A couple of days ago, one of my college roommates called after she received my Christmas card. The years melted away as we caught up. The day before that, I talked to another one of my best college friends, trying to track down her snail mail address. In both of these conversations, I admitted something I haven’t talked about here at all.

I want to teach English again … someday.

There. I’ve said it!

It seems to be a trend among my friends that as our kids get older and start school, we are either becoming homeschool moms or we’re heading back to the work force. Both are full-time jobs that require enormous amounts of creativity.

My true passions are literature and writing. With a good book to read and a notebook to jot down one’s thoughts, life is more than bearable; it becomes joyful! I haven’t taught formally since the 1995-96 school year, when I taught sophomore and senior English in a public high school. It was exhausting, but richly rewarding.

Since our kids have entered the Christian school system, I’m now partial to the wonderful Christ-centered education they’re receiving. Yet I know tuition only increases as children get older. So I’m dreaming that one day, maybe my reading/writing/blogging decade can help land me a teaching job that would help pay private school tuition for my kids to go to a really great school. The grandparents have been so generous this year … but how in the world will we manage when we have all five kids in school?

With that said, I’m starting to collect books on teaching writing, and I’ve just found another wonderful book on the subject. The Train-of-Thought Writing Method by Kathi Macias offers the perfect analogy that demystifies the process of writing an article, short story, or longer work of fiction or non-fiction.

I can relate to trains. My two sons are both crazy about trains, and I’ve read them books about trains hundreds of times. Macias instructs writers to first begin “laying the track,” which means to write out one sentence that describes the heart of the work. Then you must have a “cow catcher,” something that will grab the reader’s attention and invite them along for the train ride.

Other aspects of the writing process include the locomotive (purpose, pulling the story along), the boxcars, the couplers, the observation car, and the caboose. Macias includes plenty of examples from her own writing, as well as other well-known authors, such as C.S. Lewis.

I’m really excited about owning this book, which can be used by a teacher like a workbook. Each chapter would make a nice weekly lesson, in which students can be instructed to work on a piece in process. Throughout the book, Kathi Macias’ can-do tone makes anyone feel like tackling a long writing project is not insurmountable.

I especially enjoyed the author’s example of being invited to speak at her old high school on the topic of writing. She was a nervous wreck about her first public speaking assignment! Yet it was a springboard for her lifetime career of helping others become better writers.

The author is an award-winning writer who has authored or coauthored fifteen books, including the popular Matthews and Matthews detective series from B&H (Obsession, The Price, and The Ransom) and the bestselling women’s devotional, A Moment a Day from Regal Books. She has also edited, rewritten, or ghostwritten more than 100 other books and published a wide variety of articles, short stories, and poems. She also serves as a staff member of a major manuscript critique service.

With these credentials, Kathi Macias has a great background for writing a book using the train-of-thought method to help new and established writers accomplish their goals of publishing.

I highly recommend this book and am glad to have it on my bookshelf. Not only will it help me to work on my personal writing projects, I also dream that someday … if God opens the door … I’ll be able to incorporate it in my classroom.

Wherever that may be.

A few weeks ago, I joined the Christian mom bloggers who’ve been interviewed by the wonderful ladies at 5 Minutes for Mom. I love this site! Twin sisters Janice and Susan have so much going on over there.

I encourage you to take a peek and then stick around and do some Christmas shopping at all the fantastic Mom-Owned webstores they have listed. You’ll find everything from little rocking toys for toddlers, kids golf carts for preschoolers, to collectible coke machines for retro fans.

It’s a nice idea to shop with moms first and spread some extra Christmas cheer to work-at-home moms.

If you love photography, you’ll love the Wordless Wednesday gatherings at 5 Minutes for Mom. Bloggers may send a link to a photo they post on Wednesdays. Talk about inspiration — wow!

Tackle-it-Tuesday is another ongoing collection at 5 Minutes for Mom. I’ve been amazed at Janice’s basement and closet organizing projects — and I’m huffing and puffing along behind her, trying to tackle my own household hot spots. It’s nice to feel like we’re not alone when we’re plowing through STUFF that we hate to do. (It’s not so distasteful when we can blog about it. heh.)

Also, if you like to read positive, encouraging articles about growing in your faith, you’ll want to visit FaithLifts at 5 Minutes for Mom. You can be a guest contributing writer to Faithlifts by sending in an article for consideration here.

This weekend, if you start to feel swamped in decorating, shopping, wrapping, baking, and all those other things we women do before Christmas, take a breather and browse through CWO for some spiritual encouragement.

