New Story Available at Third Order Magazine

Head over to Third Order Magazine to read my new short story~~"Sifting Through Ashes". The entire December edition is great -- check it out!

Treading Water...

I'm about 20K into the NaNoWriMo challenge...there is also a kindergartner with a stomach virus in the house, a congested three year old, a baby fighting sleep, and a husband fighting off a bad cold...regular blogging should return post-recovery. As soon as I get through that Mt. Everest of sick, germy laundry....

Taking the Plunge

Do I dare? Do I have the willpower, the determination, the availability? Can I accomplish the marathon of marathons for we writing folk? Can I make it to the finish line for NaNoWrimo 2008?
I have no idea. 50,000 words in thirty days. Except, for me, it would be more like 27 days, since I was in the muck of finishing a short story draft and forgot that it was starting. And once I finished the aforementioned draft and remembered that National Novel Writing month had begun (this morning), I spent all day wracking my brain for the 'perfect' idea. My writing method just isn't a light bulb going off—I don't usually get an 'idea!' It's more like the sense of a place I want to communicate or a particular character who gets into my head or a vague scene or a snatch of dialogue that grabs me. Plot usually unwinds itself with the writing. And I am a slow writer. Ideas sort of sit in the crock pot of my mind for months before developing into actual stories. So all day I've been going over my scattered notes, trying to find that spark of life that pushes my fingers to the keyboard.
Eight hours later, I think I have it. I've never been through Nano before—I'm usually already committed to a project—but this year, I've just finished up a few short story drafts and have been ready to delve into something new...so maybe the timing is right. Even if this idea doesn't turn into the perfect storyline, it's a chance for me to try to write without inhibition—because I revise and edit as I write my first drafts. It's so hard for me to just let it out...but with a deadline, I won't really have the choice of the turtle-route. You learn to write by writing and pushing myself to do this thing will, at the very least, push me out of my comfort zone. Wait. Did I say comfort zone? I meant rut.
So I'm going to try. I feel excited about it--it'll be great to get a solid body of work written in such a short time. It's very likely that I will be disrupted, but trying is better than not trying, right? So here I go...
Good luck to all of the other participants out there stretching those writing muscles!

For All of You Introverts Out There

As I am waging a war against a very angry cold and had to make it through a round of immunizations for Kailey today (hate. the. shots.), I don't have much energy left for thinking original thoughts. So it's the perfect time to share someone else's blog, which I happen to greatly enjoy...welcome to Shrinking Violet Promotions. It's a blog about navigating the world of marketing and writing as an introvert...and their current project is compiling an official Introvert's Bill of Rights. Awesome, right? I totally want to join the revolution...dare to be silent! Dare to be alone! Dare to wear iPods at social events! Woo! Fight for your right to...um...not party!

Recent Moments That Have Stopped Me in My Tracks

Sean started kindergarten. Which is wonderful, weird, and scary all at the same time...he loves it. From day one, he has been excited to share all of the new things he's learning and doing, from Art class to centers to 'chasing dragons' on the playground with new friends. The weird and scary mostly apply to me. It's so strange to see him developing this new part of his life...he's creating his own independent world, apart from me. It's good for him, but it's been hard letting go of the 'control' over his days that I've had until this point. He's picking up new phrases, he knows people I don't know, he's learning things I'm not teaching him....he's becoming his own person. I'm incredibly proud of him...I just have to pray every day that God will protect him out there in that big world and that he'll have good experiences in this foundation of his education. (Also, there was that 'yikes' moment of realizing that I'm old enough to have a kid in school...wowsers.)


My sister graduated from nursing school and then passed her license test. She's a for real nurse. She can stick people with needles and stuff. Congrats, Mandy! I couldn't be prouder of you...


