I think I’ve mentioned before how much easier it is for me to describe people and settings when I have pictures in front of me. I’m a pretty visual person. I like pulling articles out of the newspaper, magazines, and from the internet and keeping them near my manuscript.

My Myrtle Clover series is set in a small town that’s very similar to the town I grew up in (Anderson, South Carolina.) Our family traveled to Anderson for the 4th of July weekend to visit my parents, and I brought my camera.

I drove around Anderson, parking the car and walking frequently, and took pictures of the places I lived or where I spent a lot of time when I was growing up. It’s funny how often these locations creep into my settings. There was a teensy bit of trespassing involved, but I zoomed in on my camera to get the pictures I wanted without really getting close to these homes. And no one called the police as I walked through their yard. A red-letter day! :) I’d also dragged my children with me (“I’m sure y’all want to see the house I grew up in. And my friends’ houses from elementary school. And the park where I fed the ducks. And…”) and so I looked especially innocuous.

I also keep a disposable camera in my car’s glove compartment now. There were a few times when I kicked myself for not having a camera nearby. Sometimes I’ll drive through some beautiful small towns on the way to other places. I’ve used my cell phone’s camera in a pinch, but it blurs everything (or maybe I just don’t understand how to use it.) So now I have a disposable camera in the car for those times when I see something I think would be helpful later on. And now, the photo developers will give you a CD of your pictures, even from a disposable, so I can keep them in a file labeled with my WIP’s name on my computer.

It’s a day of celebration for Americans…..and I think I’ll use this chance to celebrate the folks who help me out each day.

My husband. Also known as my artistic patron. Our son asked the other day, “When is it Dad’s turn to scoop out the cat litter?” (My son has been on scoop-duty quite a bit since school ended for the summer.) I said, “Well, never, really. Because we depend on Dad for our very survival.” I think it gave my son pause. But it’s true. I certainly wouldn’t be at home, watching the kids and pets, sort of making supper, sort of cleaning, and blogging and writing without my successful better-half keeping us off the streets. Thanks, sweetie.

My children. They do keep me young. And they make sure I don’t stay in the house all day writing (even if I want to.) Yes, I’d be an odd-looking recluse if it weren’t for my extremely popular children and their many play-dates.

My cats (pictured). Why? Well….hmm. I guess because they keep me on my toes. Smoke (on the right) knocks at my bedroom door at 4:00 a.m. to make sure I don’t oversleep. Shadow (left) eats my printed-out WIP and upchucks it on the floor. Everyone’s a critic, I guess….but it reminds me to make my work the very best it can be. And to put it on top of the fridge when I’m not writing on it.

My corgi, Chloe. Because she listens to everything I say. So, when I say “Ouch…did you fall down?” to my daughter, Chloe hears: “Ball” and goes wild. Her idea of a best selling book would be one with the following text: “Wanna go for a walk? Wanna play ball? Outside? Potty? Kibbles? Where’s your leash? Good girl. The End.” It’s so nice to have someone hanging on your every word…even when they’re listening for the 10 words they actually know.

My family for proofreading and doing all that other stuff that’s not fun. And….they ask all their friends to buy their books. Which really helps.

My friends who ignore the paper clutter that follows me around like the dust around Peanut’s Pigpen.

My online author friends who give me support and encouragement.

Thanks, y’all. And have a happy 4th.

I wasn’t cool in….well, ever. I was on the newspaper and literary magazine staff. I hung out with people in high school that are now architects, IT people, CPAs….but definitely not whatever the cheerleaders and football players became. (Politicians? What did those folks become? Inquiring minds want to know…)

I’m a nerd.

In my Myrtle Clover series for Midnight Ink, my protagonist, in some ways, is an elderly nerd. I completely relate to her. She makes funny literary references, she’s a retired English teacher….I get Myrtle.

But not all of my characters are Myrtles. I have characters that are rednecks, theologians, blue collar workers, wealthy do-gooders, etc.

How do you handle writing different personality types?

I squash my inner-nerd. Sometimes it’s a pleasure to do so. Really.

I explore different personalities by imagining what it would be like to be them. Sort of like playing dress-up when you were a kid.

When I really dislike someone, I write it down. Usually if I don’t like them, it’s because the person is 180 degrees different from me. And a wonderful character, for that very reason.

I model a character on someone I know. And, naturally, completely change the character so they’re not recognizable to the person who inspired it.

I model a character on someone I wish I could be. When we’re looking in the mirror in the morning and wish we could see someone more glamorous or more adventurous in there….well, here’s our chance.