I love this pretty graphic the editor, Darlene Schacht, made of my book cover. How creative! Here’s what she said about it when she introduced my December Book Buzz column:

“You might also want to check out Heather’s own book, From a Daughter’s Heart to Her Mom, if you’re looking for something beautiful and unique to give to your Mom this year.

From a Daughter’s Heart to Her Mom makes a wonderful keepsake as a coffee table book, or one to keep at your bedside for daily reflection. Vintage style, color-tinted photographs adorn the pages of this book alongside quotes, scriptures, and inspirational messages that remind a mother how important she is.”

From a Daughter’s Heart to Her Mom is now for sale in the CWO Bookstore, which includes some more reviews of it. (Thank you!)

I’m so blessed to be part of this publication. You can write for CWO too! If you have an article idea, check out the CWO Writer’s Guidelines, which begin by stating, “The purpose of Christian Women Online Magazine is to unite women of faith, regardless of our differing ages, our roles as women, or the signs that mark our church doors. We believe that one of the best ways to do this is to encourage each other in faith, by our spoken and written words.”

You can also participate by downloading the free Christmas scrapbooking pages, which are simply gorgeous! Or you can write an essay for the weekly In Other Words blog carnival, which is hosted at a different site every week and is based on an inspirational quote. This month’s host is Laurel Wreath.

Another way to join in CWO is through reading the Snippets from the Word together. There are suggested scripture readings in the morning, along with a devotional by Elisabeth Elliot to read in the evening. Can you think of any more inspiring way to spend your time?

Be blessed!

OK, well YEA for techno-phobic me. I finally figured out how to scramble my novel, and I sent off a 59,000-word text file to the robot-counters at NaNoWriMo, allowing me to download a neat little certificate. So this is what it’s all about.

So far, there are about 8000 people who have finished and submitted at least 50k words to enter the NaNoWriMo “winner’s circle.” I’m sure thousands more will be submitting by midnight. Then it’s a wrap for NaNoWriMo 2006.

I celebrated alone, rewarding myself with a Weight Watchers chocolate brownie — that thing was so small, I had to eat another one. So I might as well have eaten a Bona Fide Little Debbie. I guess it was worth 180 calories. At least it was chocolate!

Well, I’m done. Weird. It won’t be hanging over my head like it’s been all month. Now what?

I think I’m going to take a few days off, let it simmer on the back burner — then get back to it in December. Now that I know how the novel ends, I want to start over again, incorporating more foreshadowing. My main character knows more now than she did when I started a month ago, so she’ll be dropping hints throughout the narrative about what’s going to happen.

Also, in my word count, I included some of my journal entries, prayers, and emails that related to things going on in my life … all part of this manuscript in process … and so I’ve decided to incorporate these in my novel. Why not advance a scene through an email? Some novelists write their entire books as a series of emails. And prayers are important — they allow readers to see into a character’s heart. Likewise for journal entries or letters.

Have any of you finished NaNoWriMo? How do you feel now? What will you do with your novel? You’ve created something from nothing — that’s pretty exciting!

For me, I feel like this is not an ending, but a beginning. It got me thinking about what I really enjoy. Yet now I need some time away from my story so I can get to know my characters even better as I go about my normal daily routine. I’m still snatching things from life and tossing them into my manuscript — like a recipe that needs a dash more of this and that.

I have this new layer of writing, the novel layer, that’s different from my private journal, emails to friends and family, posts to online writing groups, comments on other people’s blogs, my blog posts here, and my non-fiction reviews and articles.

The novel layer: it’s a secret place I’ll retreat to in the months and years to come. So far, I like it there.

I’m constantly on the lookout for writing mentors, and here are a couple of new ones for me. Since I’m writing a children’s novel for NaNoWriMo, I’ve been rereading some favorite books from my childhood — trying to figure out what it is that makes them so good.

I’ve rediscovered Katherine Paterson’s Bridge to Terabithia — have you read this one? Ms. Paterson’s Christianity is subtly woven into her writing, and I love this. It fascinates me to see how she gently leads readers into a greater understanding of God without bamming them over the head. For unbelievers who pick up one of her books, her faith is fresh and startling.

Katherine Paterson was born in China to missionary parents, lived there for many years of her childhood, then also lived in Japan for four years. She’s married to a Presbyterian minister and began writing while her four children (two biological, two adopted) were young.

