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My Writer's Journal

Book Signings

June 13, 2010
Two independent bookstores in Albuquerque invited me to do book signings. The ALBUQUERQUE JOURNAL took my picture and ran an article last Sunday. Great publicity, but did anyone notice? Several friends mentioned seeing it. Thursday evening I dressed up, sort of, and drove to Alamosa Books, a new bookstore specializing in books for kids and young adults. Elizabeth, the owner, put out a beautiful spread of little pink cupcakes, meringues, pastries, and a fruit punch she called "pink guillotines." Marie-Antoinette would have approved. I read the scene in which Marie-Antoinette suffers the indignities of the ritual dressing, signed books, talked to everybody, and came home.

Yesterday I put on a skirt and lipstick and drove to Bookworks, a bookstore that has been around for years. Connie, the manager, had borrowed a fabulous gown from the Santa Fe Opera and someone built a two-dimensional costume for portraits. (See photo, left) Aa cellist and a violinist played, and Connie gave instructions for the minuet. There was a cake, and even if Marie-Antoinette never said it, we ate it.

I love to do book signings. It's my chance to get away from the computer and out among actual readers. Having readers tell me in person that they like my books is a wonderful treat. Read More 
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Big BIG Birthday

June 8, 2010
Recently I heard from a teen-age fan who wrote that she dreams of having a life like mine: success as a writer, husband, children, grandchildren. I'm 75 today, but I remember very well being 60 years younger and dreaming of becoming a successful writer with a husband and children (at that age I couldn't begin to imagine the grandchildren part of my story). I had no idea how to make it happen.

But somehow it has, but not in a way I imagined. I majored in English in college, and then at my father's insistence, I took a secretarial course so I could make a living, if I had to. (In those days it was assumed a girl would marry, her husband would support her, and only if disaster struck would she go out to work.) After graduation I went to NYC and got a job as a secretary at CBS Television. I hated it, but I hoped it would lead to a writing career. It didn't.

I married, worked for a magazine as a secretary, hoped the job would lead to a writing career. It didn't.

Had two kids and started to write stories while they took their afternoon naps. Magazines rejected them all. Finally wrote a story about a secretary. It was published! I got paid $25! I was on my way.

Moved to the suburbs, wrote articles, sold a few, worked on a novel, rejected umpteen times. Had another baby; now had 3 boys. Wrote a sewing book for girls: MISS PATCH'S LEARN-TO-SEW BOOK. Accepted! Wrote a second book, about needlework, and then one about bread, and then several more how-to's, all accepted. Some were really good. ROCK TUMBLING was forgettable. Reviewers trashed LOTS AND LOTS OF CANDY.

Began writing non-fiction, about the Pennsylvania Amish and the Yup'ik Eskimos of Alaska. Got divorced. Kids grew up. Wound up in New Mexico. Remarried. Began writing YA novels. Moved to Texas, wrote first historical novel, WHERE THE BROKEN HEART STILL BEATS, then WHITE LILACS. Came back to New Mexico. More historical novels followed.

I used to worry that I would run out of ideas. I never have. Now I worry (but not too much) that I will run out of time. Not a bad place to be at 75. Read More 
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What I do all day

May 29, 2010
When I first started to write, many years ago, nobody ever really believed I was working. I was at home, wasn't I? So I must be available for telephone chats, lunches with friends, afternoon movies. But I have always been very well organized, and I do keep to a strict schedule. It sounds dull, boring, and repetitious, but it gets the work done.

6 am: alarm goes off, if I let it. Usually I get up a little earlier, throw on old clothes, and take off for a 2-1/2 mile walk around my neighborhood. I've been doing this for 25 years; figure I've covered more than 15,000 miles.
8 am: showered, dressed, ready for breakfast (oatmeal; always oatmeal) and the morning paper.
9 am: at my desk, checking e-mail, ready to write.
12 n: lunch (available Tue & Thu to go out)
1 pm: M-W-F to the gym for an hour, then errands; T-Th, back to writing
5 pm: watch TV news, cook dinner, eat, clean up
7 pm: answer email, letters, odd jobs
8 pm: read
10 pm, or earlier: SLEEP!

Weekends: a little variation, but not much; dinner out, friends in, Sunday concert, chores.

And I'm never bored. Ever. Read More 
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Life Is Good

May 22, 2010
OK, I complain a lot, but I'm feeling MUCH better today. Revisions of CLEOPATRA'S SPELL are done, 248 lovely pages ready to go out electronically and in hard copy. That will not be the end of it, for sure. Editor Paula will go through it, ready to pounce. We've been having an on-going argument for months about the use of contractions: I'll, wasn't, there's. I think they should be used in conversation between Cleopatra and her sisters and friends. Paula says they shouldn't. We'll see.

Then, when we're both satisfied and have reached a compromise of some sort, the manuscript will go off to a copyeditor, who will comb it for grammatical errors (I do dangle a participle from time to time) and a fact checker, who will search out errors in dates or other historical inaccuracies. I'll have to come up with a bibliography and a family tree. Just when I think it's finished, there will be still another question. That's how it is.

