One Author's Journey #5

All of the books I write reflect things from my life. It was time to write book #5, Timothy’s Home. Someone recommended a wonderful book for writer for me called The Art of War for Fiction Writers. There are a lot of exercises to hone writing skills in this book. One of them went like this (more or less):

Suppose there is a truck driver driving really fast down the highway. (Are you thinking of a hairy guy right now?

Now, the truck driver is a woman. (Tough gal?)

What if she is in a wedding dress or a formal and in full makeup?

 

When I read this, I searched my mind for how to apply this to a book set in the 1800s. What were the ‘trucks’ then? Who would be my victim-woman driving? After a brief period of contemplation, I decided that the biggest of the ‘big rigs’ of that time had to be the Twenty Mule Team. That thought took me down a road I had travelled fifty years before.

 

I was three and my nephew was five. We were inseparable and usually into some kind of trouble. Of course, wasn’t most of it the nephew’s fault? (That’s my story and I’m sticking to it.) Anyway, my fifteen year old brother had a magnificent model of the Twenty Mule Team Borax. Somehow, the reins got all twisted up and it was destroyed. For fifty years my brother was a little bitter about this. Once in a while he mentioned that he saw one at an antique store or on eBay. This niggled at my mind a lot.

 

One summer we were in Denver and visiting our oldest son’s in-laws. The grandfather showed us the house he had built. In the basement there was a twenty Mule Team Borax model. I was so excited and remarked that I needed to find one for my brother. Our son’s father-in-law said he had one he would send to me. The problem was that it needed to be put together. I told him I thought that would be fine.

 

A couple of weeks later I got a really small package in the mail. It was half the size of a shoebox. I couldn’t guess what it was. When I opened it, I almost cried. It was a model ready to be put together. Even the mules came in two pieces. I had never put together a model in my life, so I called my brother and told him I found a model. He said that he would appreciate it if I would put it together for him. (?)

 

I begged Terry to help me put the thing together. He gave me one whole day. He put together all twenty mules. The wagons were detailed and there were even little men that went with it. Terry also routed a pretty board and put the recommended finish nails every so many inches to hold the mules in place. The day was over and I was on my own.

 

There were documents in with the model and when I studied the instructions, I found some interesting facts about the twenty mule teams and how they worked. After reading the short study there, I looked up a lot of things on the internet. It was very interesting. While I painted and distressed the wagons and put everything together for a few weeks, I contemplated the lives of the people who worked on these wagons.

 

Some of the plot of Timothy’s Home unfolded there on my dining room table. When I finished the model, I wrote the book and felt blessed that I could share the wealth of information I had learned and not let it go to waste.  As it happened, we went to New Mexico to see my brother and present him with the finished product. It was fifty years late, but he was touched by my efforts. I love my brother so much. It was worth the time and effort to see the look on his face that day.

 

The next book was a glimpse into my dad’s life. (He was born in 1909)

 

 

 

 

One Author's Journey #4

 

 

 

 

 

Book III was going through the last stages before its release date when I came upon a writing challenge on the internet. It was called the “National Novel Writing Challenge”. I clicked on the link and read about it and was floored when I discovered the challenge was to write a book with 50,000 words or more in one month. The month was November.

NOVEMBER, the words stuck out like a knife. That is the month we have family over for Thanksgiving, there are at least two craft/book shows, and I spend days cooking and preparing the house for a lot of company. How on earth could I commit to doing something like this?

I don’t know why, but I did it. I had never self-published and thought this would be a good exercise in writing discipline. I would learn how to juggle life with my writing. Up to this point, I let my life revolve around marketing and writing. This was a test and only a test…or so I thought.

In Luke’s Legacy, Book III of the Nan’s Heritage Series, there was a “walk on character” who had a lot of personality. Sheriff Roy Miller met her on a train. She was a mail order bride. The man who ordered her sent her away and didn’t marry her. I decided to write her story for the November NaNoWriMo challenge.

The Eyes of a Stranger addressed some of my fears of being rejected. Gertie, the main character had faced rejection all of her life and she didn’t understand why until she left home only to be rejected once more. I contemplated the thought process of a mail order bride. She was the precursor to the email bride of today. One day I was visiting with my sister and we were talking about mail order brides. I told her that I would be in the ‘return’ file on my way back home.

When she was introduced in Book III, we find that the good Sheriff had a friend in Denver. Gertie was to go and find him to secure employment as a nanny or housekeeper. I began the story with her life at home and how she came to be a mail order bride. Then she had conversation with Sheriff Roy and built the story from what was laid out there.

What was Roy’s friend like? Would he help her? Where would she live? Where would she work? Those days were difficult for a woman on her own. There were few women in the workplace. Most were married off very young. Gertie was past her prime marriage years. She feared she would be an old maid. Those were the things that tossed around in my mind in this book.

It was fun to write this on the challenge. NaNoWriMo urges the writer to only write and not correct or edit as they go. That gave freedom to throw caution to the wind. Editing and processing the story came in December, January and on. I was very pleased to meet the challenge that year. My readers were happy to have two new books within one year to read. I learned a lot about moving with the storyline and letting the story run. It was delightful.

It did seem that I was writing all the time, but I still had a great time doing all the scheduled things. I think that book taught me how to live my life as a writer and not let the books boss me around. It would seem to be the opposite, but it wasn’t. I learned that if I write an average of 1670 words a day, I can get the rough draft completed in a month. I also learned that it is not necessary to get a rough draft completed in a month. It is alright if it takes two or three months. I learned that I must not forget to connect with those I love and meet new people. After it was all said and done, I had a new title, The Eyes of a Stranger. This book was not originally in the plan of the series, but after I wrote it, I knew it was an important element of it. The next move was to wrap up the series with one more book.