Many of her books for children have won awards, including two Newbery Medals: Bridge to Terabithia and Jacob Have I Loved, as well as two National Book Awards: Master Puppeteer, and The Great Gilly Hopkins.

On her website, an interviewer asked her, “In what ways has your religious conviction informed your writing?”

She answered, “I think it was Lewis who said something like: ‘The book cannot be what the writer is not.’ What you are will shape your book whether you want it to or not. I am Christian, so that conviction will pervade the book even when I make no conscious effort to teach or preach. Grace and hope will inform everything I write … The challenge for those of us who care about our faith and about a hurting world is to tell stories which will carry the words of grace and hope in their bones and sinews and not wear them like fancy dress.”

In another part of the interview, she was asked, “What would be your ‘words of wisdom’ to a person who wants to write, but is paralyzed by failure? What advice would you give people starting out?”

Here’s her response:

“When a teacher (still a dear friend) of mine in graduate school suggested I ought to be a writer, I was appalled. ‘I don’t want to add another mediocre writer to the world,’ I said. She helped me (it took years of nudging) to understand that if I wasn’t willing to risk mediocrity, I would never accomplish anything. There are simply no guarantees. It takes courage to lay your insides out for people to examine and sneer over. But that’s the only way to give what is your unique gift to the world. ”

“I have often noted that it takes the thinnest skin in the world to be a writer, and it takes the thickest to seek out publication. But both are needed—the extreme sensitivity and the hippo hide against criticism. Send your inner critic off on vacation and just write the way little children play. You can’t be judge and creator at the same time.”

Another Christian writer who has successfully written for the general markets is best-selling author, Bret Lott, whose book, Jewel, was an Oprah Book Club selection. He was the keynote speaker at this year’s Christy Awards banquet, held last July at the International Christian Retail Show in Denver.

In The Writing Life, Terry Whalin linked to his keynote address here. If you have time, it’s definitely worth a read.

Lott says in his speech, “From the time I wrote my very first short story, I struggled with how to tell a lie — that is, write fiction — while serving Christ. My struggle, then, was always with how to be a Christian and how to be a writer … one simply is a Christian, and I was trying to learn how to be a Christian who writes.”

He later talks about how Christ used parables, works of fiction, as connecting points to reach people. Lott brings to life the parable of the Good Samaritan by placing the story set in modern-day Denver.

Then he says, “Christ’s stories surprised His listeners. They were unexpected, yet the surprise of them was totally logical and clear and, finally, the kind of surprise that makes good literature good literature: the surprise turn in a story — not of plot, but of character — when the reader must come face to face with himself, and his own failures, and the dust of his own life, a dust with which we are each of us fully familiar, but which we forget about or ignore or accommodate ourselves to. The dust of our lives that we have grown accustomed to, and which it takes a piece of art created in the spirit of Christ to remind us of ourselves, and our distance from our Creator — and the chasm that is bridged by grace.”

Katherine Paterson does this so well in Bridge to Terabithia, written three decades ago and still widely read today, even in public school classrooms. As an aspiring fiction writer, I’m struggling with how to create my own bridge from a child’s heart to God — through story.

Lott ends his Christy Awards speech by imploring the writers in attendace to:

” … write books that will magnify Christ in a way that only I — you listening to me — can magnify Him. That’s all. And it is work enough — joy enough — to last each of us our own lifetime.”

If you’re participating in National Novel Writing Month, how’s it coming? I’ve read on a few people’s blogs the up-and-down woes of pounding the keys day after day, trying to reach that magical 50k mark at the end of the month. I’m simply amazed at people who can write, then blog about what they’re writing and get feedback from readers. I can’t do that!

In fact, I was feeling guilty a couple of weeks ago that I’m not telling anyone what I’m working on. Why do I feel this need to keep it all a secret? There’s nothing new under the sun, of course. My story is simply a recycled theme, coupled with my own life experiences and imagination.

Then I started doing some research on children’s author, Katherine Paterson, and I came across her acceptance speech for the Scott O’Dell Award. She started her speech by saying, “As many of you may know, I do not talk about a book while I am working on it. Even my husband is left in the dark until I present him with the messy first draft.”

Ah, relief! It’s OK not to talk about a work in process. It gives me freedom to create while my piece is still in the quiet darkness of my mind and heart. I’ve already changed some character’s names — and I’m sadly thinking about letting one of my characters go. It’s painful, but I think he might be better off in another story.

The more I’ve gotten into writing, the more I’ve realized my need to study how the masters do it. I thought it would come naturally from all the reading I’ve done, but there’s a craft to novel writing — and I don’t have it yet!