Meanwhile, my head will be completely wrapped around Mary, Queen of Scots. A first draft is due July 1st. I hope I make it. But if I don't, count on it--I'll be complaining again. Read More 
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Pressed for Time

May 16, 2010
Everybody feels this way at some time: not enough hours in a day, not enough days in a week. I'm definitely feeling that way now. Too much to do, too many projects going on. For instance:

CLEOPATRA has come back from the editor, who has had the manuscript since January 11. It is 222 pages, with corrections on almost every page, some of them major (e.g., requiring a new chapter to be added). Deadline? June 1.

Also: a first draft of MARY, QUEEN OF SCOTS, half finished as I write this, is due--guess when? June 1!

Book signings to be organized for THE BAD QUEEN; both in June.

In addition - we're getting ready to move, the house is for sale and has to be "show ready" at all times, and we're moving to an unfinished loft that hasn't been completed yet and has to be checked daily. Estimated move: July 1.

And I've been trying to get my Facebook page up to date, Twitters tweeted, emails answered, bills paid....you know, LIFE.

So when somebody asks, "Could you please read my manuscript and help me figure out what to do next?", I have to take a deep breath and say, regretfully, "No."

You do understand, don't you? Read More 
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Hardest Thing(s) About Writing

May 9, 2010
I'm often asked, "What's the hardest thing?" Most people assume that it's getting ideas or getting published. For me, it's dealing with criticism.

There are two kinds of criticism: BEFORE the book is published and AFTER the book is published.

BEFORE a book is published it goes through several rounds of editing. The first round usually deals with plots that don't quite work, characters that aren't quite believable, clumsy prose, chapters that need to be move around, ideas that need to be thought through. The next round gets into the finer points: too much description or not enough; dialogue that sounds too young to fit the character, or too old, or too formal, or too colloquial; not enough emotional content, or too much melodrama. The third round involves fine-tuning all of the above. Later, fact-checkers make sure dates are correct and there are no factual errors; copy editors check the spelling and grammar (the Grammar Dragon would be proud). At last, the book is ready to go to print. I'm used to this kind of criticism, because it's always positive and usually helpful. It goes with the job.

AFTER the book it's a different story. It used to be that teachers and librarians and regular book reviewers gave their opinions of a new book. Now everybody gets to express an opinion. This is when I get really touchy...and sometimes grouchy. I get lots of email from readers who love my books, or at least like them well enough to tell me so, but there are apparently plenty of people out there who are not so favorably impressed, and they are not fainthearted about saying so in a very public way, like on amazon.com. And it's way too late then to do anything differently.

The strange thing is that I can quote the bad reviews almost word for word, but I have a hard time remembering the good ones. I guess I need to develop a thicker skin, or not read the reviews, or just not care. What do YOU say? Read More 
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Let's Blog!

April 26, 2010
I've been doing a Writer's Journal for years, but with this new website there is a way for readers to respond. Occasionally somebody actually does send in a comment, but so far none of those have had anything to do with the subject I want to discuss. For instance, in my last post I wrote about the "truth" of my novels. So what do I get in response? Questions about which is my favorite book and why, or a friend who writes about her gardening.

Hey, guys! The idea is to respond to the subject at hand. Otherwise, if you want to ask a question, or just get in touch with me, click on CONTACT above and send me an e-mail. I love hearing from you, and I will respond!

Incidentally, the response to TOO MANY BOOKS, posted a month ago, has been fantastic. The shelves are mostly empty now, and my books have gone out to fans in all parts of the country. Thank you, thank you! Read More 
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Making Stuff Up

April 7, 2010
I'm often asked if my books are true--meaning, I guess, if I've made up the "facts" or if things actually happened as I've described them. The truth is that I do a lot of research and have a rule: I don't rewrite history. But a lot of imagination goes into presenting the facts in an interesting way--through dialogue, for instance.

Sometimes the "facts" I find in books or on line don't agree. For instance, in MARY QUEEN OF SCOTS, my current project, I work with three excellent biographies, and I find that authors interpret events differently. Drives me crazy! So what do I do?

I choose the interpretation that makes the most sense to me--and also makes the best story. Read More 
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Why I Like Bad Weather

April 3, 2010
It's getting much harder to stay focused on writing. Other parts of the country may be flood-drenched and miserable, but New Mexico is sunny, the skies are sapphire blue, and although it's still cold when I take off for my walk at 6:30 AM, by noon it's warm. Fruit trees are blossoming around the neighborhood, the pots in my yard overflow with brilliant color. So who feels like working?

Not that I'm wishing for downpours or snowstorms, but a dose of bad weather once in a while is not a bad thing. I'm slogging away on MARY, QUEEN OF SCOTS, on Chapter 12 in fact, but for now it's a slow go. A little rain might help. Read More 
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Too Many Books?

March 28, 2010
I've never been a collector. I buy books, read them, pass them on to whoever might be interested. I do tend to let stuff accumulate down in the basement. But now there's a crisis.

We're getting ready to move to a much smaller space, and the big problem is a basement full of STUFF. Besides the usual stash of old tools, the bumper of a long-gone 1997 Toyota Tacoma (for sale, cheap!), there were boxes and boxes of books. Not just any books, but copies of books I've written. I hauled them up, sorted them out, gave some away to schools, but I still have a lot left, more than I want to cart off to our new place. That's why I'm making the offer to give them to friends and fans who want them and are willing to pay the postage.

It seems like a good idea. Let's see if it works. Read More 
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