Every Artist Should Have One of These (I'm Blessed to Have Two)

So this past weekend threw me a curve I didn't see coming and derailed my writing goals.

That was bad for my writing and good for two people's writing morale - which, of course, supports the writing.

I was downstairs with Rebekah a little after noon while we mentally unpacked and arranged some items (we are still not completely settled in the new townhome) when my phone rang. With a mumble of, "I hope it's spam," because I'd wanted to return to the opened manuscript shortly, I looked at the caller ID and saw it was Ed Calkins, Steward of Tara.

I answered it.

Now this was the first time I'd talk to him for any length since the release of Ruthless on Calkins Day: one visit with Nancy to sign some books, where they stayed an hour and poured out excited comments for Before the Blood (which they were both reading) and  long phone call and a shorter one since, along with a couple emails. I was busy, he was busy, and he had some life challenges, too.

Then about a month ago he called, having just finished reading The Phoenix, and launched into glowing praise before I'd gotten past, "Hello." Unfortunately, I was working that weekend and had to interrupt the stream of sweet words to tell him it was not a good time to talk.

I was sorry to do that, for selfish reasons. Many artists, I think, are starving artists. Most likely, we have plenty to eat, but we are hungry for commentary and appreciation of the work that took months (sometimes years) to produce.

And I also knew that I would not get back that honeymoon phase of comments.

If you're new to this blog and don't know who Ed Calkins is, go here and here. 

So that's the back story. Here's what happened Saturday.

Ed is working on his second BryonySeries novel and had some questions and topics he wanted to discuss, which veered into a discussion of Before The Blood and The Phoenix.

As I'd predicted, the honeymoon phase over The Phoenix had ended. But that was OK. Because a deep, deep admiration for the books and the BryonySeries overall had replaced it.

Someone once commented that Ed likes the series because he's a character in it. But that's only true for the young adult, "drop of blood" trilogy. Ed does not appear in the above-mentioned books and these are his favorite, especially BTB, of which Ed said he will be "reading it for the rest of his life."

I am a social reader and a social film watcher. I like to read and watch with at least one other person, so we can talk about the experience as we go along. And I am that way with my series. An opportunity to talk about the books is as rare as vampire sightings in my house, so I seize them when they appear.

I've mentioned in the past that I do have one super fan. This person buys up my books as soon as I release them and has sent review copies to celebrity authors with personalized notes as to why she is sending this book to that person: because she thinks, based on their own writings, that they will enjoy it. She sends my books as a "thank you" to those authors for having written books she enjoys.

Ed likes to say he is the second super fan. 

And so this super fan talked about those two books for five and a half hours on Saturday - until his phone was about to die and he had to pick up Nancy from her sister's house.

Ed talked about the characters and analyzed their personalities and motives. He talked about the history and how seamlessly I'd captured the nineteeth century, not just the historical facts but the beliefs, the attitudes, the psyches of the characters.

He talked about where he wants to spin off those in his writings; we talked about his actual relationships with those characters, some of whom he's developed far more than I did, making me a fan of his work.

We compared and contrasted; we teased out nuanaces; and, because I always leave mysteries to ponder, we pondered the unsaid and the unanswered questions, too.

For five and a half hours.

I'm certain we won't have a conversation like this one for a long time. But I'm also certain it's not the last one.

My wish this morning for every artist: may you have at least one person who appreciates your creations, nay, treasures them, at the level they deserve. 

I'm blessed to have one. I'm blown away to have two.

Illustration by Kathleen Rose Van Pelt for "Bryony."

Does It Count as Writing if You Don't Write a Word?

So this weekend I did "real" work, babysat one of my granddaughters, went to dinner a week late with Rebekah for our shared feast day, and caught up on some marketing.

I did not actively work on Before the Blood in terms of actual writing, not because I was busy (although I was), but because I was agonizing over a major plot element that didn't quite line up while I did the other stuff. And it took me most of the weekend to figure it out.

What do you think? Does that count as writing?

Quick Fix For Writer Discouragement

Is the next chapter jelling well?

Have you run out of ideas?

Does the prose sound stilted and boring?

Or is it simply TAKING TOO LONG?

Although all of the above is part of the process, sometimes a tired brain needs a pick-me-up and an encouraging pat.

So while you're brewing another cup of dark roast, open up a previous chapter (or essay, poem, etc.) and not a recent chapter either. Pick one that felt laborious to write at the time, one you meticulously self-edited.

Read how nicely the words flow. Feel the joy in reading it. Remember the long journey to get there.

See? You can do it. You can really, really do it. 

You just need time.

And patience.

And more hard work.

The Holy Trinity of good writing. Amen?