I read through Randy Ingermanson’s Snowflake Method, and I’ve worked on several of his steps with my plot and characters. He forced me to think about the design of my whole story, instead of letting my characters plod along and do as they pleased. And I’ve come to a horrible realization about my main character.

She’s too nice.

At least she’s too nice in the beginning. In fact, as I’ve plotted my book’s design using the Snowflake Method, I’m realizing that the problem with my book right now is that there’s not a major problem at all. I’ve just got some nice characters meeting each other, getting involved in a few humorous situations, helping each other, and then we tie things up nicely.

Nice does not a novel make.

I realize now I’ve got to go back and rewrite my first chapter and make my character not so nice. She’s got to have some flaws, some areas for growth — so that by the end of the novel, she’s changed a bit. And I’ve got to include more danger, more action, more antagonists. If everything is so nice and spiffy, then what will readers gain from reading the book? My readers don’t lead perfect, shiny lives — so they’re not going to care about characters who are polished up in the beginning.

It’s going to be hard. Since I’m the one writing the story, and I know how it’s going to end up, I don’t want to change the beginning and poke all these holes in my character. I love her, and I want readers to love her right away too. But she’s got to come to a “shocking realization” about herself (which appears in my one-sentence summary of the book).

So now I see how I must try to rewrite that opening chapter — actually much of the book will need to be rewritten. You see, my readers will be kids, and kids are smart. Especially kids who’d rather be reading a book than watching TV or playing boring video games.

As for my NaNoWriMo progress, I’ve decided to rename my file “The Process of Writing (Novel Title).” In this file, I’m tossing in everything I’ve worked on this month. My daily journal entries that go along with writing out scenes, my character’s autobiographies, my prayers (Lord, please help me write what you want me to write), a few emails from encouraging writerly friends, and bits of dialogue my own children say.

With all this, I’m up to 37,000 words. So I will hopefully keep going a few more days and reach the finish mark. But I’ll have to write by long-hand when we’re traveling to visit family this week because I don’t have a laptop. (sigh.)

Yet Robin Lee Hatcher says she writes her character autobiographies by long-hand, so maybe this will be good for me after all. I think you use a different part of your brain to write by hand as compared to typing.

Many times during this busy month of writing, I’ve felt God speak to me. I know it was Him because the experiences are so powerful, I’ve been overwhelmed to tears. For example, part of my story takes place in the 40s, and one day I was feeling frustrated that I needed so much more time to research.

Then I went to a meeting, and we had a guest speaker, a well-known writer in my hometown who writes a weekly newspaper column. (I’d met her once, when I bought a book she edited.) When she stood up to give her speech, she showed us all some newspapers from the 40s, with headlines screaming about important events that appear in my novel. She talked about what it was like for her. I hope no one in the meeting saw me scrunch down in my seat and wipe away tears.

Another time, I was thinking, This whole writing thing is such a waste of my time. I’m no good. I can’t possibly write a novel. There are several Japanese elements in my story, and I was thinking that there are tons of people who could write about this better than me. I was pushing my cart through Wal-Mart, blessedly alone, while I thought these things. Then I looked up, and I was standing in the Asian section of the store.

There were boxes, packages, and cans of my favorite foods that I remember eating in Japan! The Japanese words jumped out at me, and I could still read them. For example, Wal-Mart carries the “Sapporo Ichiban” brand of Ramen. I could hear the commercial in my head that I watched on TV hundreds of times when I lived there. Again, I was moved to tears, and even though the store was packed, there was no one but me on this aisle, so nobody saw me. Write, my child. Write what’s on your heart.

One day, I got an email from my husband, asking if I’d be interested in going to a particular writing conference next year. This was all his idea. We talked about it, and I decided to get up in the morning and use my NaNoWriMo word count goal to register for the conference. I also signed up for a one-day intensive writing workshop, where you read a part of your work out loud to an editor or agent.

A few days later, I got a package in the mail, confirming my registration. When I went back to the site to check something online, two words jumped out at me: SOLD OUT. The workshop I’m signed up for is now sold out. I couldn’t believe it. If it weren’t for my husband’s prodding, I wouldn’t have a spot. Again, I was overcome with tears!

So, as you see, I’ve become quite an emotional basket case this month! I have so little time to write, only in the wee morning hours, but as I go along my days, I’m listening to my children more closely than ever, jotting down their exact words on sticky notes, studying their actions … and moving … slowly … along … in my dream of writing a children’s novel.