My in-laws are moving to a different state...they'll still only be a few hours away, so it's not as bad as it could be....but that leaves us here without any family around. Which is daunting. My parents-in-law have been incredible to me for as long as I've known them and they're definitely my go-to people...I've always been able to depend on them whenever I've needed an extra hand (which, with three kids, can be often!). Plus, the kids are accustomed to seeing them on a really regular basis, so I know it'll be an adjustment for them to not have their Papaw and Mimi around...but it's a good move for them, and I have to look at the bright side here. I'll learn lots of lessons in total self-reliance, which is good for me. Right? Right???? (Big, loooong sigh.)


Ahmadinejad, dictator of Iran, attending an 'international dialogue' dinner in New York and showing up as a guest on Larry King Live. Dude. This guy, by his own testimony, hates America and Israel. In fact, he was just gloating about the fact that the American empire was crumbling...and we, in turn, open a welcoming door to him. I can understand tolerance. I can understand being gracious to our enemies, to a certain extent. But inviting them in, letting them spew their hatred on our own soil, on our own networks--that, I cannot understand.


Oh, the election. I'm fascinated with the passion that has caught our nation up in this year's race, and I'm glad that there's a political discussion going on....but I'm irritated with negativity for negativity's sake. Spotlighting negative attributes that are based on facts, however...that's also called education. That's called knowing the candidate. I'm also irritated with certain media groups for being so blatantly unbiased that it's passed ridiculous...and when you expect your own opinions to be heard, people, you have to listen to the opinions of others. It's fair. The conservative party is constantly accused of being closed-minded, but it's a condition that is on both sides of the line. Do your research. Know the facts. And, of course, vote.


I sold a short story! Woo to the hoo! I'll link here on the ol' blog to the magazine's website when the story is up, which should be closer to the end of the month.


With the rest of the county, I've been watching the economic crisis with a scared, slightly confused, sense of foreboding. I have all these images of the Great Depression in my head, which include this movie my family used to own that came from Feature Films for Family...this really spoiled girl hits her head and goes back in time and experiences that period of time (which, of course, cures her of the brattiness and shallow attitude)...it's odd, but when I picture the Great Depression, I see everything in this sort of brown and grey color scheme....like the country was so poor that we didn't even have color anymore. Anyway, I think of the stock market crashing and suicides and hungry families...unemployment...nothing good comes to mind. The threat of an economic breakdown in our country is scary, no doubt. Even thinking of it makes me want to plant a garden, buy a cow, and stock up on toilet paper. But the key, I think, is to not panic. I, of course, have no idea how to solve the problem, but I am hoping that our leaders can figure it out before we all get a metaphorical hit on the head and have to learn some needed lessons the really, really hard way. Unlike the lucky girl in the aforementioned movie, we don't have the option of waking up to a restored present and apologizing to our grandparents for our selfish candy-bar business and questionable fashion sense.


And, in hopes of ending this session of blogettes on a positive note, I'll say that every day with my family stops me in my tracks with thankfulness. Because, even with the turmoil this crazy world is in, at the end of the day...I have a happy, healthy family and lots of love to fuel our future. We have to all remember that hope--and action to back up that hope--has gotten this country of ours through many, many, many uncertain times...and I believe that it will again. So let's all let our little whistles ring out loud and strong...(okay, I can't actually physically whistle--I never have been able to get the hang of it--but I'll hum, if that counts. Or sing. Or play Sean's Kazoo.)

Zzzzzz

How you know your new story idea isn't going to lift off the ground :

You fall asleep on your keyboard while drumming up scenes (literally, keyboard imprints on face and legs numb from awkward crossed position). Yes, that's right. Your own brain children (ie, characters) bore you into unconscious slumber.

That, my friends, is an undeniable sign.

A Letter

Dear Blog,

It must be said. You, dearest Blog, are covered with dust and layers of loneliness. You're not meeting my eyes right now - could it be that you feel abandoned? Do you resent that you've been left to fend for yourself in cyberspace?
I take full responsibility and I offer my deepest apology. I do, however, have a rather wonderful excuse.
The novel is finished. It is, of course, still in need of lots of reviews and edits - but I finally wrote the end. In order to get to that point, I had to put all of my concentration into writing....which resulted in my absence from you. But it's done - and now, during the ensuing search for an agent (yikes!), I will have more quality time for you.