 

 

 

One Author’s Journey

#3

 

Elk’s Resolve, Book II in the Nan’s Heritage Series, seemed to fly from my mind, through my fingers, and onto the computer screen. I learned the importance of writing every day. Readers of the first book were ready as soon as the book was ready. Now, I just had to get word to them. I had a clip board that readers signed on my book table at the book events. If they were interested in being part of my “book club”, I sent them notice when the next book was ready to be sent to them via a postcard. This idea worked really well.  

It amazed me more than anyone that I began my third book, Luke’s Legacy.  Somehow, I actually became a writer. I wrote the first book because I heard the saying that everyone has a book inside of them. The second one was written because there were loose ends that needed tied up from the first one. Now, the third was a choice.

As a writer of Christian books, I believe it is important for each book to hold a message as well as to entertain the reader. As I write each book, I feel like I am in school and the Lord is teaching me things I need to work on in my own Christian walk. Nan’s Journey dealt with forgiveness while Elk’s Resolve was about overcoming depression and prejudice. God has no grandchildren was something Luke’s Legacy dealt with. As much as I wanted to make the decision for my children, it was clear that each person must choose for himself.

Portions of the book dealt with things children of Christians have expressed. Things like: “Mama is praying, so everything will be all right.” “I’ll get into heaven on Daddy’s coattails.” “I grew up in church. God knows me.” Sometimes I am afraid that those who have grown up so close to making a decision for Jesus, have a more difficult time realizing their need for Him.

While I was writing “Luke’s Legacy”, our brother in law almost died. He was one of the people who always came close to choosing God, but never felt he could. The doctors were working on his failing body and he felt his spirit leave the confines of flesh and bone. He walked through a door and found miles of desolation. He screamed out to God to save him. Immediately, he was back into his fleshly body of pain. He repented and asked the Lord to save his soul.

After he began recovering, he spent a lot of time crying to his sweet wife about how much he didn’t deserve another chance. He was so grateful that God let him live so that he could get saved. John, my brother in law, spoke at churches and men’s groups all over the panhandle as well as every individual who would listen to him, about this experience. He wanted them to be ready to meet God when the time came.

John died about two years after this experience. I asked if I could include a version of his vision/experience in Luke’s Legacy. I think the inclusion of that portion is why some readers have tagged it as “paranormal”. It was not. John was a changed man after that. He was not one who had dreams or experiences like that otherwise. He was very shy and his proclamation of his experience was surprising to everyone who knew him. He was wonderful and we all miss him.

God has no grandchildren. You cannot be let into the kingdom of God by default. It is a personal decision. Period. I think that portion of the book is the whole reason the Lord led me to write it. I thought my writing journey was over with that title. Little did I know, it had just begun.

My Author Journey

 

 

One Author’s Journey

#2

 

While the first title, Nan’s Journey, was going through the publishing hoops, my husband urged me to write the next book in the series. I hadn’t thought much about writing other books. The hair on the back of my neck stood on end every time someone called me ‘author’.  I simply couldn’t believe they were referring to me. I had the feeling that someone would pull back the curtain and find out the ‘author’ was only me.

Book II of the Nan’s Heritage Series seemed to fly off the laptop compared to the seven or so years it took to write Book I. I believe the first book took so long because I never thought it was something that would be published. With Elk’s Resolve, I had a little momentum going. Every day my husband asked me if I had written that day. That was a lot of pressure for me because I hadn’t gotten into the rhythm of being a writer. Being accountable to him was what I needed to get the book done. I also wrote furiously because I was afraid I would lose my nerve.

One lazy afternoon while I was napping, the phone rang. It was the marketing representative from my publisher. He told me Nan’s Journey was ready and asked me how many copies I wanted to order. He asked a lot of questions and my mind was officially blown. I heard terms I had never thought of before: push cards, promotional items, press release…

He could tell I was lost, so he recommended a book for me to read. It was Amen by Leon Mentzer. It was a book about publishing and marketing for the beginning author. I ordered it, some push cards, book marks, posters, and fifty books. He told me not to give any books to friends and relatives. I didn’t listen. I was afraid if I didn’t give the books to them, I would be stuck with them.

The books arrived. I opened the box and cried when I saw them. My heart was within those pages. Would anyone like it? The marketing book was in the box as well. I dove into it and cried when I read it. I realized I really didn’t know what I was doing. I thought I would be at my computer writing and the books would sell themselves. That’s what I had learned from movies I had watched.  I had just watched a movie where a poor boy wrote a book and immediately was rich. In fact, my husband had a list of things we were going to do with ‘all that money’. One funny thing I remember from those first ‘author’ days was my first time I went to the post office to pick up the mail for my paying job. I honestly wondered if people would approach me and think I was famous. Nope, I was still just me. I guess they never did get the memo that I was something special. I just have to laugh about that.

Leon’s book gave me a dose of reality from which I still haven’t recovered. One fact was that most authors never sell more than ninety-nine copies. Thank the Lord; my books have done better than that. There were ideas to get the word out and I marked up that book and attempted to put the suggestions into practice. I contacted him and he became my first book mentor. I will always feel blessed that he gave me good direction in those first months.

Some orders came in from people who had heard about me and I took them to the window of the post office. The clerk was a sweet lady and I had given her a book. She started talking to me about the characters in the book as if they were real people. I remember being shocked that she knew ‘my people’. I felt exposed. This woman knew the thoughts in my heart. I don’t know what I had expected. It did make me realize that I needed to be careful with those words I write because people were reading.