There’s no resume required when writing characters. It’s nice to use our imaginations to fill in the blanks. And…..we’re writers. We get to make things up.

Okay, y’all, this is an oldie but goodie from author Libba Bray about how similar your typical love story is to writing your WIP.

The whole post is clever, but here’s some excerpts:

THE EARLY STAGES
OMG, y’all. My book and I went out again yesterday, and you know what? My book is so, so clever! Seriously. It was only our third date and it brought me fresh metaphor.

THE FIRST DRAFT
I love this book. And it loves me. I never want to be without this book. Never, ever.

THE REVISION, MONTH TWO
My book? No, things are okay. I guess. I mean, I totally love my book and everything, but…it’s not quite as clever as I thought.

THE REVISION, MONTH THREE
OMG. Eight hours of writing for this crap? If it starts one more sentence with “I” things will get bloody. Boring. Derivative. Repetitive–I know! We totally covered that in chapter four AND in chapter twenty. You remember, right? So why doesn’t my book?

THE REVISION, ON DEADLINE
F*@*#&ing book. I hate you. I wish I’d never met you. YOU MAKE MY LIFE HELL! HELL! I wish there were another word for hell but my thesaurus says there’s not. My mother was right. I should never have gotten involved with you.

THE THIRD DRAFT
(singing) It’s a stupid novel, and I don’t care…it’s a stupid novel, and I don’t care…It’s a stupid novel, and I don’t care…it’s a stupid novel and I don’t care…

THE FINAL DRAFT
Thanks for meeting me here. Look, I’m just gonna come out with it. This–you, me–it’s not working. I’m sorry. It’s not you, it’s…actually it’s you. You’re stupid. And I sort of hate you. But, you know, thanks for the great line on p. 400. I’m gonna go ahead and keep it because, really, you did give it to me and it doesn’t fit you anymore. Oh, and while you’re here, you might as well try the pie. It’s good. Yeah. I’ve had 500 pieces of it over the past few months. So I know.

THE COPY EDITS
Wow. Fancy running into you. It’s been ages. No, you look good. You lost weight? Wow. About 10,000 words. That IS something. Ha! I’d forgotten how funny you are.

THE FINISHED BOOK
That one? Yeah, we totally had a thing. But, you know, it’s over now. So, tell me what you were saying about the succubus and the backpackers? OMG, that is the best thing ever! You know, you have such beautiful eyes…

It’s true, though, isn’t it? (I’m in the early revision stage of my love affair.) You fall in and out of love with it. You think at one point that it’s the most beautiful thing you’ve ever seen—but that morning you wake up and realize it looks more like Frankenstein’s monster (i.e., the picture above. Which is my current WIP. It should look much better by my September 1 deadline. With luck.)

But you keep slogging and put your doubts out of your head and finish the thing up.

Turn it in, praise God, and then realize you do actually have a thing for the WIP still.

Then you move on to the next project. And you start the whole process again.

Sometimes it’s hard to get started writing. Or blogging. Or even (as is the case with me this morning) getting dressed and ready to take on the day.

I’ve wandered around in circles this morning and can’t seem to finish anything I started. I’m distracted. Honestly, I feel like I have ADHD this morning.

I started reading the paper, but then I remembered I was supposed to send an email. My new laptop from Dell finally came yesterday after a month of problems. I started typing the email and thought the keyboard was behaving weird. So I took the laptop to my husband (my personal tech support). I mean, I do type really fast, but….I shouldn’t be having these kinds of problems. And why isn’t the letter ‘b’ working?

Then I realized I was hungry and had never really eaten supper last night (too distracted by the arrival of the new laptop.) So I made eggs for everybody in the house. Then I sat down on the sofa at the laptop and forgot I still hadn’t eaten.

I started to load the dishwasher, but realized the dishes in there were clean. So I stopped doing dishes.

It occurred to me that I needed to make my husband’s lunch for the office….oh. I forgot to buy mayonnaise at the store (third day in a row.) So he’s eating peanut butter today and an odd assortment of things I found in the pantry.

I have GOT to turn this day around. I’ve been up since 6:00, but it’s 10:00 now and nothing has gotten accomplished.

Here’s my plan:

Stop blogging. Now. Okay, after I finish this blog.

Stop whining about how much I dislike Dells. And, if I still don’t like this laptop by the end of the day, go buy a ThinkPad.

Shower, dress, put my contacts in. I look rather witchlike right now.

Pick up my WIP and go somewhere with my children where there will be nothing for me to do but work on the WIP.

Go to the store on the way back from wherever I went when I worked on the WIP. Remember the mayonnaise this time.

Does anyone else have mornings like this?