In living this way, I’ve never felt such JOY of being a mom! It’s like my characters are alive in my own home!

And you? What are you dreaming about this week?

I wish you all a Happy Thanksgiving. May God bless you with a wonderful celebration of His love!

Writing a novel can make you feel crazy … but I’m in so deep there’s no way I can stop until I finish this thing. But it will definitely NOT get done in a month.

Here’s how it feels for me. One minute I’m pouring cereal into a bowl for one of my kids. The cereal is going into the bowl, and I’m watching it go in, but my mind is thinking about the title of my book. Something’s not right; the rhythm’s off … it’s just not working.

Then!

I’m pouring the milk, and the perfect title comes, except it’s not just one title, it’s the whole series — three books. Then I’m turning around to get the spoons, but I’m also dying for a sheet of paper to write the titles down before they slip away.

I find a sticky pad and write them down. Then my son wants to read what I wrote. Should I let him? Will he think I’m weird? I show it to him. Then I explain, “These are the titles of the children’s books I’m writing.”

He reads them, and asks, “What are you packing in my lunch today?”

*sigh*

I’m not crazy. Really, I’m not. I’m just realizing that the mental energy behind plotting a novel has nothing to do with words. At this stage, it’s all ideas. It’s the characters. Are readers going to care about my characters? Enough to hang with them a whole book? And then another and another?

That’s what matters. The plot is secondary to the characters. It’s taken me two weeks to start getting to know my characters. How am I supposed to know what they’ll do if I don’t even know them?

But it’s coming along. I can’t go back now. On Monday, I had a phone interview with an author I totally admire. I’ll be posting it here soon. We chatted for nearly an hour, and I almost forgot that I was supposed to be listening instead of talking.

I held onto her every word. That night, at dinner, I showed my kids her book, and her picture. I said, “While you were at school today, this is what I was doing. I talked to this nice lady who writes books. She writes stories like you write at school, except when she writes a story, it’s read by millions of people around the world, in different languages.”

They seemed to be listening. Holding that book up, I felt like I had a friend, a kindred spirit. Another person who thinks about book titles while she’s pouring cereal. Who grabs for a notepad along with the spoons.

Like I said, I’m in deep.

Here are a couple of good resources for novel-writers, in case you’re in deep too:

Randy Ingermanson’s Snowflake Method (Hat tip to Scribblings by Blair for passing along the link.)

How to Write a Novel in 100 Days (These little posts are full of choice morsels from famous novelists — very inspiring.)

Robin Lee Hatcher guest blogged for Novel Journey a few days ago about characterization. Hope you can read it — she just published her … um … 50th book and had some great things to say, including this:

We are all the sum total of what has happened to us in the past. We behave as we do because of what happened to us last month, last year, and when we were children.

If I know my characters intimately, if I know that when Sarah was five she was in a runaway wagon and that when she was nine she saw an actor fall off the stage and die, then I will know how she will react when certain things happen to her in my novel. Her actions will ring true because she will not behave out of character. I am aware of her history and her motivations.

Of all the tools that I use as a novelist, writing first person autobiographies of my characters is the most vital. When I come to know my characters intimately, then my readers can know them that way, too.

Robin Lee Hatcher is also a blogger. Another mentor, I see.

OK, fellow NaNoWriMos, how did it go last week? Did you get started on your novel? I admit, I felt a little daunted when the first of November rolled around, not thinking I could do it. I “wasn’t in the mood” to write — but I forced myself to sit in front of the computer and look at my file. I’d written a one-paragraph plot summary and a few brief character sketches of my main characters.

Then I read an email from the director of NaNoWriMo, Chris Baty, encouraging me to get started on “Act One,” along with 70,000 other brave souls attempting to write a 50,000-word novel in a month.

Baty said the first week of writing is epic. “We step onto its stage clutching a few crumpled lines of dialogue, and bearing only the haziest notions of setting and story. And, when the curtain closes on the seventh day, we’re improbably directing a strange and wonderful cast of characters, all of them eager to make their mark on the tale unfolding around them. ”

I love that image. I’m like the playwright, hunched over a desk behind stage; my feather-quilled pen scribbling wildly. My characters have shown up for play practice and aren’t sure where to go, and they only have a few lines to say. But soon, they’ll know who they are, where they should stand, and have more to say! It’s exciting, exhilerating, even.

I could get into this novel-writing thing.