Thanks for hanging in there with me.

Love, Christie

Spring Training - It's Not Just For Baseball

At the Relief Journal website, there has been an amazing forum created for writers. There are critique groups, blogging abilities, chat options....it's just getting started, but it already has a good dynamic. The forum runners are sponsoring a spring training for the Nanowrimo project, which takes place in November and challenges those participating to write 50, 000 words in one month. I've never participated in Nanowrimo, but I'm thinking that I'll be all done with the current wip and awaiting replies from agents by November, so a jump start on something new will be good. Anyway, the challenge over at Relief is to write 10, 000 words in seven days (the week of June 3rd). I'm going to participate because I feel like my wip will be done by that date and I'll need some major separation from it before going back to make it into a second (ie, better) draft. Plus, it'll be a fun goal to push towards - and knowing that there are others doing the same thing is good motivation. Writers don't often get to feel like they're a part of a team sport, and this gives a bit of that feeling.
For the first stage of this process, we were encouraged to get our writing gear together - our computer of choice, needed notebooks, pens, etc. I'm sharing here the list I put together...(it was a fun list to make, by the way. I definitely encourage all writers to examine their own routines every now and then just so they'll know what they need and have it handy. But, as so many of the great ones have said, don't use an obstructed routine as an excuse to not write. Even if it's with a napkin and a crayon at Ruby Tuesday's, sometimes you just have to do it. Just write. The list is just my own ideal conditions.)

Digital Capture -
I type all of my drafts on my trusty laptop, which has been with me for many moons. It's like a favorite pair of jeans - once you get it broken in, you hope that it lasts forever. I am, however, in the process of convincing my husband that I need one of those sweet Alphasmart devices for the ability to write anywhere and everywhere on a couple of AA batteries (it seems only fair, since he just bought a Playstation 3 :) ).

Software -
Word. Again, I like it because it's familiar. I do back things up with Google docs - even though those files can only hold so much text and I have to split larger projects, it feels safe to have an extra copy online. No matter what happens to the laptop, Google will still stand (I, um, hope.)

Analog capture -
Cheap notebooks with fun covers. I've never been able to freely write in expensive and elegant journals - I can't stop feeling that the better the covers, the more perfect (i.e., inhibited) my writing must be. I also go through a lot of notebooks, because all of my initial drafts are hand-written for the most part - I do my best rewriting as I type. Plus, it can be dangerous to tote a laptop around when there are toddlers catapulting through the air. I also have bound index cards, for random thoughts and scene ideas.

Magic Pen -
This depends on the project. I go through moods. I inserted all of my new scenes for the novel in fine-point magic marker. It just felt like it should be green. For the training session, I picked up a couple of simple ball point pens. Okay to lose, good ink flow if I manage to keep track of them. For the notebook and pens, I have a snazzy white leather purse. It's big enough for the notebook to perfectly fit into it and small enough to throw over my shoulder when I'm leaving the house.

Misc-
Other things I need to gear up for a good writing session :
At some point in the process, coffee is always a good bet. I think it's more about the routine than the actual coffee itself...there's something comforting about that hot mug in my hands while I'm staring at the screen. It says to my brain - 'Start.'

When my brain slows down and I need some inspiration, I turn to the shelf I've designated for my favorite books, both novels and writing guides. I've found that reading even one chapter of a fabulous novel or a book on craft will get the flame rekindled. (I adore Natalie Goldberg's books on writing for this purpose - even though I don't agree with all of her theology, she puts a fresh spin on aspects of the craft and does it in short chapters. Some of these actually have suggested exercises at the end, which can whip writer's block out of the way.)

And, of course, there's the handy-dandy iPod. I like to use this when my kids are watching a DVD, having one of those contests where they attempt to out scream one another, or Neil is playing aforementioned Playstation 3 at top volume. I generally prefer silence, but to combat noise pollution I have playlists waiting for action.


If you feel like making a list of your own and are willing to share (I like peeking into the writing routines of others - fresh ideas can always, always improve my own process!), let me know - I'll be more than glad to provide a link from here to there.

