When Things are put into Perspective

Yesterday, through inadvertence, an email that landed in my inbox reminded me of why I write. 

You've heard me say it before and I'm saying it again, the royalties are simply a bonus to this writing thing, no matter the denomination. It's the number of books sold, sitting beside that amount, that appeal to me.

For me, Michael and Rose being alive in your mind is, by far, the most exciting, you being in their world, in the way your mind's eye sees it. Yet in some scenes, you could quite possibly see it the same as I did when I wrote it. All I ask is that you don't ever forget that I'm there with you, in each word you read, each tear you cry, each angry outburst you throw out into the wind -- if you listen closely as you read, somewhere in the scene you might hear the scribbling of the words "I was here."

Have a great day.
C. Elizabeth

Feeling Lost

As of late I've been feeling a bit lost. No I don't mean lost in another world -- darn it! I'm lost in the real world, trying to find my way back to my other world. Only us writers can say that and not have the white coats take us away.

All kidding aside, that's how I have been feeling and even though there had been some good writing episodes this past summer, they were mostly for the second in the Absolute series, getting the rewrites into Wings ePress.  The third, I have to finally admit, didn't get a lot of attention these past months.  In my defence I tried, getting bits and pieces done, but never really able to sit down with it, uninterrupted and listen to them, life kept getting in the way.  I'm not complaining (well maybe I am a little bit), but my head was full of words, as were the feelings and truth be told, it was driving me nuts.  Never mind! I know you're asking "but isn't that the norm?"

Fingers and toes crossed that this past weekend was the turning point -- it feels like it. I've written some exceptionally solid things that I feel really good about (even though they took me through one heck of an emotional rollercoaster ride) and have managed to continue to stay focused. So much so, that I've walked through the dark patches and am now writing the outcome from that lead scene I was talking about. There's still heartache and pain, but I can see the light at the end of the tunnel now, when before, it was pitch black.

Have a great day.
C. Elizabeth

The Lead

When we hear the word "lead" in reference to a book, we tend to automatically think about the hero or heroine, aka the lead character.  However, it's not only them that lead a novel, so do some specific scenes.

Few scenes can be considered the lead, those are the ones that will keep you interested, the ones that may tie all the previous chapters together, or will bring something to light that may have escaped you, or maybe it will begin a whole new journey that may not make sense at that moment, but will gobsmack you when all the puzzle pieces fit together. These scenes can be as short as a paragraph or two and as long as two or three chapters, depending on which road our characters decide to take us on. Either way, it can set you up to wait for the next shoe to drop, or give you a shiver or even have you scream out loud, "Noooo!".

I bring this up because that's where I was this past weekend. Two days of writing and each was completely absorbed in this one scene.  Why? Because it is the biggest lead I've ever written, it has every emotion flowing through it (it was a very emotional weekend for me... I cried a lot), it pulls it all together up to that point, yet adds another incredible dynamic, leaving you wondering and wanting to find out "how the hell that could  happen to Rose and Michael."

Have a great day.
C. Elizabeth

The Author Article

Blogcritics has published another article I wrote.  Please take a peek and leave a comment;
The Author:  The Master of Mind Reading

Have a gret day.

Finally Comfortable Enough

Yesterday after work I went to have my photograph taken professionally for PR purposes -- how exciting is that for you?  You'll get to see what I look like.  You see, when this whole thing started, the idea of having my picture plastered all over the internet and in other places made me a bit nervous... Okay, a lot nervous, that's why you only see my cover everywhere, except one (and I'm not telling which one).  Why is that you ask?  I'm not sure, I think it was a combination of the fact that I was still shy about being an author, I take horrible pictures and I still wanted an air of mystery.

Well that's all about to change, I'm finally comfortable enough in the knowledge that it isn't just me who thinks Absolute Obsession is a good book and I'm proud to have my name and face attached to it -- look for it next week. Double yikes!

Have a great day and a great weekend.

Opening the Floodgates

As November, 2011, draws ever so near, I find myself thinking about November, 2009, and how it had changed my life.

At first, when my writing journey began, getting published wasn't even a twinkle in my mind's eye, the only thing that was in the forefront was their story, it being, at least at that moment, a onetime thing, how wrong was I?  Halfway through, Michael and Rose could be heard in two different places.  The first, of course, the continuation of Absolute Obsession, the second was a whispering from behind the curtain of the sequel, pretty much confirming what I had thought all along...I was crazy. Yikes!

Now when the third of the Absolute series was revealed, I thought for sure that would be the end of it, but nooooo!  It seems that Michael and Rose have opened the floodgates for other characters to appear and they wait in the wings to be heard.  So far, two more stories (not part of the Absolute trilogy), have come to light, needing  to be told and when they can get a word in edgewise, they tell it to me just as Rose and Michael have...backwards.

Two more endings with titles have been added to the mix and their characters  waiting patiently to take me on their journey, back to the beginning.  Hold on, I think we're in for a ride.

Have a great day.

http://www.celizabeth.ca/

 

Where Have all the Flowers Gone?

Well today I find myself somewhat melancholy because it's that time of year here in St. Albert, that we start to dump all the flower pots, cut down the flower beds and get everything ready for winter. I must admit I don't like Fall/Autumn, to me everything is dying, the orange, red, and burgundy leaves don't intrigue me, they are simply a reminder of what is yet to come...winter.  Snow, winds, learning to drive on ice again, trying to be patient with the drivers around me who think it's still summer. 

Sometimes I wonder why I live here, but then with the first snow fall, I'm quickly reminded.  There is nothing more beautiful than a landscape freshly dusted in white, making the nights sparkle, I love the fragrance of the crisp air as it wafts around my nose in the wee morning hours and I love watching my breath pass my lips to dance with the breeze, the days will grow shorter and we will all reconnect warming by the fire.  Besides it won't be too long before the buds of the trees and flowers, that lay cold under the snow, will be reborn again, our grass will turn green and stay that way as the sun shines for eighteen hours -- yes you heard me correctly, eighteen hours of daylight for us here in the summer -- that's when all our igloos melt.  We northern types may not like all of the seasons -- but we wouldn't have it any other way.

Have a great day.