I’ve decided writing this novel is for me. It’s like creating art for art’s sake. Nobody has to read it but me; in fact, I’ve only told one other person what I’m writing. I’m having fun with this, and we’ll see where it goes.

If you’ve read Anne Lamott’s classic book on writing, Bird by Bird, that’s exactly how I feel — I’m taking it scene by scene, with a vague mission in mind, and letting my plot unfold as I get to know my characters. (Note: Lamott’s book does contain some foul language, but it shines light on the writing process and has become one of my favorites.)

Yet, I’m also thinking, well if my novel turns out OK, maybe I’ll show it to somebody someday. I know this rough draft will eventually have to be completely rewritten — but it’s the rough slab of clay I have to create so I’ll have something to work with, to shape in the months to come.

Last weekend, I found a new writing mentor. Several people mentioned I should read Brandilyn Collins’ Forensics and Faith blog where she shares her first novel publishing journey. The urge to go read her story was so compelling that I went and read it, heart pounding, post after post, almost forgetting to breathe. Although she’s now a bestselling Christian fiction author with Zondervan, her journey to publication took nearly a decade, step after step, year after year.

Brandilyn persevered when most of us would have given up. She read everything she could get her hands on, interviewed real people to give her insight into her characters, then wrote and rewrote — again and again. She kept studying the craft. She flew to New York. She flew to Chicago. She attended major writing conferences. She kept on and kept on and kept on.

The amazing thing is to see how God changed her heart in the process of her writing. Although she was a Christian when she began writing, she didn’t devote her fiction to God until a few years into her writing journey. I also learned about the crucial role her agent played in the process. It seems to me that finding a good agent is important these days. Brandilyn’s agent worked with her until the novel was perfectly polished and ready to send out to publishers.

Through her user-friendly blog, Brandilyn has now become one of my writing mentors.

Well, my NaNoWriMo goal is to write 2,000 words a day — which probably means I’ll have little time for blogging this week as I get deeper into this work. So I’ll catch up with you soon.

Maybe the whole purpose for my writing is that I’ll inspire one of YOU to write. So, have you started yet?

Miss ya already!

Is anyone reading here joining in NaNoWriMo? November is National Novel Writing Month, and last year there were 59,000 participants in this crazy month-long writing jamboree.

I’m in, I think. At least I signed up, and I’ve been jotting notes into a couple of computer files the past week. A few people in my online writing group are signed up as well, and they’re all involved in local kick-off parties this weekend.

Instead of attending novel writing parties, I’m helping out at two Fall Carnivals — at my kids’ school and at our church. My husband and I are actually manning the “football booth” at one of the carnivals, so that should be interesting.

But my head is in the clouds a little bit, and I’m still dreaming of writing a novel. I’ve given some thought lately to the genre. I’ve read a lot of great Christian fiction lately and have decided I’m a huge fan of humorous chick-lit and mom-lit — Kristin Billerbeck and Tracey Bateman both whisk me away by making me laugh.

I don’t see how these women do it. Tracey and Kristin are around my age, both have four children, and yet they write CBA-bestselling novels. Tracey’s publicist sent me her Claire Knows Best book, and I felt like I’d just met my new best friend when I met her character, Claire Everett. You’ll love her too, if you like humorous mom-lit. Somehow Tracey has found time to publish 25 books — and did I mention she’s my age?

Both these novelists cut their teeth on writing romance. Did you know half of all fiction sold is romance? It’s a multi-billion-dollar industry. But I don’t want to write adult romance. At least not now. That seems kind of weird to me, like sneaking around to watch another couple kiss. You’ve really got to live with your characters to write about them — and I don’t want to live with another couple.

I’m not a chick-lit writer either because I just don’t know all that much about fashion and shoes — and you’ve really got to if you jump in that genre. Allison Bottke’s character Dee in A Stitch in Time is a fashion aficionado, and all of Kristin’s characters are into shoes, handbags, the works. Unfortunately, I’m not into shoes — can’t be, unless I want to sell a car or maybe our house. My shoes come from Target or wherever else I can find something on sale. I don’t even look at the name brand — just see if it fits and doesn’t hurt to wear.

But writing for kids — now it’s no problem for me to listen to how kids talk, see what they’re interested in, what they’re reading. Why not write stories my kids would want to read? I was praying for inspiration yesterday and took my fivesome to the library after school to replenish our book supply. I wandered through the kids’ stacks and noticed which authors have a shelf full of books.