Happy Monday!

From The Brains of Others

It's a breezy, bluesy day here in small-town America. We've done the errand running thing today, and I'm hoping the afternoon will be filled with peaceful house straightening, new flower planting (yay!), and at least a solid hour of novel writing.

I'm a bit tired, which I can blame directly on Neil...he brought home the first season of Lost last night and we both stayed up too late watching the first few episodes. I've never seen any of the show and wasn't sure that I'd like it...but it's just so intriguing. Three and a half (I fell asleep) episodes in, I want to know what happens to these people. And why there's a polar bear in the jungle. And what in the world that mysterious monstrous creature is...

Anyway, since my own brain seems to be full of randomness, I figure I'll share with you a few interesting quotes that have challenged me lately...

"And know this: whenever you find yourself writing a single word or phrase or page dutifully and with boredom, then leave it out. Something is wrong. It is dragged in. It isn't your true self talking." ~Brenda Ueland

Also from Brenda Ueland - "For in fiction, Chekhov said, you can pose a question (about poverty, morality, or whatever it is) but you must not answer it. As soon as you answer it, the readers know you are lying, ie forcing your characters to prove something."

And this interesting view of story in our lives...
"You're given a mythology in this life, the way you're given a body, a family, a country. You can reject it if you like - starve it, laugh in its face, run away into exile - but it's still your mythology. There's always the chance of redemption." ~Ariel Gore, from The Traveling Death and Resurrection Show

To elaborate just a bit on the quote on mythology...here's part of the expanded definition provided by Wikipedia: Myths are narratives about divine or heroic beings, arranged in a coherent system, passed down traditionally, and linked to the spiritual or religious life of a community, endorsed by rulers or priests. Once this link to the spiritual leadership of society is broken, they lose their mythological qualities and become folktales or fairy tales. In folkloristics, which is concerned with the study of both secular and sacred narratives, a myth also derives some of its power from being more than a simple "tale", by comprising an archetypical quality of "truth".

Looking at life in 'story' terms is appealing to me...maybe because my entire life, one way or another has been inundated in language, in the arcs of messages. Reading, obviously, brought me into this way of thinking...but I also attribute it to the years listening to my grandfathers and my dad preaching...the Bible, in itself, is a hugely taken for granted literary resource. And when ministers use it to convey some message - it's a powerful thing. Jesus Himself used parables to get ideas across to people - something in us, innately, responds to stories.
So do we each have our own mythology, our own story? I think so. Here are a few more quotes, taken from the pages of The Sacred Romance, that say exactly what I wish to say about all of this.

"We live in narrative, we live in story. Existence has a story shape to it. We have a beginning and an end, we have a plot, we have characters." ~Eugene Peterson

"Our loss of confidence in a larger story is the reason we demand instant gratification. We need a sense of being alive now, for now is all we have. Without a past that was planned for us and a future that waits for us, we are trapped in the present. There's not enough room for our souls in the present." ~John Eldridge, Brent Curtis

On scripture, Mary Stewart Van Leeuwen "...or do you see scripture as being a cosmic drama - creation, fall, redemption, future hope - dramatic narratives that you can apply to all areas of life?"

Frederick Buechner ~ "It is a world of magic and mystery, of deep darkness and flickering starlight. It is a world where terrible things happen and wonderful things, too. It is a world where goodness is pitted against evil, love against hate, order against chaos, in a great struggle where often it is hard to be sure who belongs to which side because appearances are endlessly deceptive. Yet for all its confusions and wildness, it is a world where the battle goes ultimately to the good, who live happily ever after, and where in the long run everybody, good and evil alike, becomes known by his true name...That is the fairy tale of the Gospel with, of course, one crucial difference from all other fairy tales, which is that the claim made for it is that it is true, that it not only happened once upon a time but has kept on happening ever since and is happening still."

And a final note by Brent Curtis and John Eldridge that explains the importance of sharing both our personal experiences and those stories simmering in the crock-pot of our brains...

