Mixing, Not Stealing

My mom sent me this piece from the New York Times about Helene Hegemann, a 17-year-old German novelist who lifted portions of someone else's work, and defended the practice by saying that young people mix -- or mash together -- music, so why not words, too?

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/02/12/world/europe/12germany.html?emc=eta1

I was, at first, horrified. But after reading the piece, a tiny part of me felt that maybe this girl had a point -- not a point about it being okay to lift someone else's work, but a point about a culture of young people who have been raised in the information age. Everything is instantly accessible -- and instantly mutable -- and it stands to reason that in this environment, words may not end up being as sacred as they once were. Which, now that I write that, seems even more horrifying than it did at first glance.

Ramping Up for New Book

It's amazing how much work there is to do for a book launch! The Threadbare Heart comes out in May, and I have been swamped. So swamped, in fact, that I haven't been writing here regularly. And so swamped that I called my agent and asked her if what I was doing was crazy. Wouldn't it better to spend my time writing the NEXT novel, or writing the migraine book that has taken over my brain? Was it really WORTH it to do all these promotions and contests and appearances? My agent reminded me that I only get to keep writing the books I want to write if people read the books that I publish, and in order for people to read the books I publish they have to know about them -- so, in a word, yes: it's worth it. It's critical. It's what has to be done.

And so I sit here planning and plotting and researching and scheming and talking to people about this and that and the other thing related to promotions and contests and appearances. It's the "second shift" for a writer. And, if truth be told, I love this stuff. I just wish there were another ME to do it all!

On March 1, I'm going to begin a guest hosting gig on a blog at one of the nation's biggest quilt supply companies. It will be a 4-5 month gig. It's a really cool cross promotion opportunity, involving a really fantastic contest that's sprung fully formed from the pages of The Threadbare Heart. (At the center of the book is a woman who collects fabric, but who is unwilling to USE much of it -- and something terrible happens to her and to her collection, which spurs her into action. It's this idea of possibility and regret and creatitivty that ties so nicely into the quilting community. And the contest? Actual real live people will have the chance to make the quilt that my fictional character never dared to make. How cool is that?? ) ANYWAY, the point of my writing this is to say that my postings here will sadly continue to be sporadic. I'll do the best I can to continue to offer insight into the writing process, the creativity process and the publishing process, but opportunity knocks, and I've gotta answer.

More soon on the guest blog gig (for any of you out there into fabric) and more soon on some book give aways and contests that have nothing to do with fabric. Whew! Life is busy, but life is good!

The Strange Reality of a Readers' Guide

I just finished reading the Readers' Guide questions that someone else wrote for my forthcoming novel. This someone was someone hired by my publisher for this task. I don't know her (it had to be a her), don't know anything about her, and read the questions she wrote about my book with my mouth agape -- not because they were good or bad, wrong or right, but simply because this is the first regular reader in the universe to have read my book. My agent doesn't count as regular in this context, and my editor doesn't count as regular, and my sister (who read the manuscript to try to tease out problems with time and logic) doesn't count as regular, either.

Miss Readers' Guide Writer was not charged with writing a review. Her job was to get down underneath the skin of the story to what was really going on, to what things really mean. This is the level where the writer's unconscious works, where the magic happens, where things take place that I didn't really plan. So I'm reading Miss RGW's questions and I'm thinking, "What story did she read?" and "What's she talking about?" My story is almost unrecognizeable to me in these questions. At one point Miss RGW named a character -- a relatively prominent character -- and I had to stop and think, "Wait -- was that really her name?"

I had to remind myself that I wrote this book. It seems, in some ways, that it was just a dream I once had....

A Book By Any Other Name

It always happens: the moment I commit to an idea, put a stake in the ground and say, "I'm going to write about THIS," I discover a book by someone else who got to the idea first. Usually, the someone else is famous, the book is fabulous, and my sweet idea is crushed before it even sees the light of day.

It happened again just this past weekend. I had finally taken the time to get this idea about migraines out of my head (ha ha) and onto the page. This is an idea that's been fermenting in my mind for about ten years. I was waiting for the right structure, the right concept, the right alignment of the planets, and suddenly, I got all that, and began to write. I powered out 40 pages, felt pretty good about what I had, and then got pulled into the vortex that is amazon. I thought, "I'll just look and see if this title is available." I logged on, looked around, did not find anything with my fantastic title -- but found The Book. A migraine memoir, beautifully told.

I ordered it (of course!), with rush shipping (why not?) and within 24 hours, was holding in my jealous little hands. It was as beautiful in person as it had been as a promise. A lovely cover, a powerful title, opening words that took my breath away. I gobbled that book up like it was chocolate, and then marinated in my own agony for a couple days. You know the kind of agony of which I speak: the world doesn't need another migraine book; I'm not as good a writer as this guy, anyway; my idea was stupid; I should have written it five years ago, blah blah blah.

And the you know what I did? Polished up my 40 pages and sent them off to my agent for a professional evaluation. Because I'm not the one to get to decide what the world needs and doesn't need. All I can do is write what I feel compelled to write. After all, even if there are 100 books about migraine, there is not one written by me.

How to Revise

Writer Natalie Whipple has a post on her blog, Between Fact and Fiction, that is just an awesome overview of the editing/revision process. Editing and revising is such a completely different process than writing, and beginning writers, especially don't GET that, and they make themselves crazy trying to make their work better by continuing to "write." If you're in the middle of revising, or you will be revising someday soon, or revising is going to be in your future, check out this post.

I am inspired to go, now, and revise some pages I wrote a week or so ago (my migraine book) that I haven't looked at since....

Reading Retreat

The Vroman's bookstore blog had a list of great New Year's links, and this one from the Squam Lake Art Workshops was my favorite. Check out their Reading Retreat. It's so deeply strange that we live in a world where going away for a few days just to read would be something that someone would pay for -- and yet, and yet -- it's so deeply wonderful, too. The second I read about this lakeside retreat, and the happy proprietor's and the evening salons, I was thinking, "Sign me up!" What could be better than making a committment to your reading, to yourself, to your peace of mind? I love it!

Back in the Saddle

I've been away from my desk for several weeks, now, and away from the stories brewing in my head. The writing never stops, though; my brain never takes a vacation. I have a stack of newspaper clippings to read through, again, and process, and a stack of books with little Post-It flags sprouting out of them like grass. There's so much to do -- all of it good.

I hope your New Year is full of creative promise, as well.