Judy Blume, of course, still selling books she wrote 30 years ago. Beverly Cleary — what a wonderful writer — didn’t she have fun living with her character, Ramona Quimby, a few years? Betsy Byars has two shelves in our library — I checked out her memoir about three years ago, and so I checked it out again yesterday to see if I could find one of my all-time favorite quotes. (I just visited her website, and she’s still going strong from her home in South Carolina — she’s published over 60 books since 1962, including the Newbery medal-winning Summer of the Swans.)

Ah … found it. From Betsy Byars, The Moon and I. Betsy tells her readers, “Plenty of good scraps are as important in making a book as in the making of a quilt. I often think of my books as scrapbooks of my life, because I put into them all the neat things that I see and read and hear. I sometimes wonder what people who don’t write do with all their good stuff.”

And here’s another quote that made me laugh. Betsy is a mother of four, and she started writing back in the late 50s when she had two children. There’s a picture of her family in the book, with her husband and two oldest. The caption reads: “Urbana, Illinois, 1956. Behind us are the barracks where I began to write. I really had two choices — write or lose my mind.”

Ha! I can relate. Writing is a good thing to do when you have little kids in the house and you feel like you’ve lost a sense of who you are, but you don’t want to lose your mind.

Yesterday, my 18-month-old pulled some books off a bookshelf in our living room, and when I went to put them back up later, I saw this book that I’d forgotten about, Novelist’s Boot Camp: 101 Ways to Take Your Book from Boring to Bestseller.

So that’s what I’m reading through this weekend as I prepare to write next week. My plan is to hold all my email correspondence and take some time away from the blog — and pour all my word count into this novel. It’s a plot I thought of a couple of years ago, and I started writing it, but then our computer crashed for two weeks, and I lost it. That’s when I decided I’d focus on personal essay writing and devotionals for a while. Which I’ve done for two years now.

I’ve also had this character in mind since I was 19. I wrote about her in freshman composition — while everyone else in my class wrote adult short stories, I wrote about Sadie. I wrote about her again in my children’s literature class, and my professor asked me to read my story to the class, and they laughed at the right places. So I think this Sadie character is pretty funny.

My daughter had a friend over a couple of weeks ago, and I couldn’t believe it when her friend started saying, “I’m crazy about Japan. I wish I could learn Japanese. I want to go there someday so bad.” What!! I started speaking some Japanese to her, and I got out my Nihongo dictionary and showed her the characters and how to write her name in katakana. I kept wanting to listen to this little girl talk, and it turns out her big sister is also crazy about Japan, and wants to go live there when she graduates from high school.

So I invited their family for supper, and that night, we got out my Japanese scrapbook, and they were fascinated. This was just more fodder for my imagination. I’ve got all these plot and character seedlings … now I’ve just got to write.

I’ll be blogging light — if at all — during November, though I do have two interviews with outstanding people coming up — and I’m about to die to tell you who I’m interviewing for December Book Buzz — let’s just say she’s a pretty famous novelist, and I can’t believe I get to ask her questions. I love my day job!

Well, I wish you a happy pre-Halloween weekend — if you’re a parent, I’m sure you’ve got parties and carnivals out the wazoo. But if you’re jumping into NaNoWriMo next week, I’d love to know there are at least two of us out there who have decided we’d rather write than lose our mind!

Author Dena Dyer visits with us today, a mother of two young sons from Granbury, Texas. Dena’s devotional book for moms, Grace for the Race, was one of the first books I reviewed here a year ago.

Dena has been busy co-authoring a new series of books with her friend, Laurie Copeland, as they’ve become Groovy Chicks taking “road trips” to explore peace, love, and friendship in a growing relationship with God.

Hi Dena! Can you tell us about your Groovy Chicks’ series? What are these books about?

They are “book-i-lations,” anthologies of stories by women from all over the world. My co-author, Laurie Barker Copeland, and I, also contributed stories and sidebars — many as our Groovy alter-egos, “Pepper” and “Starshine.”

The two volumes are lighthearted, but not lightweight, explorations of what it means to live fully in the love and peace of Jesus. I told someone the other day that they’re like “Chicken Soup meets Laugh-in with a Christian message”!

Why did you decide to write these books?

Laurie and I met at a writer’s conference and worked on some magazine pieces together. We knew we wanted to do a book together, but just weren’t sure what it would be. And at the time, I was involved in a local Christian-owned music theater called Granbury Live, where my husband is a partner and full-time performer.