"It becomes crucial that we become a generation of storytellers who are both recapturing the glory and joy of the Sacred Romance even as we tell each other our particular stories, so that we can help each other, through God's spirit, see His plan of redemption at work in us."

Trying to Keep Perspective

I'm desperately trying to get some writing done - but I'm at the point where I can't even finish a legitimate blog post. My children are my inspiration, my first priority, the greatest love-burst a girl could hope for...but sometimes I don't know how in tarnation I'm supposed to finish anything with their exuberant toddler-ness spontaneously combusting around me.
Usually I just close my notebook or the laptop and play for a while, knowing that they'll later fall asleep or get involved in a puzzle or each other enough to give me a solid twenty minutes or so of working done, but this week they've been clinging to me non-stop. Maybe it's spring fever...whatever the reason, my writing schedule has been officially disrupted. I'm just a better, more peaceful person when I have that little bit of me-in-imaginary-world time...so let's hope I get some quality work done soon. And then let's hope I somehow alleviate the mom-guilt that goes along with this kind of frustration. (Do you know the cycle? It goes a little like this - These are my children, growing so fast - I shouldn't waste a single moment wanting to be doing anything else...but there are only so many years left of my life and if I don't write what I'm writing, then it'll never get written and doesn't God ask that I do my best with any given talents...but being a mother is the highest calling...but characters a, g, and t are stuck midsentence in that confrontation and my brain is stuck mid-plot at all times...what's that, Christian? You need juice?)
(Exhale.)
Anybody else out there ever feel this way? (Please, please say yes. Please?)

Thoughts To Chew On - oops, that should be Thoughts On Which To Chew, right?

I've been non-stop editing this short story for two days. Hard to get the revising to stop. The deadline is today and I still have a few hundred words to cut. Yikes. To make myself feel a little better about this, I've copied down a few quotes from some of the great writers - if something is making you crazy and obsessive, it is good to know that there are people out there who commiserate.

"A work of art is first of all work." Paul Engle
"I spent all morning putting in a comma and all afternoon taking it out." Oscar Wilde
"Real seriousness in regard to writing is one of the two absolute necessities. The other, unfortunately, is talent." Ernest Hemingway
"My family can always tell when I'm well into a novel because the meals get very crummy." Anne Tyler

The Perks of Writer's Block

I'm experiencing mega-frustration with my current work-in-progress, and so I'm suffering irritation and working it out through procrastination. Not the ideal way to make a breakthrough, but for now it's all I can seem to do.
The silver lining? Once I've managed to clean the entire house and actually annoy my children with my 'hey, let's play this/color this/paint this/watch this'...I'm left looking for creative ways to expel some creative energy.
This afternoon, this resulted in a fantastic idea - Lite-Brite! I still have the one left over from childhood days, but I haven't actually played with it in about ten years...so out it came. I made a masterpiece lighthouse out of pegs and a light bulb - and let me tell you, it is still fun. It's currently sitting on my kitchen counter. I'm thinking I should just leave it there and call it art.
For those of you who don't have a Lite-Brite just sitting in a random closet, you can click on the following link and procrastinate to circa-1970 technology!
http://www.sfpg.com/animation/liteBrite.html
And now...I wonder if I can manage to find my Easy-Bake Oven...

