. 2. Use email unless otherwise instructed. Whether it’s a query@ address, a direct email address, or a contact form on an email, there is almost certainly a correct, requested place to send your query that should not be difficult to find. Unless you are specifically asked to by the person you’re querying, NEVER use social media for queries. Facebook, Twitter, etc., are great, but they are not the place for business communication unless that’s what the instructions say. 3. Remember you are writing to a human being. Your goal is to establish a professional working relationship. Queries and proposals should not be generic press releases sent without context or salutation. In the same vein, you are a human writing to another human. This isn’t the place to talk about yourself in the third person. (If you’re later asked to send a bio, however, third person is great!) 4. A query is a business letter. Conferences and publishing are businesses. Want to stand out from the crowd? You don’t need to be fancy. Write a clear, informative business letter that includes all the relevant information and is grammatically correct. There is no magic here. I know people fret over writing these letters (I have, too!). If you’re going to agonize over anything, agonize over writing an intriguing blurb about your book or for your proposed workshops. Then surround the blurb(s) with a friendly, straightforward letter that contains any requested information, and you’ll be ahead of 9/10 of the other people sending queries. Most of this won’t be new to most of you, but I’m throwing it out there in hopes it’s helpful to someone! Feel free to add your own tips or thoughts in the comments. Share...
Help My Husband Make a Movie
Hello, all! Probably easiest to let my husband speak for himself here, since he knows the details. His note is below. If you’re able to help with a few minutes of your time, either by becoming a fan to support Hyde+Seek yourself (details below) or simply passing the information along to others who might be interested, I’d really appreciate it! Thank you. Kathy Hey friends and family, As you may know, I’m entered in the Cinecoup movie contest with a great local production cast and crew. The prize is $1M in funding to complete the movie, called Hyde+Seek, and and make its way to a theatre near you! We would love your support to help take us through several voting rounds as we progress to the final stages for consideration. There will be many future challenges and hoops that the team have to jump through to prove we’re worthy of the ultimate prize. I think we have a really great science fiction Jekyll and Hyde concept that should be an intelligent and thrilling ride into the near future, where the lines between humanity and technology get blurred. What happens when always-on connectivity and implanted bio-technology get hacked? You can watch our 60-second trailer here: http://www.cinecoup.com/hyde-and-seek/trailer How you can support us: A) Fans… Please sign up as a Fan on Cinecoup if you can. Fan votes and ratings have more impact than non-Fans, but you have to review and comment on OTHER projects to validate your Fan status. Please ask any of your film critic/most supportive friends to take this step in support of us. Unlike Kickstarter or Indiegogo, we aren’t asking for money, just support through likes, shares and referrals. B) Non-Fans… as above mentions, sharing the video page even without the viewers’ ability to rate/review helps. Thanks so much for the support, and please pass this on to others through email, Facebook, or Twitter. Martin FB: facebook.com/hydeseekmovie Twitter: @hydeseekmovie Share...
Writing Inspiration
Happy new year! I took a couple of weeks off over the holidays. I started out the month by accepting Nephele Tempest’s December writing challenge, in which you try to find at least fifteen minutes to write every day. It worked exceedingly well for me the first three weeks of the month, by which point I’d met all my writing goals for December and more, so I didn’t feel at all guilty about taking a much-needed vacation from work of all sorts. Like for all writers I know, time off is never just time off. Everything I encounter in the world has the potential to fill the well, inspire me, prompt story ideas, or make me want to be a better writer. That’s one of the reasons I think it’s important to step out of my own head and see what else is out in the world This time, in the deep dark days and nights of winter, I encountered all sorts of things that made me want to write. In no particular order, these included Reading: I read a lot over the holidays. There’s not much I enjoy more than curling up with a great book and a cup of tea or a glass of wine, with nowhere I have to be and nothing else I absolutely have to do. One of the authors I read over the holidays was Mary Balogh. Her historical romances have been auto-buys for me since her Slightly series made me fall in love with Regency romance as a go-to cosy escape read. Mary invariably makes me care about her characters, and every time I realize she’s done that again, it inspires me to write and find ways to do that for my own characters. Watching TV: We’ve been on a bit of a Mad Men kick at our house, late enough to the party to be able to watch straight through from the beginning and still have lots more to catch up on after weeks of returning to it again and again. I’m impressed with the show’s writers’ efforts to show rather than tell. I appreciate writing that respects its audience, and I feel like Mad Men does that. Often, after watching an episode, I am revved up to get some writing done. Exploring: I spent an afternoon wandering through vintage and antique shops, where I always wonder about the story behind the stock. I came home with a blue rhinestone brooch that sparkles in the light and made me happy to look at. There’s a story behind it; I’m sure of it. Also, we found time for a very brief visit to my favourite island over New Year’s, and being there, with the trees and the sea and the stars we can’t ever see in the same numbers in the city, always inspires me to put words on paper. Time with family: I have a teenage daughter, and for most of the holidays this year, I also had my niece staying with us. Every time I feel lazy about writing or consider blowing off planned writing time, I think about them. There’s nothing quite as motivating as knowing your kids are watching every time you make time for – or don’t make time for – your dreams. What inspires you to write? Share...
Happy Holidays
I’m deep into the last-minute preparations – baking, cleaning, wrapping presents – for our family’s Christmas celebrations. But today, I took a couple of hours off to have a hot chocolate with a good friend, and when I got home, a package was waiting for me from another, who lives on the other side of the country from me. Inside? A box of her homemade sponge toffee. It made me teary-eyed when I opened it and saw that she’d taken the time to send a homemade treat from 3500km away. For me, that’s exactly the kind of thing that makes the magic of Christmas. It’s lovely to do nice things for people at any time of year, but there’s something special about a stretch of time in darkest winter when so many people make an effort to be especially kind to one another, to help out, to choose gifts for people they might not regularly have the chance to buy or make things for, to remind the people they love that they love them, to send a handwritten card, to wish each other happiness, to hold a door open for someone laden with packages, and so much more. That’s what this time of year is about for me. To all of you, whatever you celebrate, happy holidays. I wish you magic. Share...
Recent Comments