In one of the concerts, I did a segment as a groovy, ditzy 60’s character named “Starshine.” It was so well received, and I had such fun doing it, that my boss — who knew I was anxious to break into the Christian book market — said, “Why don’t you do a Groovy Chicks’ Guide to Life?”

I knew it would work … and I knew Laurie — with her fun personality and great marketing skills, as well as her acting, singing, and speaking background — was the perfect partner for a Groovy Chicks’ book. 🙂

She brought a lot to the table, and really helped round the whole thing out with regards to vision, content and humor. (By the way, our website is Groovy Chicks Road Trip, which Laurie’s fabulous hubby did for us. We even have groovy clothes, t-shirts and mugs now.)

How did you gather the stories for these books?

We sent out calls for submissions to our various speaking and writing networks, and to different writing websites. After the first book, we had about three times as many submissions, because people had started hearing about it.

So the second decision-making process was much more difficult. What’s really neat, though, is how Laurie and I — she is from Florida and I’m from Texas — both read all the submitted stories (300 for the second book!) and agreed without hesitation on the top 40 or so. We only had to compromise on a few. It was really neat — a definite God-thing!

I enjoyed reading your Road Trip to Love book, especially the tips on friendships, love, and mentoring between each chapter. What are some challenges today’s women face in nurturing friendships?

Time. Time. Time …. Ha! We’re so busy, and our friendships get left in the dust. Yet they’re too important to let that happen. I make a real effort (I don’t always succeed, mind you, but I try) to keep pretty close contact with my dearest friends. I just need them, and I know they need me … even if we don’t always realize it.

Do you have any suggestions for us on how we can deepen and strengthen our friendships? Is it worth the effort now, or should we wait until our kids are grown and we have more time?

I think that when we become honest with ourselves about our loneliness and the gaps that only friends can fill, and we share that with people, we’ll be surprised at how other women respond. I’m sometimes afraid to reveal that need — how I feel empty when my friends and I haven’t been able to spend time together.

But when I get real, they totally “get it.” In the Bible, in a book such as Ruth, we’re reminded of the gift of friendship, and how we can’t take it for granted or let it die.

And just let me say, as an Internet/email/blog addict (I can quit anytime I want–really!), I do value those connections, and they have been tremendously helpful, but it’s NOT the same as spending time one-on-one with a girlfriend.

Our generation (Gen X) is very well-connected on the Internet, and we have forged friendships worldwide. It’s a blessing, but it can bring about an artificial intimacy that makes it harder to foster face-to-face relationships. We think we’re connected, but we’re not … not really. It’s TOTALLY worth the effort, I believe, to nurture the friends we have at church, in our neighborhood, and in our moms’ groups. Especially when the kids are young — because we need support, encouragement and a relief from mom-isolation, now more than ever!

One fun thing that several moms and I have done is to have a monthly Bunco (a really easy-to-learn dice game) night. We do it on the third Thursday of each month, and take turns hosting it. The hubbies all know that they have “daddy duty” on that night of the month. We have been doing it for about a year and a half. It keeps us connected without being a huge time commitment.

What other projects are you working on now?

My agent, Wendy Lawton, is shopping two proposals around for me, one for women ages 20-40 on being fearlessly countercultural, and one for moms about dealing with inferiority and insecurity. Since our publisher for the first two books has undergone a bunch of changes, we’re also looking for a publisher for a third Groovy Chicks’ Road Trip volume, on Joy.

Can you tell us about your online writing courses? Do you teach these? How does it work?

I’m glad you asked! I love mentoring other writers, but my time is so limited. I used to lead a local writing group, but it got to be too much. So now I teach through Writers’ Helper and love it.

I have courses on writing for anthologies (which is free, if you go through it on your own!), getting organized to write, and writing short pieces for publication. Each one is a four-session course, and you can go through it by yourself, with others, or with me as a mentor/coach.

The prices range from about $20-$60, and they’re all conducted entirely online. All you need is a computer and email.

Thanks, Dena! You’ve inspired us to work on strengthening our friendships, and maybe some of us will send you a story someday for your next book! Do you have any closing words?

Well, if your readers want to be a Groovy Chick, too — it’s easy. All they have to do is have Christ in them. They don’t have to wear a certain style of clothing, or be a certain age. Any “chick” can be groovy!

As Laurie and I always say, we are just ordinary women — with a Groovy God.

You can learn more about Dena Dyer at her website. She loves to hear from readers and can also be reached at her blog, Amazing Grace-land, as well as by email, denadyer@sbcglobal.net.