Simile and Metaphor

A new story began twirling in my head yesterday...so my mind is in the land of Other. I jotted a few paragraphs down last night, but nothing substantial. I'm a bit frustrated, trying to figure out where these characters want to go, what they want to say. I'm sure we've all heard that the creative process is like giving birth; it is.
Typically, the process - at least for me - starts months before the story actually begins to take shape on paper. A certain quality of character might slide through my thoughts; a name, a career, a dream. I'll hear a song that sticks with me, a certain place may occupy a few minutes of my thinking time. A vague idea of plot may begin to simmer...but it takes a while for all of it to germinate, to come together in an "Oh! That's the story!" kind of revelation. It reminds me of those months before the first ultra sound....you know something's in there, but it doesn't hit you that the something is an actual baby until they rub you with cold gel and show you the inside of your uterus.
So now is the growing stage - the second trimester, if you'll stick with me on the comparison. The story fleshes out; you learn more about the characters, about their voices. You find out if it's a boy or a girl, so to speak. You have to keep motivation up; take those vitamins and keep the pen moving.
Once you hit that third trimester, you're ready to see that baby; you're ready to have the last line written. It still takes patience - patience to wait and make sure that you've made it all the best it can be. (You've got to get the nursery decorated and the pediatrician listed on the hospital forms.) And in those last moments - the whole labor process - you have to push yourself to get it all out; to make sure that every word is there that needs to be there. Finishing is sometimes the hardest part.
In real life, there is a baby at this point that takes supervision and gentle care. Yep. The edits are upon us. Some distance between writing the last line and going back over the draft is essential; time brings objectivity and clarity on what you really need and what you don't. I do not, however, recommend this time apart if you actually are dealing with an infant. :)
Anyway, all this is to remind myself and anyone out there trying to birth something new - it's difficult, it's tiring, and it's frustrating - but at the end, there's a brand new shiny creation. So keep at it. It's worth it.

In Time For the Oscars

I've been nominated! Ok, not for the Oscars, but I'm thrilled and honored just the same. One of my short stories, There Was Gethsemane, has been nominated to be included in the Infuze Magazine Best of 2006 anthology. This is the first time I've ever been included in something like this, and I'm excited about it. A reader's poll actually decides which stories will be published, so it's not a done deal...but I'm happy to be a contender. At the risk of self-promotion (the writer's dirty work), I'll link you guys to the story and to the poll. While you're there, I definitely recomend checking out Infuze's entire site. They do an incredible job of bringing art, media, and faith together in one spot. It is one of the best on-line magazines out there. So to Infuze - thank you!


To Read There Was Gethsemane:

http://www.infuzemag.com/creative/stories/archives/2006/03/there_was_geths.html


To Vote: http://www.infuzemag.com/staff/robin/2007/01/best_of_2006_sh.html

From Whence It Came...

The title of this blog comes from an essay by Frederick Buechner entitled “Faith and Fiction.” It’s whittled out of this paragraph, which easily captures the essence of why I write -
“Is that why we write, year after year, people like me - to keep our courage up? Are novels like mine a kind of whistling in the dark? I think so. To whistle in the dark is more than just to try to convince yourself that dark is not all there is. It’s also to remind yourself that dark is not all there is, or the end of all there is, because even in the dark there is hope. Even in the dark you have the power to whistle. And sometimes that seems more than just your own power because it’s powerful enough to hold the dark back a little. The tunes you whistle in the dark are the images you make of that hope, that power.”

A Few Quotes From A Favorite

Some words from a woman I admire whole heartedly for her ability to write beautiful stories that echo gracefully of her faith - Madeleine L'Engle.


"Artistic temperament sometimes seems a battleground, a dark angel of destruction and a bright angel of creativity wrestling."


"In the evening of life we shall be judged on love, and not one of us is going to come off very well, and were it not for my absolute faith in the loving forgiveness of my Lord I could not call on him to come. "


"Inspiration usually comes during work, rather than before it."


"That's the way things come clear. All of a sudden. And then you realize how obvious they've been all along."


"The great thing about getting older is that you don't lose all the other ages you've been."


"When we were children, we used to think that when we were grown-up we would no longer be vulnerable. But to grow up is to accept vulnerability... To be alive is to be vulnerable."

It's My Blog, I Can Whine If I Want To

I am writing this in order to perpetuate my procrastination. I am working on polishing/revising my novel and guess what. It is haaaaaaaaaaaaaard. Every time I read a page, I can only think wow. This is crap. It is so bad and so past saving that I should scrap the entire project and start over with something else.
The thing is, I really do believe in the idea behind it all. So much that I can't bring myself to abandon it. It's just that expressing that idea is kicking my tail. I so want it to be good...the language and the details..the minute workings make a book worth reading, after all.
Frustration abounds.
And the red pen is calling me back.

later, ya'll